satellites drop slightly when recording video - SOLVED

[dunginhawk]

i dont know, but i only had 7 satellites again tonight, AFTER liftoff. something is definately not right with my bird... im getting kind of pissed.

 

[justin00]

Same.. I've redone mine so many times.. poor stickers..

I dont actually get any drop when I record but have GPS probs.. Trying to test in exact same spots/time of day and its annoying me.. gone back to what I did originally that worked well but had video issues.. will see if I still get video issues and hopefully GPS bettr again. Havnt tested since I redid it yesterday. Perhaps I'll try copper tape...

 

[dunginhawk]

me too, i dont have video issues with dropping sats just low sats in general... wonder if dji would do anything.

 

[DBeard]

I went in and re-shielded my GPS receiver a second time, this time tucking the cable all the way up under the copper shielding too. I didn't bother going all the way out to the ESC with the foil, only around the same center area the copper shield is in. I have yet to drop a sat during recording since. Previously I just wrapped the cable in foil tape. I'm thinking the copper shielding plus the foil is the key on the cable.

 

[N017RW]

There are a few of these threads around and the fixes are getting lost amongst them.

Why is no one grounding these shields?

Thin metals at high frequencies will just re-radiate.

 

[dpdpkpcom]

Perhaps I'll try copper tape...

I tried aluminium tape TWICE, second time two layers thick ! No better.

Copper tape and I sorted the problem first time ! But don't forget to put copper tape around the protruding gps cable, covering it as much as you can (and then insulating it so there's no short circuit.

My next job if this hadn't work was to try grounding the copper tape or DJI's original shielding copper piece to the bird, but thankfully I didn't have to.

Just as well, as my soldering skills are weak !

 

[Mako79]

Your last option may be to shield the camera and gimbal by placing foil in-between the phantom and camera/gimbal mount.

 

[kirbinster]

I tried the fix with aluminum tape and tucking the cable under the existing shield. I had worse reception. Removed the aluminum and left the cable under the shield I get good reception but lose it when I turn the camera on - drops from 8-10 birds to less than 6. What should one ground the metal tape too???

 

[N017RW]

I tried the fix with aluminum tape and tucking the cable under the existing shield. I had worse reception. Removed the aluminum and left the cable under the shield I get good reception but lose it when I turn the camera on - drops from 8-10 birds to less than 6. What should one ground the metal tape too???

If you're going to try grounding, the only place would be a DC return or DC negative terminal (different name for same thing).
This can be found at each corner of the main PCB where the ESCs are connected.

!!! Be sure the metal tape is insulated to protect from shorting to some other component !!!

 

[N017RW]

Either is fine but... you can solder to the copper if you need to.

 

[dpdpkpcom]

Anybody can tell me which is better copper or aluminium tape?? Thnks

I tried both, and copper was better for me, but I am just 1 opinion, lots of people have had success with aluminium, sadly it didn't help me.

But I'm a happy camper now !

 

[Mori55]

I really don't think ones going to be much better than the other IMHO. I used aluminum and it worked fine.

 

[saltire]

Great source of info these forums are .I went from 12 sats to 8 when i switched on the video so i guess i will need to try the tape method and see what happens, in fact i might try both alloy first and if it does not do the trick then a layer of copper on top. .
Dji need to engineer this problem out sooner rather than later.

 

[saltire]

Most folks on here have either used alloy or copper tape to cover up the gps unit .
I was out tonight and at one stage my sat count dropped from 9 to 3 as soon as i switched on the video .

 

[saltire]

You have aluminum foili tape?

No not yet just found out about this issue the other day i have ordered some alloy and copper tape to try out but better if it did not happen in the first place.

 

[M.Tigelaar]

I have the same

Before the mod
http://youtu.be/qCaq6xMlSVY

and a test after the mod with two Phantom's.
One with the hole mod and one with only the turn cable and aluminium on the cable.
http://youtu.be/yIY4WCfZUoE

 

[dunginhawk]

So i just got some copper tape from hobby lobby and wrapped my wire in it.. NO change... Alum tape on the wire, NO change. Alum tape in the shell. NO CHANGE. Alum tape above the camera, NO CHANGE.

Im just frustrated as all heck

 

[dunginhawk]

i dont know man
i am getting 7 or so right now, pretty regularly... its acceptable, but im only 1 satellite away from not having GPS... DJI told me to make sure firmware was up to date, if that didnt work. send it back to amazon... great service haha

 

[dronebandit]

its strange why Phantom needs 6 sats to be safe, I think 4-5 should be ok to get back to home point - who needs 1m return to home precision ? 20m would be ok for me in worst case, better than lose 1400 USD ....
May be we can propose to introduce firmware feature "be ok with 4 sats in worst case" switchable in menu somewhere ....
BTW, before doing GPS mod get proper screwdriver, I end up with drilling off one of this small screws ....

 

[saltire]

Is this issue just Vision 2 + only? or did the original vision suffer from the same.For the people on this post has your tape continued to work to help stop sat drop out's.