What happened, lost GPS lock but green LED was flashing

[Miniflexalex]

Well, yesterday I took off with a friend to shoot some videos of an construction site.
We arrived there, it was pretty windy and gusty, I have flown in similar conditions, so I gave it a go.
I went thru the pre flight checks, recalibrated compass etc.
As usual, waited until the P2 had >6 satellites locked, home position stored....
Once done, the single green flash appeared and the P2 was ready to go.
I took off, hovered around a bit, flew back and force and explained my friend which stick does what. All was good and working perfectly.
After a few minutes, I landed and shut off the motors (not the complete rig).
I handed him the RC and walked him once more thru everything.
He then started the motors, green led still flashing. He took off and immediately the P2 was following the wind instead of holding its position, as said before, the green led was still flashing, no red which would indicate the lost of GPS satellites.
Well, I grabbed the sticks and brought it back which was pretty scary, I'm happy that I did a few test flights in ATTI mode the last few days, so I had experienced how the machine will respond to stick input without the help of the GPS lock.
I landed the rig, shut it completely off, turned it back on, waited until the single green light appeared and took off....all was good, it held the GPS lock. I ran thru a second battery without problems as well.

Now....what happened?
The P2 clearly lost the GPS lock while the single green led flashes indicated that everything is good.

Anyone had a similar experience?





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[havasuphoto]

Never.
Are you sure your friend didn't inadvertently switch into atti mode? You would get a single yellow flash, along with the green flashes.
Did you try and fly it in GPS mode??
Hard to say what happened here-since you weren't the one flying it. IF, you went below 6 satellites(or whatever you have the warning set to), you would have gotten the green flashing, but also at least 1 red flash in between.

 

[Miniflexalex]

Never.
Are you sure your friend didn't inadvertently switch into atti mode? You would get a single yellow flash, along with the green flashes.
Did you try and fly it in GPS mode??
Hard to say what happened here-since you weren't the one flying it. IF, you went below 6 satellites(or whatever you have the warning set to), you would have gotten the green flashing, but also at least 1 red flash in between.

Yes, I'm sure he did not switch to ATTI. I did grab the sticks as soon as I've seen that the rig does not hold position. Once I had the RC in my hand I checked S1 since I thought that he flipped it but it was in GPS mode. Also the lights flashed green and not yellow (no GPS).
I just came back from another flight, all was fine, no issues at all even though it was quite windy again, the machine did a great job.

I have no clue what happened yesterday. I will keep an eye on it and report back if it happens again.



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[ianwood]

So you're saying that not only did it "drift with the wind" but it also responded to right stick inputs as if in ATTI mode? When you released the right stick, did it continue moving as if it was sliding on ice?

The reason I ask is "drifting with the wind" could easily be a GPS jump when you have a limited number of satellites and one drops out of view or another appears maybe low on the horizon with different atmospheric conditions. If the craft countered your right stick inputs when you let go, it was still in GPS mode but with low and/or shifting GPS accuracy combined with strong winds.

If it was sliding around like in ATTI mode, I can only think maybe your controller settings and/or calibration may need to be looked at.

 

[Miniflexalex]

So you're saying that not only did it "drift with the wind" but it also responded to right stick inputs as if in ATTI mode? When you released the right stick, did it continue moving as if it was sliding on ice?

The reason I ask is "drifting with the wind" could easily be a GPS jump when you have a limited number of satellites and one drops out of view or another appears maybe low on the horizon with different atmospheric conditions. If the craft countered your right stick inputs when you let go, it was still in GPS mode but with low and/or shifting GPS accuracy combined with strong winds.

If it was sliding around like in ATTI mode, I can only think maybe your controller settings and/or calibration may need to be looked at.

Yes, the craft responded to my stick input but it kept moving once I let go the sticks....it behaved exactly as if I would fly it in ATTI mode.
As far as I know, the P2 would flash at least one red light if it has less than 6 satellites locked but there was no red light, just the single flash green light.
It took about 1 minute until I had the craft close enough so that I could grab it on the landing gear and it kept behaving like on ice all the way until I grabbed it out of the sky and again, no red lights just the single flash green light.






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[LeoS]

What was the location like?
Was it in wide open field or near any buildings that may hinder GPS signals?
What about the weather?

 

[Miniflexalex]

What was the location like?
Was it in wide open field or near any buildings that may hinder GPS signals?
What about the weather?

It was on a huge open area, I took some pictures and videos from the earthwork which is currently in progress. No buildings for at least 1/2 mile.
It was pretty windy, I'm guessing between 15 and 20 mph winds. It was even more windy today and the craft flew superb, so I don't think that the wind was the culprit.



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