New Solo firmware available now 1.0.5

Rodney Johnson · Jul 5, 2015

rrmccabe said:
I have not heard of GoPro issues at all. But have not tested. Great job on 2600 meters. That is awesome.

Rich
I honestly cant complain about the range at this point and again it works well from my tests but I still am not impressed with the GPS receiver in these units. I have been testing them side buy side in the back yard under trees and the Solo drops down below 5 all the time, My other receivers might get down to 18 Sat count.
There is no firmware upgrade that will fix that .. It will have to be a hardware upgrade. I hope I see one soon, as of now this is the only downfall I can see with my testing, I'm sure the Gimbal will have its own issues,, But again maybe not,, if we get them in December the bugs might be worked out and it will work fine,, Just in time for 2016

SteveMyers75 · Jul 5, 2015

If the M8N is that much better than the 7N, I wonder what it would take to make an upgraded module.
My first guess would be there would be a power useage penalty, but it would be worth it.

Also, what antenna are you using with the M8N?

From the M8N Datasheet:
Highlights:
• Concurrent reception of GPS/QZSS, GLONASS, BeiDou
• Industry leading –167 dBm navigation sensitivity
• Product variants to meet performance and cost requirements
• Combines low power consumption and high sensitivity
• Backward compatible with NEO-7, NEO-6 and NEO-5 families

(It's also Galileo ready.)

Rodney Johnson · Jul 5, 2015

SteveMyers75 said:
If the M8N is that much better than the 7N, I wonder what it would take to make an upgraded module.
My first guess would be there would be a power useage penalty, but it would be worth it.

Also, what antenna are you using with the M8N?

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__76928__ublox_neo_m8n_gps_with_compass.html

Rodney Johnson · Jul 5, 2015

Its cheep and it works so why cant 3DR use M8N.. It blows anything they are using out of the water.
I have used it all summer and have had no issues.. Today I covered it with tinfoil and was still getting 12 Sats,, when I did that to the Solo,, 4 Sats...

SteveMyers75 · Jul 5, 2015

I'm willing to throw a small amount of cash at it and see if I can get this to work.
If it's backward compatible, the output should be the same.

If it works, great I'll keep the Solo.
If not, it goes back.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ublox-NEO-M...451?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aeaef51a3

Rodney Johnson · Jul 5, 2015

I will be emailing 3DR tomorrow as to my weekend test findings. If I can't get better GPS reception then this my solo will be going back also... I would like to ask 3DR if it would Void the warranty using the 8 to test it on the PixHawk II.
I'm sure it would but it's working fine on the pixhawk V1.

RyanG · Jul 5, 2015

Thanks for the reply. I am certainly NOT able to build anything, so you are well beyond what I know.

That said, your GPS system sounds like something SOLO might want to start thinking about.

Ryan G

SteveMyers75 · Jul 6, 2015

Rodney Johnson said:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__76928__ublox_neo_m8n_gps_with_compass.html

Reading the description, it sounds like that uses an active patch antenna.
That might have more to do with it's increased performance than the NEO-8 vs NEO-7.

Either way, I went ahead and ordered a NEO-M8N based module that can run either Active or Passive.
I'm planning on getting it working, then do some testing with antenna placement.
Even if I don't keep the Solo, GPS modules and antenna will always be useful on something...

Ian [P13] · Jul 6, 2015

As mentioned elsewhere the M8N was tested with the Solo by 3DR and is not a recommended update. Details on why in the thread on GPS.

Raybro · Jul 6, 2015

Just powered on my Tab 4 and 3DR services updated....
V 1.2.20

rrmccabe · Jul 6, 2015

Raybro said:
Just powered on my Tab 4 and 3DR services updated....
V 1.2.20

FYI
https://github.com/DroidPlanner/DroneKit-Android/releases/tag/3DRServices-v1.2.20

FlyGuy · Jul 6, 2015

Rodney Johnson said:
I made another flight just a few hours after that one right when the sun when down and the mosquitos started eating me. I got out to 2600 meters,,, so that's 1.6 miles over a corn field at night and I still lost the lights and could not see it. Had a few family members ask what would happen if it crashed or got lost,,, told them ,,, simple ,,, it would crash and get lost.

I would like to know if there is any link between Gopro attached and bad GPS reception. I have not had any reception issues but I don't have the gopro mounted after my last issue with GPS.
Rich have you heard of any issues related to gopro effecting GPS and or Compass ?
Thanks

Ive wondered the same thing. I have flown 99% without GoPro and have never had GPS issues. I should test it more with the GoPro but just not interested in rolling video without Gimbal.

FlyGuy · Jul 6, 2015

RyanG said:
Man.. I flew mine today out to 400 meters and I lost it in the sky over the ocean (I figure that is the safest place if it does crash, although I would be out $$, at least no one would get hurt). I then just flew it backwards as I couldn't see it so I watched the controller to see how it was getting closer.

Pretty cool though..

Ha.... I don't have the nerve!!

RyanG · Jul 6, 2015

FlyGuy said:
Ha.... I don't have the nerve!!

There are people flying 2,000+ ft away and some even at over a mile (or 2) and they were fine.. I am fearful of course, but well how else am I going to get better at this.

Ryan G

Rodney Johnson · Jul 7, 2015

RyanG said:
There are people flying 2,000+ ft away and some even at over a mile (or 2) and they were fine.. I am fearful of course, but well how else am I going to get better at this.

Ryan G

As long as you have good GPS lock you will be fine, GPS is critical for RTH and once the Solo and controller can no longer communicate it will automatically RTH. So flying to the end of its range is not as worrisome as one would think. Also if you really want to test it, find a friend and an open area and drop them off at one end of your test area and you drive down the road a few miles and fly toward them.

You can communicate by cell phone so you will have eyes on solo as it is flying down range.
Just make sure that the area you pic to test has no tall buildings and you are up 150 to 200 feet , you should not have to be over 200 if the land is relatively flat.
Go out and have a little fun,,

rrmccabe · Jul 7, 2015

One thing that is not talked about a lot on this site...

GET A TRACKER !

If its over water its not going to help but I have went after my Phantom 2 Vision + three times now with a tracker and brought it home with no damage.

Nothing worse that sitting at home wondering where it is.

Jubalr · Jul 7, 2015

rrmccabe said:
One thing that is not talked about a lot on this site...

GET A TRACKER !

If its over water its not going to help but I have went after my Phantom 2 Vision + three times now with a tracker and brought it home with no damage.

Nothing worse that sitting at home wondering where it is.

Absolutely agree! And for trackers that don't require cell service I like the Marco Polo.

FlyGuy · Jul 7, 2015

rrmccabe said:
One thing that is not talked about a lot on this site...

GET A TRACKER !

If its over water its not going to help but I have went after my Phantom 2 Vision + three times now with a tracker and brought it home with no damage.

Nothing worse that sitting at home wondering where it is.

A tracker eh! Which one do you use? You seem to have lots of experience with long range flights! What features should I look for?

rrmccabe · Jul 7, 2015

Yes I do a lot of long range stuff and missions where I fly a couple miles away so a tracker is a must.

Here are my thoughts.

The cell phone trackers are nice when they work because you can look on the map and see exactly where its at. That is beneficial because if its in the middle of a field or woods you can choose what walking distance is shorter and drive to the closest road and walk from there.

The downside is they don't always work and usually require you to pay a monthly service. The two kinds I have seen either track your route or ones you call and it will send you a message with latitude and longitude. To me it seems like the ones that track route are only option as once your drone is on the ground its less likely to get a cell signal. I tried a Flytrex live with cell and could not maintain coverage.

So another option is the Marco Polo. It works on traditional radio waves. Has a battery life of several days so you can track the next day if needed. It shows direction and signal strength on a tracking receiver. So you have to move around and stop and watch for strength and pointer for direction.

So the Marco Polo is very reliable and has no monthly fees. You can buy extra "tags" for it and track up to 3 aircraft on the standard tracker. I think Tim at Marco Polo told me he could update the tracker to work with up to 6 tags.

Only downside is you don't see the "drone is here" on a map. Takes a little more moving around to find it.

Here is a video I did and let Marco Polo use on their site.

This was caused by setting a way-point wrong on one of my missions.

GoodnNuff · Jul 7, 2015

rrmccabe said:
One thing that is not talked about a lot on this site...

GET A TRACKER !

If its over water its not going to help but I have went after my Phantom 2 Vision + three times now with a tracker and brought it home with no damage.

Nothing worse that sitting at home wondering where it is.

I just picked up a Trackimo to use on my drones.