Experiences with low cost M8N GPS modules?

are you trying to talk yourself into it or others?
Go for the cheap stuff, its your bird.
Personally I have too much invested in my gear to use this crap. Just hang out in DIY drones or RC group and read
No one hear has time to prove to you what we know already.

Yes there are inexpensive versions of everything, and if you never heard of Chinese knockoffs and their questionable quality do I have a site for you!!!!

Me I am sticking with the engineers who have worked to make open source and hardware products affordable.
The Here GPS is one of the best you can buy right now, Its 45 bucks. seems like a deal to me
 
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The thing that puzzles me is the description of the Beitian BN800 in such a derogatory manner. It has been called inferior, a fraud, a fake, a hack, and a scam. But where is the evidence to backup these claims? The idea of the thread was to find out if those criticisms based upon fact, or ... something else.

I think you're reading too far into what I'm saying. I understand it worked on your solo. I believe you. And I'm not claiming they cannot or will not ever work. It might even be better than the stock Rev A and shield, although that wouldn't take much.

The problem is you have no idea what you got with that BN800. And if you bought another one tomorrow, it could be a totally different, which makes comparisons kind of pointless. Just like nobody else buying any other cut rate GPS from Banggood, Ali, etc really knows what they got, what it actually has under the hood, who actually built it, and what QC it actually went through. These chinese retailers sell cheap knockoff hacked products made with little to no QC and minimal manufacturing standards. That is what you bought and that is the risk you take in doing so.

The fact that it worked on your solo does not change that. And you are betting the full cost of your aircraft, gimbal, and camera on that. All of which cost a whole lot more than the $10-$20 you saved. IMO, it is not worth it and I will always make this point. People who shop by price and do not understand this concept will read this thread and buy it because someone said it worked. People need to know what they're getting into.

If you or someone else want to take that risk. that's fine. Just take that risk actually understanding what it is.
 
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I think you're reading too far into what I'm saying. I understand it worked on your solo. I believe you. And I'm not claiming they cannot or will not ever work. It might even be better than the stock Rev A and shield, although that wouldn't take much.

The problem is you have no idea what you got with that BN800. And if you bought another one tomorrow, it could be a totally different, which makes comparisons kind of pointless. Just like nobody else buying any other cut rate GPS from Banggood, Ali, etc really knows what they got, what it actually has under the hood, who actually built it, and what QC it actually went through. These chinese retailers sell cheap knockoff hacked products made with little to no QC and minimal manufacturing standards. That is what you bought and that is the risk you take in doing so.

The fact that it worked on your solo does not change that. And you are betting the full cost of your aircraft, gimbal, and camera on that. All of which cost a whole lot more than the $10-$20 you saved. IMO, it is not worth it and I will always make this point. People who shop by price and do not understand this concept will read this thread and buy it because someone said it worked. People need to know what they're getting into.

If you or someone else want to take that risk. that's fine. Just take that risk actually understanding what it is.
I guess that kind of covers the reasoning to buy from a known source on the GPS question...
 
are you trying to talk yourself into it or others?
Go for the cheap stuff, its your bird.
Personally I have too much invested in my gear to use this crap. Just hang out in DIY drones or RC group and read
No one hear has time to prove to you what we know already.

Yes there are inexpensive versions of everything, and if you never heard of Chinese knockoffs and their questionable quality do I have a site for you!!!!

Me I am sticking with the engineers who have worked to make open source and hardware products affordable.
The Here GPS is one of the best you can buy right now, Its 45 bucks. seems like a deal to me
$45? Where at? I have only seen it for $60.
 
I was looking for real world experiences from actual users at the beginning of this thread, because I'm always skeptical of lower cost solutions also. Clearly, I got a lot more in the way of emotional responses from folks with pre-conceived notions than I did actual experiences. That should not have surprised me. It always happens. However, it is not just my mounting experience with these units now (I have two). Several other actual users have chimed in and related that they've had very good luck with them also.
Based upon mounting experience I can't agree with the idea that if you buy one you have no idea what you're getting. ReadytoFlyQuads in Florida obviously thinks enough of them to sell it with their own brand label. I've been buying stuff from them for years and I can assure you they don't sell junk. Lots of other places sell the BN800 with the OEM label (not just Banggood).

I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything - I'm just looking for and reporting real-world experiences. Ultimately that is all that matters. Just trying to strip away the baseless opinions and get a little closer to the facts.

I'm looking to get some enjoyment out my Solos before they are totally eclipsed by products from other companies. It won't take long - and it's already happening. I've been building DIY quads and tricopters for years with 3DR hardware and I know how things progress. I have a friend with a Phantom 4 Pro and I have to be honest and admit that it is way ahead of the Solo in features and innovation. With the current DJI intillegent flight modes, there is nothing the Solo can do that the P4P can't do as well or better. I very much dislike DJI, but I have to honestly admit that having flown both.
 
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These cheap replacements are much better for me but seem to suffer from the same battery problem as the OEM. I fly the same place but every day they start off acquiring very slow as if it was a new location.
 
Banggood, Ali, Amazon, eBay and other chinese retails selling knockoff unknown products is not a a preconceived notion. It is a fact.
 
I believe it's hard to shock people with that when this is the sticker that came on my SOLO box yesterday.
 

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I didn't say made in China. I said Chinese retailers. 3DR is an American company with an American owner designed in America. The components are manufactured in China to 3DR's standards, with actual QC.

That is not the same thing as some Wangbangdong brand GPS that was stolen by a Chinese company and produced without legitimate QC, standards, or ethics. Then fraudulently represented as legitimate product. And sold for a cut rate.
 
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I didn't say that one was. I find RTFQ to be a reputable seller that is likely reliable and not a hack. I'm pretty sure I specifically listed examples of retailers to be suspicious of, and RTFQ is not one of the ones I listed.
 
Thanks for the clarification. RTFQ is in the lead but I don't see where it remembers anything from one day to the next. That is contrary to their write up.
 
I was looking for real world experiences from actual users at the beginning of this thread, because I'm always skeptical of lower cost solutions also. Clearly, I got a lot more in the way of emotional responses from folks with pre-conceived notions than I did actual experiences. That should not have surprised me. It always happens. However, it is not just my mounting experience with these units now (I have two). Several other actual users have chimed in and related that they've had very good luck with them also.
Based upon mounting experience I can't agree with the idea that if you buy one you have no idea what you're getting. ReadytoFlyQuads in Florida obviously thinks enough of them to sell it with their own brand label. I've been buying stuff from them for years and I can assure you they don't sell junk. Lots of other places sell the BN800 with the OEM label (not just Banggood).

I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything - I'm just looking for and reporting real-world experiences. Ultimately that is all that matters. Just trying to strip away the baseless opinions and get a little closer to the facts.

I'm looking to get some enjoyment out my Solos before they are totally eclipsed by products from other companies. It won't take long - and it's already happening. I've been building DIY quads and tricopters for years with 3DR hardware and I know how things progress. I have a friend with a Phantom 4 Pro and I have to be honest and admit that it is way ahead of the Solo in features and innovation. With the current DJI intillegent flight modes, there is nothing the Solo can do that the P4P can't do as well or better. I very much dislike DJI, but I have to honestly admit that having flown both.
So what you are saying is the folks who don't care to fly cheap knock offs have no real world experience?
classic
 
the $30 RTFQ gps is the same as the $17 bangood unit., ive tried em all and the cheap ones work and have fast lock but they float around more than the high priced units, i think they have no Emi protection or something.... i use good gps on my main photography birds and cheapos on my screw around $59 birds.... all is good..
 
Let's be fair here, the original post did ask for "experiences" on low cost GPS for the solo, not opinions. If the cheap ones cause accidents, we should hear them out and hopefully the negative experiences will tell the newcomers to stay away from them.

We all agree that mRo is superior. Let's leave it at that and get back to the original post. Again: experiences, not opinions.
 
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I am not stating opinions. I am stating facts. If those facts are inconvenient to what some people here were hoping to conclude, that's really just too bad. The GPS is a critical system on the copter. Blindly ignoring facts in favor of only hearing good news is not wise. If that's what you're looking for, I suggest upworthy.com.
 
I am not stating opinions. I am stating facts. If those facts are inconvenient to what some people here were hoping to conclude, that's really just too bad. The GPS is a critical system on the copter. Blindly ignoring facts in favor of only hearing good news is not wise. If that's what you're looking for, I suggest upworthy.com.

Please don't get me wrong. Your posts are always informative and I have been learning a lot about my solo from you in particular here and on FB. Same goes for your earlier post comparing the different GPS. But they are facts about the types of GPS, not facts about using China clone GPS, which is what the OP requested.

I also don't think everyone reading this thread is trying to justify their buying a cheap GPS. I'm happy with my stock Rev A. It performs more than my need and expectation (I'm a beginner so there's not much to it :)). I did learn to put in the cardboard. But it isn't broke, so I won't fix it. Still, I do want to learn about the result of using different type of GPS on the Solo from users with first hand experience. I have read about many great experiences with the mRo. I haven't read about many bad experiences with the China clone. But if we keep crucifying the China clone before people speak out, they might not even speak out at all because of fear of looking like a cheapskate. Then where will we get the evidences to support the facts about the different types of GPS from?!

BTW, just posting a discussion about China clone GPS is enough to see drifting, you don't need to buy one to find out. (j/k) :D
 
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UPDATE: way out shines all my other GPS with a location record of 23. That is 13 more than a REV b at the same location.

$19 delivered USA seller Ublox NEO-M8N GPS Module with Compass for APM2.6 APM2.8 Pixhawk PX4 Flight In US | eBay
Inside the case is a GPS board the same size as the OEM gps. I taped mine to a piece of moongel to help with vibrations. moongel | eBay

Right out of the gate this is the best of the ones I got, all $30 and under. In less than 60 seconds it got 10 satellites. That is in a new location(new install) under a heavy tree canopy!
red-red
black-black
yellow-yellow
solo brown- GPS white

This install did have two ferrite rings unlike the others, which had one.
 
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