Solo GPS Rev A / Rev B Availability... Official

Solo Keith · Jul 25, 2016

PdxSteve said:
I've had incomplete orders from them on more than one occasion. That's always fun to sort out. I think everybody else got theirs within a week of shipping notification.

Not me either. Ordered on 7th & it supposedly shipped on the 11th. Chatted with 3DR today & the lady told me up to 14 business days. Jeez....

Nick F · Jul 26, 2016

pyrate said:
don't think I am going to get a rev b for my second
it is working fine with the shield
Thanks for sharing your findings

Same thing here, the shield works very well indeed!

Version3 · Jul 26, 2016

I didn't update after I had contacted them. I ordered on the 2nd, and my card was immediately charged. In my chat on Friday I pointed out that orders placed after mine had been reported in-hand already. The woman assured me they were being done in the order relieved and mine should be out in the next several business days.

I got a USPS ship confirmation a few hours later, so hopefully I see it in the next few days.

Ryan.B · Jul 26, 2016

James Taylor said:
Just a heads up... I haven't finalized my test and need to edit the videos for the test that I did today but was able to see some real differences between the Rev A and Rev B units.

Test Equipment:
1st Solo purchased in Dev 2015 has new Rev B and copper shield that came with the unit shipped from Current UAS
2nd Solo purchased two weeks ago for the 599.00 deal has old Rev A GPS and new shield from 3DR.

Test Scenario:
1. Area at my house has poor satellite reception because of the trees
2. Both units have flow in this area and have had satellite lock so this is not a first time acquiring of satellites for either Solo
3. Place each Solo independently on my kitchen table on the second floor of a three floor home.
4. Videoed the start of both units after the controller and iPhone were initialized
5. Both Solo's have the 2.4 firmware and iOS 2.4 as well

Test Results:
1st Solo with Rev B GPS and copper shield actually acquired 8 satellites (sometimes 9) and went to flight mode. I videoed this and started the motors (no props)

2nd Solo with Rev A GPS and new shield fluctuated between 0 and 6 satellites a lot (I may have seen 7 once or twice) without ever acquiring a lock and really showed some strange behavior. I noticed that the speed went from 0 to over 60 mph then back to 0 then up to 50 or higher while trying to acquire the satellites.

In my case, the Rev B GPS with the copper shield performed considerably better then the Rev A GPS and new shield.

I hope that I can find some time to get the videos up soon and maybe even try some more testing.

Did the new solo come with the v2 shield pre fitted. Or did you have to buy separately?

PdxSteve · Jul 26, 2016

Vu said all solos have the original shield, regardless if they have original GPS or Rev. B.

James Taylor · Jul 30, 2016

Indeed the new Solo came with the old Rev A GPS and copper shield. I purchased both the shields and Rev B GPS for both Solos. I haven't had a chance to fly lately but the it appears that the older Solo with the new Rev B and copper shield that came with the Rev B GPS and my cardboard fix worked very well. I have since, replace the copper shield with the new one from 3DR and will try and do a test soon.

PdxSteve · Aug 1, 2016

My 2 shields arrived today!

Solo Keith · Aug 1, 2016

PdxSteve said:
My 2 shields arrived today!

Still waiting on mine. Shipped 07/11. Coming from Mexico I was told today

PdxSteve · Aug 1, 2016

Should be soon then. Mine shipped the 12th.

Soul Patch Films · Aug 7, 2016

Any coupon codes or discount codes for the shield?

SARDG · Aug 8, 2016

Soul Patch Films said:
Any coupon codes or discount codes for the shield?

Did you search the forum for 'shield' and check some of the later posts... say post #37?
3DR GPS Shield

Vegasrobbi · Aug 8, 2016

I thought the new shield was a placebo at first. My lock times did not seem to improve and I wasn't getting many more satellites, if any.

But after a few flights monitoring hdop I notice it is mostly below 1.0, like .9 or lower. I never had a issue with GPS before but my hdop's were higher, like 1.2-7.

Solo Keith · Aug 8, 2016

Still waiting patiently on mine since 07/07. WTH!!

kenhf · Aug 8, 2016

Jubalr said:
From Vu Tran 3DR

Hi All,

I'm sorry for the long delay in getting back to you all regarding the Rev B GPS boards.

Like Ian's post, this one is titled: Good News, Bad News.

Bad news: Unfortunately, we will not be making the Rev B boards available as a separate purchase. We've deliberated long and hard and in the end, we couldn't find a way to get additional boards to be produced at a acceptable price.

Good news: We spent the rest of the time testing possible combinations to increase the performance of the Rev A boards you currently have. I'm very happy to announce that we found a surprisingly good alternative. Our test results show that the combination of the Rev A GPS board and the new GPS shield yields significant acquisition gains in semi-occluded and occluded areas (places you're not supposed to be flying in) when compared with the old GPS shield. The new shield is made of a high-performance EMI absorbing polymer tuned specifically to the frequencies that GPS operates at. We're selling it for $29.99 but because it took us so long to respond we're giving everyone here on FB a 50% discount for the next month. Just use the promo code FBGPSV2. You can find the new shield here:Solo GPS Shield V2 - 3DR

I think you'll be very pleased with the performance increase. If you're not, I'll happily refund your money.

** edit **
Everyone has the old GPS shield, regardless of which version GPS board you have.

Here are the installation instructions:

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Glad 3DR is offering a part to address GPS reception issues. I own a Solo and gimbal, purchased just this summer, and missed the offer of the upgraded shield at the $14.99 price. Any chance that offer will be repeated, or offered to more recent buyers? $30 is a high price to pay for a part that seems to address an original execution/implemention issue. I live in a place where relatively small open fields surrounded by stands of tall pine trees make satellite reception challenging. Getting the 7th, 8th or 9th bird often doesn't happen. Tnx for considering.

Michael Lione · Aug 11, 2016

kenhf said:
Glad 3DR is offering a part to address GPS reception issues. I own a Solo and gimbal, purchased just this summer, and missed the offer of the upgraded shield at the $14.99 price. Any chance that offer will be repeated, or offered to more recent buyers? $30 is a high price to pay for a part that seems to address an original execution/implemention issue. I live in a place where relatively small open fields surrounded by stands of tall pine trees make satellite reception challenging. Getting the 7th, 8th or 9th bird often doesn't happen. Tnx for considering.

Just checked with Support. Promo Code has definitely expired with no response on if there will be another one. Good news is they say the Shield is available.

PdxSteve · Aug 11, 2016

Michael Lione said:
Just checked with Support. Promo Code has definitely expired with no response on if there will be another one. Good news is they say the Shield is available.

The original code expired in July, but this promo code still works (50% off) and I just tried it to be sure: 3DRPGPSV2