Just out of interest, what's the biggest number of satellites your Mini has seen?

I usually get somewhere around 23 to 27, but today I saw an unprecedented 29.  I wonder what the maximum possible is?

Alan.

I dont really get what the number means.. there are currently 30 GPS satellites in use.. so we would only see a small number from any point on the earth.
So why it ahows 20+ is beyond me as we would typically see 5-8, so i dont know what the number actually means.
Edit: DJI uses GLONASS too, which has 24+ in orbit, but combining the 2 could still not result in 20+ being visible at a given time

I haven't seen any as the number is too small ;)

Being serious, check out the following link as it's an interesting read. According to that, there are 31 in total and you should be always able to see a minimum of four. Not sure how if you're in the UK you can 'see' GPS satellites zooming over Australia, or any other two antipodean locations.

https://www.gps.gov/systems/gps/space/

The Mini 2 supports GPS, Glonass and Galileo, so it has access to more than 70 navigational satellites. Of course not at the same time.
There are four GNSS-systems (Global Navigational Satellite System). GPS is US made, Glonass Russian, Galileo is European and Beidou is Chinese. Each of these systems has at least 24 satellites working at any time (plus a few spares).

jweaver Posted at 7-11 05:09
I dont really get what the number means.. there are currently 30 GPS satellites in use.. so we would only see a small number from any point on the earth.
So why it ahows 20+ is beyond me as we would typically see 5-8, so i dont know what the number actually means.
Edit: DJI uses GLONASS too, which has 24+ in orbit, but combining the 2 could still not result in 20+ being visible at a given time

DJI uses GLONASS too, which has 24+ in orbit, but combining the 2 could still not result in 20+ being visible at a given time
And some of the more recent models also use the European Galileo system satellites

Sometimes the satellites will arrange themselves in such a way that, despite 26 pieces, I get a message: low GPS precision. It is quite possible.

It could be it's a dual freq gps module. They usually count each freq as one sat.
As for my phone, it shows 39 sats, but most of them are dual, so it's closer to 20 real sats.

I'm guessing :-) but the mini2 gps seems to be very accurate, so it wouldnt suprise me if its dual.

Hello there Alan. Good day and thank you for reaching out. I hope that our fellow DJI co pilots can give out how many satellites are they getting when flying there DJI Drones. Have a safe and a happy flying always.

Most GPS satellites I have gotten is 30, least is 8 and average is 23.

Thank you all for the interesting views.  I know that DJI drones use both standard GPS satellites plus Glonass. Not sure about Galileo or Beidou.

Drones, etc, can only see any satellites which are above the horizon.  I don't know if their distribution is dependent upon time of day.

According to the theories a minimum of 4 is required to get a global fix, though accuracy increases with the number.  I won't take off with fewer than 12, and that's roughly when the app announces that the home point is set.  Arcticphoto states that there are 70 satellites in orbit, any of which the Mini 2 can possibly see.  Assuming that half are below the horizonand are thus invisible, we should expect the Mini to see an ultimate maximum of perhaps 35, though unattainable in real life as some will be down very close to the horizon. An examination of the flight logs reveals that the number at any moment does constantly vary by 2 or 3 or more, presumably as the earth rotates.

Interesting subject!

CallMeAlan Posted at 7-11 23:35
Thank you all for the interesting views.  I know that DJI drones use both standard GPS satellites plus Glonass. Not sure about Galileo or Beidou.

Drones, etc, can only see any satellites which are above the horizon.  I don't know if their distribution is dependent upon time of day.

I know that DJI drones use both standard GPS satellites plus Glonass. Not sure about Galileo or Beidou.
You might not be sure but look at the Specs of the Air 2S and the Mini 2 and you'd find that they use GPS+GLONASS+GALILEO

I don't know if their distribution is dependent upon time of day.
Navigation satellites are constantly orbiting the earth so that there are always plenty of sats in your sky.

According to the theories a minimum of 4 is required to get a global fix, though accuracy increases with the number.  
DJI drones won't go into GPS mode with less than 6 sats and it usually takes quite a few more than that.

You can also try the app "UAV Forecast" on Android. It shows the number of available Sat's at your current location.

jweaver Posted at 7-11 05:09
I dont really get what the number means.. there are currently 30 GPS satellites in use.. so we would only see a small number from any point on the earth.
So why it ahows 20+ is beyond me as we would typically see 5-8, so i dont know what the number actually means.
Edit: DJI uses GLONASS too, which has 24+ in orbit, but combining the 2 could still not result in 20+ being visible at a given time

True, the most I've ever seen on a friend's drone is 13

CallMeAlan Posted at 7-11 23:35
Thank you all for the interesting views.  I know that DJI drones use both standard GPS satellites plus Glonass. Not sure about Galileo or Beidou.

Drones, etc, can only see any satellites which are above the horizon.  I don't know if their distribution is dependent upon time of day.

And an even more interesting explanation!

That's my usual GPS counting satellites…

On the western side of the US, I typically see between 22 and 27 during a flight.

Considering there are around 76 satellites available across the 3 systems, a 3rd of them is higher than I'd expect.