GPS lost in open areas

Mauiwind · Jan 22, 2016

I'm wondering what might be the issue. I'm noticing a seemingly intermittent loss of GPS signal in a wide open area. It comes back after some 10-20 seconds of manual flight. (200' above houses) I can't seem t repeat the error. Any clues? i guess I should do a level and compass cal, to rule that out. I'll let you know.

Maddog · Jan 22, 2016

GPS loss is pretty rare- keep us posted please.

erikgraham · Jan 22, 2016

Possible causes off the top of my head:

loose cable to the GPS module or loose connection to antenna. Seem to recall an issue with some of the first Solos with a connector that could come loose in shipping.
KP index over 7 (geomagnetic storm) - this is highly doubtful
early stages of GPS hardware failure
random and rare code bug that would clear itself up after power cycling

Steve K · Jan 22, 2016

Happened to me several times on Sunday too. Didn't know it was rare. Now I'm concerned. First time it ever happened.

Mauiwind · Jan 24, 2016

erikgraham said:
Possible causes off the top of my head:

loose cable to the GPS module or loose connection to antenna. Seem to recall an issue with some of the first Solos with a connector that could come loose in shipping.

KP index over 7 (geomagnetic storm) - this is highly doubtful

early stages of GPS hardware failure

random and rare code bug that would clear itself up after power cycling

comprehensive ... thanks... I just need to repeat the problem to better diagnose the reason.

Redbugger · Jan 24, 2016

Had same thing happen Saturday. Completley wide open area lost gps signal twice momentarily. Both times it came back after 5 to 10 seconds. First time it has happened to me. Kinda strange.

Maddog · Jan 24, 2016

I wonder if something was going on with the KP index, etc.?

Redbugger · Jan 24, 2016

Going to try another flight today to see if it happens again.

erikgraham · Jan 24, 2016

I'm betting loose connection. Search back in the early days on this site and there was a loose GPS connection issue. The fix is simple.

Redbugger · Jan 24, 2016

Flew 2 batteries today and everything worked fine no gps loss.I will check the connections to make sure though.

erikgraham · Jan 24, 2016

Here's the thread: Couldn't acquire GPS at all! Until! | 3D Robotics Drone Forum

Maybe it's relevant to your issue. Maybe not. I'm just guessing. It's something to look at though.

Steve K · Jan 24, 2016

Thanks for the link. Looked at mine tonight and all is attached well inside. Haven't flown mine for a week. Will know how it locks tomorrow.

Mauiwind · Jan 25, 2016

I went up again yesterday about the same time of day in the same place. Once again, in a rather random, and certainly unrepeatable fashion, the GPS signal was lost for a few seconds and the unit went into a manual fly mode. In just a few seconds the GPS signal was active again. One fo my problems with the announcement of "fly"...
Amy I in manual fly mode? Or do i need to go into manual fly mode? and when the GPS comes back, how do I know I'm in GPS mode or still in manual fly mode, or GPS fly mode?

thanks....

Redbugger · Jan 25, 2016

When mine lost GPS and regained signal I hit the return home button because it was windy and it drifted pretty fast and I still wasn't positive of the orientation at that time to correct it manually. Once it connected again I hit the RTH and it came back no problem. But like you asked I'm not positive myself which button to hit to get it back in GPS mode. I would say the fly button but not positive.

erikgraham · Jan 25, 2016

Mauiwind said:
I went up again yesterday about the same time of day in the same place. Once again, in a rather random, and certainly unrepeatable fashion, the GPS signal was lost for a few seconds and the unit went into a manual fly mode. In just a few seconds the GPS signal was active again. One fo my problems with the announcement of "fly"...
Amy I in manual fly mode? Or do i need to go into manual fly mode? and when the GPS comes back, how do I know I'm in GPS mode or still in manual fly mode, or GPS fly mode?

thanks....

FLY is GPS mode. Also known as Loiter for folks who fly other 3DR and pixhawk based drones.
FLY:Manual is one of a number of manual modes that don't use GPS. On other 3DR and/or pixhawk based drones it's called Alt Hold because the drone will hold its altitude using its barometers, but it will drift with the wind. In Alt Hold the drone will also stay level for you.
Other manual modes include Stabalize and Acro. Stabalize is like Alt Hold, except it doesn't maintain altitude, it just keeps the drone stable (i.e. Level). Acro is really full manual. You have to keep the drone level and keep altitude and heading all yourself.

So with that out of the way. When you see FLY appear on your iPad and/or controller screen you are in GPS mode. If you are in Fly:Manual or in the middle of a smart shot and you hit the FLY button on your control, you will switch to FLY mode and the drone will hover in place.

If you loose GPS it will switch to FLY:Manual. When GPS is re-acquired it will alert you on the controller (and in the app too I believe), at which point all you have to do is press the FLY button and you'll be back in GPS assisted mode (aka FLY/Loiter). I'm not sure what happens if you briefly loose GPS. I doubt it would automatically switch you back to FLY mode. You'll have to press FLY. Other buttons like Home will also switch you to GPS mode.

I hope that clears some things up, but reading it back I'm not sure I explained that well - or really answered your question.

Redbugger · Jan 25, 2016

Good information that is a good explanation very helpful

Raston Warrior · Mar 10, 2016

Great thread guys, thank you very much. I'm having the exact same symptoms - flights have been good until recently and now I'm loosing GPS for ~10 seconds before it comes back, about 3 times to a battery.
I've been digging in there, I bet it's a loose connector. I'll check. Thx!

- R

BRG · Sep 4, 2016

I have been having the same problem for the last month. Each time I fly at some point it will go into fly:manual mode. That will last for 5-10 seconds then it will switch back to fly. This has happen even when I have 12 sats and HDOP of .8. About a week ago I installed the GPS shield mod and made sure all the connections were good. This has not changed the behavior. Might be time to contact 3rd support and see if they can tell what is happening from the logs.