I downloaded a free app called hover on IOS. The app is very useful and contains weather conditions, no fly zone map, timer, link to various drone articles as well as a KP index indicator. According to the App the KP is 8 right now 12:18 pm eastern standard time near washington dc and a caution to fly is posted!! My understanding is the KP index measures solar flare activity which could disrupt GPS communication. Anything above 4 has potential to disrupt with it getting worse as the number goes up.... Fly at your own risk!!! Avoid a flyaway!!!

Also on Android

Crikey, you're right, I'm getting K8 too!

Thanks for the heads up RDC.

Checking the index is always on my preflight checklist but receiving a fellow pilot's warning is always appreciated.

Cheers!

MilspecJSC Posted at 2015-3-18 00:31
Thanks for the heads up RDC.

Checking the index is always on my preflight checklist but receiving  ...

There is a major geomagnetic storm going on right now from a shock wave that hit planet Earth from a solar flare 3 days ago.  K=8 at the moment.  Where I work, we are seeing some phase disturbances to GPS signals (we use them for timing).  Some very nice northern lights in progress on the dark side of the planet, indicating things are quite disturbed.  I wouldn't fly until the K index drops to 6 or below to be safe.

The source for this information is NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center:
http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/

Paul

Don't forget or European cousins are fixing to have an eclipse as well in a few days.  Most likely not related but the timing is odd.  

The world is going to end.......  

davidw63@comcas Posted at 2015-3-18 01:19
The world is going to end.......

Tomorrow

Anyone had any problems today that might have been caused by the high K index?

Don't forget if it hits a k-index of 10 to lock your phantom in a lead box for 5 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!

na5n@zianet.com Posted at 2015-3-18 00:55
There is a major geomagnetic storm going on right now from a shock wave that hit planet Earth from ...

"K=8"  I think this is strikeouts.

na5n@zianet.com Posted at 2015-3-18 00:55
There is a major geomagnetic storm going on right now from a shock wave that hit planet Earth from ...

Woe is us!  The world will get knocked out of it's orbit tomorrow and this will cause a global flyaway.

I see this app called Hover in app store (IOS) but it does not look like what you are describing.  Who puts out the app? (developer)

ETA: Found it.

http://www.analyticadevelopment.com/

Flew all morning.  No issues at all.  That is probably because all of this in nonsense.  I swear it's stuff like this that makes me want to stay off the internet.  Nobody has any hard facts that this mysterious K Factor has anything to do with anything, but the header to the thread is "Warning do not fly"???  Based on what?  An App?  Seriously?  At least in Oklahoma I had 8 to 10 sat's and everything was fine.  Plan on doing a sunset run.

Anallytical LLC
type in hover and its third across in yellow

nrgwise@gmail.c Posted at 2015-3-18 02:27
I see this app called Hover in app store (IOS) but it does not look like what you are describing.  W ...

I rely on Hover as my go-to app for checking the status of the geomagnetic conditions. It has always coincided with the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center website. It's a simple to-the-point app. Recommended.

gary.ok@hotmail Posted at 2015-3-18 02:38
Flew all morning.  No issues at all.  That is probably because all of this in nonsense.  I swear it' ...

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/planetary-k-index

Yes but where are you getting the idea that geomagnetic conditions adversely affect the phantom electronics or its GPS functions to the point that it warrants sending out an all points alert on an open forum that it is unsafe to fly?  I am well aware of geomagnetic disturbances and their ability to create minor disturbances, but no specific evidence that it causes any ill effects with the Phantom.  At least not evidence concrete enough that it warrants creating a post to scare everybody.

Looked at the NOAA link.  Still nonsense.  

Three batteries today and had 13 sats. She flew like a champ!

I think the world will still be turning tomorrow guys.

I wonder what is DJI's official view on the K Index.. Tahoe Ed is this something we should really be concerned about or is this mass hysteria nonsense spread by rumors much like the no version esc/wire issue on the P2V+ ver.3? Has anyone had problems flying today? So far it is 2-0 all in favor of a smooth flight.  Could a disruption in GPS really effect the home point or flying stability? I tend to be more doom and gloom and would rather be safe than sorry
Nevermind I read this:

http://forum.dji.com/forum.php?m ... astpost&lang=en

The threat appears real. I'm staying grounded and not leaving the house until everything settles down.{:3_50:}

Did you actually read it?  Where in that blurb does it say anything that would suggest that the disturbances produced by an elevated K factor would in anyway produce a flyaway or problems with control of the Phantom.  It suggest that accuracy of the GPS systems mathematical model "could" be affected, but by how much?  The piece suggest "10's of meters" which is nothing in regards to the Phantom.  Besides that how credible is the piece itself.  There is nothing in there to suggest that there is any threat at all.  You nailed it when you mention Mass Hysteria nonsense.  

"The principal users affected by geomagnetic storms are the electrical power grid, spacecraft operations, users of radio signals that reflect off of or pass through the ionosphere, and observers of the aurora."
copied from the "swpc.noaa.gov/products/planetary-k-index"
Well personally.. I am not planning on going up in my space  craft any time soon, and I don't think my radio signals from my phantom reflect off or pass through the ionosphere, so I am not going to worry too much about it. I did however pin some aluminum foil on the ceiling over my bed for tonight.
And would someone please come and get this leprachaun away from  me.
dave

I did however pin some aluminum foil on the ceiling over my bed for tonight.

Wilkinsondave,   That won't work.  We need to make a foil cap over our heads to keep it from causing nightmares when we sleep.

Better yet, use aluminum foil to cover the whole house, I have stock in Alcoa.

Well back from my sunset run.  All five batteries and over a river.  Hey guess what?  No problems.  I did log down the K factor and made sure that I set my bed side tablet to alarm if it senses a disturbance in the force.  Oh wait no I didn't.  In all seriousness though.  Common with this type of thread.  It's really frustrating that this stuff gets out there and somebody that doesn't know any better believes it.

nom de guerre Posted at 2015-3-18 05:33
"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia." -Charles ...

Tomorrow will never get here, it's always today.

And hell if i was going to wait for tomorrow because it is still today!!
Appreciate all the heads up on the whole solar flare thing and i knew about it several days ago, that said, weather was nice when i got home from work and after a few emails i thought, well..hmm..what if tomorrow was not coming...it was too early for dinner and a few other things so why not go out and fly...Well i did, i was a bit delinquent in doing the battery drain to 8% or so (supposed to do it after each 20 flights) which i did the other night, i recharged both of them and flew two batteries tonight, i was airborne for 35+ minutes or so between them both and the Phantom ran like a Swiss watch. In fact, i was out nearly 3,000' (All Stock Hardware with a P2V+ v3.0) when i lost connection and i went into Home Lock and came back...WoW oh Freakin WoW!! and i managed to catch a few shots of the Sunset from high above playing with the camera settings while hovering.....Enjoy today....

My Wifi started working again today! Could it be.....

Twas a St Patty Day conspiracy to get us all to go drinking?

It worked - Burp............   sorry!

Yesterday I checked a website of a drone material supplier in Germany who has this whole K warning on his site. It links to http://www.n3kl.org/sun/noaa.html.

So as I generally don't worry too much about all this solar storm hype of the past few years I thought...to hell...let's give the bird a flight.
And guess what........It worked like a charm. Since I did the GPS shielding mod I usually get around 8-9 satellites in about 30 secs (I live in Germany, we don't have better coverage most of the time). And the same worked yesterday.

So please don't trust all too much in all this "K warning" stuff. Because if you do, the only thing that is going to happen is that you loose valuable flying time in the air!

Nope, definitely nothing unusual happening in the UK...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-31936513

The paranoia surrounding using Phantoms is astounding.

davidw63@comcas Posted at 2015-3-18 01:19
The world is going to end.......

hahahahahaha

If nothing else it's good for folks to be aware - especially beginners. Maybe it takes an extra 30 seconds or minute to obtain a home lock - many of the flyaways seem to be on initial takeoff (failure to establish home point and GPS flying).

Those who know how to fly ATTI may not be as concerned - although K-index can also mess up compass readings.

I think the deal here is knowledge - I was/am a HAM for decades and we always were aware of the possibilities of solar interference - lower numbers mean better reach (propagation) of the radio signal.

At the same time, it's not like our auto and cell phone GPS's stop working - same with those in aircraft. But these often have checkes against GSM and other signals as a backup.

wilkinsondave@r Posted at 2015-3-18 07:11
"The principal users affected by geomagnetic storms are the electrical power grid, spacecraft operat ...[size=13.1999998092651px]users of radio signals that reflect off of or pass through the ionosphere,

The GPS satellites circle the Earth at an altitude of about 20,000 km and complete two full orbits every day

The ionosphere is defined as the layer of the Earth's atmosphere that is ionized by solar and cosmic radiation. It lies 75-1000 km (46-621 miles) above the Earth.

so, therefore the signals from the GPS satellites ARE affected by disturbances in the ionosphere.

Does it affect the Phantoms, who knows??  just saying, end of.

I disagree, giving beginners another reason to be afraid is a bad idea.  There are already enough posts about having to mod this and mod that just to avoid a "flyaway" (which are also garbage in my opinion).  Most could avoid issues by simply reading the manual and taking the time to get to know your phantom.  Too many people open the box and send them to 1000' without bothering to read a thing.  I've not seen a single crash/flyaway attributed to the k-index.  I've seen way too many paranoid posts about not flying when it's high though.  Sure there can be manufacturer defects, electrical problems and mechanical issues but give me a break with this k-index already.  The only people benefiting from these apps are the ones creating them.  I know mine is not the popular opinion, just my 2 cents.

No Badger your opinion is spot on.  Keeping folks "aware" of what?  There is actually nothing to base any of this on, yet folks jump on here and spout this and that with little regard to the fact that they are freaking people out with no basis behind anything.  Just an FYI this so called K index does not change the earths gravitational pull so I'm pretty sure it can't mess up your compass readings.  Also pretty sure that their is nothing to support the claim that most fly-a-way's seem to happen at takeoff, or that ATTI flying will some how prevent this.  These forums are supposed to be a place where users can learn from other users, but for some reason with this product it seams to be a place to propagate paranoia and miss information.  

Check this out

http://forum.dji.com/forum.php?m ... age%3D1&lang=en