So long fellas !

[rrmccabe]

Rich, while I do think what 3DR is offering is pretty nice. I do find it frustrating that they are willing to overnight you a replacement but not fill the backorders from customers like myself that were a part of the preorder.

Yes, I understand that! I preordered 2 1/2 months ago and got mine 10 days after the Best Buy crowd. So feeling insulted as a customer is something I can relate to.

On the flip side of that ....should they take care of people that have already paid and don't have a working product or those that have committed but not yet had their credit card debited?

Now that said today has been a roller coaster. This morning I decided to give them one more chance since they made the nice offer of shipping me a new one overnight. Then in the last hour they said hey you need to ship yours back and send us tracking number first. I said FORGET it I am done.

I just got an email at 9:00 PM saying that they are sending a new one out. Hard to say what will happen at this point. I am just going to let it roll. I am wore out.

@Sarah B, I think the new name of the Solo is going to be "bad penny"

 

[thefrog]

Yes, I understand that! I preordered 2 1/2 months ago and got mine 10 days after the Best Buy crowd. So feeling insulted as a customer is something I can relate to.

On the flip side of that ....should they take care of people that have already paid and don't have a working product or those that have committed but not yet had their credit card debited?

Now that said today has been a roller coaster. This morning I decided to give them one more chance since they made the nice offer of shipping me a new one overnight. Then in the last hour they said hey you need to ship yours back and send us tracking number first. I said FORGET it I am done.

I just got an email at 9:00 PM saying that they are sending a new one out. Hard to say what will happen at this point. I am just going to let it roll. I am wore out.

@Sarah B, I think the new name of the Solo is going to be "bad penny"

3DR: Resistance is futile.

 

[Rodney Johnson]

Rich
I recieved my Solo June 30th Monday did a little testing, tonight after work I stopped at a place I fly most every day after or before work. This place is wide open, beat fields as far as you can see so I started testing the Solo for GPS issues. I turned everything on and waited and in about 1 to 2 minute I had 9 Sats was waiting for 12 as this is normal.
Didn't get the 12 so I took off anyway in manual flight mode. I started testing cable , selfie, Orbit, and during this time I got 12 Sats and then a moment later alarms went off and I was in the dark and Solo took off, I have A and B set as manual flight and stabilized flight and I'm glad I did.

I lost sat lock 4 times during my 20 min flight, that is unacceptable in every way, I am out in a wide open area flat land and open sky. There should be no reason in hell for losing GPS lock in an open field and just before having 12 Sats.

I landed "since" I was at 10% anyway and sat down and sent 3drobotics an email to tell them of my flight,, I was not happy and in the morning they will read my email and find out how unhappy I was with my flight.
I told them that SOLO is grounded and getting boxed up because there is clearly a GPS issue and they should not sell any more until they fix the issues. ..

So Rich.. if you get the new one take it out and test it and fly it in GPS modes only around where you would normally fly and see if the one they sent performs any better, , if it does, ,, great, ,, if not then there is still a problem and tomorrow we will see what there answer is to my email.

Rodney

 

[thefrog]

Rich
I recieved my Solo June 30th Monday did a little testing, tonight after work I stopped at a place I fly most every day after or before work. This place is wide open, beat fields as far as you can see so I started testing the Solo for GPS issues. I turned everything on and waited and in about 1 to 2 minute I had 9 Sats was waiting for 12 as this is normal.
Didn't get the 12 so I took off anyway in manual flight mode. I started testing cable , selfie, Orbit, and during this time I got 12 Sats and then a moment later alarms went off and I was in the dark and Solo took off, I have A and B set as manual flight and stabilized flight and I'm glad I did.

I lost sat lock 4 times during my 20 min flight, that is unacceptable in every way, I am out in a wide open area flat land and open sky. There should be no reason in hell for losing GPS lock in an open field and just before having 12 Sats.

I landed "since" I was at 10% anyway and sat down and sent 3drobotics an email to tell them of my flight,, I was not happy and in the morning they will read my email and find out how unhappy I was with my flight.
I told them that SOLO is grounded and getting boxed up because there is clearly a GPS issue and they should not sell any more until they fix the issues. ..

So Rich.. if you get the new one take it out and test it and fly it in GPS modes only around where you would normally fly and see if the one they sent performs any better, , if it does, ,, great, ,, if not then there is still a problem and tomorrow we will see what there answer is to my email.

Rodney

Welcome to the SOLO GPS mystery club.

 

[Rodney Johnson]

Welcome to the SOLO GPS mystery club.

What's crazy is I have two pixhawks one running stock 3DR Sat reciever and one with redundant 3DR and I have been trying out the newer neo m8n reciever on another pixhawk. The m8n pick up 18 sats easy while the 3dr neo 6 only about 12 on a good day. . Have had Zero issues with the m8n so why is 3DR not using them.
Also I fly totaly autonomous 30 min flights with my Hex pixhawk powered out to over 2.5 to 3 miles and it always makes it back..
If the Solo can make it 400 feet... I will keep building my own stuff. .. I know what I have works. ..
The solo is GREAT as long as your not using GPS needed flight modes.
Also,,,
I have NEVER had GPS issues where I fly with my other equipment, EVER

 

[Dunginhawk]

What i wonder is if loss of GPS is covered by 3dr in the case of a catastrophe. I have plenty of satellites where i fly, but if there are this many GPS issues, come on, whos going to take the risk of flying it?

 

[thefrog]

What's crazy is I have two pixhawks one running stock 3DR Sat reciever and one with redundant 3DR and I have been trying out the newer neo m8n reciever on another pixhawk. The m8n pick up 18 sats easy while the 3dr neo 6 only about 12 on a good day. . Have had Zero issues with the m8n so why is 3DR not using them.
Also I fly totaly autonomous 30 min flights with my Hex pixhawk powered out to over 2.5 to 3 miles and it always makes it back..
If the Solo can make it 400 feet... I will keep building my own stuff. .. I know what I have works. ..
The solo is GREAT as long as your not using GPS needed flight modes.
Also,,,
I have NEVER had GPS issues where I fly with my other equipment, EVER

3DR developers actually refused NEO-M8N as they believe it drops data of the stream way too often. Never happened to me.

We shall move this to new thread. This is definitely a real issue and not science fiction. How about "SOLO failing GPS mystery"?

 

[thefrog]

What i wonder is if loss of GPS is covered by 3dr in the case of a catastrophe. I have plenty of satellites where i fly, but if there are this many GPS issues, come on, whos going to take the risk of flying it?

Unfortunately not.
You should fly in open space and according 3DR, there is no risk of GPS loss.

 

[Rodney Johnson]

Unfortunately not.
You should fly in open space and according 3DR, there is no risk of GPS loss.

I tell you, , I can't get any more open Space.

Have you ever been to Fargo ND.
It's flat, ,Flat,,,FLAT and wide open... You know, , open range, buffalo roam ,where the deer and the antelope play , but seldom is heard,, ONLY my discouraging word THE SOLO HAS FLOWN AWAY,,,,

That's how flat ND is.. I fly my cheap hobbyking 650 predator quad with a Eagletree Vector right in town 10 feet from my house and get GPS lock without problems... COME ON 3D Robotics. Same with my Naza H on my 770 Goblin never had a GPS related issue with DJI reciever in my area... JUST WITH THE SOLO.

Yes this thread needs to be Moved to
SOLO GPS ISSUES. ..

SOMEONE PLEASE START IT POST A LINK HERE AND I WILL BE THERE..

Please come with Rich...Don't leave us yet...
You need to test fly the new SOLO that 3DR is shipping you and then send them both back if the replacement isn't any Better..

 

[Rodney Johnson]

Just wanted to say,, I love you guys,, and lady.. feels like I have the brother's and sister I never had

A link to this thread and the new SOLO GPS Thread needs to be sent to 3DR support so they can read for themselves that the Solo is Useless for anything needing GPS... Including RTH. Or they can change the bottom to RTD, return to dirt.

 

[rrmccabe]

Well whatever they did is not good. I will watch it closely.

What I dont understand about your flight is this.

Didn't get the 12 so I took off anyway in manual flight mode. I started testing cable , selfie, Orbit, and during this time I got 12 Sats and then a moment later alarms went off and I was in the dark and Solo took off,

Are you saying you flew in manual until you got 12? Cable, selfie and orbit should not work without sats?

So not sure how you can test them without GPS. I am assuming I am reading this wrong. Coffee is still brewing...

 

[David Weston]

Sounds like an intermittent GPS antenna cable connection to me. Now you have GPS, now you don't. Now you have it again. Rich, nice to see you here this morning. Wouldn't be "home" without you.

 

[rrmccabe]

Rich, nice to see you here this morning. Wouldn't be "home" without you.

You came blame 3DR. Sounds like they shipped a replacement Solo anyway.

 

[Rodney Johnson]

Well whatever they did is not good. I will watch it closely.

What I dont understand about your flight is this.



Are you saying you flew in manual until you got 12? Cable, selfie and orbit should not work without sats?

So not sure how you can test them without GPS. I am assuming I am reading this wrong. Coffee is still brewing...

Rich
I set the Solo about 30 feet away from myself and my Caravan "Toy hauler" out in the middle of a large Grass field. Opened Solo App, Turned on transmitter and then walk out to the Solo and fired it up.
Waited for about 1 minute and had 9 Sats, waited for another minute and didn't get any more So I took off.. Flew around in manual mode and did some high speed passes "It does fly stable at top speed"

So I then noticed I had 12 sat count. I then started my tests with the apps Cable, selfie, Orbit.
Yes,, those will not work unless you are in the air and have GPS lock.

Again I want to say the SOLO is a great copter and a great Idea, its small and portable, Very stable for its size and FAST. Also with all the crashes on YouTube it is a very durable copter as many have said "If it was a Phantom it would be in pieces... and that is from Phantom owners so that is saying something. NOW for what 3DR has designed it for ( A platform that Monkeys can Fly ) for taking video ""All"" of there Fancy flight modes rely solely on GPS,, People want to take pictures and vids from above But doing it in town or large cities IS OUT. So unless you are on a mountain top or a dessert the GPS is an issue with the SOLO.
When there is NO GPS signal and the solo takes off Monkeys throw transmitters. I have also seen them throw POOP.

 

[rrmccabe]

LOL, Ok gotcha.

 

[Dirby]

i fly mine in a open field useing GPS and haven't had any problems yet.

 

[GoodnNuff]

Yes, I understand that! I preordered 2 1/2 months ago and got mine 10 days after the Best Buy crowd. So feeling insulted as a customer is something I can relate to.

On the flip side of that ....should they take care of people that have already paid and don't have a working product or those that have committed but not yet had their credit card debited?

Now that said today has been a roller coaster. This morning I decided to give them one more chance since they made the nice offer of shipping me a new one overnight. Then in the last hour they said hey you need to ship yours back and send us tracking number first. I said FORGET it I am done.

I just got an email at 9:00 PM saying that they are sending a new one out. Hard to say what will happen at this point. I am just going to let it roll. I am wore out.

@Sarah B, I think the new name of the Solo is going to be "bad penny"

Rich, I understand and feel your frustration. I was ready to throw in the towel too (well...not as close as you, but...) I had Solo #2 sitting in my family room staring at me for 4 days before I flew it. I worked four 12 hour shifts and just didn't want to have any issues flying after work when I was tired and cranky to start with. Plus I was convinced I was going to have issues, so the motivation was not there. But this thing has flown without a single issue. The only thing I haven't tested is distance, but with all the evergreens up here, I don't do a lot of distance flying anyway.

I hope when your Solo arrives you will experience the same great flying. And I look forward to your knowledgeable review of the (fully working) Solo vs the P3.

 

[rrmccabe]

I hope when your Solo arrives you will experience the same great flying. And I look forward to your knowledgeable review of the (fully working) Solo vs the P3.

I really don't feel I will be able to give it much of a review until we receive the gimbals. The Solo is going to have to make up in the area of cable cam and getting great footage as it lags behind the P3 is most other aspects for my needs.

I am beyond impressed with how the P3 flies, how the app works and the camera controls and quality on it. So afraid its going to be a month before I know anything !

 

[thefrog]

I tell you, , I can't get any more open Space.

Have you ever been to Fargo ND.
It's flat, ,Flat,,,FLAT and wide open... You know, , open range, buffalo roam ,where the deer and the antelope play , but seldom is heard,, ONLY my discouraging word THE SOLO HAS FLOWN AWAY,,,,

That's how flat ND is.. I fly my cheap hobbyking 650 predator quad with a Eagletree Vector right in town 10 feet from my house and get GPS lock without problems... COME ON 3D Robotics. Same with my Naza H on my 770 Goblin never had a GPS related issue with DJI reciever in my area... JUST WITH THE SOLO.

Yes this thread needs to be Moved to
SOLO GPS ISSUES. ..

SOMEONE PLEASE START IT POST A LINK HERE AND I WILL BE THERE..

Please come with Rich...Don't leave us yet...
You need to test fly the new SOLO that 3DR is shipping you and then send them both back if the replacement isn't any Better..

Got it. Flat.
And this is what scares me.

I have several Pixhawk based quads, from tiny 250 FPV with Bulgarian Pixhawk clone and old MT3329 GPS module up to the largest one based on S1000 frame with NEO-M8N, all with different GPS units, including old Mediatek MT3329, MT3339, LEO-6H, NEO-7 and the newest NEO-M8N on large round PCB from CSG store, and none of them never lost GPS lock in semi-open not even completely open space.
Never.
Average lock time is about 20 seconds when I fly the bird from one day to another, or up to 45 seconds, when the bird is off for longer time. As soon as the GPS module backup battery powering RTC clock loses power, typically after two weeks, it takes under minute to get perfect 3D GPS lock.

From my experiences I can judge whether bird GPS reception is OK or not, and always use simple cell phone check with S5/S6 to immediately confirm actual GPS situation at the moment on the site. Cell phone have much inferior GPS antenna to the quad GPS unit, so if the cell phone get lock and sats, bird shall as well.

Not to mention great sites like http://www.uavforecast.com/ and http://www.taroz.net/GNSS-Radar.html will tell you exact sats constellation above you.

Fresh from the 3DR board: Greg Nuspel : The GPS issue is caused by people who don't understand the nature of GPS signals.

How sweet.

 

[rrmccabe]

Fresh from 3DR board: Greg Nuspel : The GPS issue is caused by people who don't understand the nature of GPS signals.

How sweet.

Nice ! Did not know GPS required an understanding of the nature of the signals