IPad Mini WI-FI Version VS Cell/GPS Version - My Impressions

Thomas B · Apr 2, 2020

One plane is fine.

DeuceRon · Apr 2, 2020

Great thread! Looks like my iPad mini will not work since it's wifi only. I'll keep my controller tablet holder in the box for now and just use my phone. Glad I came here first!

DanMan32 · Apr 2, 2020

You can fly with the iPad Mini, just that the orientation indicator won't be accurate. All the other functions will be fine. The map should show a line between HP and AC, with AC orientation. If you need to reorient the AC to fly back to you, yaw it until map shows it's nose pointing towards the line.

Meta4 · Apr 2, 2020

DeuceRon said:
Great thread! Looks like my iPad mini will not work since it's wifi only. I'll keep my controller tablet holder in the box for now and just use my phone.

A wifi only iPad will be fine for flying.

DanMan32 said:
You can fly with the iPad Mini, just that the orientation indicator won't be accurate. All the other functions will be fine. The map should show a line between HP and AC, with AC orientation. If you need to reorient the AC to fly back to you, yaw it until map shows it's nose pointing towards the line.

This is quite wrong.
A wifi only iPad has no GPS, but it still has a compass which is all the orientation indicator needs to work.
Not having a GPS receiver in the iPad makes no difference to its usefulness for flying.

Hegemone · Apr 2, 2020

Meta4 said:
A wifi only iPad will be fine for flying.

This is quite wrong.
A wifi only iPad has no GPS, but it still has a compass which is all the orientation indicator needs to work.
Not having a GPS receiver in the iPad makes no difference to its usefulness for flying.

I use a Bluetooth garmin with my wifi 10.2 iPad and all is grand. Hot spot the phone if I need to grab a map.

I guess the compass interference must be more prevelent with the mini because my new 2019 10.2 doesn't show any wierdness like people are talking about. Good to know how to work through it though.

Meta4 · Apr 2, 2020

Hegemone said:
I use a Bluetooth garmin with my wifi 10.2 iPad and all is grand. Hot spot the phone if I need to grab a map.

What do you use the Garmin bluetooth for?
Having GPS in the iPad makes no difference to flying the drone.

cadbob · Apr 2, 2020

I'm Selling my old Ipad Mini 2 om Ebay it is WIFI/Cellular, my wife bought me a new one. But this one works great and looks brand new. I actually think its battery last loner than the new mini 5 I have.

iPad Mini 2 with Retina Display Wi-Fi + Cellular 32GB | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for iPad Mini 2 with Retina Display Wi-Fi + Cellular 32GB at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

StubbornSwiss · Apr 2, 2020

cadbob said:
I'm Selling my old Ipad Mini 2 om Ebay it is WIFI/Cellular, my wife bought me a new one. But this one works great and looks brand new. I actually think its battery last loner than the new mini 5 I have.

iPad Mini 2 with Retina Display Wi-Fi + Cellular 32GB | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for iPad Mini 2 with Retina Display Wi-Fi + Cellular 32GB at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

Am I correct in thinking it is 'Unlocked' and would work with any GSM carrier, if I ever decided to stick a sim card in it?

Also how did it perform with the MM? Anything at all that you were not happy with?

Cheers!

cadbob · Apr 2, 2020

StubbornSwiss said:
Am I correct in thinking it is 'Unlocked' and would work with any GSM carrier, if I ever decided to stick a sim card in it?

Also how did it perform with the MM? Anything at all that you were not happy with?

Cheers!

Yes I bought it unlocked , I never used the Cell Part, I used my regular cell and used hotspot did not want a 2nd cell bill. lol It worked great with DJFly and I also used it a lot with DJI4 and Litchi

DeuceRon · Apr 2, 2020

I'll give it a shot this weekend with my no gps mini 2. Appreciate all the feedback

StubbornSwiss · Apr 3, 2020

@cadbob

Don't you check your ebay offers?

cadbob · Apr 3, 2020

StubbornSwiss said:
@cadbob

Don't you check your ebay offers?

LOL, sorry about that went to bed. Let me think about that please. That was fair. But like I said hate even selling it! lol
Main reason as that is Jail Breakable and you can put hacked version of GO and soon to be Hacked Fly on it than.

UPDATE:: It is yours, I accepted your offer. Hope you enjoy as muuch as I did. It was well taken care of.

StubbornSwiss · Apr 3, 2020

Great! Much appreciated.

Done!

cadbob · Apr 3, 2020

StubbornSwiss said:
Great! Much appreciated.

Done!

I Mailed it in the Case I had Bought for it and it also has a Gorilla Glass Screen Protector on it, it has been protected since day-1. Only time out of case was when it was in RC.

StubbornSwiss · Apr 3, 2020

Thanks Bob...... that was super fast shipping - I appreciate it.

Quick question if you don't mind.

When you used this iPad to fly your drones, did you leave the WiFi on (connected to your phones hotspot) during the flight? I see a lot of people recommending to turn off WiFi, Bluetooth and whatever, but anytime I've flown my MM with my regular phone (Samsung S9+), I haven't turned anything off or put it in Airplane mode, and have not experienced any issues.

Whats your experience with this?

Cheers!

Hegemone · Apr 3, 2020

Meta4 said:
What do you use the Garmin bluetooth for?
Having GPS in the iPad makes no difference to flying the drone.

I have it to allow me to update my home location to the location of the remote. This is not possible if flying without GPS on the remote side of things. It also allows other map features to work as intended on the ipad out in the field. GPS location is not the same as the internal compass module different uses and purposes.

Being able to provide the drone with accurate remote location is a nice feature because if there is a RTH and the original location is not a viable landing spot for some reason I can move myself and update the location. You are correct, you can fly without it but there are benefits to having it.

Its a way to have all the same features of the cell enabled iPad without 1. needing a sim card and 2. being able to turn off my hot spot and not use data when I don't need to.

cadbob · Apr 3, 2020

StubbornSwiss said:
Thanks Bob...... that was super fast shipping - I appreciate it.

Quick question if you don't mind.

When you used this iPad to fly your drones, did you leave the WiFi on (connected to your phones hotspot) during the flight? I see a lot of people recommending to turn off WiFi, Bluetooth and whatever, but anytime I've flown my MM with my regular phone (Samsung S9+), I haven't turned anything off or put it in Airplane mode, and have not experienced any issues.

Whats your experience with this?

Cheers!

No in fact hardly used hot spot, only time was if i was flying a autonomous flight with litchi or if i was far from home to get map. So if you are far connect to hot spot start fly app it will get map data than disconnect from hot spot. The only reason we want ipad with the cell capabilities is because it has built in compass and GPS which dont require data. The wifi only dont have the chips. I also had a Nvidia K1 but never ever used it, as much as i like Android i never trusted it for flight.