Lost GPS signal scare

[DirkGently]

Yes that is good advice. But I don't get the problem regularly, just that unknown time, when you would not expect it. When you have been flying in the same area for many flights with no problem, then Bamm you're all the sudden in ATTI mode... that is the part that shakes my confidence.

That is frustrating for you and would definitely shake my confidence.

The Mavic doesn't inspire a feeling of rock solid reliability in the way the Phantom 3 did.

Did you calibrate the compass?

 

[Leigh]

see my update on my thread I had the same problem too but after calibrating the compass today (for the first time) all fixed

 

[DirkGently]

see my update on my thread I had the same problem too but after calibrating the compass today (for the first time) all fixed

I'm glad that worked. 10 flights since calibration and my GPS issue hasn't returned.

Life would be a lot easier if the Mavic was more accurate in its error messages.

"Compass and GPS mis aligned - please re-calibrate compass" would be a lot less scary and more informative than a general GPS lost warning

 

[Randy]

Nothing in this world is 100% accurate or reliable. But worst case scenario is the GPS tracking becomes less accurate - instead of accurate to +/-3 metres its +/- 10 metres.

It should not stop working completely unless blocked by a big object or very serious interference from say power lines.

I've used a GPS watch for over a decade and never had the problems with it the Mavic has. Sometimes its very accurate and sometimes less so - but once it has a fix it keeps it.

When the GPS was unavailable it meant the Mavic return to home didn't work - which you'd expect if the drone has no idea where it is.

So I think for now I'll keep my Mavic close until I can be sure the GPS was either a 1 off issue or at least fixed in firmware.

My MP has only done it when I go to sport mode, as long as I stay out of sport mode, no problems with loss of GPS.


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[Squamer]

Curious as since this new update I have flown 3 flights and two of them it has switched in to ATTI mode unexpectedly. But only for a few seconds. One other thing I have noticed is the Mavic does not hover and hold position perfectly any more. Now it seems to do a figure 8 and drifts. Any one have any input on what to do? Probably going to re calibrate IMU and compass tonight. Both times it happened I was in a pretty wide open area but after seeing it happen it definitely hurt my confidence of flying some distance. I did upload the flights to healthy drones to check them out but signal strength, sats and everything else looked pretty solid to me.

HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters


HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters

Really don't want this to strike fear into my flying!

 

[agilealtitude]

I've calibrated and recalibrate out the ying yang in an open field with no possibility of metal or magnetic interference. I still consistently get the magnetic interference errors and compass redundancy switch notifications. The interference issues happen no matter which mode I'm in, compass issues when in sport mode, and can never use follow me mode due to a reported weak GPS signal. Using iPhone 7 Plus.


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[DirkGently]

I've calibrated and recalibrate out the ying yang in an open field with no possibility of metal or magnetic interference. I still consistently get the magnetic interference errors and compass redundancy switch notifications. The interference issues happen no matter which mode I'm in, compass issues when in sport mode, and can never use follow me mode due to a reported weak GPS signal. Using iPhone 7 Plus.


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I also sometimes get interference warnings - despite being in the middle of nowhere with the nearest building 2 miles away. Also using iPhone 7 Plus - in aircraft mode to prevent any possible interference.

They are not constant and I've just got used to ignoring the Mavic's frequent warnings. Wind is another one - anything other than dead calm and it warns of wind.

The Mavic is like a very anxious and over protective mother. Always warning over the smallest of problem/risk.

I just use common sense now and take the warnings with a pinch of salt. I'm a fairly cautious flyer anyway.

 

[Squamer]

I also sometimes get interference warnings - despite being in the middle of nowhere with the nearest building 2 miles away. Also using iPhone 7 Plus - in aircraft mode to prevent any possible interference.

They are not constant and I've just got used to ignoring the Mavic's frequent warnings. Wind is another one - anything other than dead calm and it warns of wind.

The Mavic is like a very anxious and over protective mother. Always warning over the smallest of problem/risk.

I just use common sense now and take the warnings with a pinch of salt. I'm a fairly cautious flyer anyway.

I agree I am pretty cautious usually. But these two flights were the first flights I took the misses out to see. Needless to say I wanted to "show off a little". And of course she was telling me to open it up and see what it has because she wanted to be impressed. I was looking for the nod of approval and wanted to hand the controls over to her to get her on board with me spending 1000$ on a toy and the ATTI warning made me very very concerned! After 50 flights this is the first two times I have ever gotten it.

 

[agilealtitude]

I also sometimes get interference warnings - despite being in the middle of nowhere with the nearest building 2 miles away. Also using iPhone 7 Plus - in aircraft mode to prevent any possible interference.

They are not constant and I've just got used to ignoring the Mavic's frequent warnings. Wind is another one - anything other than dead calm and it warns of wind.

The Mavic is like a very anxious and over protective mother. Always warning over the smallest of problem/risk.

I just use common sense now and take the warnings with a pinch of salt. I'm a fairly cautious flyer anyway.

I completely agree. The wind warnings are incessantly ridiculous. It's fun to have to position your finger on a small little 'x' to clear warnings as they appear, only to miss and reset the focus point--over and over. I get their importance...but you would think there would be a less invasive way to deliver them or make them automatically disappear.

 

[larkin]

Disable OA and try hovering again in the wind. My Mav hovered in 30mph winds with this update like a champ; that is, until I enabled OA and it almost smashed itself into a wall.

Curious as since this new update I have flown 3 flights and two of them it has switched in to ATTI mode unexpectedly. But only for a few seconds. One other thing I have noticed is the Mavic does not hover and hold position perfectly any more. Now it seems to do a figure 8 and drifts. Any one have any input on what to do? Probably going to re calibrate IMU and compass tonight. Both times it happened I was in a pretty wide open area but after seeing it happen it definitely hurt my confidence of flying some distance. I did upload the flights to healthy drones to check them out but signal strength, sats and everything else looked pretty solid to me.

HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters


HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters

Really don't want this to strike fear into my flying!

 

[DirkGently]

I completely agree. The wind warnings are incessantly ridiculous. It's fun to have to position your finger on a small little 'x' to clear warnings as they appear, only to miss and reset the focus point--over and over. I get their importance...but you would think there would be a less invasive way to deliver them or make them automatically disappear.

The ironic thing is having to take your eye off the plane/screen and hand off the controls for a moment to close the warnings is probably reducing safety!

If they could automatically close after 3 seconds that would be good!

 

[Dranos Bug]

On a flight yesterday tracking with 17 satellites maximum signal.. 8 minutes into the flight get a "weak GPS" message on the controller and attempt to head back. Controller still shows 17 says but weak red GPS signal. I could not control the aircraft... drifted for over 2 minutes and ended up about 1,000 feet down wind.. I was able to see and rotate the camera and gimbal the whole time - but could not control the aircraft. RTH did not work. I could only watch as it drifted downwind.

Finally (after 2 or 3 long minutes) the GPS signal returned and RTH worked perfectly.

Now I'm a little gun shy to fly very far. Any idea what could have caused this? I was flying over my neighborhood at 375 feet and was about 2,200 away
When this happened. Signal was a solid 3 bars

Thoughts?





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On a 2-27-17 using go4 app home point recorded and tracking with 16 satellites maximum signal.. 31 seconds into the flight get a "weak GPS" message on the controller at 2mintues in I got 18 sats back. The bird was at 10 feet the whole time. I took it up to 35 feet hit home. IT WENT TO 212 FEET ON ITS OWN was programmed for that. Satellites went 1 red bar drone was flying on its own I could not control the aircraft.. I never touched the stick after I pushed the home button. I attempt to head back. Controller still shows 17 says but weak red GPS signal. The GPS lost signal three times in the 5 minute flight. This happened two day earlier, I flew it some 28 minutes bringing it closes to me and got it down with 25 minutes of battery left. This time was not so lucky hit the top of a tree at 110 feet drone and battery destroyed no idea what happened to the gimbal.

 

[Squamer]

Losing faith in my Mavic.. it's now developed a circular drift when it hovers it'll just slowly pan left. Tried recalibrating my stick and nothing. Couple quick test flights today went ok, I decide to open it up out over the frozen lake and bam atti mode once I hit 3000'. Starting to get aggravated,

HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters

 

[Mr Spock]

The GPS lost signal issue is due to this:
Firmware v01.03.0000 Compass Error.
And the fix for it is this:
DIY rear compass cabling fix

 

[Aidyheaney]

There have been several GPS related incidents posted recently where the cause was a drop in gpsHealth. These incidents are characterized by an abrupt unexplained GPS loss and then a switch to ATTI mode.

Here are the analyses of a few of these incidents;

Why did it fly away?
Did I Have a Fly Away or Did the Drone Return to Home?

gpsHealth is NOT the same as numSats, but, instead a measure of gps signal quality. gpsHealth has a range of 0 to 5 and a value of 4 or 5 is required for GPS mode. In these incidents gpsHealth abruptly drops from 5 to 1 causing the switch to ATTI mode. If this were ever to happen to my Mavic it wouldn't fly again until it had been repaired by DJI.

had a crash with my mavic it was 200ft up and 400ft away in LOS at all times I banked right and the warning came up lost gps Atti mode then another warning IMU heading exception in flight switch to Atti mode if craft behaves abnormally (using) to with I had no input on the sticks it took of on me heading for a residential area to which I had no control I would like to know why it done this on a £1000 quad you think there would be more failsafes on board now am left with a damaged quad andwaiting for DJI to get back to me justwondering did this ever happen to

 

[Randy]

The GPS lost signal issue is due to this:
Firmware v01.03.0000 Compass Error.
And the fix for it is this:
DIY rear compass cabling fix

Didn't Bud Walker say there was no relationship between GPS signal loss and the the switch to ATTI, and the rear compass cable fix? I'm getting more and more confused about this issue.

 

[Aidyheaney]

Mine threw up 2 warning before it shot off no me

 

[Aidyheaney]

 

[Mr Spock]

Didn't Bud Walker say there was no relationship between GPS signal loss and the the switch to ATTI, and the rear compass cable fix? I'm getting more and more confused about this issue.

Why is DJI twising the wires now?

 

[BudWalker]

Why is DJI twising the wires now?

There are two issues that, AFAIK, are unrelated. This thread is dealing with the gpsHealth-drops-from-5-to-1 issue.

The other issue is the rear motor cabling causes a noisy compass that is being addressed in the thread
Firmware v01.03.0000 Compass Error.

I think they are unrelated in the sense that I've not seen any data or incident to suggest they are related.
@Randy