"Safe to fly - Non GPS"

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I almost always have 14-17 satellites indicated. The bird always acquires immediate GPS lock and I get a green "safe to fly -GPS" message. However, sometimes during the flight, it turns amber and I get the "Safe to fly - Non GPS" message. This has been happening about 1 out of 3 flights. It tends to flip back and forth during the flight, although the indicated satellite counter does not change.

I doubt it is because of obstructions, as Kansas is rather flat, and it has been happening well above the horizon from any obstacles (200-400 feet).

Weird part is, flight is not noticeably different. It still maintains position against the wind just like normal GPS flight.

Any ideas? Would RTH function in this condition? P3A using 1.3.2 firmware.

TIA
 
I run the latest firmware because of things like this. How do you know that that wasn't fixed in 1.6?
I would hate to lose my UAS and always wonder 'what if I had upgraded'? I doubt that they put updates out just to practice, but just my opinion.
 
I've only had it about a month. About 30 flights so far, and this is the only issue I've had. I've been following advice from many on this forum to NOT upgrade from 1.3.2 (which is what my aircraft had when it arrived) until I get a feel for how it behaves normally. Presumably so I can tell if anything is wrong when I upgrade the firmware.
 
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Understood. :)
Everyone has an opinion but I feel that the 50 or 60 out of 100,000+ who have problems are not enough to convince me to take that chance. How do you/they know which is the right version and why did they release the further versions?

But it is your UAV, not mine and others will give you reasons not to upgrade
 
Thanks for the response. I have been considering upgrading to 1.6.

Does anyone else know what might cause this?
 
Understood. :)
Everyone has an opinion but I feel that the 50 or 60 out of 100,000+ who have problems are not enough to convince me to take that chance. How do you/they know which is the right version and why did they release the further versions?

But it is your UAV, not mine and others will give you reasons not to upgrade
I still eat royal icing even though there is a 1 in 20,000 chance I will get sick from the raw eggs, I will keep upgrading my phantom's firmware too and Ill keep that 1 in 20,000 chance that the new firmware might cause a crash.
 
I don't know what's causing it, but I do know that it has been reported an unusual number of times since January 10th or so. All with a nearly identical description as yours.
 
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Yeah I saw that other thread. But it seemed to be their consensus it was the new update causing it, which obviously isn't my issue. It definitely has SOME sort of gps lock, as it holds position just like normal.
 
Thanks for the response. I have been considering upgrading to 1.6.

Does anyone else know what might cause this?
I don't know what might cause it but I was concerned with updating mine just as you are. Mine also came with 1.3.20 firmware. I decided to upgrade it because I wanted it to be on the newer firmware as I know there are way more people with it that don't have issues and the new firmware is put out for a reason. Mine flys just as good with the new firmware as it did with the old. Just letting you know my experience.
 
When you lose GPS momentarily is it in the same area? Or different places.


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
Different places. Sometimes it's for a few seconds, sometimes several minutes. And it still ACTS just like regular gps flight.
 
It isn't any particular firmware. On my old phantom 3 advanced, I experienced this on all firmwares including 1.5 and 1.6. That one I retired from cracking about a week and a half ago and wondered if it was just the craft itself. I took a brand new spare phantom 3 advanced and the same thing happens. This one is on 1.4 which I like more. One thing I noticed is that, if I go straight up without directional movement on the climb, it happens less or not at all. Once up at 120 meters it seldom happenstance. For me, on two birds, it's a climb and directional movement thing. Climb straight up, no problem. Climb and forward, might happen sometimes. Always goes away.
 
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Interesting. I almost always climb and move out at the same time. I'll experiment and see if mine is the same.
 
Have you uploaded your log to HealthyDrones? Also, if you don't know how, learn to read the Black Box data (.DAT file) on the Phantom itself. That may have some significant clues. Is it possible you are losing it in the same area every time due to some interference? How many satellites are you seeing throughout the flight? Are there other things going on? The logs should tell you all this.


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
I checked it out on healthy drones. Considering, in my case, that it only happens in one of my two flying areas, between big mountains, and not on the other which is a flat peninsula, I just figured it was a situation where the satellite connection is there but the quality of the connection could be better. Regardless, only near mountains and during times of high interference. 2 birds, 3 firmwares, same thing. I stopped taking it seriously after a hundred successful flights in spite of this. Below you can see the area. At that point of the flight, no problem. Solid green. But in the valley, at lower altitude, this happens. Almost always on climb when moving forward. So, maybe power delivery or slight lack thereof, could be causing it. After all, there were more GPS issues reported on 1.6 than before. Also supporting this idea is that, during summer, GPS going to yellow does not happen to me in this same location. Regardless, I had more GPS issues when on 1.6. Certainly on other firmwares as well, but more on 1.6.

org_a4726de749afc346_1453377738000.jpg
 
I have looked on healthydrones. It didn't really clear the issue up for me. I have noticed that the number of satellites does NOT change when I get this message. I have never had less than 14, and I often have 17.

And the terrain is mostly flat, so it doesn't seem like obstructions are the problem. I'll watch carefully the next time it happens to see exactly where it is and what the conditions are.
 
I had noticed this issue immediately after upgrading to DJI Go App to 2.50. I see the issue still with 2.60.

Good thing is that I don't see GPS issues on clear sky days so I'm relieved a bit.

To me it looks like a bug on DJI Go but it's too scary to see GPS lock getting lost during flights.
 
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Yes it is. That's why I was wondering if rth would still function in this state. It almost seems like an error in the notification process, as the aircraft still functions exactly the same for me (maintains position). I can switch into atti from "non gps-safe to fly" and see it immediately drift. When I switch back, it will still say "non gps-safe to fly", but immediately stabilizes as if in gps mode.
 
I was worried at first but it hasn't really affected the flight itself. But then again, I never fly at low, tree and obstruction filled altitudes. Also, if I stop the bird, within secomds the green comes back. This, also, supports my power delivery to the GPS sensor theory. This used to bug me in the past but one phantom later and I stopped worrying. GPS lock at start-up is crucial. Below is a 15 degree celsius flight where there are no GPS issues. The same flight at around 1 celsius and the yellow safe to fly non GPS will show up. Unless I go straight up with no forward movement.

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