Home Point: Me

[Henry Davis]

When I attempt to use the Home Point: Me feature and change the Home Point to where I have moved I get the message; "Mobile Device GPS Signal Weak. It's location cannot be acquired." I am using an iPhone X and I have tried to use the feature in many different areas and in different states.
Has anyone else had this problem and how do you fix it?
Thanks,
Henry

 

[DanMan32]

Perhaps the iPhone GPS is malfunctioning or under the particular circumstances, couldn't get a good signal.

 

[zappy54]

it doesn't seem to be working properly on iOS at the moment lots of talks about it on DJI forums

 

[Henry Davis]

I have also seen several posts on FB about this feature not working. I have spoke with DJI several times and they requested I send my Mavic back but I am not considering that yet as I have read that I may get a refurnished Mavic returned to me.

Question: does the new Smart Controller have GPS?

 

[dgronjord]

Question: does the new Smart Controller have GPS?

Yes. GPS and GLONASS.

 

[raven swe]

mines the same with iPhone 6 plus,, iPhone x,, and iPad 9.7, lots of folks seem to have this problem at the moment.

 

[CaptBill]

I have same problem with my iPad mini 4 and I even bought an external gps that Bluetooths to the iPad. Other apps on my iPad work using the external gps but not the dji app. I think it's a dji issue

 

[raven swe]

tis about time they fixed it me thinks, along with the missing modes

 

[Dazzler24]

I've posted this elsewhere but think I need to add here as well.

Just wanted to add my 2 cents worth (make that AU$800 worth). I recently bought the latest ipad (6th gen) cellular so that I could have the GPS functionality because I specifically wanted to be able to use the 'my location' for the return to home when on a boat (mostly) only to find that I get the dreaded 'GPS signal too weak' issue making it useless for that function.
I don't understand why there is the 'button' to set this ability but it simply doesn't work for a large section of the drone community which is evident in many forums! If you do a search on the subject there seems to be an endless trail of complaints about this very thing?!

The closest 'excuse' that I'm reading is that it's an accuracy thing - something about >10m that throws up the error.... so what! If you are on a boat and lose sight of the drone or whatever and the Return to Controller function works then 10 m is nothing if it means getting the drone within 10 m of the new 'home point' where you could take control and land safely.
What have I missed here??! Seems like an App issue to me! Am I wrong?

Something else has now come to mind. Does the new DJI 'Smart Controller' have this issue? My new ipad and the Smart Controller both have GPS and GLONASS. I wonder if the DJI product 'suffers' from the same problem?!

Anyone out there have one to check/test?

 

[Henry Davis]

I've posted this elsewhere but think I need to add here as well.

Just wanted to add my 2 cents worth (make that AU$800 worth). I recently bought the latest ipad (6th gen) cellular so that I could have the GPS functionality because I specifically wanted to be able to use the 'my location' for the return to home when on a boat (mostly) only to find that I get the dreaded 'GPS signal too weak' issue making it useless for that function.
I don't understand why there is the 'button' to set this ability but it simply doesn't work for a large section of the drone community which is evident in many forums! If you do a search on the subject there seems to be an endless trail of complaints about this very thing?!

The closest 'excuse' that I'm reading is that it's an accuracy thing - something about >10m that throws up the error.... so what! If you are on a boat and lose sight of the drone or whatever and the Return to Controller function works then 10 m is nothing if it means getting the drone within 10 m of the new 'home point' where you could take control and land safely.
What have I missed here??! Seems like an App issue to me! Am I wrong?

Something else has now come to mind. Does the new DJI 'Smart Controller' have this issue? My new ipad and the Smart Controller both have GPS and GLONASS. I wonder if the DJI product 'suffers' from the same problem?!

Anyone out there have one to check/test?

Thanks for your reply.
Please let me know if you find out if the smart controller has the same issue.

 

[Meta4]

The closest 'excuse' that I'm reading is that it's an accuracy thing - something about >10m that throws up the error.... so what! If you are on a boat and lose sight of the drone or whatever and the Return to Controller function works then 10 m is nothing if it means getting the drone within 10 m of the new 'home point' where you could take control and land safely.
What have I missed here??! Seems like an App issue to me! Am I wrong?

That's someone's guess, and it's wrong.
It's a problem that only affects users with Apple equipment.

On a boat, I find that the other home point option is just as good.
You don't want to use RTH to land on your boat anyway.
You just reset the home point to prevent the drone flying off toward your original launch point when it's concerned about battery level to fly that far.
Since you are usually flying near-ish to your own boat, just reset to current location of the drone a few times during the flight.

Something else has now come to mind. Does the new DJI 'Smart Controller' have this issue? My new ipad and the Smart Controller both have GPS and GLONASS. I wonder if the DJI product 'suffers' from the same problem?!

Of course the new controller doesn't have the issue - it runs Android so it won't have an Apple only problem.

 

[CaptBill]

Yes, you can do that, however, we shouldn't have too. They have this return to the controller option for a reason and it should be able to work as intended.














[/QUOTE]

 

[Dazzler24]

Ok, just did some further tests. This time with two different Android devices and here are my results:-

Note that both devices are running dji go 4 - 4.3.11
Both devices in Airplane mode
I wandered around with both devices to the same locations to ensure repeatability.

1. Samsung Galaxy S7 edge - faultless. Always had the blue dot in the map (indicating accuracy) and I could always update to the device position every time.
2. Samsung galaxy tab S3 - hit and miss. Sometimes had the blue dot on the map and this is when I could set the new home point but often would go to a red dot and this is when I'm getting the weak signal issue.

Also as a side note my ios device (ipad) always has the blue dot in the map but still throws up the weak signal issue?! - But can be 'fixed' (for me at least) with the unplug/replug method as mentioned below.

The following is an extract of a 'fix' done by "Bozora" over on the DJI forum:-

"Hi all

I just found a quick fix on the freaking "Weak GPS" try the following

1. Take off your drone - aint no matter if its csc or auto takeoff
2. Fly forward a little and hover. (or just hover near you, just to be on the safe side))
3. Move yourself to a different location
4. Unplug the black cable from you phone (the connector end that attached to the controller)
5. Reconnect the plug/connector
6. go tap on the human icon
7.VOILA!!!!!! CONTROLLER LOCATION IS SET!!!!

EACH TIME YOU WANT TO SET NEW CONTROLLER LOCATION ....JUST PLUG OUT THEN PLUG IN. WORKS ALL THE TIME FOR NOW TILL DJI UPDATE THE APP."

Don't know if this helps or just muddies the water further. Any thoughts?

 

[Dazzler24]

That's someone's guess, and it's wrong.
It's a problem that only affects users with Apple equipment.

Hmmmm not so sure that it is only Apple equipment related. I and others have reported the same issue on Android devices as well. Please see my post above for findings that at least affected me using two Android devices. (I didn't mention in that post that a Nexus 7 (android) that I tried was reporting the same problem. I didn't include it as it is getting a little long in the tooth and only wanted to mention the newer devices). It seems to be different results for different people/situations.

Of course the new controller doesn't have the issue - it runs Android so it won't have an Apple only problem.

And yes I'm sure there won't be any issue with the new DJI device of course no matter what operating system they chose to run on it.

Yes, you can do that, however, we shouldn't have too. They have this return to the controller option for a reason and it should be able to work as intended.

As CaptBill said.... It should just work as intended. All these workarounds and patched fixes are just that, a band aid to cover up what is/should be fixable.

 

[Meta4]

And yes I'm sure there won't be any issue with the new DJI device of course no matter what operating system they chose to run on it.

It has nothing to do with the age of the DJI product.
Many of the recent cases I've heard of were with new/recent equipment.
I hadn't heard of any Android users with the problem before, but plenty with Apple.

As CaptBill said.... It should just work as intended. All these workarounds and patched fixes are just that, a band aid to cover up what is/should be fixable.

Of course features should work.
What I said was to give you something to work with if you can't reset the home point to the controller's location.
But from experience, I wouldn't expect it to make much difference or be a serious worry anyway.

 

[Dazzler24]

It has nothing to do with the age of the DJI product.
Many of the recent cases I've heard of were with new/recent equipment.
I hadn't heard of any Android users with the problem before, but plenty with Apple.

Hi Meta4, Yes, the emphasis wasn't meant to be on the 'new'. What I meant there was that because it was a DJI branded product it would be sure to work as it's in their interest to ensure that all of the functions work (on their own products). It was a bit of tounge in cheek more than anything else.

Of course features should work.
What I said was to give you something to work with if you can't reset the home point to the controller's location.
But from experience, I wouldn't expect it to make much difference or be a serious worry anyway.

And yes, don't get me wrong all feedback/help appreciated . I'm just trying to get the facts (as I've found them in my case) out there for discussion and consideration. It's just a little annoying when there's a software package out there that seems to have 'hairs' on it and the company (DJI) is apparently dragging its feet to find, or even offer, a credible solution. It would be better (IMHO) to A. Fix it or B. simply remove it rather than have a function that works part time (for some/many).

Cheers and thanks for your suggestion. You gave me some pause for thought with the low battery/return to home calculation if the home point is not updated from a moving boat! Thanks.