3DR SOLO = mRo GPS u-Blox Neo-M8N / Worth the Upgrade?

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Hi guys,
I have a 3dr solo (backpack bundle) that I bought in the original firesale and fly about twice a month. I had bought a mRo GPS and the upgraded 3dr GPS shield about a year ago. Life got busy, bought a house and never had the time to install them. I just opened up my solo for the first time. It has a revision B board. I didn't think of it however Ive never noticed any real delays in GPS acquisition. Usually locks within 60-90 seconds. Even after a 3 hr flight to Jamaica it locked within a minute or two.
Is it worth swapping out the Rev B for the MRO?
I have another solo, new in box. no idea what version is in it. Would the MRO and GPS shield be better suited there?
 
YES! I just did the upgrade from Rev B to MRO. Took my first flight today. Started in an open field with the least GPS interference possible (no concrete) because the MRO goes through an initialization procedure on the first startup. I got 18 SATs in about a minute (never seen anything close to that number!). Flew around a while. It doesn't make the drone more steady in the air - you will still get some drifting. Swapped batteries, took off with 22 SATS second time around. Went back to my house where the best I could do taking off from my driveway was 9 SATs. I got 16 SATs in about 15 seconds. When I got above the houses it went to 18 SATs.

The MRO is only ~$40, takes 15 mins to install. Grab you some Alfa antennas (~$20) and you will have some significant upgrades for very little $. The Alfas are more directional, so be sure to aim them properly (ie, read the instructions) but remember they swivel, so you can keep the paddles aimed at the drone easily.
 
Did you install your MRO in the stock location or does it come with a mast?

I will be ordering an MRO today however I want it up on a mast away from the electronics facing the sky for best results.
 
Did you install your MRO in the stock location or does it come with a mast?

I will be ordering an MRO today however I want it up on a mast away from the electronics facing the sky for best results.

No mast. I didn't need one to get great results. If you want a mast, you will want the Here GNSS kit:
HERE GNSS Solo GPS Kit
 
Great that's perfect thanks for the link. I just ordered MRO. Can't wait. Did you use the stock sheilding, sticky copper one?
For the drone that I did the upgrade in, I did the cardboard mod. I believe the MRO install video shows the stock copper one. See what MRO recommends.
 
I would get the 3DR shield (non-metallic). Like this one on eBay.

It is much better than the copper shield.

I did the upgrade to the Mro GPS and found that it is well worth doing.
 
I used the copper shield and the new style together, works great . 27 sats the other day. 11 inside 30 sec :) Different bird
 
Great !!! Mines on its way. Can't wait now. I grabbed some masterairscrew props with the MRO GPS I think I'll have a solid bird. There's a Sheild material on the mrobotics website by 3M. It's military grade. Maybe I'll grab some of that and Sheild the whole solo up.
 
Great !!! Mines on its way. Can't wait now. I grabbed some masterairscrew props with the MRO GPS I think I'll have a solid bird. There's a Sheild material on the mrobotics website by 3M. It's military grade. Maybe I'll grab some of that and Sheild the whole solo up.

You can get the improved 3DR made one from eBay, it includes all the cutouts.

I bought the MRO GPS and the improved 3DR shield, works great as I get at least 19 satellites.
 
I run the MRO Green Cube and new version shielding. I get 18-20 sattelites in 90 seconds with an HDOP OF.7. Remember that number of sattelites isn't as important as your lock on those sattelite. Any HDOP below 1 is considered excellent.
 
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[geodesy] Acronym for horizontal dilution of precision. A measure of the geometric quality of a GPS satellite configuration in the sky. HDOP is a factor in determining the relative accuracy of a horizontal position. The smaller the DOP number, the better the geometry.
 
So I followed trough with the mro GPS upgrade and 3dr shield upgrade (unit had a rev b)
I won't look back now. I get 9 dsats indoors. 19-22 outdoors within 40 seconds. Worthy upgrade
 

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