Amazing results yielded from the GPS mod!! Wifi mod anyone?

[wsalopek]

I ordered the V2 GPS shield from 3DR directly and the improvements are even better than the cardboard mod. Costs $15 with the coupon code and arrived within a week to Toronto, Canada direct from California. I get 10-14 sats within 30-45 seconds now.

Finni,

Glad you saw a big improvement. But in my case, I saw very little if any improvement (and I have the GPS rev A, so if anything, I should have seen a LOT of improvement).

I'll be buying that aftermarket GPS here in a bit...that should work for sure:

mRo GPS u-Blox Neo-M8N (Release 2)

 

[User Name]

Finni,

Glad you saw a big improvement. But in my case, I saw very little if any improvement (and I have the GPS rev A, so if anything, I should have seen a LOT of improvement).

I'll be buying that aftermarket GPS here in a bit...that should work for sure:

mRo GPS u-Blox Neo-M8N (Release 2)

I too saw virtually no improvement from the 3DR GPS shield. I still bought one for each of my Solos, just for the added safety of ensuring the GPSs have as little interference as possible, but I think the biggest detractor of the stock GPS... is the stock GPS itself. It was just a poor performer. Although, and I've said this each time I mention it, I never did have a single glitch on the stock unit, my only gripe was the long lock times and that the loss of a lock was, at times, only 1 or 2 satellites away. With the mRo unit, the lock is just drastically more robust.

 

[wsalopek]

User...

Does it also seem that the Solo "wanders around" a bit less with the replacement GPS? I kinda think my Solo, in a hover, moves around a few more feet than it should. I'll be upgrading to the better GPS regarless, just wondering.

--

Bill

 

[Jeffer]

The CURRENT coupon code for the GPS shield (since the question was asked), is:

3DRPGPSV2

Should still work, but I would suggest ordering while the gitin is good!
They ship from CA, I think, so you pay tax if you live here with me. And pick Ground shipping, not FedX, and it is FREE.

 

[User Name]

User...

Does it also seem that the Solo "wanders around" a bit less with the replacement GPS? I kinda think my Solo, in a hover, moves around a few more feet than it should. I'll be upgrading to the better GPS regarless, just wondering.

It wouldn't surprise me that the mRo gives better position holds, although I can't verify that it does, only because I never paid too much attention to the stock - it always held position well enough for me. But the first flight on the M8N, I did specifically watch for drift, and there was little to no drift. I have absolutely no regrets upgrading to it.

 

[JoeNemo]

Costs $15 with the coupon code

What coupon code?

 

[JoeNemo]

What coupon code?

Never mind...I see someone already answered!...thanks!

 

[JoeNemo]

Never mind...I see someone already answered!...thanks!

This coupon code is expired

 

[Mr GruntHunter]

As others have said, nothing you did has any effect on WiFi range between the the controller and solo. And it's not like the piece of cardboard you wedged in there actually did much if anything to help the GPS get a better or faster lock. What you have experienced is this thing called a coincidence.

It appears that they are getting confused about what is actually happening. With the better GPS signal you will only be able to maybe fly farther because the RTH function won't get triggered as soon, that's all. WiFi signal needs to be increased to actually fly farther. Antennas and/or signal boosters will help but everyone needs to keep in mind that the antennas need to be impedance matched to the transmitter in the controller or you can overload it and cause damage. The designers selected, or designed, those antennas for a specific reason.

 

[User Name]

It appears that they are getting confused about what is actually happening. With the better GPS signal you will only be able to maybe fly farther because the RTH function won't get triggered as soon, that's all.

It's better to just not leave the door open for subjectivity at all, since it's really not subjective. RTL is triggered by two things, and two things only - a loss of controller signal and a low battery state. That's it. No improvement to the GPS signal will effect when RTL is triggered. The only thing triggered by a change in GPS fix quality (for the worse) is a drop to manual (if the fix is lost entirely).

RF environmental conditions are always varying, so someone can see a difference between one flight to the next in terms of how far they can fly, but it never has anything to do with GPS signal quality or strength.

When there's confusion, it's best to just be as clear as possible.

 

[Mr GruntHunter]

It's better to just not leave the door open for subjectivity at all, since it's really not subjective. RTL is triggered by two things, and two things only - a loss of controller signal and a low battery state. That's it. No improvement to the GPS signal will effect when RTL is triggered. The only thing triggered by a change in GPS fix quality (for the worse) is a drop to manual (if the fix is lost entirely).

RF environmental conditions are always varying, so someone can see a difference between one flight to the next in terms of how far they can fly, but it never has anything to do with GPS signal quality or strength.

When there's confusion, it's best to just be as clear as possible.

Thanks for the clarification regarding the GPS and RTH relationship. I stand corrected. I will however stand pact on NOT arbitrarily changing antennas without matching them to the transmitter.

 

[crackoneopen]

I installed mrobotics m8n gps on my solo with Rev A board. First flight was rock solid with 18 sats. Tonight I took off with 10 sats and at about 15 feet I had 20 sats. Solo became unstable and started drifting several feet in every direction. It was like I was in fly manual. Not sure what is going on. Never had this problem in about 20 flights with original gps. Anyone have similar issue?

 

[pious_greek]

What was your hdop? Any electrical or power lines nearby where you were hovering? how's vibration on your bird?