3DR GPS Shield

[Pedals2Paddles]

Ordered on 7/1. Credit card wasn't charged until 7/16. Customer service claimed it was backordered... even though people who ordered days after me were billed immediately and received it within a week. Nothing the week of the 18th. On 7/25, customer service finally admits their useless piece of crap e-commerce system screwed up my order (as usual). Said it would ship immediately, and I received a shipping notice. Nothing received all week. It was finally received on August 5th, post marked August 2... 8 days after they claimed it was shipped.

Seriously, 3DR couldn't manage their way out of a wet paper bag. They make such good stuff, but my god their incompetent when it comes to managing orders and expectations. And pretty much always have been for the 3 years I've been buying stuff from them.

 

[Solo Keith]

Talked w/3DR yesterday and now they are telling me that they will have to investigate why I haven't received my V2 Shield. Investigate? Really?! That should have been done the first time I had to contact. Which was almost a month ago. So now I have to contact them again today to see what their next excuse is to why I'm still waiting since 07/07. This has been the third time I've ordered something from 3DR and have had to contact them to ask what has happened to my order. First time getting the run around. @Pedals2Paddles, do you mind telling what you said to 3DR to finally get your Shield? I've been nothing but patient w/them.

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

Pretty much the same rant as above in their live chat to make it abundantly clear to the CSR that it is screwed up.

 

[Solo Keith]

Pretty much the same rant as above in their live chat to make it abundantly clear to the CSR that it is screwed up.

The chat line is also how I've been communicating with 3DR. And it's been the same 2 reps. They seem to want to help me out. I wish they would be honest instead of giving me excuses. Because every answer I've gotten has been BS.

 

[pyrate]

calling people dishonest is a pretty serious charge

 

[nuggetz]

Guys it's easy for something like this to get lost. I'm sure they don't have tracking for something that they slip into an envelope and drop in the mail. I almost didn't see mine mixed in with the rest of the junk mail.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

It's not getting lost in the mail. It would have to actually be mailed in order for that to happen. 3DR's order processing system has never worked properly on a consistent basis. And this is just another example of it. This crap happens to people all the time, especially those who place numerous orders. And the CSRs will admit to the problem once it's glaringly obvious to them. The problems are all way before it ever gets shipped.

I do not believe the CSR's are being dishonest. I believe they're lacking the information and tools to properly do their job, which again is a factor of the crappy e-commerce system.

 

[pyrate]

given how things are going over there, be glad someone is still there responding.
trashing CS because they are just doing the best they can, in what cant be the best working enviornment ..... not helpful

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

Not trashing CS. Like I said, they do not have the information and tools they need, which is not their fault. The malfunction laden e-commerce system is a 3DR management problem that probably costs too much to fix so they let it go. Nobody is leaving for DJI because of it, so why bother when $$$ is so tight. It's just incredibly frustrating for us as customers.

 

[Solo Keith]

calling people dishonest is a pretty serious charge

Just calling it like it is. With me anyway

 

[cynfab]

A few forensics about my shield order.

I got my shield yesterday Aug 8. I placed the order on July 29.
Also chatted with 3DR support (before it arrived) since I got a shipping notice,
on Aug 2 complete with link to FexEx for tracking.
However there was no tracking number embedded in the link and they spelled my name wrong.
The on line chat person said that all the shield orders are being shipped from
overseas and that the confirmation as well as the shipping notice was automatically generated,
that they were to be shipped via USPS and they expected that the order would arrive in another week. No tracking for USPS shipping.

After the shield arrived (several hours later) I looked at the enclosed packing slip.
It said "Ship via FedEx Home Delivery" this corresponded to what my Order confirmation said
and what the shipping notice said.

It shipped from "Baja Freight Forwarders" in San Diego CA. somewhat overseas.....
About 2 blocks from the Otay Mesa border crossing.

That was on the return address label as well.

The postmark on the envelop was "Aug 4, 2016 PM"

So it really did arrive in a timely manner from when it actually got to the post office.

IMHO the on line chat folks are doing as well as they can with a poorly implemented order
processing system. I'm not too sure about the automatically generated part though
as to spell my name wrong in only one place (all the other places were spelled correctly) would be a stretch
for an automated system.

I told the chat person:
"It would be real nice if the shipping notice included correct information.
Please take this as a suggestion to improve your customer experience."

They said thanks...

And.... I was surprised when I could pick the shield up with a magnet.

 

[Endless Loop]

I had an almost exact same FedEx story as cynfab. Only the dates were changed to 'protect the innocent'.
Ordered on 8/11 and the envelope was postmarked 8/12 but didn't know until after a 10 minute online chat with 3DR yesterday that it was sitting in my mailbox.

I just ordered another one a few minutes ago and the promo code 3DRPGPSV2 is still good as of today 8/20/16. Total price to Vegas = $15.04

I can't report on how well the v2 shield works because I recently upgraded to an M8N which works great by the way.

 

[thePeter]

I've had problems with Solo sat lock since day one. Comparing to my DIY octo using M8N, Solo never came near in term of GPS accuracy. Considering all Smart Shots rely on GPS, my experience with Solo was not great. I have bought it in UK from someone who brought it with them from US, and 3DR told me my warranty was null. I have tried to ask for help on the Facebook group, but because I have compared the Solo with the Phantom, I was called a troll and kicked out from the group (talk about great community, huh?).
Luckily, I have good knowledge with electronics and product design, so I made my own shield - and things got much, much better. My current setup is quite heavily modified, but it finally works as it was advertised to work out of the box.
A few weeks ago there was an amazing deal online for a complete Solo package, so I bought my second Solo. It came with the same Rev. A GPS board, same shield, etc. I know that changing the shield will make it much better, but instead of making another one of my own, I went for the V2 from 3DR (cost wise it's about the same, so why not? would save myself some time). I am looking forward to receiving it.

This shield is not an upgrade, is a fix to a design fault. I know $15 is not alot, but I think any fixes should be free. Just as with software: a bug fix is free, an upgrade is usually paid for.

 

[TheBlueDog]

Just ordered it and was able to use the code. Will report back.

 

[SARDG]

I now have 3 Solos and 3 shields - but still have cardboard in my original Rev B. Because cardboard worked so well, I just left it - at least for now.

 

[d69ce2a5]

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.

 

[RichWest]

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.

I actually tested wrapping the gopro with copper shielding back around October and it had no effect in how the GPS performed. To the point of only exposing the GP port, hdmi port and the lens.

You are aware that the offered 3DR shielding is both a shield and absorber? At least that's what was implied by one of their former engineers.

I have not purchased the 3dr upgraded shielding yet, as the "cardboard" mod has been very effective. I did replace the original shielding with a 3M copper shielding however. I learned a lot about GPS issues with DJl's P2V+...

 

[Endless Loop]

I never really had any GPS problems with any of our 3 Solos until I installed the new M8N GPS. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of letting it do the upgrade to 2.4 before testing the new module. I must have been having a senior moment because I know better than to make too many changes at the same time without testing one before going on to the next.

I swear I've had every single problem that everyone has been attributing to this latest version. I'll leave out all the sordid details for now but I will tell you that the single best thing I did was to add a ground wire from the shield to battery ground. Before I did that I was plagued with constant compass and magnetic interference issues no matter where I went.
The original GPS would usually see 5 to 7 satellites indoors during a test. After the upgrades, and if I could get past the Magnetic interference errors, the new M8N would not see even 1 satellite. Immediately after installing a ground wire, I would get 10 or 12 satellites indoors in the same exact same spots that gave me nothing before. Also be aware that this is using the original copper shield and the cardboard mod.

It's now been about two weeks and although I haven't done a lot of flying (still a little hesitant about trusting the 2.4 upgrade), I have at least been able to test Solo at several different locations in town to get an idea of how many satellites I get and how long it takes before Solo gives the "Ready to Fly" announcement.
So far the "not very scientific" method of outdoor testing has yielded an average of about 20 Satellites with an HDOP of 0.8 to 0.6 in well under 2 minutes.
All testing done in wide open areas with little or no obstructions and several miles apart.

 

[d69ce2a5]

I actually tested wrapping the gopro with copper shielding back around October and it had no effect in how the GPS performed. To the point of only exposing the GP port, hdmi port and the lens.

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?

You are aware that the offered 3DR shielding is both a shield and absorber? At least that's what was implied by one of their former engineers.

I hope not. In my testing, combinations of foil tape and absorber performed worse than absorber alone.

 

[fpvsteve]

I never really had any GPS problems with any of our 3 Solos until I installed the new M8N GPS. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of letting it do the upgrade to 2.4 before testing the new module. I must have been having a senior moment because I know better than to make too many changes at the same time without testing one before going on to the next.

I swear I've had every single problem that everyone has been attributing to this latest version. I'll leave out all the sordid details for now but I will tell you that the single best thing I did was to add a ground wire from the shield to battery ground. Before I did that I was plagued with constant compass and magnetic interference issues no matter where I went.
The original GPS would usually see 5 to 7 satellites indoors during a test. After the upgrades, and if I could get past the Magnetic interference errors, the new M8N would not see even 1 satellite. Immediately after installing a ground wire, I would get 10 or 12 satellites indoors in the same exact same spots that gave me nothing before. Also be aware that this is using the original copper shield and the cardboard mod.

It's now been about two weeks and although I haven't done a lot of flying (still a little hesitant about trusting the 2.4 upgrade), I have at least been able to test Solo at several different locations in town to get an idea of how many satellites I get and how long it takes before Solo gives the "Ready to Fly" announcement.
So far the "not very scientific" method of outdoor testing has yielded an average of about 20 Satellites with an HDOP of 0.8 to 0.6 in well under 2 minutes.
All testing done in wide open areas with little or no obstructions and several miles apart.

Your results are less good as mine. I assume your shielding is not right.
With an m8n, the Rev B GPS shielding from 3DR, AND FW 2.4 I get a lock in <40sec cold, and under 10 seconds at a warm start (eg battery swap at same location), up to 24 sats and HDOP <0.5.
2.4 takes a little bit longer due to the EKF checks compared to previous versions, but works perfectly well with an m8n.