Marco Polo tracker placement

msinger · Jan 17, 2017

You can buy a Marco Polo tracker here on Amazon or here on eBay.

Godking1008 · Jan 17, 2017

msinger said:
You can buy a Marco Polo tracker here on Amazon or here on eBay.

Ok thanks

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F6Rider · Jan 17, 2017

Godking1008 said:
Hey if you don't mind where did you buy your industrial Velcro from?

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The Velcro comes from Home Depot, but you can get it at any home improvement store, just be sure it says Industrial Strength on it, as for the MP I got it on Amazon.

heyjack19 · Jan 18, 2017

If someone decides to make a mount and sell them for the Marco let me know. I'm interested in getting one.

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Motley · Jan 18, 2017

For anyone that is interested here is my first crack at a box type mount that can hold a Marco Polo tracker without permanently attaching it to the Mavic. It fits in the rear landing pegs but doesn't have the extended gear, I plan to make one with the extended gear as well. It is currently setup to put the tracker in with the antenna facing out of the bottom (hole exists for antenna) but I plan to make it so that you can put it in with the antenna facing up as well, it will fit with antenna up now but the charger hole doesn't exist on the other side yet. I will probably make a lid for it as well.

Please provide any feedback you can in the comments on the Thingiverse listing below as I am going to improve this mostly on feedback from the community.

Mavic Pro Marco Polo Mount by Motley74

chippie · Jan 18, 2017

zanderlane said:
...hmmm, come to think of it, I've had an older, even thicker, tile tracker directly atop my p4 for almost a year and over a hundred flights with zero problems and if I'm not mistaken, I believe someone told me the GPS antenna is located directly below that...so wondering if it actually is a such a horrible/bad/silly/stupid idea to place the wee tile mate above the mavic's tail? - I'm always curious about these interference issues: I know placing material between the signal and receptor will degrade the signal, BUT, how do we find out if it will affect the signal reception by .032% or 32%??? - any pilots out there with "mad science" backgrounds wanna take a crack at explaining the degree of interference one can expect from such attachments to a UAS??? - or even a suggestion as to how one might measure and test such a thing? - big thanks in advance! (...here's lookin' at you msinger!!!)

The P4 has a large surface area. The Mavic has a small one where the tag is definitely above the GPS antenna. It is also not so much a matter of interference but that of the tile physically blocking the signal. It is of course a personal choice if you stick it there. I would not take the risk but each to his/her own

chippie · Jan 18, 2017

@zanderlane also a little curious as to why you want to use the tag anyway if you have the MarcoPolo? Not sure about this specific model but they work on a BT mesh network right. I would not think it overly reliable, or is it? Just playing devils advocate here but what benefit does the tag give you?

chippie · Jan 18, 2017

Motley said:
For anyone that is interested here is my first crack at a box type mount that can hold a Marco Polo tracker without permanently attaching it to the Mavic. It fits in the rear landing pegs but doesn't have the extended gear, I plan to make one with the extended gear as well. It is currently setup to put the tracker in with the antenna facing out of the bottom (hole exists for antenna) but I plan to make it so that you can put it in with the antenna facing up as well, it will fit with antenna up now but the charger hole doesn't exist on the other side yet. I will probably make a lid for it as well.

Please provide any feedback you can in the comments on the Thingiverse listing below as I am going to improve this mostly on feedback from the community.

Mavic Pro Marco Polo Mount by Motley74

Great!

Any chance of doing one with a small hinged lid please? Thanks!

heyjack19 · Jan 18, 2017

I don't have a thingverse account so I'll comment here. I think it's looking good. If you decide to make some with the extended legs to sell please let me know. I'm very interested in getting one. I have one on my P3 and would like to be able to switch the transmitter between the 2.

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Motley · Jan 18, 2017

heyjack19 said:
I don't have a thingverse account so I'll comment here. I think it's looking good. If you decide to make some with the extended legs to sell please let me know. I'm very interested in getting one. I have one on my P3 and would like to be able to switch the transmitter between the 2.

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I would suggest signing up for an account on Thingiverse, it is free. If you want to purchase a part the best thing to do is go to the part on Thingiverse and see if the part has an "Order this printed" button on the right side, if so you should be able to find someone with a local printer that will do it cheaper than having to ship. If you really cannot do that for some reason then PM me and we may be able to work something out but I will be pretty busy for the next 2 weeks with part of that being out of town.

Also, I have updated the Thingiverse post and added a version with the extended landing legs. Will have pics of the new version once I get more of the grey filament I have been using which goes good with the Mavic.

Slantnose79 · Jan 18, 2017

Something like this could work for Marco Polo:

Trackimo Drone GPS Tracker with Drone attachment kit

You guys might be interested in this. I just ordered one from him and the quality looks great. You can contact him at [email protected] Sent from my SM-G930P using MavicPilots mobile app

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https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?ur...hare_fid=1514257&share_type=t&share_pid=72176

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chippie · Jan 19, 2017

Slantnose79 said:
Something like this could work for Marco Polo:

Trackimo Drone GPS Tracker with Drone attachment kit

You guys might be interested in this. I just ordered one from him and the quality looks great. You can contact him at [email protected] Sent from my SM-G930P using MavicPilots mobile app

Ordered one of these a couple of days back along with a different type which sits vertically at the back. Will see how they both fare. What we really need something completely modular so you can change the actual case easily. The second one I ordered seems to be this way but there is no holder for the MarcoPolo yet.

zanderlane · Jan 19, 2017

@chippie - the marco polo is a radio signal-based device good for 1-2 miles range in dense brush for quickly guiding you to within like a roughly 30' x 30' area and you can then play hot/cold for awhile to zero in, but much easier to use your ears to find your bird when your within that last 100' of searching using the tile's bluetooth technology (...especially in heavy "drone-disappearing" grass and bushes!) - NOW, looking at that completely awesome trackimo mount, I think I may soon be going the full monty by adding the third leg of the tracking triad with cellular/gps tracking with the trackimo as well! - try and get lost NOW mr. mavic, HA!

chippie · Jan 19, 2017

zanderlane said:
@chippie - the marco polo is a radio signal-based device good for 1-2 miles range in dense brush for quickly guiding you to within like a roughly 30' x 30' area and you can then play hot/cold for awhile to zero in, but much easier to use your ears to find your bird when your within that last 100' of searching using the tile's bluetooth technology (...especially in heavy "drone-disappearing" grass and bushes!) - NOW, looking at that completely awesome trackimo mount, I think I may soon be going the full monty by adding the third leg of the tracking triad with cellular/gps tracking with the trackimo as well! - try and get lost NOW mr. mavic, HA!

Ah ok, I was not ware the tag had a speaker so it makes sense now, well to a degree

I would probably not use the Marco and Trackimo at the same time. Swap them out with regards to the terrain you are flying in. No phone signal, use the Marco Polo etc. Well that is of course unless the cell coverage drops off drastically around where you fly of course

RallySoob · Jan 19, 2017

Im going take apart both, ditch shells and combine both into a single trackimo/tile unit - should look simular to marco polo tx when im done

zanderlane · Jan 19, 2017

...LIKE! - very cool idea! - all three methods gutted and stuffed into that awesome clip-on bracket and bob's your uncle for any calamity near or far - the ultimate "triple threat" tracker!

Motley · Jan 19, 2017

May want to test that all 3 work together and don't interfere with each other or the Mavic. I would be concerned with carrying more weight and adding more radio signals than necessary.

RallySoob · Jan 19, 2017

Motley said:
May want to test that all 3 work together and don't interfere with each other or the Mavic. I would be concerned with carrying more weight and adding more radio signals than necessary.

I will be shedding weight, not adding

I know the tile and trackimo dont interfere from experience with short flight today plus other mavics with both have been posted on several times.

As far as marco polo unit causing the other two too interfere im not sure but i do not plan to use marco polo myself. If i had one i wouldnt combine it either, i would use it as an alternative when flying deep out in no man land assuming the trackimo isn't usable out there but that i need to test. The live interface trackimo has is million times better than MP tho i cant imagine paying nearly 300$ for something like that. The vids i watchdd of it in use were not impressive. The hand held unit was getting spotty reception at short range only because of tree's inbetween but hey thats real world. They aren't for me... personaly i think the only guy that can justify buying it is one who owns many rc aircraft and most have the 2mile or less range the MP has. Ide buy 1 to try if it were priced where i think it should be 79.99$ tops

Motley · Jan 19, 2017

RallySoob said:
I will be shedding weight, not adding

I know the tile and trackimo dont interfere from experience with short flight today plus other mavics with both have been posted on several times.

As far as marco polo unit causing the other two too interfere im not sure but i do not plan to use marco polo myself. If i had one i wouldnt combine it either, i would use it as an alternative when flying deep out in no man land assuming the trackimo isn't usable out there but that i need to test. The live interface trackimo has is million times better than MP tho i cant imagine paying nearly 300$ for something like that. The vids i watchdd of it in use were not impressive. The hand held unit was getting spotty reception at short range only because of tree's inbetween but hey thats real world. They aren't for me... personaly i think the only guy that can justify buying it is one who owns many rc aircraft and most have the 2mile or less range the MP has. Ide buy 1 to try if it were priced where i think it should be 79.99$ tops

Yep, it was worth it for me since I bought the 3-pack of receivers for my 2 drones plus anything else I need one for. It is definitely depending on usage and what you need it for, I plan to fly not necessarily far from my home location on each flight but I do plan to fly in some remote locations where cell service could be very spotty so that also influenced my decision.