RC Pro "Locating" Function

[BulldogB]

I’ve had my Air 2s and RC Pro for almost 4 weeks. At first, I had several disconnects from a short distance (around 70’ away) but since updating to Fly app 1.5.10 I haven’t had any disconnects. In other threads, someone noted that their disconnect issues were fixed with a GPS module replacement when they sent in their RCP for repair.

A few days ago, I noticed that when I started the RC Pro indoors without turning on the drone, the RCP would boot up to the Fly home screen and that in the upper left corner the “Locating” message would never go away. If I touched Fly Spots it would come up with a location off the west coast of Africa. Same story if I went outdoors. The RCP has a GPS receiver so I would expect it to be able to locate itself without the drone.

I plugged in the RCP to charge it and then booted the RCP. Interesting that while charging, indoors, I now get a “Device starting” message as it boots to the Android home screen and when the Fly app boots to its home screen, I get my current location within seconds and Fly Spots now locates my current location with the appropriate warning areas.

Anyone else see this behavior? I’m wondering if I have some intermittent issue or if this is normal. Surprised the behavior is different between being on batteries or on the charger.

 

[sduck]

Does the RC Pro actually have a gps module? I thought it used the drones location info.

 

[eEridani]

My guess is the charger is acting like an antenna for the GPS. Sans charger you aren't getting a good signal, but connected there is enough signal to get a fix. Try the same no charger test when you are outdoors with a clear sky view.

 

[BulldogB]

I believe the RC Pro does have a GPS receiver. Its spec sheet lists GNSS, which includes GPS, and the blue dot on the map in the lower left corner of the Fly app while inflight shows the location of the controller. I think GPS is used to provide the controller’s location.

 

[BulldogB]

Thanks eEridani for the reply. I tried it outside also and was not able to get the Fly Spots to locate me. Now that I manually start the Fly app on the RC Pro, waiting about 10-15 seconds to start the app, the Fly Spots locates me, even inside my house.