Most of you probably know about this unit, designed by Jordi Munoz, one of the founders of 3D Robotics. When it was initially described as "beta" or something like that, I held off awaiting whatever improvements might be made.
I noticed last week that it dropped the beta tag, is now listed as "Release 2", and I figured what the heck... While I've never had an issue with the stock GPS beside sometimes long lock times, the fact that it often wouldn't pick up more than 6 or 8 satellites concerned me. I've read all the arguments about the susceptibility of the M8N to interference and loss of satellites, but in my thinking, having a narrow band unit that's less susceptible to interference, but is at times only 1 to 2 satellites away from loosing a fix, isn't all together better than a wide band unit that might loose a satellite or two, but is still comfortably 10 satellites away from loosing a fix.
Anyway, I replaced one of my GPSs with a Drotek M8N with decent results, but this one is amazing. I started up my Solo in our townhouse courtyard, which is surrounded by 2 story units, so not the clearest view of the sky. Within a minute of the first start, I had 15 satellites and an HDOP of 1... with the stock, I'd never see more than 7 in this location. I then took the Solo to a local field with a nice clear view of the sky, turned it on and before I could clip my phone into the controller, it was ready to fly with 20 satellites and an HDOP of .6. There was no twitching, no wandering, position holds were rock steady.
Really impressed and if I had the need to have more than one Solo in the sky at the same time, I wouldn't hesitate buying these for the others.
If anyone else was holding off waiting for other's experiences, count me in the satisfied column. Here's a link to the unit:
mRo GPS u-Blox Neo-M8N (Release 2)
I noticed last week that it dropped the beta tag, is now listed as "Release 2", and I figured what the heck... While I've never had an issue with the stock GPS beside sometimes long lock times, the fact that it often wouldn't pick up more than 6 or 8 satellites concerned me. I've read all the arguments about the susceptibility of the M8N to interference and loss of satellites, but in my thinking, having a narrow band unit that's less susceptible to interference, but is at times only 1 to 2 satellites away from loosing a fix, isn't all together better than a wide band unit that might loose a satellite or two, but is still comfortably 10 satellites away from loosing a fix.
Anyway, I replaced one of my GPSs with a Drotek M8N with decent results, but this one is amazing. I started up my Solo in our townhouse courtyard, which is surrounded by 2 story units, so not the clearest view of the sky. Within a minute of the first start, I had 15 satellites and an HDOP of 1... with the stock, I'd never see more than 7 in this location. I then took the Solo to a local field with a nice clear view of the sky, turned it on and before I could clip my phone into the controller, it was ready to fly with 20 satellites and an HDOP of .6. There was no twitching, no wandering, position holds were rock steady.
Really impressed and if I had the need to have more than one Solo in the sky at the same time, I wouldn't hesitate buying these for the others.
If anyone else was holding off waiting for other's experiences, count me in the satisfied column. Here's a link to the unit:
mRo GPS u-Blox Neo-M8N (Release 2)
