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WiFi-Only iPad Air 2 v. Cellular iPad Air 2
Does the unrestricted use of all the Pilot App features currently require a Cellular iPad with a data contract, or can a WiFi Only iPad still be fully used, when using an iPhone 6+ as a Hotspot, and a Blue Tooth connected Bad Elf Pro or Bad Elf Pro+ for precise transmitter location data?
The two main differences between "WiFi only" and "Cellular" iPads, with a data contract, are the lack of an internal GPS chip on WiFi only iPads (the missing cellular antennas are needed for the GPS chip to work) and the lack of access to the internet to download maps on the fly on the WiFi only iPad, when away from all WiFi in the field.
Both of these limitations can easily be technically overcome.
1. A Bad Elf Pro+ GPS device can be connected via BT to a "WiFi only" iPad for 1 meter location accuracy. The Bad Elf Pro+ can also be BT connected to a cellular iPad and an iPhone 6+ for more precise location data than the cellular iPad or iPhone 6+ is capable of natively.
2. A WiFi only iPad can be connected to an iPhone 6+ acting as a Hotspot, which gives full access to cellular data, and the internet, and can then download maps over the internet and access location data through the iPhone 6+.
However, the Pilot app itself still has to support accessing these secondary sources for location data and downloading the necessary maps. It isn't clear to me that the Pilot app currently does. If it doesn't, it should. The Chief Bad Elf "Helper" has offered to work with the DJI Pilot app programmers to assist in making the use of the Bad Elf location data possible, should my suspicions be confirmed by the responses of others to this thread. If not, then I will learn how to do what I have been trying to do, on a WiFi Only iPad Air 2, from those who are already doing it!
The critical use of the location data is for resetting the Home Point to the transmitter location, since there is no GPS in the P3P transmitter, unlike the Inspire transmitter, which does have built in GPS. However, whenever I have attempted to use this feature from my WiFi only iPads, while Hotspot connected to the iPhone 6+ and BT connected to the Bad Elf Pro+, I receive an error message that says something similar to "Unable to determine location---Home Point not reset."
Similarly, in the field, with the same HotSpot setup, the detailed maps were not able to be downloaded, and unavailable, unless previously downloaded at home over WiFi.
The iOS is seeing and using the Bad Elf Pro+ location data, and my transmitter location on the Pilot map is shown as a tight blue dot, just like in Apple Maps, rather than the much larger circle of uncertainty when connected only to WiFi at home. So part of the Pilot app is displaying the Bad Elf data, but apparently, for me, not yet able to use it for restting the Home Point to the transmitter location.
So....
1. Is anyone using a WiFi Only iPad Air 2 able to reset the Home Point to the transmitter location through any means? If so, how?
2 Is anyone using a WiFi Only iPad Air 2 able to download detailed maps in the field by any means? If so, how?
Does the unrestricted use of all the Pilot App features currently require a Cellular iPad with a data contract, or can a WiFi Only iPad still be fully used, when using an iPhone 6+ as a Hotspot, and a Blue Tooth connected Bad Elf Pro or Bad Elf Pro+ for precise transmitter location data?
The two main differences between "WiFi only" and "Cellular" iPads, with a data contract, are the lack of an internal GPS chip on WiFi only iPads (the missing cellular antennas are needed for the GPS chip to work) and the lack of access to the internet to download maps on the fly on the WiFi only iPad, when away from all WiFi in the field.
Both of these limitations can easily be technically overcome.
1. A Bad Elf Pro+ GPS device can be connected via BT to a "WiFi only" iPad for 1 meter location accuracy. The Bad Elf Pro+ can also be BT connected to a cellular iPad and an iPhone 6+ for more precise location data than the cellular iPad or iPhone 6+ is capable of natively.
2. A WiFi only iPad can be connected to an iPhone 6+ acting as a Hotspot, which gives full access to cellular data, and the internet, and can then download maps over the internet and access location data through the iPhone 6+.
However, the Pilot app itself still has to support accessing these secondary sources for location data and downloading the necessary maps. It isn't clear to me that the Pilot app currently does. If it doesn't, it should. The Chief Bad Elf "Helper" has offered to work with the DJI Pilot app programmers to assist in making the use of the Bad Elf location data possible, should my suspicions be confirmed by the responses of others to this thread. If not, then I will learn how to do what I have been trying to do, on a WiFi Only iPad Air 2, from those who are already doing it!
The critical use of the location data is for resetting the Home Point to the transmitter location, since there is no GPS in the P3P transmitter, unlike the Inspire transmitter, which does have built in GPS. However, whenever I have attempted to use this feature from my WiFi only iPads, while Hotspot connected to the iPhone 6+ and BT connected to the Bad Elf Pro+, I receive an error message that says something similar to "Unable to determine location---Home Point not reset."
Similarly, in the field, with the same HotSpot setup, the detailed maps were not able to be downloaded, and unavailable, unless previously downloaded at home over WiFi.
The iOS is seeing and using the Bad Elf Pro+ location data, and my transmitter location on the Pilot map is shown as a tight blue dot, just like in Apple Maps, rather than the much larger circle of uncertainty when connected only to WiFi at home. So part of the Pilot app is displaying the Bad Elf data, but apparently, for me, not yet able to use it for restting the Home Point to the transmitter location.
So....
1. Is anyone using a WiFi Only iPad Air 2 able to reset the Home Point to the transmitter location through any means? If so, how?
2 Is anyone using a WiFi Only iPad Air 2 able to download detailed maps in the field by any means? If so, how?
