Rainy Day...

[rbhamilton]

I got my camera back from Hunch today but it was a rainy day in the desert so no flying. A perfect time to catch up on a few mods!

GPS Foil Mod

Punch a few vent holes in the WiFi module cover, get the Arctic Silver in there and use some copper tape to reseal it

Wedge some cardboard in the GPS clip

Hook up the Killer RC Gimbal Saver

 

[rbhamilton]

This morning was nice and sunny. I took my bird out into the back yard. Super disappointed to see only 3 or 4 GPS satellites after doing the foil mod! What the heck! I've never had fewer than 5 and never more than 9. I was hoping the foil mod would bump it up into the 15 range I've seen posted. I moved around a bit and got up to 5. I popped it up into the air thinking if I got up a bit it would help.

Well good and bad news there. The bad news - I never got more than 5. The good news - my Gimbal Saver works.

That thing is darn hard to control without a decent GPS lock and I smacked into the side of my house trying to bring it down. Ouch.

Wonder what I could possibly have done wrong???

 

[DrJoe]

I wish I had an answer for you, but I can tell you this:
Whenever I try a mod, I always try to limit the mod to one thing, test it, and check the results. By punching holes and taping the wifi unit, you may have inadvertently created MORE RF interference (this happens with using the wrong tape, reused tape, or not getting a good seal). I would have either done the foil mod and tested, or the WiFi mod and tested. I don't think your punch holes would be to blame, but they are not the not pretty little 2mm perfect drill holes shown in other mods. Perhaps the angles and sharp metal points are effecting the RF leakage.

At this point, since you can't "undo" your WiFi mode, I would do the following:
1. Remove your foil mod and test again. Any change? Better, or worse reception?
2. Use a drill to round out the holes you put in the WiFi cover.
2. Remove any sharp metal bits.
3. Double check the copper tape you are using, and that it is sealed properly.
4. Test fly. Any change, better or worse.

Once you get the WiFi cleaned up, then try the foil mod again and test.

 

[rbhamilton]

Solid points. I did make too many changes all at once. But checking the situation on http://in-the-sky.org/satmap.php

It looks like most of the GPS satellites were around the horizon and northern sky when I was out. I have a solid view of the south sky but the house blocks the north. I'll have to try later and see what's what.

 

[AHill]

I wish I had an answer for you, but I can tell you this:
Whenever I try a mod, I always try to limit the mod to one thing, test it, and check the results. By punching holes and taping the wifi unit, you may have inadvertently created MORE RF interference (this happens with using the wrong tape, reused tape, or not getting a good seal). I would have either done the foil mod and tested, or the WiFi mod and tested. I don't think your punch holes would be to blame, but they are not the not pretty little 2mm perfect drill holes shown in other mods. Perhaps the angles and sharp metal points are effecting the RF leakage.

At this point, since you can't "undo" your WiFi mode, I would do the following:
1. Remove your foil mod and test again. Any change? Better, or worse reception?
2. Use a drill to round out the holes you put in the WiFi cover.
2. Remove any sharp metal bits.
3. Double check the copper tape you are using, and that it is sealed properly.
4. Test fly. Any change, better or worse.

Once you get the WiFi cleaned up, then try the foil mod again and test.

First I would try putting copper tape over the holes in the WiFi cover just to test and see if that is causing the drop in number of satellites. It is easier to try than removing the foil mod and can easily be removed if it is not causing the problem. The size of the holes could be causing more RF leakage. That would be a more likely problem than the foil mod. If not then try removing the foil mod.

 

[rbhamilton]

I tried it this afternoon. There were lots of satellites in the air over our place (I checked). Still only getting 4. Grrr.

So I covered up my newly made vent holes in the wifi module. For good measure I foil taped up the rest of the exposed GPS cable. Tried it again and presto I'm up to 9 sats. That's not really much different from my pre-foil days but at least everything is working and I'm happy again.

New Years Resolution: No more mucking around inside this bird!! Of course... New Years is a few weeks off...

 

[DrJoe]

Nice.