satellites drop slightly when recording video - SOLVED

Lowepg said:
Wedeliver said:
Lowepg said:
Sorry for the dumb questions- this will be my first mod!

I have the p2v+

So, this mod seems pretty permanent if folks are using aluminum tape? Is this "tape" not sticky ?

Lastly, I'm trying to make sure I understand how you are nauseating the aluminum tape with the packing tape. Are you simply affixing the packing tape over the top of the aluminum tape?

Hi, I saw your post and the tape I used is sticky on one side and look like aluminum foil on the other side. I think there are pictures on past pages in this thread.

But what really got my attention to your post was the use "how you are nauseating the aluminum tape" I am not sure how nauseating is being used here. Since I do get a little sick if I do the compass dance and turn around, sometimes I almost fall down, and I guess if I fly high over my head and I am looking straight up I might get a little nauseated. Otherwise, not sure what you mean.

Lol.... I have no idea what I was typing there! I can only assume is was "autocorrect gone wild" and I was trying to type insulter or something....

:)

fotflmao :)
 
Lowepg said:
Wedeliver said:
Lowepg said:
Sorry for the dumb questions- this will be my first mod!

I have the p2v+

So, this mod seems pretty permanent if folks are using aluminum tape? Is this "tape" not sticky ?

Lastly, I'm trying to make sure I understand how you are nauseating the aluminum tape with the packing tape. Are you simply affixing the packing tape over the top of the aluminum tape?

Hi, I saw your post and the tape I used is sticky on one side and look like aluminum foil on the other side. I think there are pictures on past pages in this thread.

But what really got my attention to your post was the use "how you are nauseating the aluminum tape" I am not sure how nauseating is being used here. Since I do get a little sick if I do the compass dance and turn around, sometimes I almost fall down, and I guess if I fly high over my head and I am looking straight up I might get a little nauseated. Otherwise, not sure what you mean.

Lol.... I have no idea what I was typing there! I can only assume is was "autocorrect gone wild" and I was trying to type insulter or something....

:)

*ahem* Insulating
 
3rd day with p2V+.... loving it!

However, I think I had gotten just enough practice with really strong GPS signals (8+) to start to get cocky :-(

At my house, between 4-7PM the average satellites drop from 10 to 6.... as I was flying, it dropped from 7 to 6 and flirted with 5. This played havoc with my ability to maintain position!

So, I tried the aluminum mod. Finding the right screwdriver took linger than the entire mod process :).

Used 3M foil tape from HomeDepot and some blue painters tape to cover it.

Powered up this evening (when my satellite coverage had been waning) and quickly got 7-8 satellites.... That might not sounds huge, but it's the difference (for me at least) between flying safely around my house!

Im a believer!
 
Lowepg said:
3rd day with p2V+.... loving it!

However, I think I had gotten just enough practice with really strong GPS signals (8+) to start to get cocky :-(

At my house, between 4-7PM the average satellites drop from 10 to 6.... as I was flying, it dropped from 7 to 6 and flirted with 5. This played havoc with my ability to maintain position!

So, I tried the aluminum mod. Finding the right screwdriver took linger than the entire mod process :).

Used 3M foil tape from HomeDepot and some blue painters tape to cover it.

Powered up this evening (when my satellite coverage had been waning) and quickly got 7-8 satellites.... That might not sounds huge, but it's the difference (for me at least) between flying safely around my house!

Im a believer!

Also google "K-Index Monitor" an app for your phone that give good info and you might also want http://satpredictor.navcomtech.com/ If you don't have them already.

Have fun
 
I done the mod just an hour ago, somehow lost my train of thought and forgot the cable shielding after relocating it. but was done and back together before realizing it. I was hoping for the moon when I went out and here at home I have terrible line of sight conditions and I still got 6 and maintained 4 after coming back in the house. I live half way up a 500' elevation hill side so I loose 40% of the sky at home so I think I am way better off then where I was. I never saw more than 6 before, "Ever Period " but only 3 times out for me so far. I dropped gps lock 2 of 3 flights so mine was bad.

Edit : P.S. : When I got back online here after finishing tinkering, I checked Sat Predictor and I only showed 6 available while I was out there, so in essence I got everyone available. Can't wait until tomorrow, still can get 4 in the house. I think this is gonna be good.
 
Flew the Phantom again today at lunch and the thing just kept adding sats while still on the ground. Got my lock at 6 which was quick, used to maybe never even get there, then it just kept climbing as I watched. I took off with 11 and forgot to look again. I am still new to the phantom and a bit nervous with it all. I did watch on the ground and at the time it had 8 and going up, I tried turning video on and off back and fourth and it had no effect. I give this mod a absolute effective rating. I flew it straight up to about 30m and took pictures of the house above and behind me on the hill. Flew 7- minutes and have never seen it so dependably stable.


7 hours later ------> I updated all firmware in controller and bird, then went out to the open field at the plant this evening after work and it was still blustery after this front went through all day and I almost did not fly but I got 11 Satellites and knew it would do it's best to help me with stability taking off and landing. Wow is this thing easy to fly !! when it is locked on good. Flew about 15 minutes, took off and landed on blacktop 6 times with no issue at all.

Here is the kicker, I checked Sat predictor when I got home cause it usually says 8-9 available around here, and sure enough it showed 8-9 and I was showing as many as 11 when I looked at it one time, how is this so, never mind I am not complaining. Now i am wanting to record my flight data, I wish it could be super imposed into our videos automatically.

Almost forgot to mention I had switched to NAZA mode and put ATTI and FS on the bottom right switch position, or at least I thought I did. When everything went so !!! well I decided to go up wind a ways and try a RTH, it took off like a shot heading down wind toward me and flew right past, whoa !! this ain't right, I flipped the switch back to GPS and it quickly slowed and stopped. I flew it back and landed without incident. I checked when I got home and I flubbed it and had ATTi on both bottom positions. :oops:
 
Hi

I did this mod yesterday evening and I'm sorry to report it hasn't solved all my issues. Trying it out today it seems to find satellites in a good manner, but it does not prevent phantom to loose a few when camera recording is activated.

Look at these images before, during and after camera record function is started:





Apparently, according to GPS plan app there were 6 or 7 available satellites at that time so it did a good job of finding those.

Here are some images of my tape job and the tape I used. Please, if anyone has any tips on how to improve it, let me know. I'll be glad to redo it if there is an obvious mistake I've made.




Regards

Björn
 

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I have heard that copper tape installed under the GPS also helps with satellite drop out. Have not done this myself but think I may try it.
 
Yes please. And you have to take into consideration the time of day and gps position and make sure it's the same for comparison.
 
Sats slightly dropping should not matter. Pentagon should be able to turn on their engines to push those that drop out of their orbit too far back to their normal orbits.
 
Pysen said:
Hi

I did this mod yesterday evening and I'm sorry to report it hasn't solved all my issues. Trying it out today it seems to find satellites in a good manner, but it does not prevent phantom to loose a few when camera recording is activated.

Look at these images before, during and after camera record function is started:





Apparently, according to GPS plan app there were 6 or 7 available satellites at that time so it did a good job of finding those.

Here are some images of my tape job and the tape I used. Please, if anyone has any tips on how to improve it, let me know. I'll be glad to redo it if there is an obvious mistake I've made.




Regards

Björn

Tuck the cable under the copper shielding.
There is a tan coloured multilayer copper shielding the GPS. Peel it back and tuck the cable under it. Then do the foil mod.
 
Not being a patch antenna expert but having worked with a few in my 'Motorola days' I asked them what is going on here with this mod.

Essentially the mod does two things directly and a third indirectly.
First it is essentially increasing the ground-plane (GP) of the over-all antenna 'system', this does two things directly- increases the gain and shifts the antennas center frequency.

Generally speaking, gain essentially makes it more sensitive and the center frequency is where the gain is maximum.
The rub is that the amount of shift is dependent on the size of the GP or foil added. So without testing and other experiments it is hard to say if the center frequency shift is more "towards" or "away" from the GPS freq. of 1.5754 GHz.

Of course there's more to it but this is the basic gist of it.

And then lastly as is widely understood and believed here it is acting as a shield from internal EMI.
 
Mako79 said:
Tuck the cable under the copper shielding.
There is a tan coloured multilayer copper shielding the GPS. Peel it back and tuck the cable under it. Then do the foil mod.

Hi Mako,

I did that aswell.
 

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