Loss of GPS signal on Phantom 4

Ivanoleksii1997 · Apr 24, 2018

Hello everyone!

I was flying my Phantom 4 and have been facing the problem again and again: during the flight my Phantom would lose the GPS and turn itself into the OPTI mode or ATTI (higher than 30 meters or 100 feet). I didn't crash my drone and took care about it. Sometimes GPS works okay but another time it can show the problems of the GPS signal loss. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

WV. Rootman · Apr 24, 2018

I fly a P4 and I am not having that problem. GPS sensors are on top. From there it plugs into the main board. Possible loose connection or something blocking the GPS on top?

Triniphantom4 · Jun 6, 2018

I am having this same problem. Not sure what to do. Should I try a firmware downgrade?

Deleted member 62848 · Jun 6, 2018

Sometimes I lose gps but only for few seconds,mayby do imu calibration to make sure all sensors are ok

Triniphantom4 · Jun 7, 2018

Today, i downgraded the firmware and calibrated the IMU and compass. Then i tried a flight again. After about 1 minute/1 minute 30 seconds it loses all satellites and switches optical or atti if I'm higher than 20m .
Wondering if i can swap out the GPS module on my own or do i need to send it to repair shop.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Please help.

KCadby · Jun 7, 2018

Triniphantom4 said:
Today, i downgraded the firmware and calibrated the IMU and compass. Then i tried a flight again. After about 1 minute/1 minute 30 seconds it loses all satellites and switches optical or atti if I'm higher than 20m .
Wondering if i can swap out the GPS module on my own or do i need to send it to repair shop.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Please help.

I have only had my P3P apart but can tell you that the GPS is right under the top shell so it would be easy to replace yourself if the P4 is the same (which makes sense).
Makes sense to put the GPS as high and un-blocked as possible = underside of top shell.
Yup...here's a link and picture of new P4 shell with GPS included...
https://www.amazon.com/DJI-Phantom-Upper-Middle-Module/dp/B077429H8V/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1528388876&sr=8-17&keywords=Phantom+4+GPS

Triniphantom4 · Jun 7, 2018

Thanks appreciate it! will update you all on what happens.

Triniphantom4 · Jun 7, 2018

So i'm going to try to replace the gps and see if that helps that problem. this should be a plug and play after it is replaced right?

Alan Russel · Jun 7, 2018

It is a big job replacing that GPS, you have open the shell and remove the whole module so you can get it..hope you are confident with that.

PhantomWetSuits · Jun 7, 2018

Ivanoleksii1997 said:
Hello everyone!

I was flying my Phantom 4 and have been facing the problem again and again: during the flight my Phantom would lose the GPS and turn itself into the OPTI mode or ATTI (higher than 30 meters or 100 feet). I didn't crash my drone and took care about it. Sometimes GPS works okay but another time it can show the problems of the GPS signal loss. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

Here is my Drive By Take of Ideas,

First you mentioned the 30 meters , so make sure you are not in Beginner mode.
Next check to see how many satellites you are taking off with and that the HOME point is activating correctly.
Next try just going straight up once you have GPS signal and see if you get more or less satellites.

If the results of those test fail. than look to downgrading or re flashing the firmware with the Assistant 2.

I would not recommend changing the GPS , you also mention that you just got the Drone so why would you not just send it back , that would make more sense than a replacing a part that may be working fine.

Really the only time you should get OPTI mode is when you are just collecting satellites until you have a GPS lock.

Triniphantom4 · Aug 10, 2018

Hi all,
Just to update everyone. I bought a replacement GPS module with shell as suggested above. It was a bit of a task opening up the P4 pro but i got through. Turns out the GPS module seemed like it was burnt had some brown marks on it (as shown by image below, old module on the right.)
I have been using the P4 pro for doing some mapping with way points, so maybe i pushed it too hard?
After i swapped out the bad module everything works like it did before. I kept the old module as a souvenir and turned it into a key chain.

Hope this helps anyone with a similar problem.
Keep flying people!
Dan