M8N GPS vs Pixhawk 2.0 Cube

Pedals2Paddles · Mar 2, 2017

mRo is almost always "out of stock" because it's so popular. But it's being constantly manufactured with very short lead time. Email them and ask.

cynfab · Mar 2, 2017

The module you linked to is NOT an M8N. It is a "compatible"... well sort of. I have one, prices vary widely, I paid ~$18US It does use a u-blox 8030 chip, but it may not use a TCXO or have the proper size and compatible EEPROM. I bought mine when I saw a teardown of one that had the proper EEPROM. Mine didn't. I could not update mine to 3.01 firmware, however it worked well enough for me to try it in my Solo. In flight (never got over 20' up) it was very unstable, most likely due to poor RFI/EMI shielding.
It now resides in my GPS drawer along with a few others of different generations.
It has a different connector, so I had to do a bit of connector work to get it to work. It doesn't mount the same way as an mRo or the original.
THe drotek would be an adequate alternative, but the ones I've seen do not have the RFI/EMI bypassing that even the Rev A Solo has.

Most e-bay M8N's are either clones, counterfeits or compatibles or down right fakes. The ones from Amazon are not much better, but you can always return it to Amazon saying it is a fake and get a refund.

vmaniqui · Mar 2, 2017

mrreddog said:
that one would work, but it uses a thinner, cheaper antenna..I would go this route
3DR SOLO GPS (NEO-M8N)

Thank you sir. Since I do have 5 solos (4 might go this route) any amount saved would be good.

Lon Denard · Mar 2, 2017

mrreddog said:
that one would work, but it uses a thinner, cheaper antenna..I would go this route
3DR SOLO GPS (NEO-M8N)

This looks totally plug and play, is that correct? Also, someone mentioned that it lacks some of the stock board's functionality, do you find this to be a problem? Thanks.

Dogman1973 · Mar 2, 2017

cynfab said:
It now resides in my GPS drawer along with a few others of different generations.
It has a different connector, so I had to do a bit of connector work to get it to work. It doesn't mount the same way as an mRo or the original.

I also have 2 different types of "compatibles" with hacked up cables sitting in my drawer... both my Solo's have the MRO now... nuff said ;-)

Lon Denard · Mar 3, 2017

Okay I answered my own stupid question but here's the best one... Which is better, MRO or the Drotek? The Drotek looks like it doors the Solo better while the MRO looks more universal. Any thoughts? When I get my Solo back, I'll certainly be interested in some upgrades if I keep it. Oh and does anyone know if this shows up in the logs? You know, in case I need warranty service again?

Whirlygig · Mar 3, 2017

Lon Denard said:
...When I get my Solo back, I'll certainly be interested in some upgrades if I keep it. Oh and does anyone know if this shows up in the logs? You know, in case I need warranty service again?

Lon, I don't get it. What difference does it make if it's in the logs if you know the truth? For what does it profit a man to gain the world (or a free solo repair) if he loses his soul? Besides, if 3DR is monitoring social media, you're done bud they got the chat logs.

Lon Denard · Mar 3, 2017

Whirlygig said:
Lon, I don't get it. What difference does it make if it's in the logs if you know the truth? For what does it profit a man to gain the world (or a free solo repair) if he loses his soul? Besides, if 3DR is monitoring social media, you're done bud they got the chat logs.

Um it's not like I did it already. Heck, they have the drone right now. Any modification voids the warranty so it's probably best to wait post warranty to do any mods.

Whirlygig · Mar 3, 2017

Actually what I read here before was that 3DR would look at your logs and say, "looks like you got GPS lock on 20 satellites in sixty seconds everywhere you went so you were definitely not using our GPS. WARRANTY CLAIM DENIED."

Lon Denard · Mar 3, 2017

Whirlygig said:
Actually what I read here before was that 3DR would look at your logs and say, "looks like you got GPS lock on 20 satellites in sixty seconds everywhere you went so you were definitely not using our GPS. WARRANTY CLAIM DENIED."

Hahaha! And you were flying 2 miles away....

Pedals2Paddles · Mar 3, 2017

I don't believe 3DR would do that unless the logs showed the failure was related to the GPS. Which is pretty unlikely since any GPS failure would put it in manual, at which point any crash is pilot error. I don't believe anyone here or on FB has had a warranty claim denied because they noticed your GPS signal was too good to be true.

Bob firewheels · Mar 4, 2017

ChrisP3 said:
I hadn't thought of how much the prop guards could act as a sail. Makes sense. Just ordered the mRo GPS board. I'll see how it works. Thanks again.

If you think about it, when you do the upgrade can you left us know if it's worth the money spent and what were the benefits that you noticed.
Thanks,
Bob

Jubalr · Mar 4, 2017

Bob firewheels said:
If you think about it, when you do the upgrade can you left us know if it's worth the money spent and what were the benefits that you noticed.
Thanks,
Bob

Really? Try this thread...

ChrisP3 · Mar 5, 2017

Jubalr said:
Really? Try this thread...

Thanks Jubair for the link to the thread with so many more data points than I could provide. Nonetheless, I've tested both of my Solos, both of them with the Solo Version 2 shield, at two different locations since installing the M8N board.

At an industrial lot next to a large tree, the first Solo has the stock GPS card and it found 10 satellites. The second Solo has the M8N and at the first location, it quickly locked onto 16 satellites with 0.7 HDOP.

The next day I took them both to the beach where the stock GPS equipped Solo found 11 satellites and the M8N Solo had 21 satellites with a 0.6 HDOP.

I suspect that a more valid test would be to use a single Solo, repeatedly run it over a "Saved Shot" and then change the Stock GPS board to the M8N GPS board and run the same saved shots. But there could be so many other variables that could affect the precision that there could be greater variance in the tests without changing the board.

When I fly at the beach, I bring a 2' x 3' rug for takeoff. It kicks up much less debris than when I attempt directly from the sand. When I use the return to home function with the M8N board, sometimes it will land partially on the rug and other times it was about to land about 4' away. (I'd then manually adjust the controls to bring it into the carpeted landing spot.)