P3 standard losing GPS signal

dantheburlyman1 · Jan 20, 2017

First off I am going to say I am a beginner at flying. My question is why would I lose GPS signal? I was about 70 meters altitude and it lost signal and started drifting. Can someone please tell me what to do in the future when this happens. What I did this time was flip the switch to turn off gps mode and had to play with it a little bit before I could land it safely. Thanks for the response.

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Alan Russel · Jan 20, 2017

Might pay to post in the Phantom Standard forum for answers...if you lose GPS you will be in ATTI mode hense the drift,

dantheburlyman1 · Jan 20, 2017

I noticed after I posted this I posted in the wrong category. Can you tell me how to change that?

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Alan Russel · Jan 20, 2017

I have a P3S as well as P3P, now if you are losing signal it is most likely interference eg trees, powerlines, buildings etc have you tried in another location? another thing for best signal the antenna on RC should be pointing up.

ehrlgeo · Nov 14, 2017

I know this is an aging post, but I also have a GPS quality issue. It works fine on a normal day without clouds, however, the other day I was flying on a very overcast day and trying to use follow me mode, it wouldnt even work because it said GPS signal too weak.
Shouldn't GPS work even on overcast days? I relate this to a cars GPS which works good no matter the weather.

Meta4 · Nov 14, 2017

ehrlgeo said:
I know this is an aging post, but I also have a GPS quality issue. It works fine on a normal day without clouds, however, the other day I was flying on a very overcast day and trying to use follow me mode, it wouldnt even work because it said GPS signal too weak.
Shouldn't GPS work even on overcast days? I relate this to a cars GPS which works good no matter the weather.

GPS works the same in any weather.
The weak GPS message can also mean no GPS. It refers to the GPS in your phone or tablet rather then your drone.
Was the GPS switched on in your tablet?
Does it have GPS?
Were you under cover that blocked the GPS view of the sky?

ehrlgeo · Nov 14, 2017

Oh, you answered a question I wasn't even aware of. I assumed the GPS indication meant from the drone. Ill have to if the iPad has GPS, my assumption is maybe not.
I wasn't under any cover, outside in a wide open space. Thanks for the guidance! Ill check it out.

Meta4 · Nov 14, 2017

ehrlgeo said:
Oh, you answered a question I wasn't even aware of. I assumed the GPS indication meant from the drone. Ill have see to if the iPad has GPS, my assumption is maybe not.
I wasn't under any cover, outside in a wide open space. Thanks for the guidance! Ill check it out.

If it's a wifi only iPad, there is no GPS. If it's a cellular iPad - they come with GPS.
If it has GPS, it's also possible that the GPS was disabled in settings too.

kjohn · Nov 15, 2017

If wifi only iPad has no GPS, how come my P3S's will hold position? I have 2 different iPads and they will both hold.

Meta4 · Nov 15, 2017

kjohn said:
If wifi only iPad has no GPS, how come my P3S's will hold position? I have 2 different iPads and they will both hold.

Simple ... the Phantom has a GPS receiver of its own.
The Phantom and the app need to know where your Phantom is.
Knowing the GPS position of your iPad wouldn't help the Phantom much when it's all over the sky.

dekere · Nov 15, 2017

I use a wifi only iPad, it does have gps. I first tried an android tablet because of cost but it's gps & wifi signal was weak.

kjohn · Nov 15, 2017

Meta4 said:
Simple ... the Phantom has a GPS receiver of its own.
The Phantom and the app need to know where your Phantom is.
Knowing the GPS position of your iPad wouldn't help the Phantom much when it's all over the sky.

Big time 'DUH' there! Yes, that makes sense. Kinda burst my bubble though. Here I thought I was so smart because both my older iPad and the one I conscripted from my wife both had GPS. I forked over for an iPad mini so I could use her newer iPad.

After I read your answer, I told this to my wife. We both had a good laugh.

sajindra · Nov 20, 2017

dantheburlyman1 said:
First off I am going to say I am a beginner at flying. My question is why would I lose GPS signal? I was about 70 meters altitude and it lost signal and started drifting. Can someone please tell me what to do in the future when this happens. What I did this time was flip the switch to turn off gps mode and had to play with it a little bit before I could land it safely. Thanks for the response.

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

Did you notice the compass error warning? And did you fly in an urban area with a lot of interference? Like near high voltage power lines metal object etc.losing GPS signal is very rare at high altitudes. Post your flight record here. Experts ll help you.