New Solo Pilot here looking for suggestions.

[djensen623]

Hey guys, just got my Solo a week ago, and have flown 4-5 batteries thru it, and I love it so far. Have increased the speed and am still getting used to flying again, after taking a few years off.

I'm running a completely stock bird, with the exception of the Master Airscrew props and GoPro Hero 4

My main questions are:
1. What upgrades should I do first?
2. What are the pro's and con's of the popular Android app's? (Solex, Tower, etc.)
3. How can I tell what version gps is in my Solo?
4, Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[andrew.baker.142]

Welcome to the forum! You will love the Solo!

Please read through the forum topics. All your questions have been answered in detail, many times over.

 

[djensen623]

Thanks. I understand how the forums work, and was just looking for some quick suggestions. I literally trolled this forum for like an hour and a half this morning looking for some things and I either A-couldn't find the topic, or B-got distracted by reading through 10-15 pages of a thread of what I thought would be the topic I was searching for.

 

[Maddog]

Hey guys, just got my Solo a week ago, and have flown 4-5 batteries thru it, and I love it so far. Have increased the speed and am still getting used to flying again, after taking a few years off.

I'm running a completely stock bird, with the exception of the Master Airscrew props and GoPro Hero 4

My main questions are:
1. What upgrades should I do first?
2. What are the pro's and con's of the popular Android app's? (Solex, Tower, etc.)
3. How can I tell what version gps is in my Solo?
4, Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

!
Welcome! Most upgrades are only done in response to a problem, such as short range, etc. If you aren't having problems none are needed.

If you remove the battery, then the plastic GPS cover in front of the battery tray, you can see the GPS. If the circuit board is Green- Rev A, black- Rev B. (Don't get wrapped up in which one is better)

There aren't any cons to Solex that I have heard of- it is an alternative to the 3DR app.

Tower is a ground control app you use to program autonomous missions in which Solo can take off, fly, return home and land by itself. Check out the YouTube videos if you're not familiar with it.

 

[pyrate]

MRO GPS definitely
Alphas cheap and they work
Depending on what you want to do from there
I use mine for video production, the flat lens on the gopro was an awesome upgrade
Did the t-motor upgrade and not sorry I did, but I would only do it if your motors start having issues outside of warranty
Solex No brainer

 

[Trader J]

Thanks. I understand how the forums work, and was just looking for some quick suggestions. I literally trolled this forum for like an hour and a half this morning looking for some things and I either A-couldn't find the topic, or B-got distracted by reading through 10-15 pages of a thread of what I thought would be the topic I was searching for.

If interested in the mRo ublox GPS please contact me. I have an extra brand new one that I will ship free for $75. I also have a pair of the widely used Mikro Tik R11e-2hnd Wi-Fi cards for extended range of over a mile, asking $80 for the pair. I agree with the earlier statement that if you don't have any issues yet then leave it be. Personally I wasn't hardly getting a half dozen satellites until I got the mRo GPS, now I'm getting at least twice the sats as before.

 

[djensen623]

I usually have 8-10 sats connected and my solo if flying rock solid out to just shy of a half mile with stock antennas. I did purchase a cheap pair of the +5db antennas on Amazon for $17, but haven't tried them yet. Maybe today or tomorrow I will, but If I don't fly at the same place, its not really an apples to apples comparison.

 

[Maddog]

Hey guys, just got my Solo a week ago, and have flown 4-5 batteries thru it, and I love it so far. Have increased the speed and am still getting used to flying again, after taking a few years off.

I'm running a completely stock bird, with the exception of the Master Airscrew props and GoPro Hero 4

My main questions are:
1. What upgrades should I do first?
2. What are the pro's and con's of the popular Android app's? (Solex, Tower, etc.)
3. How can I tell what version gps is in my Solo?
4, Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Here's a good one-
Brite Lite LED lighting system

 

[KDan]

Hey guys, just got my Solo a week ago, and have flown 4-5 batteries thru it, and I love it so far. Have increased the speed and am still getting used to flying again, after taking a few years off.

I'm running a completely stock bird, with the exception of the Master Airscrew props and GoPro Hero 4

My main questions are:
1. What upgrades should I do first?
2. What are the pro's and con's of the popular Android app's? (Solex, Tower, etc.)
3. How can I tell what version gps is in my Solo?
4, Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

I'll try to answer one by one:

1) Fly it for awhile first. If you aren't having GPS lock problems, don't try to fix what isn't broke. If it has very long GPS startup times or looses lock frequently, you probably have a REV A board. Open it up and check. Then either buy a REV B board, or one of the more expensive M8N upgrades. However, don't believe all the hype about triple band (M8N) GPS modules being the magic cure-all.

2) Tower is more for flying automated missions. The Solo app and Solex are more for smart shots and optical tracking (Solex)

3) Pop off the GPS cover and look. Green board is REV A, Black is REV B.

4) If you have a REV A board, and are having GPS lock issues, buy the new 3DR GPS shield V2 and install it. You may find that it fixes the problem. To solve the long acquisition times problem, the REV B board will remember it's last location and will not cold start every-time like the REV A board tends to do. The REV B board also has better noise immunity. If you are going to replace either one, I'd recommend doing both at once. They can be bought on the 3DR store.

Understand that the Solo is not a mass market appliance. It is an attempt at integrating a lot of little pieces of high technology together in a fashion that works together perfectly. The stark reality is that it usually works, but there are a lot of external factors that can disrupt that harmony. Not the least of which is the operator...