Number of GPS Satellites

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I just looked at the iOS app GPS Plan and it said there are only 6 sats in view right now from my location.

I also went to http://www.calsky.com and it also said 6 stars in view.

So does that mean that is the max sats that my phantom could possibly lock onto?
 
Hey FDNYFish, I don't use IOS and I just went to your CalSKY link and couldn't really see anything about satellites, BUT, if you want a great GPS satellite predictor tool, this is it http://satpredictor.navcomtech.com/. It asks for either address or Lat/Long and will predict in 10 minute increments the number of GPS satellites available for that exact location over a twenty four hour period. It also has previous and next day info a click away. It displays in a bar graph format with green for >6 satellites, yellow for 6, and red for <6. Now I've flown with six or seven predicted and at altitude had as many as 13 according to the iOSD mini display.

I hope this helps. If not, maybe someone else will chime in and give you more information. There are some very knowledgeable people on this forum and very willing to help. Me, I'm just a newb that's thoroughly enjoying flying the Phantom and my new FPV system.

Have fun and fly safe...
 

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Yes, but keep in mind, unless you are totally unobstructed, like a huge field with no trees or a desert, etc., that you may very well acquire more as you increase altitude. I wouldn't want to chance it though without some type of live telemetry like the iOSD mini.

Later...
 
I'm using the Flytrex Live so I can see how many sats I have from the Flytrex App.

Just seems that there are not as many sats available lately, I remember seeing over 10 sats often in the past.
 
Fdnyfish said:
I'm using the Flytrex Live so I can see how many sats I have from the Flytrex App.

Just seems that there are not as many sats available lately, I remember seeing over 10 sats often in the past.
The number of satellites visible is varying constantly and can be quite different from now in an hour.
ConstellationGPS.gif
 
GPS Status is a good one for Android - shows compass data too.
It shows you what sats are visible and where they are in the sky so you can tell if they are too low or are blocked by terrain.
i-tRVp7cR-L.jpg
 
Opened up my shell and removed the FOIL tape I covered the GPS padding with.

My Sat count went up to 9 in 30 seconds after turning it on (I do have the 4mm GPS Antenna Installed)

I guess the tape I was using was causing an issue. It was fail tape for A/C Duct Work.

I'm laughing to myself now, because that GPS Plan app said there are only 8 Sats available now from my location, yet the Phantom picked up 9 !!

Live and Learn.
 

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To understand why it sometimes takes longer than others to get a fix, you need to understand the difference between a cold and warm start. As long as the battery on your GPS board is working, the second flight of the day will be a warm start and will almost always have a faster TTFF (time to first fix) than the first flight.
 

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