lost GPS on virgin flight in the middle of huge open field

[spartaHawk]

My 3DR Solo lost GPS satellites (started with 12) on my first flight in the middle of a huge group of soccer fields and I was unprepared to fly manual. Faulty hardware?

It seems to be fine.

 

[pyrate]

maybe, send your logs to 3dr by submitting a ticket from within the app
I am positive your read the manual and are familiar with that process right?

 

[spartaHawk]

maybe, send your logs to 3dr by submitting a ticket from within the app
I am positive your read the manual and are familiar with that process right?

Well yeah I know how to fly manual in theory but I didn't expect to immediately. Hence flying in the middle of a huge field just to try out the basics. The drone slowly descended and I thought it might have been trying to land but it bounced off the ground and kept drifting and flipped over and I grabbed it after its propellers briefly buzzed against the grass.

How common is it to lose GPS in very clear areas?

 

[pyrate]

depends on who you talk to, only happened to me when the battery had dislodged from the gps board. 3DR replaced it under warranty.
If you are in solo for the long run, snag the M8n GPS from mrobotics

 

[Greg Parker]

Next time in the open field might want to try manual flying so that it is not a new thing when SHTF.

Set a button for manual flight.

 

[Ivanh]

Do the GPS Mod, that will eliminate the GPS loss signal issue.

 

[User Name]

Couple things:

In my experience, loosing GPS in open areas is rare. In fact, I've never lost it. You might want to remove the battery tray and make sure the GPS cable is fully clicked in on both ends.

The GPS "mod" that involves putting a foam/plastic/cardboard spacer between the foil and the GPS can't hurt, and it will ensure the foil isn't shorting anything, but it won't magically improve anything otherwise.

A truly worthwhile mod would be to replace the GPS with the one from mRobotics. It's drastically better than stock in every way, and a drop in replacement.

Lastly... You should never be unprepared to fly manually. You really should expect it at any moment on every flight. Not because it happens often (I've never had mine drop to manual), but because it CAN happen at any moment. Not doing so is like driving down the highway and having an accident happened in front of you and not being prepared to hit the brakes to avoid it. Being prepared to handle the unexpected should a prerequisite to every flight.

Next time you fly, put in manual and just fly around to get used to it. It's still very stable, it just drifts and slides more. As long as you still have GPS, the pause button will immediately stop it and hover in place, so you can really practice flying in manual with the reassurance that if it starts to get away from you, you can quickly stop it... Again, as long as you have a GPS fix.

Practice, practice, practice. It'll save your bacon WHEN the unexpected happens... Which it will... Sooner or later.

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

This isn't a GPS failure. The GPS has nothing at all to do with vertical control. You say it started slowly descending, bounced off the ground, and flipped over? Something else was wrong.

 

[spartaHawk]

This isn't a GPS failure. The GPS has nothing at all to do with vertical control. You say it started slowly descending, bounced off the ground, and flipped over? Something else was wrong.

Yeah it lost gps, and slowly descended while drifting sideways as well. I thought it was trying to land in some malfunctioning way until it slowly bounced off the ground.

Doesn't GPS also inform altitude?

 

[spartaHawk]

Couple things:

In my experience, loosing GPS in open areas is rare. In fact, I've never lost it. You might want to remove the battery tray and make sure the GPS cable is fully clicked in on both ends.

The GPS "mod" that involves putting a foam/plastic/cardboard spacer between the foil and the GPS can't hurt, and it will ensure the foil isn't shorting anything, but it won't magically improve anything otherwise.

A truly worthwhile mod would be to replace the GPS with the one from mRobotics. It's drastically better than stock in every way, and a drop in replacement.

Lastly... You should never be unprepared to fly manually. You really should expect it at any moment on every flight. Not because it happens often (I've never had mine drop to manual), but because it CAN happen at any moment. Not doing so is like driving down the highway and having an accident happened in front of you and not being prepared to hit the brakes to avoid it. Being prepared to handle the unexpected should a prerequisite to every flight.

Next time you fly, put in manual and just fly around to get used to it. It's still very stable, it just drifts and slides more. As long as you still have GPS, the pause button will immediately stop it and hover in place, so you can really practice flying in manual with the reassurance that if it starts to get away from you, you can quickly stop it... Again, as long as you have a GPS fix.

Practice, practice, practice. It'll save your bacon WHEN the unexpected happens... Which it will... Sooner or later.

Thank you! This park did have the big lights on tall poles for soccer games. Three lining each sideline. That's the only thing that might have been a problem as far as I can tell. The drone had no issues when I took it to a different park.

I have since practiced manual flying so that this will never be a real problem again.

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

Yeah it lost gps, and slowly descended while drifting sideways as well. I thought it was trying to land in some malfunctioning way until it slowly bounced off the ground.

Doesn't GPS also inform altitude?

No. Altitude control is managed using only the barometer and accelerometers. The GPS does not provide any vertical guidance to the solo. The GPS altitude is received and logged, however it is not used for any purpose, ever. Losing GPS has zero effect on the vertical aspect of flight. When GPS is lost, it will switch modes to "Fly Manual", and the the both the controller and solo app will tell you that. It will continue to maintain altitude just like does in Fly Mode. You use the throttle stick to climb or descend just like you do in Fly mode. With the throttle stick centered, it will hold its altitude. If your solo was descending, something else was wrong.

What did the the app or controller say? Was the solo responding to your input with the sticks? Did you push any other buttons? Was it beeping or flashing it's lights?

 

[Adam L]

My 3DR Solo lost GPS satellites (started with 12) on my first flight in the middle of a huge group of soccer fields and I was unprepared to fly manual. Faulty hardware?

It seems to be fine.

It's generally a good idea to practice flying in manual mode, so you can be ready when it switches from FLY to MANUAL upon GPS loss :>