satellites drop slightly when recording video - SOLVED

dunginhawk · Sep 18, 2014

ok. please assist if you think you can ..

so i did the mod today, buckeled it up, tested it out front... 9-10 satellites. SUPER HAPPY... (late morning)
forgot the clear packing tape to prevent shorting so i opened it back up and put that in.
BUckled it back up and noticed a serious LACK of satellites tonight... 6-7, 9 once briefly.
Any idea why this might be?

bergenfelter · Sep 18, 2014

The GPS satellites you have in view throughout the day will always change (called the GPS constellation) - so you will almost never get the same GPS sat lock number from time to time - it will vary. As long as you have at least a steady 6 or more - you should be good for stable GPS mode flight.

If you want to be real geeky - here is an animation of the constellation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7_lI6L7Doo

dunginhawk · Sep 18, 2014

so yeah, maybe i get more in the morning and thats all fine and good.. all i know is at evening, it sucked.. BUT i didnt have a drop in GPS satellites when i started recording, which is a big plus.
I do NOT at all feel comfortable flying around without 7+ . i can much too easily drop to 4-5 , and lose all control , certainly if its way out there.
and i cant just fly in the AM haha

EDIT. i can get 9-10 with my cell phone in the exact same location, time of day, that i get 5-6 on the phantom... clearly something is wrong.

Mori55 · Sep 18, 2014

Cell phone is different gps than the +. You won't lose control , it'll go in atti mode.

dunginhawk · Sep 18, 2014

I realize it will go in to atti mode.. and im fine with that when im close to home, or close to the flyer.. But what happens when im 700 feet out over a farm im surveying... homelock? nope. RTH? Nope...
THere is something seriously wrong with these phantoms that can only get 6 satellites... thats not enough to feel reassured.. one satellite from dropping out of gps mode.. thats scary for a 200 $ unit, much less $1300

RaySF · Sep 19, 2014

dunginhawk said:
I realize it will go in to atti mode.. and im fine with that when im close to home, or close to the flyer.. But what happens when im 700 feet out over a farm im surveying... homelock? nope. RTH? Nope...
THere is something seriously wrong with these phantoms that can only get 6 satellites... thats not enough to feel reassured.. one satellite from dropping out of gps mode.. thats scary for a 200 $ unit, much less $1300

I agree+++

justin00 · Sep 19, 2014

Hate to be that guy... but any chance of a picture of exactly what you are talking about please ??
I'm familiar with the foil mode (seen but never done) but not this copper shielding you speak off. I'm yet to take off the case so perhaps when I do it will all make sense.....
Just abit confused by the instructions even though they sound fairly simple..

thanks

Pysen said:
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.

Click to expand...

Hi Mako,

I did that aswell.

justin00 · Sep 19, 2014

Never mind.. found this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q31s6NDFUlA

DBeard · Sep 19, 2014

I agree that EMI needs to be addressed thoroughly from DJI, I shouldn't be hacking a $1200 piece of hardware. This is not DJI's first rodeo; that should've been solved at the factory.

dunginhawk · Sep 19, 2014

the very fact that they have that copy shielding on there means they know there is an issue... how hard would it be to fix it with a layer of foil as well.
Just seems like a cost saving cheap *** move.
Either way, i dont think it worked for me... Im not sure what my options are now, but im pretty upset... I shouldnt have to fly this thing without gps, period.

Stdquad · Sep 19, 2014

Now let me tell you my story. When I tried the popular remedy of inserting aluminum tape under the GPS, I did get better satellite pickup, but as soon as I turned on the video, I consistently lost 3 to 4 satellites. This loss would generally put me into the Attitude mode because I rarely locked into more that 7 or maybe 8 satellites.

So for my P2V+ there seemed to be no answer. I contacted DJI in LA and they finally did admit that there is a problem and that they were working on a solution. But when????

Somewhere, maybe in our blog I heard that copper might work. So I decided to try copper. I talked to my friend at the guitar store and he said Fender Guitar uses copper shielding for EMI generated inside the electronics of the guitar. He gave me a piece and I tried it and bingo. Problem SOLVED finally for the P2V+.

I locked into a record 11 satellites held them all even when the video was turned on. Did not loose a single satellite connection for my total flight time of about 1 hours. My satellite scanner also showed that there were only 11 satellites available at the time!!!!!

I hope my experience will help some of you that still are looking for answers.

Pysen · Sep 19, 2014

Is it a tape or mesh? Where can one get a hold of it?

Pysen · Sep 19, 2014

Sorry, your reply came in between. I meant the copper in the picture above.

justin00 · Sep 19, 2014

I tried this using aluminum tape (got it from bunnings, you have to look yourself.. they say they dont have it!!)
Anyways at first I got 0 signals so I thought crap the connection must of come loose.. turned it off/back on and gps started working.
locks on to about 10 satellites when I film now... Pretty sure some of my problem is due to my location... I'm near the CBD in a big city but for some reason we get back reception in parts.. anyways seems to working nicely now.

thanks

*edit* hmm now what to do what 3 metres of alum tape... anyone in melb, aus is welcome to a bit... the hole roll only cost $13 anyways.

justin00 · Sep 21, 2014

I downloaded this app "satellite AR" for android. Its tells you how many GPS capable? satellites are in the air at one time.. Currently there are 10 it rekons..
In theory... that means I could only lock onto a max of 10... yeah ?

Anyways going to try now.. see how any I get

dpdpkpcom · Sep 21, 2014

lakislambrianides said:
I don't know if there is something like this on tape

There is. Search on amazon for "copper tape"

Much improved my experience over aluminium tape, although I did wrap the copper tape around the protruding gps cable (which I didn't with aluminium). Copper all the way (for me)

Pysen · Sep 21, 2014

Just got a piece of this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261362221692

justin00 · Sep 21, 2014

Aren't you worried of the alum or copper tape touching over parts? When I close the lid the middle/end of GPS cable (when its covered) sits on the metal square component next to the Naza unit (it has like 2 antenna's coming out of it and is size of naza unit.. fpv??) ??

dpdpkpcom · Sep 21, 2014

justin00 said:
Aren't you worried of the alum or copper tape touching over parts? When I close the lid the middle/end of GPS cable (when its covered) sits on the metal square component next to the Naza unit (it has like 2 antenna's coming out of it and is size of naza unit.. fpv??) ??

Yes, you need to insulate the copper or aluminium tape with an appropriate insulator to be safe. I taped over mine with black insulation tape.

justin00 · Sep 21, 2014

Hmm when I did that this 'fix' stopped working.. redid it twice to be sure. I dont get how wrapping electrical tape can stop the shielding underneath doing its job...

dpdpkpcom said:
justin00 said:

Aren't you worried of the alum or copper tape touching over parts? When I close the lid the middle/end of GPS cable (when its covered) sits on the metal square component next to the Naza unit (it has like 2 antenna's coming out of it and is size of naza unit.. fpv??) ??

Click to expand...

Yes, you need to insulate the copper or aluminium tape with an appropriate insulator to be safe. I taped over mine with black insulation tape.