"No GPS" warning every time I fly rural outdoors. Found "transmission channel mode" was on "Manual." Choose "Auto" or how to fix problem?

[Underwaterguy]

It seems that almost every time I fly outdoors I get the warning (in the title) and "unable to hover." I'm using an iPhone 6S with the controller. Any thoughts on how to get connected to GPS more consistently?

 

[Starz]

Aren’t settings fun!?

 

[LifesShort]

The transmission channel doesn't have anything to do with GPS. I leave mine set to AUTO and haven't had any problems. As far as the GPS goes, make sure you have a clear view of the sky. You may have to give the Mini a few minutes to locate enough satellites. I find that if I'm in the mountains where I only have a partial view of the sky, it can take as long as 5 minutes to locate enough satellites to safely takeoff.

 

[lannes]

You can't fix it, it's a bug in DJI Fly, stupidly it defaults to "manual" on start-up

 

[Underwaterguy]

The transmission channel doesn't have anything to do with GPS. I leave mine set to AUTO and haven't had any problems. As far as the GPS goes, make sure you have a clear view of the sky. You may have to give the Mini a few minutes to locate enough satellites. I find that if I'm in the mountains where I only have a partial view of the sky, it can take as long as 5 minutes to locate enough satellites to safely takeoff.

Thanks. I'll remember to set it to "auto" on each power up and give it some time. And so I'm clear - Do both the controller and drone need to be powered up for that long, or just the controller/iPhone?

 

[Underwaterguy]

You can't fix it, it's a bug in DJI Fly, stupid it defaults to "manual" on start-up

Thank you. I'll now remember to switch it to "auto" every time I power up.

 

[Meta4]

Thanks. I'll remember to set it to "auto" on each power up and give it some time. And so I'm clear - Do both the controller and drone need to be powered up for that long, or just the controller/iPhone?

The controller and whether it is set to auto or manual or when it was powered on makes no difference to the drone's GPS.
Your drone's GPS reception is between the drone and GPS satellites and could be affected by hardware faults or obstacles blocking the drone's skyview.
To take this further, would require some knowledge of the startup location and an example of your flight data.

 

[Underwaterguy]

I appreciate the clarification. I'm pretty new to all this. Now that I know it's between the drone and GPS satellites I will be more aware of obstacles that block the drone's skyview. I hope it's not a hardware issue. I'll see how things go this week when I'll be flying it again. Thanks ~

 

[Meta4]

I appreciate the clarification. I'm pretty new to all this. Now that I know it's between the drone and GPS satellites I will be more aware of obstacles that block the drone's skyview. I hope it's not a hardware issue. I'll see how things go this week when I'll be flying it again. Thanks ~

Are you getting this message out in the open where the drone has a clear view of more than half of the sky?

 

[Underwaterguy]

I actually do a lot of flying from the shoreline of ponds and rivers where I have to launch starting from under tree canopies. But as I recall last week when I was powering up from a kayak in a very open pond space I had that issue. I will pay close attention to the overhead obstacles in the future and see how the GPS reacts.

 

[Dave Maine]

Satellite coverage is the key to GPS positioning. DJI provides a real time monitor for the drone's opinion about the coverage that it has. You can watch it as you debug the problem. 10 or above is good, below 10 to 6 is marginal, below 6 DJI will not use the GPS position.

The drone GPS monitor is the only thing that counts. Anything the phone, tablet or controller reports us meaningless.

The GPS satellites are constantly moving both minute by minute and day by day. Their signal strength at the drone will depend on their height above the horizon, obstacles between the controller and drone (trees, buildings was, etc.).

Putting a strobe or other object on top of the drone GPS antenna is another excellent way to stop the reception of GPS data.

 

[Underwaterguy]

I really appreciate your depth on knowledge on the GPS subject, Dave. Thanks for taking the time to explain. It fills in a lot of gaps for me. No plans to put anything on top of the Mini, but good to know.