Help with broken GPS

[djsquare214]

So long story short, I crashed my drone and the GPS will not connect. The ceramic GPS antenna was cracked.
I ordered and installed a new upgraded 4mm GPS antenna but I still cant connect.

It could be one of a few problems: My solder gun needs flux and a new tip so it's possible the solder wasn't seating onto the connections properly, I could have heated the circuit board too much and ruined the connection or there could be another cracked solder joint I can't find or something else.

I also can't calibrate the compass. It just flashed red after until I power the unit off. This could be because of the GPS though, since they connect to one another..?

I plan to pick up a new soldering tip and flux after work and trying once again, but for some reason I don't think that's the issue.

Anyways, are there any circuit board / drone guru's out there that could help me out?

 

[justin00]

I made alot of soldering errors when I installed my new 4mm GPS...Took me alot of goes for such a simple task.... Problems I encountered... overheated gps board, wierd led flashing sequences, no gps signal... I'd recommend using the tiniest amount of solder possible.

other than that, perhaps its also related to the crash/other parts screwed, sorry I can't help with that... One thing at a time though.. Start with GPS as your doing ans yeah go real light on the solder!

 

[djsquare214]

I made alot of soldering errors when I installed my new 4mm GPS...Took me alot of goes for such a simple task.... Problems I encountered... overheated gps board, wierd led flashing sequences, no gps signal... I'd recommend using the tiniest amount of solder possible.

other than that, perhaps its also related to the crash/other parts screwed, sorry I can't help with that... One thing at a time though.. Start with GPS as your doing ans yeah go real light on the solder!

Sounds like you had a similar experience. How did you get yours working and after how many tries?
I bought Flux and the solder seems well seated now but I'll try with less solder.

I get the same orange light that just flashes continously after boot up, no matter if the gps is plugged in, unplugged, unplugged compass.. "NAZA still says GPS NEEDED"..
In the time being I'll order an external gps while I work on this one.

 

[justin00]

lol ya wierd orange continuous flashes sounds familiar and or it heating up verryyy hot.
it actually took like 5..6... maybe 7 goes on multiple gps.
Kind of embarassing for such a simple task.

I was able to install 4x esc and 4x motors on mine and a few friends 100% but yet had continuous issue with 1 tiny solder on gps. But anyways doing it so many times didn't seem to damage it at all... I actually bought a few 4mm gps so I thought maybe 1 or 2 were stuffed, but no it was just me... after I figured out to use the tiniest amount I tested on each gps I thought was faulty and worked 100% on each, so was just me.

 

[djsquare214]

Well it looks like the flashing yellow actually means "ATTI mode (with no gps)". It probably defaults to this when there is no GPS attaches.

I tried over 10 times to solder in the new 4mm ceramic antenna but it still won't connect. I'm going to purchase an external gps/compass unit from eBay for $40 with shipping. I hear they're much better than stock... Minus being external...


High Precision NEO-M8N GPS & Compass Support Naza-M V1 V2/Lite Flight Controller

 

[JKDSensei]

Unfortunately it can be hard to sort this stuff out. When you crash, even the Naza unit itself "could" get damaged. Don't forget the Gyros. Almost anything "could" get damaged.
But if it says "GPS" needed, I would certainly start there. After checking all the connections and cables, I'd probably replace the antenna then GPS like you did. Having a spare compass is probably not a bad idea since they're inexpensive.

Please update us after you've installed your new compass.
Good luck

 

[djsquare214]

So I think I figured out the problem. On the GPS circuit board I had lost the copper ring that conducts the antenna to the board which is why the solder wasn't making a good connection. I tried multiple times trying to seat the solder to the metal in the board after exposing it by scraping the green away. The problem was that each time I failed at soldering, I would have to scrape it clean again which in turn started removing my conductive ribbon in the board until there is nothing left to bond to. At this point I think I'll need a new GPS board to go this route, unless I can find somewhere else on the board that will connect to the same circuit. Right now I'm taking it as a loss and ordered a new external gps/compass unit which should arrive in the next 2 weeks. This should confirm my issue.
I may still try tinkering with it, but I'm thinking it's a loss unless I can make a jumper wire from the antenna to somewhere else on the circuit that has exposed copper to solder to.

If you ever need to replace the antenna, make sure your soldering skills are good as easy of a job as it may seem. I consider myself good, and still my iron it was too hot, used too much solder and tried too many times. Dont forget the flux!

 

[JKDSensei]

Perfect time to upgrade to a M8n Glonass GPS module

 

[djsquare214]

Funny, that's the one I ordered!

 

[JKDSensei]

Funny, that's the one I ordered!

AWEsum. Pweese pweese tell us how it works out...K?

 

[djsquare214]

Problem is fixed! The $40 M8N Glonass GPS/compass module did the trick, and works 1000% better than stock! Locks on to 10+ sats within 20 seconds and was super simple to install. Very happy with this upgrade/fix!

 

[JKDSensei]

When you're hovering now, how tight would you say the drift is? More or less than the one you replaced? My stock GPS is about 3 feet right now.

GPS is so important with these things, I think I'll do the same.
The oem GPS is just a bit lacking it seems. Long lock on times and often low SAT cont.

 

[Tudor]

Problem is fixed! The $40 M8N Glonass GPS/compass module did the trick, and works 1000% better than stock! Locks on to 10+ sats within 20 seconds and was super simple to install. Very happy with this upgrade/fix!

Did you install it inside or outside the shell?
Just wondering