3DR GPS Shield

[fpvsteve]

FYI, the GoPro in the gimbal reduces the signal-to-noise ratio reported by the GPS by around 12dB. Adding the RF absorber that 3DR is selling attenuates that noise by about 6dB. If you wrap the GoPro in a faraday cage (like this: Shielding a GoPro's EMI / RF Noise - Hovership) you will eliminate the noise entirely.

Shielding on its own has been demonstrated to not fully solve the problems with the original board. In other words, the original board is defective and if you want the best possible GPS performance out of Solo, you should replace the GPS board with something else and wrap your GoPro in copper foil.

I cannot copy that.
I tested the GPS signal reception with and without the GoPro attached and turned on and compared the results in u-center.
I could not observe a difference.

Fact is that the new 3DR shielding provides significant improvement over even a refabbed and grounded copper shield in Solo and I just can recommend everyone to purchase and install it. Certainly worth the money.

 

[RichWest]

Did you connect uBlox uCenter and compare the reported signal-to-noise level for a selected satellite and/or the reported speed accuracy with that of a control GPS?

Nope, just plain old trial and error tester here. I'm sure you have the right equipment and know how, but from a common person's stand point It was minimal at best as to improving gps lock times and stability. Then I got worried about entrapping heat. Always a trade off to deal with...

I've wonder if the gimbal electronics is more of what the shielding is blocking. It would seem the circuit board would act as a ground plain of sorts to the GP, at least to a certain degree. I do know physically gapping the shield was the trick for me. I had tried insulating the factory shield and re-applying directly to the module, thinking it was an electrical contact issue. That didn't work.

What absorber did you use in your testing? I'm curious to try some.

 

[d69ce2a5]

What absorber did you use in your testing? I'm curious to try some.

I tested the absorbers that I evaluated for Solo. If you're planning on using an absorber, 3DR is selling the correct one, but it is still a half-measure.

I cannot copy that.
I tested the GPS signal reception with and without the GoPro attached and turned on and compared the results in u-center.
I could not observe a difference.

I don't know what to tell you here. What were you looking at in u-center? Did you have a control? Was the GoPro recording? Was the GoPro connected to HDMI?

Fact is that the new 3DR shielding provides significant improvement over even a refabbed and grounded copper shield in Solo

I know that. You'll note that I have not recommended a different copper shield or grounding the copper shield. The GoPro is near-field interference, and the shield is just too small/constrained to be useful.

 

[RichWest]

If you're planning on using an absorber, 3DR is selling the correct one, but it is still a half-measure.

I'm a little confused by what you meant, "still a half-measure", could you explain? Maybe there is a full-measure still out there...

 

[fpvsteve]

I don't know what to tell you here. What were you looking at in u-center? Did you have a control? Was the GoPro recording? Was the GoPro connected to HDMI?


I know that. You'll note that I have not recommended a different copper shield or grounding the copper shield. The GoPro is near-field interference, and the shield is just too small/constrained to be useful.

Yes, GoPro in the gimbal, connected to HDMI, recording turned on and off. I could not see any changes on the DOP values, velocity,.. in u center. Nor I could experience any negative impact of GoPro on flight performance, sat acquisition time, and so on.

Maybe you can add some proof points to your statements?

 

[PdxSteve]

That's what I was told, despite others saying Rev B is basically same as Rev A with GPS Shield v2. The shield masks some of the interference, but the original filtering issues still exist in Rev A, despite the "works better for me" anecdotal evidence.

 

[BearhawkPatrol]

I ordered the gps shield last month along with the larger battery for the transmitter. Received my order in less than a week. (Thanks for the link PdxSteve!)

The gps definately locks in quicker, and I have noticed an improvement in the signal lock. The jobs I fly have lots of trees, and sometimes even Canopys of trees, and I haven't lost gps yet. Before the mod, I would frequently lose GPS when flying below trees. In fact today I flew a job in Grand Haven, Michigan that was a return call, and the first time I flew it (before the GPS mod) I had to fly manually the whole time because there were so many trees I could not get a lock, and the wind was 15kts, gusting 25kts. Once I got above the canopy the wind started to carry Solo away, and I aborted the job. Today with the GPS mod, I was locked in the whole time, and only flew manually when I shot the full length of the driveway, which had a full canopy the entire length of the driveway. (The driveway was maybe 250 yards?)

I will say that I did do a compass/level calibration right after installing the new shield. Maybe that helped?

 

[RichWest]

For all the experts in this thread, I have a question....

It was mentioned that the battery catch has a metal spring and in fact it does, as I have released the catch assembly to remove the spring.

Could the metal spring be that much of an issue to the gps? More the question of the metal affecting the gps. Would replacing the spring with something non-metallic improve the gps's performance?

I was able to replace the spring with a small cube of sorbothane 40 and it appears to hold the catch with more pressure than the original spring...which is good. At this point it's just a mechanical effort to replace the spring. I'm unsure if the sorbo density or chemistry would be a negative at this point to the gps antenna, as I'm using a naked shell frame to fit and fiddle these mechanical things.

 

[Anthony Horrigan]

Order and paid for the new shield over 6 weeks ago, still waiting. Asked support for an update on my order, reply: it is in the post.

Yet another crap service and support and paying extra to fix a problem with the Drone.

If I had the choice again, I would have got a DJI 4.
Now after the latest software upgrade the GoPro will not power on.
Yet more CRAP to deal with.

This drone is a joke.

 

[SARDG]

Order and paid for the new shield over 6 weeks ago, still waiting......This drone is a joke.

I'm certain that most would disagree - and you don't need the shield to fly. In the meantime, don't do FW/SW updates without research. My GP4B remains at v 3.x for now.

ETA: I love Ireland and Dublin, but you seem a little cranky...

 

[pyrate]

Order and paid for the new shield over 6 weeks ago, still waiting. Asked support for an update on my order, reply: it is in the post.

Yet another crap service and support and paying extra to fix a problem with the Drone.

If I had the choice again, I would have got a DJI 4.
Now after the latest software upgrade the GoPro will not power on.
Yet more CRAP to deal with.

This drone is a joke.

What a great contribution thanks

 

[Anthony Horrigan]

Every time I do an update with Solo more problems are created, and reading the problems with the GPS. I have paid a lot for this drone, and yet I have to pay again to fix another problem.

The documentation is crap, the latest software was deemed to be important. Do the the people at 3DR do any testing, I'm not an expert, but within 10 minutes on the latest software, the video preview is cropped and the GoPro will not power on.

All I want is a drone without major issues, Why must the users be beta testers. All I have to say is that the Solo is a poorly produced product.

 

[PdxSteve]

So you chose to update the gopro firmware that just came out a week ago before 3dr has implemented gopros changes into their software, and your mad at 3dr for this?

 

[SARDG]

Every time I do an update with Solo more problems are created.. ...All I have to say is that the Solo is a poorly produced product.

I'm certain that if you priced it reasonably, someone over in Dublin would love your Solo - perhaps someone who didn't update their GP and is willing to do the cardboard mod while waiting for a shield.

 

[SARDG]

So you chose to update the gopro firmware that just came out a week ago before 3dr has implemented gopros changes into their software, and your mad at 3dr for this?

It's been my experience that there are no user problems or pilot errors - only 3DR problems and errors...

 

[pyrate]

I am smelling troll bait, or at the very least another person who fails to understand the nature of these devices.

 

[Anthony Horrigan]

I am smelling troll bait, or at the very least another person who fails to understand the nature of these devices.

Not a troll but a consumer that purchased a product that has design and software issues. At this stage I losing confidence in this product.
Today I had a great opertunity to video some great location video, but again the drone failed to deliver.

 

[SARDG]

When the price point for a complete system was pushing $2k+, you had to really want to fly a drone or have a real reason. With the recent price cuts, $600 is affordable for nearly anyone - and after looking and reading about Solo for more than a year, that's when I bought one... uh, three.

Right now, you are seeing the influx of drone flyers who have never researched, never thought that much about a drone or about flying and have let the Smart Drone outsmart them.

My house is absolutely loaded with technology - and I don't expect much from it, except knowing that I will always be troubleshooting one thing or another.

 

[SARDG]

Not a troll but a consumer that purchased a product that has design and software issues. At this stage I losing confidence in this product.
Today I had a great opertunity to video some great location video, but again the drone failed to deliver.

Are you sure you're from Dublin? I met some lovely people when I was there last. Of course, none owned drones...

 

[pyrate]

typically a robust people