"Safe to fly - Non GPS"

I was worried at first but it hasn't really affected the flight itself. But then again, I never fly at low, tree and obstruction filled altitudes. Also, if I stop the bird, within secomds the green comes back. This, also, supports my power delivery to the GPS sensor theory. This used to bug me in the past but one phantom later and I stopped worrying. GPS lock at start-up is crucial. Below is a 15 degree celsius flight where there are no GPS issues. The same flight at around 1 celsius and the yellow safe to fly non GPS will show up. Unless I go straight up with no forward movement.

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Great subject matter! No snow at that elev. on December 7? Try to let up on the throttle a bit and point the camera down slightly to avoid seeing the props and arms.
 
Nah, that video was from November but uploaded late :). As for the camera, I had only videotaped to show a buddy of mine the mountain conditions. I don't really do videos any more. Lately I use a phantom for flying first, flying second, and picture taking once in a while. I try to put in at least one flight a day. Either over mountains or over ocean at my second home in Italy. I don't do the treetop thing any more. I could use a Han Solo or some uniquely short range quad for that. With light bridge I am able to have some really enjoyable mountain flying. Too bad the shell isn't up to the task that light bridge is. I'm going to do one now. Let's see if I get a yellow safe to fly no GPS today. Yesterday's lasted only a few seconds on a forward climb towards the mountain. Really no big deal.
 
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Hmm, I've never seen this problem of no GPS with any version of firmware since I got my p3 in July. However on January 5th I had a compass calibrating error occur mid flight which I had never seen before. That error message occurred on the third flight from the same spot that day. It occurred 30 seconds into the flight over a field of bushes at the beach, 75' AGL. I recalibrated and it's never happened since. Strange.
 
I too, suffered the amber "safe to fly - non GPS" today. It happened several times during the flight but usually only lasted about 5 - 15 seconds. It must have still had GPS because, whilst the amber warning was present, I switched from P to A and the Phantom drifted with the wind but as soon as I switched back from A to P it immediately stabilized and the amber warning was illuminated throughout this manoeuvre. Throughout the flight I had 15 satellites.
 
I too, suffered the amber "safe to fly - non GPS" today. It happened several times during the flight but usually only lasted about 5 - 15 seconds. It must have still had GPS because, whilst the amber warning was present, I switched from P to A and the Phantom drifted with the wind but as soon as I switched back from A to P it immediately stabilized and the amber warning was illuminated throughout this manoeuvre. Throughout the flight I had 15 satellites.

Was it at the beginning of the flight?
 
Could no GPS be related to high solar activity? High K index? Just throwing it out there.
 
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Could no GPS be related to high solar activity? High K index? Just throwing it out there.

Theoretically yes, but in this case, no. It happens too consistently and too often for some of us to be a result of solar activity. In my case, if you read my posts, it's two phantoms, and at least three different firmwares. Though 1.6 had the most yellows. It isn't true atti mode as said by others. There is still some GPS holding in spite of saying non GPS. Not perfect GPS hold, but somewhat there. I experience it almost always on a climb. Yesterday as well. When it happened, I stopped the climb and forward movement and bam, green again. Started to climb again, no movement, still green, went forward while climbing, yellow again. Four seconds later it went away completely and never came back to yellow. Always at least 12 satellites. Since I'm in cold weather, around 3-6 Celsius, I always do a one minute hover after takeoff. Those hovers, like yesterday, are completely green. Go up straight, green. Keep going and start to go forward, that's when safe to fly non GPS starts to appear at times.
 
Hi guys have you given any consideration to the magnetic storm and solar flare these last few days? I see it had impact on GPS when it's high I read in a online duscussion. So when you go out and do your pre flight you ever consider this? I see over last week been very high and even real planes having to take precautions. I'm on latest version and have no issues. Never see less than 12 sats. But when I go out andcalibrste I always look at both solar flare and geo magnetic settings. If both very unstable I don't fly. I love my quad if in doubt don't.....
 
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Could no GPS be related to high solar activity? High K index? Just throwing it out there.
Unless you are trying to fly in some extreme latitude, the K index won't make a noticeable difference when flying your P3 unless it's at historic levels.

What people seem to be seeing since early to mid January is that GPS lock is still present, but the app reports a loss of GPS though not a drop in satellite count. I would assume the erroneous "Non GPS" signal is coming from either the app or through the FW. As far as I know the root cause has not yet been determined.
 
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So for those of us running older (1.4) firmware anyway, is there a safe place to download an older than 2.50 Android APK from before these GPS warnings started appearing?
 
Interesting. I almost always climb and move out at the same time. I'll experiment and see if mine is the same.
Just dont climb out and up FULL throttle at the same time. Especially if batteries are not on 1.6
Its that move that was drawing too much power and shutting batteries down mid flight.
 
is there a safe place to download an older than 2.50 Android APK from before these GPS warnings started appearing?
I'm running 2.4.2 and got the same behavior until I re-calibrated the compass. Have not seen it since. Could be a coincidence.
 
Just dont climb out and up FULL throttle at the same time. Especially if batteries are not on 1.6
Its that move that was drawing too much power and shutting batteries down mid flight.
I usually climb and move out at a moderate rate near the beginning of a flight to check how the battery cells react and how much the voltage drops.
 
Unless you are trying to fly in some extreme latitude, the K index won't make a noticeable difference when flying your P3 unless it's at historic levels.

What people seem to be seeing since early to mid January is that GPS lock is still present, but the app reports a loss of GPS though not a drop in satellite count. I would assume the erroneous "Non GPS" signal is coming from either the app or through the FW. As far as I know the root cause has not yet been determined.
Yeh this falls in line with my experience. I was down in Cancun, Mexico mid Jan and I experienced the no gps safe to fly at least 3 times during the week on different days. I was on a beach, no wifis, no interference etc. Open skies, with 15-16 satellites and yet still got that error mid flight at times.
 
I almost always have 14-17 satellites indicated. The bird always acquires immediate GPS lock and I get a green "safe to fly -GPS" message. However, sometimes during the flight, it turns amber and I get the "Safe to fly - Non GPS" message. This has been happening about 1 out of 3 flights. It tends to flip back and forth during the flight, although the indicated satellite counter does not change.

I doubt it is because of obstructions, as Kansas is rather flat, and it has been happening well above the horizon from any obstacles (200-400 feet).

Weird part is, flight is not noticeably different. It still maintains position against the wind just like normal GPS flight.

Any ideas? Would RTH function in this condition? P3A using 1.3.2 firmware.

TIA
Would it be possible to get the .DAT from a flight where this occurs. If you need instructions on retrieving the .DAT go here Retrieving a .DAT from the P3 Can you Dropbox it after you retrieve it? Thanks.
 
Yes it is. That's why I was wondering if rth would still function in this state. It almost seems like an error in the notification process, as the aircraft still functions exactly the same for me (maintains position)

Mine does the exact same thing you and others are describing, but mine goes to red, not orange, and does NOT maintain position, it maintains same altitude but it will float one way or another until I get it close enough to get GPS back. FYI I am using an Iphone 6, with a P3P, I have the latest firmware 1.6 and I have had this happen to me in three different locations, two of them were wide open fields with no interference.
 

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