Track that Drone

Skip....didn't really notice a difference to be honest....prior to the leg mount I had it center mounted with Velcro....didn't notice a decrease in battery....although there may have been a slight one. Im glad you guys had luck with the TK units...I wished I had....would have saved ALOT of time. In the end...this unit works great for me and the weight is similar.
 
eculuke said:
Skip....didn't really notice a difference to be honest....prior to the leg mount I had it center mounted with Velcro....didn't notice a decrease in battery....although there may have been a slight one. Im glad you guys had luck with the TK units...I wished I had....would have saved ALOT of time. In the end...this unit works great for me and the weight is similar.
Garmin is most definitely a good product. I like the free service for a year as well.
The way you attached it is eXceptional and it matches the drone. :)
 
with chinese products you really have to rely on the web for help. I tried several sim cards (H20, ATT, TMobile) and never got the sim to respond. I fired the garmin right up and it worked out of the box and the tracking has options for how often to send your signal. For me I was willing to pay 119.00 to get something to work (for me). I am sure the TK is a great option...I just couldnt get it to work.
 
eculuke said:
with chinese products you really have to rely on the web for help. I tried several sim cards (H20, ATT, TMobile) and never got the sim to respond. I fired the garmin right up and it worked out of the box and the tracking has options for how often to send your signal. For me I was willing to pay 119.00 to get something to work (for me). I am sure the TK is a great option...I just couldnt get it to work.
I understand 100%. I wanted it mainly to play with and take apart..:) do you want to sell your tk102?
 
more info on the TK102B step by step take apart here https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/sho...racker-Lite-44-3&highlight=tk+102+gps+tracker
Some notes about the hardware:

SiRf Star III GPS chipset, stand alone module, soldered to the main PCB
GPS antenna is detachable, fixed by two solder blobs
plug-on GSM module
GSM antenna seems to be crap, but there is a U.FL socket on the GSM module to connect a better antenna
8-pin USB Connector, at least the USB logo is on the charger plug
Microcontroller STC 89LE58RD
there is a microphone
Weight of empty housing: 22.2g
Weight of PCB including GSM modem: 21.6g
Weight of battery: 18.3g

Looks like it will save maybe 15 grams from original weight by the time you add a better antenna and shrinkwrap.
gsm_gps_trk0003.jpg

gsm_gps_trk0006.jpg

gsm_gps_trk0004.jpg

gsm_gps_trk0007.jpg

gsm_gps_trk0008.jpg

gsm_gps_trk0009.jpg
 
Nearly finished my project, quite a bit work and a total strip down however managed to fit a tk102 tracker and a flytrex core inside the battery compartment, nearly back together and going through alot of tests before flight but its looking good so far, tracker and p2v functions seem to work fine :)
 
NEILS said:
Nearly finished my project, quite a bit work and a total strip down however managed to fit a tk102 tracker and a flytrex core inside the battery compartment, nearly back together and going through alot of tests before flight but its looking good so far, tracker and p2v functions seem to work fine :)
awesome! any pictures? how will you charge the tracker?
 
I never thought at the time may be i should have taken pics at stages, i did'nt so finished pics will have to do, when you look inside the battery compartment to the left behind the battery terminals thats where it is, you have to revove the pcb and battery from the tracker and cable tie together so it still works off the battery then its a case of removing some of the plastic inside the p2v till it fits, keep trying the fit and removing more plastic, i fitted a charging plug for the battery on the side of the p2v and soldered the wires to the back of the battery spring terminals on the pcb, the switch on/off button for the tracker is in an awkward place hovever a long screwdriver gets to it no problem, it would be easy to add another switch on the side of the p2v if wanted, the sim is impossible to get to unless you remove the main p2v pcb however i activated the card first on a phone so it has credit on it, i'm hoping when i top the credit up it just adds to the account and does'nt need the sim removing?, if it does that might be a problem.
The flytrex is on the other side of the compartment set back a bit, that needed alot of plastic removing and also i had to use j.b weld to keep the pcb in place, its sd card is easy to get at though.
This can all be done without unsoldering any wires or removing plugs to speed controllers etc, just remove all the screws and keep all the boards fitted together, they can be moved aside together, moving the main pcb just a little lets you unscrew the battery terminal plug (2 screws), once thats done you can move enough to gain full access to the battery compartment.

I'm crap at explaining things :lol: but hopefully you'll get the general idea, pics tell a thousand words so i'll get some up this week.
 
sounds great. I look forward to hearing how it does. I also have the flytrex. :) as well as the 7th function switch.
I need to get rolling and install some of these parts before everyone changes to another craft.
NEILS said:
I never thought at the time may be i should have taken pics at stages, i did'nt so finished pics will have to do, when you look inside the battery compartment to the left behind the battery terminals thats where it is, you have to revove the pcb and battery from the tracker and cable tie together so it still works off the battery then its a case of removing some of the plastic inside the p2v till it fits, keep trying the fit and removing more plastic, i fitted a charging plug for the battery on the side of the p2v and soldered the wires to the back of the battery spring terminals on the pcb, the switch on/off button for the tracker is in an awkward place hovever a long screwdriver gets to it no problem, it would be easy to add another switch on the side of the p2v if wanted, the sim is impossible to get to unless you remove the main p2v pcb however i activated the card first on a phone so it has credit on it, i'm hoping when i top the credit up it just adds to the account and does'nt need the sim removing?, if it does that might be a problem.
The flytrex is on the other side of the compartment set back a bit, that needed alot of plastic removing and also i had to use j.b weld to keep the pcb in place, its sd card is easy to get at though.
This can all be done without unsoldering any wires or removing plugs to speed controllers etc, just remove all the screws and keep all the boards fitted together, they can be moved aside together, moving the main pcb just a little lets you unscrew the battery terminal plug (2 screws), once thats done you can move enough to gain full access to the battery compartment.

I'm crap at explaining things :lol: but hopefully you'll get the general idea, pics tell a thousand words so i'll get some up this week.
 
The tag unit is no smaller than gps units you can find. There are two schools of thought on rf interferance. Some on this forum believe it won't make any difference. I am not one of them and would not use a device like this unless it was on a different frequency to your quad. Plus the 300m max best range I be I think would not be so usefull.
Consider how far your quad could travel with a full battery if you had a fly away on take off.
 
Hi I just got my new Phantom vision and I'm very happy with her. I would like to use a flytrex card and the tk102. checking the space in my bird, would it be OK to put the tk102 and on top of that to put the flytrex card? (the space would be behind the Camera), would that cause any interference or similar? (for flytrex readings, Phantom 'a compass etc and for example everytime I have to take out the tk102's battery for charging?)

This is a great forum and I have learned a lot (but I still need need to a lot more jejeje) so thank you for all your help
 
I agree Ozzyguy. I don't think I'd like to take the chance that it may interfere because it also uses 2.4GHz - but because I'm far from an expert, I thought I would check what people thought here. Maybe it doesn't do anything until it's pinged (probably unlikely)?

They claim 500m range - which I'd be happy with. You should know the general direction in which you lost your quadcopter, and being able to get within even a 300m radius shouldn't be too hard. Cheap & no monthly contract, but of course the worry of interference would always be looming.
 
I bought a mini GPS tracker to try out..takes a sim card and runs for 12 days..prepaid sim $10 when needed..if anyone is interested let me know and l'll post the link later ( not home at the moment ) Mandrake

Sent from the thing that does everything.
 
I tried a TK 102 in Australia, but it seems limited to 2g networks and does not include the Telstra Next G network, which is a terrible shame. The result is that in many places it simply does not work, unlike mobile phones which have the Telstra compliant chip. 2g still exists, but is being broadcast much weaker it seems.

I have not yet found a tracker which I can use on the Telstra network, which does not include some kind of a fee per month for the tracking service. The phone account chip is not the problem, Telstra sell those for low usage phones. You simply pay more per call.
 
I'm very interested as I am looking for a good reliable GPS tracker for my Phantom 2 - have you used it and has it been pretty reliable?

Mandrake said:
I bought a mini GPS tracker to try out..takes a sim card and runs for 12 days..prepaid sim $10 when needed..if anyone is interested let me know and l'll post the link later ( not home at the moment ) Mandrake

Sent from the thing that does everything.
 
Sid1240 said:
I'm very interested as I am looking for a good reliable GPS tracker for my Phantom 2 - have you used it and has it been pretty reliable?

Mandrake said:
I bought a mini GPS tracker to try out..takes a sim card and runs for 12 days..prepaid sim $10 when needed..if anyone is interested let me know and l'll post the link later ( not home at the moment ) Mandrake

Sent from the thing that does everything.

Let me know also
 
Have not received it yet..will advise in due course...

Sent from the thing that does everything.
 

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