Experiences with low cost M8N GPS modules?

Did a quick return home test with the Beitian BN-800 GPS. The BN-800 seems to be consistently accurate landing within two feet of the take off spot. There are definitely better GPS choices on the market, but for a low cost unit this one is quite impressive. It's definitely better than the stock GPS....

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So I went ahead and chopped my remaining cable and installed the m8n gps... it's really cloudy here and has been raining most of the day so I've not really been able to do any real testing, however I did fly one battery in between the rain and I had 12/13 satellites before takeoff and as many as 19 at 400' up.

Again I'll need to fly more before I have a solid feeling on this, but I will say it did seem to take longer then normal and required more sats then normal for take off. Not sure if this could be due to weather or what...

With the revision b gps yesterday and a 3d printed gps shield I locked on 12 sats while flying.

Guess we will see if it's an improvement or not soon!

How do you set up the 3dr app to see HDOP, speed Etc? (I still don't have solex)
 
So I went ahead and chopped my remaining cable and installed the m8n gps... it's really cloudy here and has been raining most of the day so I've not really been able to do any real testing, however I did fly one battery in between the rain and I had 12/13 satellites before takeoff and as many as 19 at 400' up.

Again I'll need to fly more before I have a solid feeling on this, but I will say it did seem to take longer then normal and required more sats then normal for take off. Not sure if this could be due to weather or what...

With the revision b gps yesterday and a 3d printed gps shield I locked on 12 sats while flying.

Guess we will see if it's an improvement or not soon!

How do you set up the 3dr app to see HDOP, speed Etc? (I still don't have solex)
Tap the black menu bar once the video feed is on screen. Will drop down another line that'll have that info.
 
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So I went ahead and chopped my remaining cable and installed the m8n gps... it's really cloudy here and has been raining most of the day so I've not really been able to do any real testing, however I did fly one battery in between the rain and I had 12/13 satellites before takeoff and as many as 19 at 400' up.

Again I'll need to fly more before I have a solid feeling on this, but I will say it did seem to take longer then normal and required more sats then normal for take off. Not sure if this could be due to weather or what...

With the revision b gps yesterday and a 3d printed gps shield I locked on 12 sats while flying.

Guess we will see if it's an improvement or not soon!

How do you set up the 3dr app to see HDOP, speed Etc? (I still don't have solex)

That's the litmus test I'm looking for as well - ie rev b w/shield against this or other gps. I would hope that 9/10 would be enough for a solid flight but if you loose one or two how often does that result in 'loss of gps'. How many sat's does Solo require to take off? On my dji's I get "Ready to Fly -Green" at 8 or 9 I believe.
 
newbie question here. Can the Ublox NEO-M8N or BN-800 GPS compass be used as a replacement for the compass that came with solo. Would that be the SCL and SDA pins from Ublox board? if so what would be the corresponding cables for solo. Thanks
 
If those things have a compass, and if it uses a compass that already has a driver in firmware, and if you know the alignment... Then sure, you can try to use it. Untested and unknown. You'll be a test pilot.
 
Did a quick return home test with the Beitian BN-800 GPS. The BN-800 seems to be consistently accurate landing within two feet of the take off spot. There are definitely better GPS choices on the market, but for a low cost unit this one is quite impressive. It's definitely better than the stock GPS....

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More real world performance data. That's what counts. When accepted with an open mind - It moves us forward.
Some folks have made statements like "they would never put that crap on their bird", or "they would never be convinced". Really? Never? Some folks recognize that testing new things and new ideas can move us forward. Others get stuck on one idea and get so emotionally attached that they refuse to explore beyond their comfort zone. These are differing human personality traits that have been with us for as long as we've been around.
 
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I find it ironic you are accusing others of being emotional about this. The only one posting angry rants over and over at the slightest disagreement with your personal opinion appears to be you. Take your own advice on the matter.
 
I find it ironic you are accusing others of being emotional about this. The only one posting angry rants over and over at the slightest disagreement with your personal opinion appears to be you. Take your own advice on the matter.

Suggesting that others consider being open minded is not anger. The use of derogatory adjectives such as junk, crap, etc with no factual or statistical evidence to back those criticisms is characteristic of a purely emotional response. I have never resorted to such baseless criticisms.
I asked for experiences at the beginning of the thread. Some people offer them. Most were positive, but a few were slightly critical. That's what I was looking for.
Others had no direct experience but felt compelled to offer negative opinions instead. That's pretty much what the whole thread has boiled down to.
 
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If you can cite anything I've said that is factually untrue, I'm happy to stand corrected. Not liking the truth doesn't constitute falsehood. You claim you want to help people make informed decisions, but you want to disallow any information you don't like. I don't care.
 
newbie question here. Can the Ublox NEO-M8N or BN-800 GPS compass be used as a replacement for the compass that came with solo. Would that be the SCL and SDA pins from Ublox board? if so what would be the corresponding cables for solo. Thanks
Search "ok to fly without a leg compass", I noted the colors for compass and the numbers to change in mission planner. I had a bad leg compass and now use the one on my 18 dollar eBay m8n GPS.
 
When accepted with an open mind - It moves us forward.
Some folks have made statements like "they would never put that crap on their bird", or "they would never be convinced". Really? Never? Some folks recognize that testing new things and new ideas can move us forward.

I didn't really want to chip in here, but I think your aim might be slightly off - you seem to have the wrong people in your sights.

'Open mind'? Say, like OpenSolo for example?
 
I didn't really want to chip in here, but I think your aim might be slightly off - you seem to have the wrong people in your sights.

'Open mind'? Say, like OpenSolo for example?
KDan didn't put anybody in his sights...if you bother to read the thread you'd see that. I understand p2p and pyrate and o others have helped moved the solo cause forward. Nobody is bashing them for that. What is getting old though is their comments as documented by kdan on these cheap GPS's. I could understand harping in once, stating your opinion, and then getting out, but it seems they can't let it go...
 
Open Solo should apparently be re-named "Closed minded lying jerk solo" :)

Why should I let it go? In fact... what exactly should I let go?? I'm not telling people not to use the cheap ones. I'm not telling anyone they are wrong for using them. I'm not pretending they don't work, and I've never said any such thing. I'm not even trying to push any specific product over another. All I've been explaining is the full story behind the cheapos. Mainly the uncertain nature behind the origin, QC standards, and potential for fraud. It's important information for people to consider in order to make an informed decision. For reasons unknown, kdan loses his mind and goes on these wild insulting rants attacking me for it. You'd think he was trying to sell them and I was hurting his sales (which he isn't), so I do not know why he insists on taking this so personally.

So if he's going to go off the deep end with these personal attacks on the information I'm conveying to people, yes I am going to defend my point. Not because I care what he thinks, he has proven to be irrelevant due to his crazy personal attacks and rants. I do it because I care about people making informed decisions on their Solo. I don't want people thinking "Wow this $20 GPS is all puppies and kittens" because kdan wants to be the Minister of Information on GPS units and report only what he wants people to read. I want people to decide for themselves what product is best for them based on ALL the facts... the good and the bad... of all of them. They all have pros and cons, even the expensive high quality ones.
 
This brand's RC experience is over 1 0 years. I wonder; if anyone uses the gps module with 3dr Solo?
url
 

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Radiolink proclaiming they have 10 years of experience doesn't mean it is good experience. They are one of the most well know purveyors of fraudulent products and false advertising. That is a cheap hacked clone of a cell phone GPS. If that's what you want on your solo, yes it can be wired up and function....
 
Radiolink proclaiming they have 10 years of experience doesn't mean it is good experience. They are one of the most well know purveyors of fraudulent products and false advertising. That is a cheap hacked clone of a cell phone GPS. If that's what you want on your solo, yes it can be wired up and function....



I do not know much about these modules, but it seems as if the original m8n chip was used. Also I bought one and I will look its internal structure.
 

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I do not know much about these modules, but it seems as if the original m8n chip was used. Also I bought one and I will look its internal structure.


I have to make a correction: RadioLink is using the Ublox UBX-M8030 chip is not M8N.
 

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Open Solo should apparently be re-named "Closed minded lying jerk solo" :)

Why should I let it go? In fact... what exactly should I let go?? I'm not telling people not to use the cheap ones. I'm not telling anyone they are wrong for using them. I'm not pretending they don't work, and I've never said any such thing. I'm not even trying to push any specific product over another. All I've been explaining is the full story behind the cheapos. Mainly the uncertain nature behind the origin, QC standards, and potential for fraud. It's important information for people to consider in order to make an informed decision. For reasons unknown, kdan loses his mind and goes on these wild insulting rants attacking me for it. You'd think he was trying to sell them and I was hurting his sales (which he isn't), so I do not know why he insists on taking this so personally.

So if he's going to go off the deep end with these personal attacks on the information I'm conveying to people, yes I am going to defend my point. Not because I care what he thinks, he has proven to be irrelevant due to his crazy personal attacks and rants. I do it because I care about people making informed decisions on their Solo. I don't want people thinking "Wow this $20 GPS is all puppies and kittens" because kdan wants to be the Minister of Information on GPS units and report only what he wants people to read. I want people to decide for themselves what product is best for them based on ALL the facts... the good and the bad... of all of them. They all have pros and cons, even the expensive high quality ones.

Where are the alleged wild insulting rants and personal attacks? I've tried to choose my words carefully and not resort to useless derogatory terms as others have.
Multiple people in this thread have related very good experiences with the low cost GPS modules being discussed. The only characteristic of these modules that has been discussed as being slightly sub-standard in some cases is the taoglass vs. Cirocomm antenna that the BN800 uses. The Cirocomm antenna is slightly less sensitive, and that can be verified by comparing the specs at each respective manufacturer.

It seems that real world experience and hard data are not being accepted in this discussion. That was the whole point of the thread - to share real world experiences. I believe that those experiences stand on their own. The subjective opinions don't carry much weight for me. If they are important for others - that's fine. There seems to be little point in going around and around on the merits of opinion vs. hard data. People must choose the criteria upon which they make their choices on their own. I have nothing more to add.
 
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