External GPS antennae?

[ProfessorStein]

So... I think I painted myself into a corner... literally.
I gave my P2V a new paint job, and I'm noticing that I have slightly reduced GPS reception (my backyard now only shows 5 satellites or less, when I used to have 6 to 8).

Whoops.

So, rather than buy a whole new replacement shell, or try to remove the paint, I'm wondering if there's an external antennae I can mount on the shell. Figure it could give me better GPS just in general, which could always be a good thing.

 

[Pull_Up]

Have you tried the aluminium (or aluminum if you can't spell ) mod for those with less than stellar sat reception? There's a thread here: viewtopic.php?f=27&t=19099&start=70#p180517

 

[ProfessorStein]

Have not, Pull_Up, but I'll certainly have a go at it now. Pretty easy mod... and if it works, awesome!

 

[svinkatnad]

Did you disassemble the whole thing? Maybe the something that I wasn't assemble properly and something making pressure in one of the cable or something like that. If you did that, you may want to watch this video on how properly dis/assemble yours.

DJI Phantom Paintjob Part 1 - Disassemble - http://youtu.be/6Fyo2GAeU2w
DJI Phantom Paintjob Part 3 - Reassemble - http://youtu.be/5hnerDEXIUk

 

[Byroman]

Remember that GPS satellites are constantly in motion. You may have 6 today...11 tomorrow...5 ten minutes from now.
Did you try again later to see if there were more sats available? Or, perhaps try a different flying location?
I'm not ruling out the paint idea... just think that there would have to be a serious amount to impede GPS reception.

Best of luck!

 

[gpauk]

Yeah - use one of the many satellite apps to show you how many sats are actually above the horizon, then allow for obstructions, and see what you should get.......

 

[ProfessorStein]

I did try later and then elsewhere, yes.

I think the problem might be that the paint may contain metallic components... I'm still trying to confirm with the manufacturer. The can says "may"... obviously a generic label for the entire paint line.

But... back to the original question... is there really no external antenna that would be compatible with the Phantom?

 

[ProfessorStein]

Yeah - use one of the many satellite apps to show you how many sats are actually above the horizon, then allow for obstructions, and see what you should get.......

I have "GPS Test" on my phone, and use it pretty regularly before I fly. But there really is no correlation between how many sats the app sees and how many the Phantom sees. The Phantom has always been consistently lower, even before I painted it. The app would see 12, 14, 16 sats (even when I held my phone on the ground where I was planning to take off), and the Phantom would barely get a lock on 6 or 7.

 

[SanCap]

I do not see why you could not use one of these, http://www.readymaderc.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=165_8&products_id=1702. It also contains the compass I believe. You are not going to like the price!

 

[ProfessorStein]

I do not see why you could not use one of these, http://www.readymaderc.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=165_8&products_id=1702. It also contains the compass I believe. You are not going to like the price!

My only fear would be the cable. Seems pretty vulnerable hanging out there, particularly if I mount it on top of the Phantom... between the props :/ I was hoping for something stalk-mounted... where the cable would feed down through the mount.

But, at least it's a start. That should just plug right into the Phantom's NAZA bus, right?

 

[ProfessorStein]

But... yeah... for that kind of money, I'd be better off just buying a new (unpainted) shell.

 

[SanCap]

I do not see why you could not use one of these, http://www.readymaderc.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=165_8&products_id=1702. It also contains the compass I believe. You are not going to like the price!

My only fear would be the cable. Seems pretty vulnerable hanging out there, particularly if I mount it on top of the Phantom... between the props :/ I was hoping for something stalk-mounted... where the cable would feed down through the mount.

But, at least it's a start. That should just plug right into the Phantom's NAZA bus, right?

Yes it will, I have recently converted my Phantom into a FW 450 using that puck although I do have the older version of the naza but the puck I linked is for the version 2 naza.

 

[ProfessorStein]

I have recently converted my Phantom into a FW 450 using that puck

You what da what da what, now?? Just pulling the boards out of your Phantom and putting them in a 450 frame?

 

[SanCap]

I have recently converted my Phantom into a FW 450 using that puck

You what da what da what, now?? Just pulling the boards out of your Phantom and putting them in a 450 frame?

Yes, kind of. I originally pulled everything thing out of my Phantom 1 to build this waterproof quad http://www.phantompilots.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4047&hilit=+waterproof. I could never get it to be as stable as I wanted it to be, there were heating issues and compass issues I believe. After I gave up on the waterproof idea I wanted to build something that had easy access to all components and was easy to work on and add stuff to. I replaced the GPS/Compass with the puck style, new style Naza LED and added a new receiver so I could fly this new 450 as well as my 550 with the same Hitec Aurora 9 transmitter. I desoldered the esc's reinstalled to the new lower board of the 450 using the same motors from the Phantom. The 450 frame was like 40 dollars. One of my goals was to have both my copters using interchangeable parts. I am flying it with a 3s 5100 mah battery and get almost 15 minutes on it. I do not mean to hijack your thread but you asked and some of it applies

 

[Pull_Up]

Judging by the twist on that puck you've got a lot of declination to correct for where you are!

 

[SanCap]

Judging by the twist on that puck you've got a lot of declination to correct for where you are!

I store it with the puck off and it was not ready for flight