Is there any way to get the aircraft orientation symbol to work when you are using an iPad that only has Wi-fi/? I flew my MA2 tonight for the first time with my ipad Pro and noticed the symbol flashed red for the whole flight. I connected my iPad to my phone hotspot but this didn’t work either. Not the end of the world but would be nice to find a way to get it working, it sure did look nice in the 12.9 screen.
Aircraft orientation symbol when using iPad
- Thread starter Digi_t
- Start date
CrazyFastFlying
Well-Known Member
Just had the same problem with mine. First make sure all the GPS location services are turned on in the settings of the iPad. Then, if that doesn't work, in your DJI fly account profile under 'settings' there should be a way to turn on and off GPS location. Finally, if that doesn't work, in the settings of the iPad you can set the GPS under each individual app to allow it to access your location. It can be set it "Never", "Always" and "only when app is open". Set it to "always". Hope this makes sense!
Let me know what you find out.
Let me know what you find out.
CrazyFastFlying
Well-Known Member
Oh, sorry. I just realized that your iPad only has WiFi. I didn't read it carefully. My bad.
I’ve noticed this as well but I’m using a Lenovo tablet (TB-8304F1, Android 7.0). When I use my iPhone 6splus the orientation look correct.
All iPhones have GPS built into them. The non-cellular / wifi-only iPads do *not* have GPS on board.
Jeff A
Well Worn Member
This is one fact that I missed when I bought my Wi-Fi only iPad. I hate it when this happens
That is incorrect. Aircraft orientation depends upon the compass in the iPad, and not any GPS in the tablet. Unless you move away from the home point set by the aircraft at launch, the compass in the iPad is all that is necessary, and all iPads have compasses. However, the compass needs to be properly calibrated. If it is red, the iPad compass needs to be recalibrated by moving the iPad in a figure 8 motion, until the orientation is restored. This can be done in flight, while keeping the antennas facing the aircraft, at the best guess of the correct orientation.
My ‘fix’ for this has been to switch to the map screen. There is always a red line between the drone and the controllers location. Use that to orientate yourself back to the home point.
Interesting. I know my iPad Air 2 has a compass in it, and the directional indicator in DJI Fly *never* worked for me. The iPad mini 5 works just fine - but it *does* have GPS hardware, as well as cellular, even though the cellular isn't activated on a plan.
It also works a lot better for my APRS/PocketPacket apps.
I'm using the same iPad Air 2 wifi only, and the only time it is red on the MA2 is when the compass needs recalibration, which always fixes it. Just move the iPad in a figure 8 while attached to the RC pointed at the aircraft in flight. I agree that the Fly app is definitely more finicky than the GO 4 app about aircraft orientation, but I have the same occasional issue with the M2 using GO 4, where in the middle of a flight, the compass goes wonky, aircraft orientation is off by 90°, and I need to recalibrate, likely due to the Hall Effect, as the iPad is suspended over the sticks on my mount. From other users' reports, having a cellular iPad or an iPhone seems to be less prone to the orientation error, but a cellular iPad is not a technical requirement for it to work. It's a compass issue, not a GPS issue, as it takes the GPS from the aircraft set home point, and the aircraft current GPS, and the iPad compass orientation relative to that line. I suspect the compass in the cellular iOS devices is just less prone to losing its calibration, perhaps because of the GPS.
Wifi only or cellular? With the cellular iPad, it isn't the cellular connection, but the GPS antenna that is only included in the cellular iPads that gives one the ability to reset the home point to the RC location. No cell service contract nor cell service connection is required for the GPS to work.
snapdog
Well-Known Member
For added gps, I’m using the Garmim Glo 2 on all my WiFi iPads. Think it works better than cellular models. Helps for some flight apps (Follow) as well as my marine navigation apps. Bluetooth GPS to several devices at once. $100 worth it.
Not necessary for orientation though.
Not necessary for orientation though.
I have a question for everyone that says, “just calibrate your compass”
Since this feature seems to be so hit or miss and we never know if this orientation is correctly pointing in the right direction during a flight, is there anyone in their right mind going to rely on it to fly back to the home point?
Personally, I would never rely on it. The map pointer is always accurate so now I’m not even sure why they have this useless feature. It’s just going to get someone in a bad spot someday that doesn’t know is way off.
Since this feature seems to be so hit or miss and we never know if this orientation is correctly pointing in the right direction during a flight, is there anyone in their right mind going to rely on it to fly back to the home point?
Personally, I would never rely on it. The map pointer is always accurate so now I’m not even sure why they have this useless feature. It’s just going to get someone in a bad spot someday that doesn’t know is way off.
Thanks for all the input on this, I have a question though. The compass seem off on my iPad by quite a lot, I know I’m facing south but Ipad is telling I’m facing east. There doesn’t seem to be a way to manually calibrate it.
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