Hi,

Anyone finding it takes several minutes for their drone(s) to acquire GPS lock? I thought my M4P was being slow, so I put my Air 3S next to it and it was equally slow, and didn't get many satellites either (though it got more than the M4P as it supports more types).

The M4P is currently locking only 12 or 13 sats, and presenting red or orange satellite alert.

I'm wondering if there are external factors at work, and whether anyone else is seeing this behavior.

Have you tried a different location and same slow GPS acquisition results?  Has that current location been difficult in the past?

Hi . Im using Mini4 Pro , and mavic3 pro. I havent such long gps locking as you described , but in some locations i flying i found that it takes little bit more time for sattelites locking . i think the best addvise is like previously been sent - try in different locations .
oh, and forget to tell you , i switching on drone first , installing at starting point and after that turning my controller on .

Hi there,
thank you for reaching out.

As also mentioned in response #2, we advise attempting to fly in a different and unobstructed environment. If the issue persists, please keep us updated on the progress.

RobZilla Posted at 11-25 07:46
Have you tried a different location and same slow GPS acquisition results?  Has that current location been difficult in the past?

Not yet. If the weather is good I'll try it today.

DJI Diana Posted at 11-25 20:04
Hi there,
thank you for reaching out.

I will try this. Thank you!

The location doesn't matter.
What's around the location does.

Your drone needs to have a clear, unobstructed sky view to be able to pick up sats.
The more sky is visible, the more sats it can acquire.
If you are in a spot where a chunk of the sky is blocked by trees, buildings or terrain, that will affect your drone's sat acquisition time and the number of sats it can find while on the ground.

The time sinse the drone was last used wil also be a factor.
For details read this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_to_first_fix

Labroides Posted at 11-25 22:31
The location doesn't matter.
What's around the location does.

Thanks for the link.

I fly from this spot quite often, and in the past it was relatively quick. I first noticed this last week. Sitting for minutes is not usual.

The reason for trying both aircraft was to out-rule an issue with one of them, but they are both slow, making me think there is an external factor at work.

The best way I can describe it is as if the GPS signal is weaker. Neither drone can currently lock any satellites while sat in a window.

I have other GPS devices I can try (GPS and GLONASS receiver) so I can get more detailed data on the signal and see what is going on.

Cine_Dude Posted at 11-26 06:04
Thanks for the link.

I fly from this spot quite often, and in the past it was relatively quick. I first noticed this last week. Sitting for minutes is not usual.

You haven't commented on the most important thing about the place you were testing.
Is the drone's skyview obstructed or does the drone have a clear, unobstructed skyview?

I have noticed with my m4pro drone that on the first flight of the day it takes about 1 minute to find the sats. But on all subsequent flights of the same day the drone finds the sats in seconds and it doesn't matter if I do it in an open area or in the forest.

Labroides Posted at 11-26 06:17
You haven't commented on the most important thing about the place you were testing.
Is the drone's skyview obstructed or does the drone have a clear, unobstructed skyview?

It has a clear view of the sky. I fly regularly from this spot, and it is usually fast (order of 10 seconds or so, and already has a few satellites by the time I check the satellite icon) but this particular couple of days it was taking MINUTES to see even ONE satellite.

Curiously, these were around the days as the reported drones over certain places, so I'm writing this off as "external factors".

I flew today, and it locked and was ready to go within 5 seconds.

I can't edit my post...to add, both drones once again lock satellites while indoors. Definitely something up "externally" that was affecting GPS.