How important is antenna position?

[GearLoose]

I'm casting around for ways to improve the erratic behavior I'm getting on GS flights, with extensive toilet-bowling at waypoints and off-track flights. Does anyone know what the ideal arrangement is for the air-end antennas? How important is their positioning and is there anything that might adversely affect the antennas, such as an fpv transmitter?

Then again, once the mission has been uploaded to the air-end, I presume the antennas only serve to make the connection back to the iPad or laptop, to display the position of the quad. Correct?

I'm rather discouraged -- my high hopes for using the GS to survey streams and wetlands are getting lower with every flight.

 

[OI Photography]

Then again, once the mission has been uploaded to the air-end, I presume the antennas only serve to make the connection back to the iPad or laptop, to display the position of the quad. Correct?

Correct, if you're just executing a mission then antenna position(s) don't affect flight once it's uploaded.

Do you have an iOSD hooked up so you can watch the # of satellites locked and the heading to see if they start showing odd figures when the flight starts going squirrely?

 

[GearLoose]

Yes, I have iOSD and all of my recent flights have had 9 or more satellites. On the Facebook SAR group I got some good advice from experienced GS users -- they strongly advise to adjust for magnetic declination and then recalibrate the compass. If it ever stops raining I'll be able to test that.

Then again, once the mission has been uploaded to the air-end, I presume the antennas only serve to make the connection back to the iPad or laptop, to display the position of the quad. Correct?

Correct, if you're just executing a mission then antenna position(s) don't affect flight once it's uploaded.

Do you have an iOSD hooked up so you can watch the # of satellites locked and the heading to see if they start showing odd figures when the flight starts going squirrely?

 

[OI Photography]

Right on, if the heading indicator doesn't start acting weird when this happens, it's probably a declination and/or calibration issue.

 

[GearLoose]

As you suggested, OI, my problem was due to magnetic declination. I'm going to report that in a separate post as it nearly cost me my Phantom yesterday. Thanks!

Right on, if the heading indicator doesn't start acting weird when this happens, it's probably a declination and/or calibration issue.