RTH no GPS on tablet

WernerFarms9400T · Mar 7, 2017

Might be a stupid question to ask but if I have an iPad mini 4 wifi only with no cellular data package and it doesn't have gps on the tablet because it doesn't have cellular data, can I still use the return to home function on my phantom 3 pro? If so how do I set the return to home point with no gps on my tablet? FYI: I want to use the RTH function in conjunction with the DroneDeploy app. Do I need gps on my tablet in order to run the DroneDeploy app also?? Thanks for the advice!

msinger · Mar 7, 2017

WernerFarms9400T said:
can I still use the return to home function on my phantom 3 pro? If so how do I set the return to home point with no gps on my tablet?

Yes. The home point will be auto set when the motors start if your Phantom has a good GPS signal. Check the map to confirm the home point has been set before taking off.

BTW, I don't use DroneDeploy, so I'm not sure how it confirms the home point has been set.

WernerFarms9400T · Mar 7, 2017

msinger said:
Yes. The home point will be auto set when the motors start if your Phantom has a good GPS signal. Check the map to confirm the home point has been set before taking off.

BTW, I don't use DroneDeploy, so I'm not sure how it confirms the home point has been set.

So even though my tablet doesn't have gps my drone will automatically set the return to home point?

Richard R · Mar 7, 2017

Correct, it's all done via the GPS receiver in the aircraft. Totally independent of where the remote is or what type of phone/tablet you have or even if you have one.

msinger · Mar 7, 2017

WernerFarms9400T said:
So even though my tablet doesn't have gps my drone will automatically set the return to home point?

Yes. You won't be able to reset the home point to your current location after taking off though. That would require a mobile device with GPS.

WernerFarms9400T · Mar 7, 2017

Richard R said:
Correct, it's all done via the GPS receiver in the aircraft. Totally independent of where the remote is or what type of phone/tablet you have or even if you have one.

Ok sorry if I keep asking stupid questions but it knows where to land even though my maps aren't going to load since it is only wifi only?

msinger · Mar 7, 2017

WernerFarms9400T · Mar 7, 2017

msinger said:
Yes. You won't be able to reset the home point to your current location after taking off though. That would require a mobile device with GPS.

So if I take off and it knows where it took off because of the built in gps on the drone and I click the RTH button on my controller, it will go to where it took off and land even though my tablet doesn't have gps. Sorry if I mm asking stupid questions that should make sense, just a little new to this.

msinger · Mar 7, 2017

You got it. It's able to find its way back to the home point using the GPS receiver inside of the Phantom.

WernerFarms9400T · Mar 7, 2017

Ok sounds good just wanted to double check before I spent $400 on something I didn't need

WernerFarms9400T · Mar 7, 2017

Just another quick question do you use the phantom pilot app if so do you encounter a message that pops up twice every time you go to a different page saying something about no inventory?

WernerFarms9400T · Mar 8, 2017

I just watched some YouTube videos about using the wifi only tablets and they show they can't establish the home pint with the controller? That won't effect the RTH to home right because once the phantom leaves the ground it knows where it took off because of its built in gps and when it does the RTH it knows where to land?

Meta4 · Mar 8, 2017

WernerFarms9400T said:
Ok sorry if I keep asking stupid questions but it knows where to land even though my maps aren't going to load since it is only wifi only?

To clarify things for you ....
The Phantom has a very good GPS receiver that it uses for almost all flight functions.
The only exceptions are:

Follow-Me flying
Resetting the home point to the current location of the controller (used if you were on a moving boat or car)

WernerFarms9400T said:
I have an iPad mini 4 wifi only with no cellular data package and it doesn't have gps on the tablet because it doesn't have cellular data

The lack of GPS on your iPad is not because you don't have data.
It's because Apple only put the GPS hardware in the more expensive cellular capable iPads.

WernerFarms9400T said:
I want to use the RTH function in conjunction with the DroneDeploy app. Do I need gps on my tablet in order to run the DroneDeploy app also?? Thanks for the advice!

Dronedeploy will work perfectly well using the Phantom's own GPS.

WernerFarms9400T · Mar 8, 2017

Ok so I don't need to have gps on my tablet in order to use drone deploy?

Meta4 · Mar 8, 2017

WernerFarms9400T said:
Ok so I don't need to have gps on my tablet in order to use drone deploy?

Perhaps I wasn't clear enough.

There are only two flight functions that require a GPS enabled tablet.
These are:
Follow-Me flying
Resetting the home point to the current location of the controller (used if you were on a moving boat or car)

Q. Will you be using the follow-me feature while using Dronedeploy?
A. No

Q. Will you want to reset your homepoint to the current location of the controller because you've been traveling around during the flight?
A. No

So to use Dronedeploy (just like 99% of flying with a Phantom) you do not need to have a GPS enabled tablet.

WernerFarms9400T · Mar 8, 2017

Ok thanks for the advice!

GeeBeePhantom · Nov 18, 2018

Just to clear up one tiny point - your iPad Mini 4 Wi-Fi DOES have GPS built in. It doesn't alter any of the advice given above - has nothing to do with RTH which is governed by the GPOS in the Phantom. On your iPad, go to Settings, then Privacy. Top option is Location Services, and yopu can turn it on or off for individual apps.

cheddarman · Nov 19, 2018

Surely a $400 iPad has EVERYTHING including a SIM slot and GPS otherwise I wouldn't pay $400 for it

Meta4 · Nov 19, 2018

GeeBeePhantom said:
Just to clear up one tiny point - your iPad Mini 4 Wi-Fi DOES have GPS built in.

Just to clear up a tiny point, Apple only include a GPS receiver in cellular capable iPads.
Wifi only iPads do not have a GPS receiver.

GeeBeePhantom said:
On your iPad, go to Settings, then Privacy. Top option is Location Services, and you can turn it on or off for individual apps.

Having location information is not the same thing as GPS position data.
Your wifi only iPad can get a rough location from wifi.

GeeBeePhantom · Nov 19, 2018

Meta4 said:
Just to clear up a tiny point, Apple only include a GPS receiver in cellular capable iPads.
Wifi only iPads do not have a GPS receiver.

Having location information is not the same thing as GPS position data.
Your wifi only iPad can get a rough location from wifi.

I stand corrected. Thanks. My problem is that when I am using the P2P remote to talk to the aircraft, with the iPad mini simply a display, I am getting a Weak GPS message and follow me won’t work. Does this make sense?