Which GPS upgrade?

Mine worked great with the stock GPS. Then I installed the 3DR GPS shield and it got even better. Then I installed the Mrobotics upgraded GPS and it's fantastic now.
It went from 8-9 GPS before takeoff with original config. Then after the shield swap it went to 12-14 sats. Now with the new GPS installed it went to as high as 24 sats and it holds position rock solid. It lands within around 6 inches of takeoff in RTH mode.
It all depends on what you are going to do with it and how much you want to spend.
If you are new at this, I'd leave it alone until you get some time with it.

Don.
 
Mine worked great with the stock GPS. Then I installed the 3DR GPS shield and it got even better. Then I installed the Mrobotics upgraded GPS and it's fantastic now.
It went from 8-9 GPS before takeoff with original config. Then after the shield swap it went to 12-14 sats. Now with the new GPS installed it went to as high as 24 sats and it holds position rock solid. It lands within around 6 inches of takeoff in RTH mode.
It all depends on what you are going to do with it and how much you want to spend.
If you are new at this, I'd leave it alone until you get some time with it.

Don.

What new gps are you talking about?


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Hey guys,

I'm new to this whole drone business and just picked up my 3DR Solo. Why exactly would I need to upgrade my GPS? Is it simply in regards to the response time to find GPS on the drone or is there more to it?

Thanks in advance!
 
Response time and better resolution. If you are new to it and aren't doing and serious work with it I'd leave it alone until you get used to flying it.
I didn't need it but I like it.
It might void your warranty if you install it.

Don.
 
A few people had problems with the GPS in the Solo early on or ongoing.

The solution is simple.. if you fly the solo and it holds position fine and gets satellites then the upgrade is pointless.

Everyone in their brother is throwing money at this "upgrade" and I feel like most people don't need it.

My REV A board gets gps fix as fast as I can screw my Alfa antenna onto my TX.
 
Hey guys,

I'm new to this whole drone business and just picked up my 3DR Solo. Why exactly would I need to upgrade my GPS? Is it simply in regards to the response time to find GPS on the drone or is there more to it?

Thanks in advance!
The stock GPS takes a little more time to acquire the GPS data when use it for the first time. It also use USA satellites only. If you are in USA, it is not a huge problem.

I would fly the Solo without any modifications first, if it has no issue, then don't buy into the "you must" hype.
 
The GPS you speak of is terrific. Simple plug and play and I have mine paired up with the V2 shield from 3DR. Not a waste of money either considering the quicker acquisition time, the ability to connect to a slew more GPS types, and accuracy that has shown to be twice as good as stock for me.

Not a 'must have' upgrade, but for so little money, it's a nice upgrade for what it does. Keep in mind, that Solo is 'worth' $750 (3DR's cost apparently), $80 on a GPS is in keeping with the value of the unit(ish).

I made a quick DIY video on it's easy installation. Check it out and hopefully you go with it :)

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Where do you get the upgraded gps? The mRobotics website shows it's out of stock.


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Where do you get the upgraded gps? The mRobotics website shows it's out of stock.


They seem to be made in small batches on demand. Just go ahead and place an order and you'll get it soon enough. Someone else placed an order when they were out of stock and got it in under a week I think.
 
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Yeah, I did that Sunday when it said out of stock, it shipped yesterday. Did another one (as a gift for my brother) on Monday and says 'Ready to Ship' but hasn't shipped yet.
 
Does the $30 RF shield really work better than the cardboard mod? Can you still get the $30 RF shield from 3DR?

It depends on who you ask. Since, to the best of my knowledge, cardboard has never been claimed to block RF interference, I'd have to say the 3DR V2 shield will be more effective at that task ;). On the other hand, I personally didn't notice any benefit of the shield on the stock GPS - it took forever to get a lock, and rarely got more 7 or 8 satellites before and after adding the shield. Other people say they saw an improvement.

Personally, I think the $30 would be far better used towards the mRo GPS. If you already have that, I don't think you'll see $30 worth of improvement still by adding it. If another code comes around where you can get it for $15, then it's probably worth that.
 
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The cardboard mod is not a shield. Cardboard doesn't shield anything. The cardboard mod does absolutely nothing for most people. The ONLY thing the cardboard mod does is prevent the copper shield from electrically shorting or screwing with exposed solder on the bottom of the GPS. That's why it is called the cardboard isolation mod, not the cardboard shield mod. Unfortunately, that bit of information is lacking from most posts on this mod lately.

The 3DR v2 shield is an improved shield that replaces the copper shield. It is engineered RF absorbing material, that specifically absorbs RF in the band that interferes with the GPS. It is orders of magnitude better than the crappy copper shield. It is also not conductive like the copper shield, so the cardboard isolation is no longer needed. I struggled horribly with getting and keeping a GPS lock before the v2 shield. It was BAD. And often unusable. With the v2 shield, it's a whole new drone.

That said, I agree the mRo GPS is still a worthwhile purchase. The things that make the original GPS suck are still there. The new shield just makes it less of a problem.
 

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