mRobotics M8N GPS

Let me put it that way.. if the 299 solo to you is nothing but just a cheap drone and if it crash, it crash and you will just move on and look for another drone, then you are right, the 80 dollar seems a bit silly

Yea, I previously gave the analogy of if you were given a car, would you not bother changing the oil because the cost of doing so is significantly more than your original investment in the car?

The Solo is a very specialized, capable aerial photography platform, being practically given away because it's basically unsupported and "outdated" (only in terms of hype, not actual capabilities). If someone buys it just to fly around for fun until they crash and then toss it in the trash, then yea, an $80 GPS upgrade is hard to justify and, honestly, not even needed. If they bought the Solo to do aerial video, then an $80 GPS upgrade to gain better accuracy and reliability is easily justified.

To each their own.
 
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Let me put it that way.. if the 299 solo to you is nothing but just a cheap drone and if it crash, it crash and you will just move on and look for another drone, then you are right, the 80 dollar seems a bit silly.

To some of us, it's amaze that the solo is at its current price point. Those who spent 80 dollar for a better/more reliable GPS board don't see solo as a cheap drone but in fact, see solo as it was originally design for, which is a platform which allow us to continue adding functionality to it.

Paying the 80 dollar for the board not only get you a reliable GPS module which I'd argue, more steady smart shots, lower chance of losing your drone due to GPS signal lost, and continue to support the vendor who develop product for the solo platform.
The safety factor that an improved GPS design provides to eliminate fly-aways is also important. I would feel very bad if a run-away drone the size of the Solo with its cuisinart blades were to hit someone.
 
While the blades on the Solo are definitely a hazard, try flying a DIY like mine with carbon fiber 15" props on them. I try and keep that bad boy as far away from people as possible. Those things are like razor blades if they come off. Never happened to me, and if you keep the screws torqued down properly and check every flight, you should be ok.
 
Wow.

So about two weeks ago I bought two of these (one for me one for my brother). He put them both in.

Finally went and flew about 2.5 battery packs in a pretty open field. Within about 30 seconds of power up, I had 14 satellites. Just before takeoff and during flight, my sat count numbered anywhere between 19 and 23 satellites. Hdop was around 0.5.

Well worth it.
 
Even though I haven't flown yet (still studying & reading) I went ahead and ordered one. The FREE5 code from back at the beginning of this thread (it pays to read from the beginning) still works on mRo. Tossed a thank you in there for Jordi for supporting the Solo and suggested sourcing batteries as that will probably be the thing most in demand.

ETA.
So my mRo board came in 3 days after I ordered it. With the stock rev B board, I got 6 Sats and a hdop of 1.6. 4 Sats indoors. With the mRo M8N Solo board I got 16+ and an hodp of 0.6, 12 sat's indoors. I keep the stock copper shield. It was worth the effort and price of the update and it only took minutes to install.
 
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Where did you guys order your gps from? It currently says out of stock.
 
Where did you guys order your gps from? It currently says out of stock.

Just go ahead and place an order, they make them on demand. People have reported them shipping out in a day or two even when they were listed as out of stock. The owner of mRobotics is one of the original founders of 3DR, so they're reputable people.
 
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Just go ahead and place an order, they make them on demand. People have reported them shipping out in a day or two even when they were listed as out of stock. The owner of mRobotics is one of the original founders of 3DR, so they're reputable people.
Do I need the Solo GPS Shield V2 from 3dr too?
 
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As stated order it direct from mRo, its plug & play for the Solo. I didn't get the V2 shield, I just used the copper shield. Read elsewhere that the V2 shield isn't needed and only beneficial to the Rev B board.
 
mRos told me on phone that you can use either the v2 or the original copper shield or nothing at all. Some here warn that if you use the copper, you should consider putting some cardboard or other material under it to prevent short. But then others warn do not use cardboard because it may soak moisture and cause short. I decided to remove copper and install v2 over the mRos. It's another $35 and it may be gilding the Lilly but it looks good and makes more sense to me than copper all things considered.
 
I bought one of the newer backpack bundles with the black REV B gps but have not opened it to confirm. Do these have the copper shield or did 3DR instal the v2 shield in these rev b birds?
 
You got to like those guys at mRobotics.io.........a great bunch of guys with a vast knowledge of the yesterdays of 3dr's past......

I would definitely buy & support those guys......
 
You got to like those guys at mRobotics.io.........a great bunch of guys with a vast knowledge of the yesterdays of 3dr's past......

I would definitely buy & support those guys......
I placed my order last night. Seems awesome that ex 3dr employees are designing parts to make the solo better :) Besides the GPS are there any other mods worth doing to make the solo perform better?
 
The safety factor that an improved GPS design provides to eliminate fly-aways is also important. I would feel very bad if a run-away drone the size of the Solo with its cuisinart blades were to hit someone.

"Cuisinart Blades"...now that is funny
 
I placed my order last night. Seems awesome that ex 3dr employees are designing parts to make the solo better :) Besides the GPS are there any other mods worth doing to make the solo perform better?

You may want to upgrade the Wifi cards in the controller & drone....

Alot of guys are using the Mikrotik R11e-2Hnd cards......you will need 2 of them.....

I personally have not done the upgrade yet on the cards....
 
I bought one of the newer backpack bundles with the black REV B gps but have not opened it to confirm. Do these have the copper shield or did 3DR instal the v2 shield in these rev b birds?
I bought one of the newer backpack bundles with the black REV B gps but have not opened it to confirm. Do these have the copper shield or did 3DR instal the v2 shield in these rev b birds?

They have the copper shield.
 
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You may want to upgrade the Wifi cards in the controller & drone....

Alot of guys are using the Mikrotik R11e-2Hnd cards......you will need 2 of them.....

I personally have not done the upgrade yet on the cards....


Is it true you can just upgrade one (in the controller) and still see an improvement? And, where are folks buying the wifi cards? Thanks!
 
Is the Solo GPS Shield V2 necessary?
According to mRobotics, the shield "is recommended, but not required". I have the M8N on both of my Solo's, and have the v2 shield on both as well. I feel you can't have too much of a good thing. So far, I love the performance. Hope this helps.
 
mRos told me on phone that you can use either the v2 or the original copper shield or nothing at all. Some here warn that if you use the copper, you should consider putting some cardboard or other material under it to prevent short. But then others warn do not use cardboard because it may soak moisture and cause short. I decided to remove copper and install v2 over the mRos. It's another $35 and it may be gilding the Lilly but it looks good and makes more sense to me than copper all things considered.

Or if you prefer, you can 3D print for free or order for maybe 6 bucks total and attach your original copper shield.
3DR Solo GPS Isolation Plate for mRo GPS u-Blox Neo-M8N by dcarpy
 

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