Take off without satellites

[BAR]

Hi everyone,
Stupid question but can you take off without satellites? I've been in areas where there is no gps and just can't take off.

Cheers

 

[Jubalr]

Hi everyone,
Stupid question but can you take off without satellites? I've been in areas where there is no gps and just can't take off.

Cheers

Yes, if you are comfortable with Manual mode. In Manual, the barometer will attempt to hold altitude for you, but it is up to you to hold horizontal position. Practice in an open field until comfortable with it. If you do not have some RC experience, you will need to remember that when the Solo is pointed towards you, the left/right orientation is reversed. To use Manual, just go in to the Solo settings menu and assign the A or B button to Manual mode. You may need to turn on 'Advanced' settings if you have not already.

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

Yes you can, but you absolutely must understand the implications of doing so.

If you set one of A/B buttons for a FLY:Manual, you can switch to that mode and takeoff without GPS. FLY:Manual does not use GPS. It will manage and hold altitude the same, but it has no position hold. It will drift with the wind and coast when you let go of the sticks.

If you takeoff without a GPS lock, you will be sacrificing the RTH feature. It will not know where home is, therefore it will not properly return to home in the event that failsafe kicks in or you push the home button. What's worse about this, is it doesn't just disable the function. If it finally obtains a GPS lock in the air while you're flying around, that location it obtained the lock will become the home location. Which means when RTH engages, it will return to that arbitrary point in the sky and land on whatever happens to be below it.

RTH can engage because you pushed the home button, or battery is low, or because you've flown out of range of the controller, if the controller battery dies or the controller fails, or the communication with your controller is otherwise compromised. You need to decide if this is an acceptable risk based on where you're flying and what the surroundings are.

 

[RKGmedia]

Yes you can, but you absolutely must understand the implications of doing so.

If you set one of A/B buttons for a FLY:Manual, you can switch to that mode and takeoff without GPS. FLY:Manual does not use GPS. It will manage and hold altitude the same, but it has no position hold. It will drift with the wind and coast when you let go of the sticks.

If you takeoff without a GPS lock, you will be sacrificing the RTH feature. It will not know where home is, therefore it will not properly return to home in the event that failsafe kicks in or you push the home button. What's worse about this, is it doesn't just disable the function. If it finally obtains a GPS lock in the air while you're flying around, that location it obtained the lock will become the home location. Which means when RTH engages, it will return to that arbitrary point in the sky and land on whatever happens to be below it.

RTH can engage because you pushed the home button, or battery is low, or because you've flown out of range of the controller, if the controller battery dies or the controller fails, or the communication with your controller is otherwise compromised. You need to decide if this is an acceptable risk based on where you're flying and what the surroundings are.

I think you can do this but I'm not sure. If you are waiting for gps lock before takeoff and not getting it, because of trees, building or whatever, you can takeoff in manual, go straight up a bit untill you get gps lock then continue in gps. Knowing that a rth will at least bring it back to that overhead position where you could take over in manual and be OK.

 

[cynfab]

Unless of course the light breeze catches it and start the solo drifting in a BAD direction, and your manual piloting skills fail you and you DONT get a GPS lock when you expect to....
Been there, done that and I've got the broken props to prove it.

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

I think you can do this but I'm not sure. If you are waiting for gps lock before takeoff and not getting it, because of trees, building or whatever, you can takeoff in manual, go straight up a bit untill you get gps lock then continue in gps. Knowing that a rth will at least bring it back to that overhead position where you could take over in manual and be OK.

I have done this before as well. If you must take off without a GPS, I would suggest making a point of doing this. I would suggest this not be your first time flying in manual mode too

 

[Rich]

This is another reason why the Return To Me would be very useful! No worries about where the Solo acquired the first GPS fix, which ends up being your RTH position.

 

[Jubalr]

This is another reason why the Return To Me would be very useful! No worries about where the Solo acquired the first GPS fix, which ends up being your RTH position.

You can set RTM in Tower and then use the Solo app for that flight. Or at least you could a couple updates back. I haven't tried it for a few months, but don't see why it shouldn't still work.