Hi all,  

I just received my vision 2+ Wednesday.  I've flown it a few times for 3-5 minutes at a time and really not taking things too far to get my feet wet.  Today I to the craft to an open area because I could not acquire more than 5 satellites at my house.  I do have some tall trees around so I figured this was the cause...

Today I finally was able to acquire >6 satellites and too the copter past 200 feet in altitude and flew it around with 8-9 minutes to spare on the batteries.  When I landed I noticed on the app I forgot to start recording the video.  So my next battery I started recording before takeoff and I couldnt acquire more than 5 satellites.  So I flew the craft somewhat close in fear of something going crazy and it flying away!

I then turned off the video and was able to get 7-8 satellites.  Has anyone seen anything like this?  It seems like there is some sort of component interference going on here.  Every time I turn on video recording I tend to drop below 5 satellites.  Is it just me or is anyone else experiencing this anomoly?

I'm quite concerned at this point because I'm unable to setup missions and afraid there is no HL set.

Thanks in advance!

T

Known Issue that DJI doesn't seem to fix http://forum.dji.com/forum.php?m ... age%3D1&lang=en

swomilan Posted at 2014-10-26 13:13
Known Issue that DJI doesn't seem to fix http://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=958&extra ...

You could try the GPS fix and further shield it from the interference..{:2_32:}
An accepted mod from what I'm lead to believe.

mixstreme Posted at 2014-10-26 22:17
You could try the GPS fix and further shield it from the interference..
An accepted mod fr ...

Thanks for the suggestion.  I found the foil tape video and tried it but to no success.  I just ordered the copper emi tape from amazon and non conductive tape to put over it as well.  I'll have it in a couple of days and will replace the HVAC aluminum tape with the copper emi tape.  Just p*sses me off that I didn't find out about these issues before making my purchase.

Does anyone know what DJI's fix is?  I seriously doubt I'll send this in for a 6-8 week fix.  I'm going to call the dealer where I purchased to inquire about a refund.

troyg@nextstepc Posted at 2014-10-27 11:02
Thanks for the suggestion.  I found the foil tape video and tried it but to no success.  I just or ...

Another thing to look at is the Anti interference board, sometimes locating this to another part of the unit can help....

More info on youtube..      DJI phantom 2 Anti interference board

The anti interference board is for  P2 with H3-3d Gimbal and is not something you need for the P2V+ nor does it fix the Gps issue

Hmmm based on that information I'm beginning to wonder if I'm screwed here.  I don't know the refund policy on an "opened" item.  It's opened but non crashed.  We'll see.  I'll post here within the next hour.  I purchased mine from troy built models.  

troyg@nextstepc Posted at 2014-10-27 21:13
Hmmm based on that information I'm beginning to wonder if I'm screwed here.  I don't know the refund ...

I had the same problem and it was resolved by DJI. I opted for a refund because I was going to buy a different brand but after looking at forums/facebook groups for the other brands DJI has fewer problems so I'll be buying DJI again. The following is from my post in another thread which was referred to in this thread:

On the lighter side....My P2V+ is returning to home (China I assume) via UPS instead of GPS. My bad...I should have done better research before spending $1,200.
Added after initial post:
I do want to say that the P2V+ is an amazing device and has lots of potential…It just needs to mature a bit more. I’ll definitely be interested in the next version.

My experience with customer support wasn’t too bad and apparently much improved compared to other posts. First call hold time was 34 minutes; the helpdesk person was very nice but apparently new and said they would send me a return shipping label. Next I got an email saying that they had made a mistake I would have to fill out a form before they would send a shipping label.  I filled it out and sent it in. About an hour later I received a return shipping label via email.  

Well I contacted troybuiltmodels.com - no return, umm sorry take it up with the manufacturer.  Nice.  Called DJI.  Customer Service pretends to never hear of this issue before.  Only thing I can do is send it in at this point and wait for 5 weeks.  I've already tried to apply the "route the gps wire underneath the insulator" so I'm sure I'll be hit with a repair charge now.  I'm just frustrated that I didn't see these issues before my purchase.

It's a hell of a device, it really is but I just hate when people "pretend" there isn't an issue and they never heard of it.  Surprised like WOW really?  Where did you read this from?  My response "your website, your forum and your representative even acknowledged it".   Well, looks like I'll send it in.

I am in the same boat as you and i have tried loads to cure this ,  your dealer should give you a re fund  sale of goods act  or maybe that does not exist in the Usa .
There is nothing wrong with my gps it works 100% until i hit the record button and i think you will find that if you lower the video settings it will not loose so many sats  well thats what happens with mine  but thats not what i want to film in .
Watch this

I have also fitted 2 x ferrite's to my camera cables
I was also contemplating covering the internal wi-fi module with copper tape just for a test as if i left it on perminant it might cause overheating issues.

I was looking for the RF chokes as well.  TROYBUILTMODELS.COM will NOT offer any refund.  So my business will be going elsewhere at this point.  I don't know if I'd cover the wifi radio.  I was thinking of removing the gps receiver to the outside shell to the top and use the copper emi tape underneath it followed by the non-conductive tape.  OR or there any other mods out there for an external gps antenna/receiver?

Could also trace ALL wires coming into the aircraft from the camera and wrap those with the copper emi tape.  I will do this when I get mine back.  I'll be shipping my out today :@

Why is DJI so silent, do they the care about users, or what

I was talking to the owner of Horizon antennas today and  i was describing my symptoms to him and he  recons that its deffo the camera as the interference gets worse the higher resolution    a spectrum analiser is what is needed to check this out  but since i dont have one !!!
The point he made was the freq that the gps is working on is getting hit by rf from the camera and thats whats dropping the sats .
Dji need to supply an anti interference board which will cure this  as he pointed out  if you are a fair distance away and hit the record button then drop sats well it could be  no more phantom .

All is not lost if you lose GPS sats...
It's no different than when you lose sats due to natural causes.
You can't be 100% sure that you'll always have a sat lock.
If you are LOS, you can fly back in Atti.
If you are BVR, CL still works, and right/left/forward/backward will get you into LOS if you know generally where the airframe is in relation to your position...

Thats ok if you are aware of whats going on but a newcomer might not  at the end of the day they need to address this issue and  every day more folks are coming on here complaining about .

xzgraham@btinte Posted at 2014-10-29 02:17
Thats ok if you are aware of whats going on but a newcomer might not  at the end of the day they nee ...

All  pilots should be " aware of whats goin on " in order to fly safely...just sayin"

Eirlink Posted at 2014-10-29 03:28
All  pilots should be " aware of whats goin on " in order to fly safely...just sayin"

I also just bought two Phantom 2 vision pluses from a local dealer in Detroit motor city drone company. Both exactly with the same problem. I barely get GPS signal in less I get it way up in the air then I can get 7 to 8 gps satellites with doing shielding mod. But the second I press record I lose three or four satellites taking me below the threshold to fly in GPS. Unfortunately this is a well-known problem even know DJi won't comment on this. After much frustration and much wasted time and of course the price drop I have no other option but to send these back for a full refund. I don't want a device that is not reliable nor a company who has horrible customer service and won't even admit there's major issues when you shell out tons of money for their products. :@

http://youtu.be/q31s6NDFUlA

if you use the extra shield it helps a lot in our case, we have a stable satellite receiving now also when pressing record.

I think when DJI admits this problem, they will get a lot off claims from people who had a flyaway or crash. So you will never hear from them that it is a real problem ;)
But overall they make nice stuff.

swomilan Posted at 2014-10-27 12:22
The anti interference board is for  P2 with H3-3d Gimbal and is not something you need for the P2V+  ...

The GPS drops when using video -  hence the anti interference board? Is that what the suggested remedy is on posts with that complaint?

r.borre Posted at 2014-10-29 05:02
http://youtu.be/q31s6NDFUlA

if you use the extra shield it helps a lot in our case, we have a stab ...

I have done that exact mod on both my new P2V+s. First I rerouted the GPS cable under the factory shielding that seemed to help the tiniest bit. Still couldn't get GPS lock but better than before. Then decided to use HVAC foil tape. That seem to help gain 1 to 2 more satellites. But no matter what we did I still lost 3 to 4 satellites every time I press record in 1080P or anything HD for that matter keeping us under six GPS satellites. So we tried one more thing and I added actual kitchen aluminum foil over the shielding and then put packing tape over that so nothing could short out. Still have the same problem with dropping 3 to 4 satellites every time I press record. I see some people claim to of had success with the Foil mod but unfortunately both my units are not responsive to this workaround. I like DJI's equipment. I just can't stand their customer service. especially in a situation like this where you spend this kind of money on two brand-new devices and accessories and everybody just wants to point the finger at someone else or say send it away for three months.. meanwhile before I even get this unit back the new phantom 3/ Triumph will be out and available.

At the end of the day folks should not have to open up new machines and stick whatever onto them to cure an inherant problem .Im sure if you spent 1k on a new telly and it did not perform then the manufacturer would fix or replace it .
I have spent loads of time and effort trying to cure this and have done every thing  thats out on the web i did think that fitting ferrite's to the camera cables would help but alas no .Next plan is to line the bottom of the bird with copper  tape  and i might cover the top of the camera as thats where the problem stems from .
To answer mixstreme  that was a suggestion on my part  as they came out with anti interference boards for the p2 so surley they can do the same for the pv2+

Guys I moved my gps IC to the outside of the shell.  I taped the middle of the plastic shell with the copper sheiling foil followed up with the non conductive tape.  I also wrapped the wiring from the GPS IC with the same copper foil tape and cut a rectangle to fit the plug so I can still plug it in without removing the shell.  I also left the factory sheild on the underneath side of the shell.

I have flown several missions in 1080p @ 30FPS while maintaining 8-10 satellites.  This has solved my problem.  You can pick up some copper foil tape from Amazon along with the non-conductive tape.  

Take your time and you'll be just fine.  I was actually looking for something like the GPS device on the S900 and S1000's where it's away from the other components but what I've done works just fine.

Good luck!

troyg!!!

Do you have pictures to go along with this mod?

cheers