Hi all, I finally got a break from the rain here and tried to fly my Phantom 2 for the first time. I did the compass calibration and then sat and waited for the GPS to lock. Even after 10 minutes, the best I got was only FOUR satellites. (I am assuming it's four, I get four green blinks, then rapid yellow).

I see lots of folks have similar issues. Do I really need to do the cable shielding and copper tape mod to get a working sat lock?

Thanks

Do you have the V3 like the title says or the V2?

A standard Phantom 2 in "Phantom Mode" should just flash Green when it has GPS locked. The number of flashes has nothing to do with the number of sats.
Rapid Yellow normally means control signal lost.
Can you post a video of the flashing ?

johnwarr@live.c Posted at 2014-12-15 07:01
A standard Phantom 2 in "Phantom Mode" should just flash Green when it has GPS locked. The number of ...

Thanks. I'll try to do a vid this week if it stops raining!

And yes Gerry, it is V3 hardware, running latest firmware updates.

decoratz@yahoo. Posted at 2014-12-15 11:40
Thanks. I'll try to do a vid this week if it stops raining!

And yes Gerry, it is V3 hardware, run ...

The V-3 already has the extra shielding built in for the GPS.  Were you near to any tall buildings when you got only 4 sats?
Check the number of sats in your area at the time you were flying.

http://satpredictor.navcomtech.com/

how many satellites were reported on the app on your smartphone/tablet screen?

Gerry1124 Posted at 2014-12-15 11:43
The V-3 already has the extra shielding built in for the GPS.  Were you near to any tall buildings ...

No tall buildings. I have an older Garmin GPS I will bring with me next time. It shows how many satellites it sees.

Thanks

briangrounsell@ Posted at 2014-12-15 12:06
how many satellites were reported on the app on your smartphone/tablet screen?

I thought the app only works for the Vision, or if you have iOSD. I haven't bought my iOSD yet.

Found someone's post on another forum who also had the same problem. He did the Basic and Advanced IMU calibration and it cured his. So I'll give that a go when the rains stop. I also ordered the BTU so I can get more data from the Phantom.

Will report back when the sun returns

Thanks

UPDATE, solved it. I was mistaken, the rapid flashes were RED, not YELLOW. And I believe the reason I'm getting them is because I live so close to San Francisco Airport that I'm under the edge of the restricted airspace!!

I will confirm this after Xmas, when I try a field farther away.

Thanks

guymacdonald@ip Posted at 2014-12-23 15:34
Can you tell me what elevation do you input to get a satellite prediction.

I input 20 degrees for ...

I usually leave that at 10% and with the copper shielding, I pick up either what it says or maybe 1 less.

I would limit it to 20 degrees. Anything less and the geometry gets thrown off. You can see this by lowering it and looking at the PDOP.