Since it seems the firmware update doesn't do much for the speed of acquistion (point #2 in https://forum.dji.com/forum.php? ... D556%26typeid%3D556)  I am wondering if it could be a batch of poorly performing recievers?
If so could those folks with overly long waits post the serial number of their drone?

Assuming DJI can trace which components were used in which drones they might be able to spot a pattern.

The common complaint was that the problem only started after to the first firmware update, so that sounds unlikely.

My new drone was also slow getting GPS when got it but after the new update yesterday it locks on much faster, not as fast as when we were on the first firmware but much faster than previous.  I will time it and see how long it takes now.

what's the issue with slow gps acquisition?  is it simply one of inconvenience and wasting time/battery or is it possible the pilot could launch early and when gps lock occurs later in flight, bad things could happen?  if so, that has to be fixed, no?

The Saint Posted at 1-24 14:03
what's the issue with slow gps acquisition?  is it simply one of inconvenience and wasting time/battery or is it possible the pilot could launch early and when gps lock occurs later in flight, bad things could happen?  if so, that has to be fixed, no?

There are a few undesirable consequences to the slow gps acquisition.  But I honestly see most of these are on the pilot.  The pilot ought not have to wait so long for acquisition, but if the pilot chooses to fly without it, the pilot is making an unwise (IMHO) choice.

One is that there are various altitude limits in place until acquisition occurs, and those are very restrictive.

The other issue is that if the pilot chooses to engage in actual flight (maybe even hovering in place) there are risks that without proper GPS lock, the environment can have an influence on the craft that is undesirable.  If something occurs that instigates the craft to fly off for some reason (in my experience a BIG IF, but still possible) there is no "home" for the craft.  Still, this can be mitigated by keeping VLOS on the craft while it does not have a home point.  It's a risk, and if something bad were to happen, that's on the pilot.  When I fly up about 10' to help speed up acquisition, I am taking a risk.

One other poor possibility is that if the pilot decides to actually "fly around" when there is no acquisition, and if/when the system finally does get a "home point", it may not be the desired home point, and that could lead to issues (such as a home point over bad terrain like water).  But this is a pilot issue, not a system issue.

It is an inconvenience, and for some it's pretty bad.  This post is not intended to minimize the severity of the long wait.  But making a decision to not wait is risky, and it's the pilot taking the risks.

Labroides Posted at 1-24 13:57
The common complaint was that the problem only started after to the first firmware update, so that sounds unlikely.

Ah ok, I missed that, thanks

Charles Adams Posted at 1-24 14:20
There are a few undesirable consequences to the slow gps acquisition.  But I honestly see most of these are on the pilot.  The pilot ought not have to wait so long for acquisition, but if the pilot chooses to fly without it, the pilot is making an unwise (IMHO) choice.

One is that there are various altitude limits in place until acquisition occurs, and those are very restrictive.

that's what i thought, thanks for the explanation.  based on current "industry standards" which imo is gps lock is assumed prior to takeoff because nothing is put in place to prevent it, i believe this is a serious bug that requires an immediate fix.  i agree the pilot is taking a risk but this is the m3 not the m1 and it is "normal" by now for most pilots to believe their drone is suitable for flying...when it goes flying.  is there somewhere in the manual that says don't fly until you have full gps?  do you get warning buzzers all over the display talking about severe consequences?  i don't think it is a recall from a safety perspective and i don't think it is "critical" since it does eventually lock and dji has tried to fix it but for the thousands who don't benefit from a knowledgable forum, this has to be a high-priority bug meaning a new sw version in the next 90 days.  imho

The Saint Posted at 1-24 14:28
that's what i thought, thanks for the explanation.  based on current "industry standards" which imo is gps lock is assumed prior to takeoff because nothing is put in place to prevent it, i believe this is a serious bug that requires an immediate fix.  i agree the pilot is taking a risk but this is the m3 not the m1 and it is "normal" by now for most pilots to believe their drone is suitable for flying...when it goes flying.  is there somewhere in the manual that says don't fly until you have full gps?  do you get warning buzzers all over the display talking about severe consequences?  i don't think it is a recall from a safety perspective and i don't think it is "critical" since it does eventually lock and dji has tried to fix it but for the thousands who don't benefit from a knowledgable forum, this has to be a high-priority bug meaning a new sw version in the next 90 days.  imho

I just used "search" to review the manual (I wish I had eidetic memory, but I forgot where I put it), and I didn't find anything that explicitly stated a pilot should or must wait.

However, there are numerous references to functionality that depends on having a "home point".  I can find nothing in the manual that says (paraphrasing) "if you don't have a home point this functionality will not work and you are screwed".

The Saint Posted at 1-24 14:28
that's what i thought, thanks for the explanation.  based on current "industry standards" which imo is gps lock is assumed prior to takeoff because nothing is put in place to prevent it, i believe this is a serious bug that requires an immediate fix.  i agree the pilot is taking a risk but this is the m3 not the m1 and it is "normal" by now for most pilots to believe their drone is suitable for flying...when it goes flying.  is there somewhere in the manual that says don't fly until you have full gps?  do you get warning buzzers all over the display talking about severe consequences?  i don't think it is a recall from a safety perspective and i don't think it is "critical" since it does eventually lock and dji has tried to fix it but for the thousands who don't benefit from a knowledgable forum, this has to be a high-priority bug meaning a new sw version in the next 90 days.  imho

gps lock is assumed prior to takeoff because nothing is put in place to prevent it, i believe this is a serious bug that requires an immediate fix.
No thanks.
Not everyone flies from an open location out on the prairies all the time.
There are times when you might have to launch from a bad spot for GPS and need to launch in atti mode to get up to where the sky is visible.
The last thing needed is more silly restrictions to make drones idiot proof and removing options for flyers who know what they are doing.

Charles Adams Posted at 1-24 14:20
There are a few undesirable consequences to the slow gps acquisition.  But I hon..........there is no "home" for the craft..........

Just for reference, a home point will be establish as soon as the drone has sufficient satellites to do so, the problem with that is if you flew away from the launch point whilst waiting for GPS lock the home point is NOT the launch point. It is where ever the drone was at the time when the lock was established.

I have to fly like this when flying from home, the ground is in GPS shadow. The solution is, once a GPS lock HAS been established, bring the drone overhead and reset the homepoint to the drone's location. Using the drone's location is likely more accurate than using the controller's location (the controller gets its location data from the phone and the phone is in partial GPS shadow)

My second test flight resulted in similar behavior as my first test flight, longer than desired wait time for lock.  I didn't time it formally, and this time I did launch 10' up when I had "weak signal" and waited.  It did feel a bit shorter of a time than my first flight today (when I remained on the ground until I had lock).  It feels exactly the same to me as pre FW update.

Labroides Posted at 1-24 15:07
No thanks. Not everyone flies from an open location out on the prairies all the time. There are times when you might have to launch from a bad spot for GPS  and need to launch in atti mode to get up to where the sky is visible. The last thing needed is more silly restrictions to make drones idiot proof and removing options for flyers who know what they are doing.

.....Spot on!

Sean-bumble-bee Posted at 1-24 15:22AAAARRRGHHH wrong quote sorry

AAAARRRGHHH wrong quote sorry

Charles Adams Posted at 1-24 15:27
My second test flight resulted in similar behavior as my first test flight, longer than desired wait time for lock.  I didn't time it formally, and this time I did launch 10' up when I had "weak signal" and waited.  It did feel a bit shorter of a time than my first flight today (when I remained on the ground until I had lock).  It feels exactly the same to me as pre FW update.

Try a screen capture recording app, they are very handy things for seeing things you missed on the screen because you were, correctly, watching the drone.

Anyway this thread was largely answered by post #2 so pease folks, consider it closed.

Labroides Posted at 1-24 15:07
gps lock is assumed prior to takeoff because nothing is put in place to prevent it, i believe this is a serious bug that requires an immediate fix.
No thanks.
Not everyone flies from an open location out on the prairies all the time.

no you're right.  i agree.  the experts should be able to override this.

i don't mean to have a bunch of additional hurdles on the drone and i think "prevent" was too strong of a work since i don't actually think such a launch should be strictly prohibited.  i just think it should be the other way around if it doesn't meet a certain "quick" threshold....whatever the norm dictates that might be.  and only if it is somewhat of a safety issue.  finally i did mention this is not a critical issue but but i rate it as high which means don't give up on it dji.

Anyway this thread was largely answered by post #2 so pease folks, consider it closed.

Sean-bumble-bee Posted at 1-24 15:22
Just for reference, a home point will be establish as soon as the drone has sufficient satellites to do so, the problem with that is if you flew away from the launch point whilst waiting for GPS lock the home point is NOT the launch point. It is where ever the drone was at the time when the lock was established.

I have to fly like this when flying from home, the ground is in GPS shadow. The solution is, once a GPS lock HAS been established, bring the drone overhead and reset the homepoint to the drone's location. Using the drone's location is likely more accurate than using the controller's location (the controller gets its location data from the phone and the phone is in partial GPS shadow)

how did you know your homepoint is set far away, is there a warning on the screen that is easy to notice?

Mine was fine before the December 10th upgrade.

Labroides Posted at 1-24 15:07
gps lock is assumed prior to takeoff because nothing is put in place to prevent it, i believe this is a serious bug that requires an immediate fix.
No thanks.
Not everyone flies from an open location out on the prairies all the time.

Can't agree more. Had trouble launching from some awkward locations a few times, it let me take off but almost immediately started telling me 'maximum altitude reached'.

NGC Posted at 1-24 19:05
Same here. They broke it and haven’t fixed it.

And our Super Moderator hasn't come and thank us for reaching out, and tell us that this issue will be cascaded to the engineering team.

Suren Posted at 1-24 14:00
My new drone was also slow getting GPS when got it but after the new update yesterday it locks on much faster, not as fast as when we were on the first firmware but much faster than previous.  I will time it and see how long it takes now.

I had the opposite experience. I tested the time before I updated the newest FW....2 minutes. I repeated the test after I updated ,1/2 hour later in the same place, ....3 1/2 minutes.

I've just noticed there's no mention of any GPS/satellite bug/fix on the release notes. The only times DJI would admit there's an issue or a bug is when we see on the release notes of a firmware that they've fixed certain issues/bugs. And apparently they haven't even admitted there's a bug with the GPS.

Monkey007 Posted at 1-24 21:03
I've just noticed there's no mention of any GPS/satellite bug/fix on the release notes. The only times DJI would admit there's an issue or a bug is when we see on the release notes of a firmware that they've fixed certain issues/bugs. And apparently they haven't even admitted there's a bug with the GPS.

I was sorta hoping it was included in this catch-all excuse: "Fixed some minor bugs"

Sean-bumble-bee Posted at 1-24 15:22
Just for reference, a home point will be establish as soon as the drone has sufficient satellites to do so, the problem with that is if you flew away from the launch point whilst waiting for GPS lock the home point is NOT the launch point. It is where ever the drone was at the time when the lock was established.

I have to fly like this when flying from home, the ground is in GPS shadow. The solution is, once a GPS lock HAS been established, bring the drone overhead and reset the homepoint to the drone's location. Using the drone's location is likely more accurate than using the controller's location (the controller gets its location data from the phone and the phone is in partial GPS shadow)

The Fly app does not use the GPS data from the mobile device.

You can update the HP for the current location where drone is flying OR slide the craft over the map to the desired HP location.

cheers
JJB

Personally, I'm not 100% sure it's just a firmware issue.

I made 2 flights before the December Update (Nov 11 and 16) and I remember on both days GPS-lock took quite a while.

However, I haven't checked out the new January Firmware in action, so I can't say yet whether or not the Update helped in my case.

HerrMittmann Posted at 1-25 05:13
Personally, I'm not 100% sure it's just a firmware issue.

I made 2 flights before the December Update (Nov 11 and 16) and I remember on both days GPS-lock took quite a while.

Well so you’re saying it was there before 10th December. Its strange from this point. On latest FW some have said it has improved, on previous FW 10th December some are saying it began there and just like you some are saying it was there initially.

JJB* Posted at 1-25 05:01
The Fly app does not use the GPS data from the mobile device.

You can update the HP for the current location where drone is flying OR slide the craft over the map to the desired HP location.

I think you will find that you can also set the home point to the controller's position and that the controller DOES get its location data from the phone's GPS.

Sean-bumble-bee Posted at 1-25 06:55
I think you will find that you can also set the home point to the controller's position and that the controller DOES get its location data from the phone's GPS.

Hi,

not sure about that, but will check it out.  It ws like this in the Go4 app, sure about the fly app ?

cheers
JJB

It is a bit faster than before, but still way too slow.

Is there a way to view signal strength from the satellite receiver?  

Spazoo Posted at 1-25 09:38
Is there a way to view signal strength from the satellite receiver?

On the go app small white bars, with fly app you just see small aircraft symbol light up and sat numbers to one side red until 10 sats, yellow 10 sats, green above 10 sats . Apart from that no.

The Saint Posted at 1-24 14:03
what's the issue with slow gps acquisition?  is it simply one of inconvenience and wasting time/battery or is it possible the pilot could launch early and when gps lock occurs later in flight, bad things could happen?  if so, that has to be fixed, no?

As others have mentioned, not having a home point locked in can cause some serious safety issues, especially for an inexperienced operator.  

It also can be a functional issue as well.  Until there is a proper location lock, DJI will limit your height above takeoff point to 100ft.  

Suren Posted at 1-24 14:00
My new drone was also slow getting GPS when got it but after the new update yesterday it locks on much faster, not as fast as when we were on the first firmware but much faster than previous.  I will time it and see how long it takes now.

Yes, same here. Not lightning fast by any means but noticeably faster acquisition.

The time to lock is an issue for sure, but please don't try to encourage DJI to further IDIOT PROOF these drones anymore then they already are.

JJB* Posted at 1-25 05:01
The Fly app does not use the GPS data from the mobile device.

You can update the HP for the current location where drone is flying OR slide the craft over the map to the desired HP location.

It uses it in the map display. Drone, Home point and controller positions are separately shown. I am sure you knew that. OMG, you are not running a fever are you?