UK Available Trackers

[Simes]

I have recently purchased a Mavic Pro and am a newbie pilot. Had two scary fly aways so far although in each case I have regained gps and returned to home.

I want a tracker! I really like the look of the Marco Polo but it's not available for the uk. RF licensing I think. The gps/gms are only as good as the signal if you have it. Where I live and fly gsm phone signals are often sketchy loss of gps has been the reason for the fly away so not sure how much use that would be in a fly away scenario. Rf trackers are max 400 feet and Bluetooth much less. Not sure on what would be the best options.

Any uk users able to share their thoughts and advice?

 

[gavcuk]

What are you doing to have had two "scary fly aways"?

 

[darren6270]

I bought a Trackimo from Amazon here in the UK. Works fine, never had a problem and appears to be quite accurate regarding location.

 

[Simes]

What are you doing to have had two "scary fly aways"?

Flying in open spaces in visual sight, no visible masts and below 400 feet. 15-20 satellites. Full signal. Sudden loss of gps signal although still showing sat's available. Loss of discernible control with right controller. Compass Error and Weak Signal warnings.

I have responded by raising altitude and trying RTH. In both cases GPS re-established.

 

[mark_t]

The compass error can cause loss of GPS mode as both are required, I'd focus on that as the probably cause of your aircraft dropping into ATTI mode.

At the very least, do perform a compass calibration. You don't need to do that each time, but if you are getting a compass error it is worth trying.

Trackimo is a GSM based system though and not much help if the cell signal is poor...

 

[Simes]

Thanks, but of course you don't know if you have a compass error until it occurs and by that time I've lost control. It is literally immediate!

I have done careful calibration of compass, IMU and controller, A few flights since with know trouble, but I don't trust it now

I will look into Trackimo. Wondering if I could use Trackimo and an rf version like Loc8tor which has good reviews. Loc8tor would only add another 6 grams. Wondering if there might be any interference issues with any of these? Either with each other or with the drone?

 

[EarlieP]

I have the trackimo. Obviously not much use if you haven't any GPS (although it will try and triangulate by GSM) or if you have no mobile signal. But at the end of the day you can only do what you can do!! and I have tracked the Trackimo both in the car and my Mavic, with updates every 1minute, and it is amazingly accurate, get one it cost peanuts for the Trackimo including the 1st yr of service, also get the bracket which holds it out the back of the mavic!!

 

[mark_t]

General advice is avoid the rear section of the Mavic as that is where the GPS is located, I've seen people mounting these things using velcro on the battery.

Re the 'lost control' point, it may feel that way but generally you have not actually lost control just that you are feeling the effect of the wind and the aircraft is drifting quite quickly down-wind...

Switch to sport mode and use the camera view if necessary and head for home allowing for the wind drift.

Yes I know it is easy to say and hard to do, especially if you have no experience in ATTI mode due to DJI making it impossible to select that mode for practice...

 

[Simes]

Thanks. From what I can see they are plus £150 quid which I wouldn't call peanuts, but accept it is money well spent if it finds your drone. But is that about right price wise? I can see one UK supplier on ebay but not much else this side of the pond?

 

[Simes]

Oh, I've just found the UK Trackimo site. £89

 

[darren6270]

Oh, I've just found the UK Trackimo site. £89

Try Amazon, got mine cheaper on there

 

[mark_t]

Not sure what the difference is between the 'Optimum' and 'Universal' versions as they only seem to offer Universal in the UK and Optimum in the rest of Europe...

Trackimo - always there

 

[darren6270]

From memory one was 2g the other 3g

 

[Simes]

Good point! And 2g is being phased out!

 

[Simes]

General advice is avoid the rear section of the Mavic as that is where the GPS is located, I've seen people mounting these things using velcro on the battery.

Re the 'lost control' point, it may feel that way but generally you have not actually lost control just that you are feeling the effect of the wind and the aircraft is drifting quite quickly down-wind...

Switch to sport mode and use the camera view if necessary and head for home allowing for the wind drift.

Yes I know it is easy to say and hard to do, especially if you have no experience in ATTI mode due to DJI making it impossible to select that mode for practice...

Thanks for the tips

 

[EarlieP]

Oh, I've just found the UK Trackimo site. £89

This the price i got mine for (Direct from Trackimo) hence my peanuts comment in the big picture of things not a lot.

I have the 3D printed bracket where the Trackimo is well away from the back of the Mavic/GPS it works fine on mine YMMV...

 

[Simes]

Tracking ordered. Is this the bracket you mean? RF-V16 Tracker Holder for DJI Mavic Pro

 

[EarlieP]

Tracking ordered. Is this the bracket you mean? RF-V16 Tracker Holder for DJI Mavic Pro

Yes that's the one, the guy who makes them is in Israel and he offers a lifetime warranty!! Even though it's 3d printed I was surprised how high quality it was!

 

[darren6270]

Good point! And 2g is being phased out!

I think only the 2g version is available in the UK

 

[Simes]

This the price i got mine for (Direct from Trackimo) hence my peanuts comment in the big picture of things not a lot.

I have the 3D printed bracket where the Trackimo is well away from the back of the Mavic/GPS it works fine on mine YMMV...

Slightly concerned I might have been scammed? I bought from here: Trackimo | (Deutsch) Just another WordPress site

Paypal have confirmed payment made, but no acknowledgement from Trackimo except account creation confirmation. When I log in to look at order status it says status is "Cancelled". I have tried emailing and no reply. Couldn't get the email contact on the website to work either