I just got one of the Realtime trackers off Amazon. It works really well in testing off the Phantom.

I was playing around with the position I wanted to fit it to the Phantom and even though there was no power on the machine its red lights flashed a couple of times as I moved it just below the rear battery cover. The Phantom battery was in.

Also as I moved the tracker around below the camera I noticed the camera turn slighty.

Couple of questions - 1) Does anyone else use one of these and have you experienced any of the above
2) Tracker weighs 60gms - is this likely to affect the handling if mounted off centre of the body i.e just below the rear battery cover

Mike,
Interesting observation. What model of tracker is it? I ordered a cheap one from China and a Trackimo. The Trackimo will be delivered today. I will see if it does the same to my Phantom before I mount it.

You need to find the center of gravity by moving it around.  If it is out of balance, it will affect the control and affect the drift so you would need to move it opposite the drift to get back in balance.

the tracker is nothing more than a cell phone, so your gimbal should move as well when you hold your cell phone under it. My H3-3D is moving around slightly without any tracker installed. I would say 60g is ok, your gimbal + gopro is also mounted towards the front, not centered and this is a lot more weight

drone@jatobserv Posted at 2015-1-14 23:36
Mike,
Interesting observation. What model of tracker is it? I ordered a cheap one from China and a T ...

It's something called a TK102 made by Xexun although I think it's branded under a few other names as well.
It still makes the Phantom lights flash, even though machine is switched off, when I hold it against the underneath of the battery housing which is the only place I can think to mount it.

mike, you could mount your tracker on something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product ... Id=VKJHDXQIGUSSLUX5

mike@miter.co.u Posted at 2015-1-15 00:27
It's something called a TK102 made by Xexun although I think it's branded under a few other names  ...

Mike, the TK-102 is the one I ordered from China. I will definitely check mine before I install it (actually I'll check both units).  

The fact that the Phantoms lights are flickering when the power is of is a sign of radio frequency interference effecting the Phantom.   My concern is what will the effect be when the Phantom is powered in flight, and what other RF source effect it.

The only time I have seen a device effected by a RF when powered off was one of my son's Hess trucks. I was testing a Ham radio base station connected to a base antenna inside the house. When I keyed the mic the Hess truck on the other side of the room turned on, lights, horn etc. The base station antenna was radiating almost 100 watts of power. I was surprised the Hess truck did that because like your Phantom it was off.  GSM handsets radiate only about 1 watt of power.  

I would test the unit by removing the props and starting the Phantom and placing the TK-102 near it and listening for changes in motor speed. I would do this at a number of different RPMs. I am really concerned about this as you don't which item is the problem. Is the TK-102 producing the interference at a level of frequency it shouldn't, or in the Phantom susceptible to some frequency or level it should not be. The real problem is which ever device it is, it is more than likely a harmonic if a higher frequency so you would need a frequency counter to find it. The frequency of that harmonic will also determine what components of systems within the Phantom  are effected. This kind of issue could also be the cause of fly  a ways if a  susceptible Phantom encountered the right harmonic at the right power level in flight.

Also who is your cell provider?

Hi Drone
Cell provider is O2 in the UK.

mike@singerscre Posted at 2015-1-15 00:35
mike, you could mount your tracker on something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MT7PH ...

Just what I was looking for. Thanks!

My Trackimo GPS tracker and my Flytrex Core2 arrived in the mail this evening. I mounted the Trackimo behind the camera and the Flytrex on the front left leg. The Trackimo weighs 32g and the Flytres weight is 10g including the cables and MircoSD card. The Trackimo offsets some of weight I have on the front.  More important the Trackimo does not seem to cause any RF interfere with the Phantom.

I tested the tracker with the motors running today and there did seem to be strange fluctuations in motor speeds. Whilst I can't definitively say this was caused by the tracker it's enough for me to be giving the TK102 a miss for now. Thanks for your input drone, much appreciated and I'll check out the Trackimo if it's available in the UK.

Does anyone know if the Marco Polo tracker is available in the UK
http://eurekaproducts.com/wp-con ... rcoPoloBrochure.pdf

mike@miter.co.u Posted at 2015-1-17 16:58
Does anyone know if the Marco Polo tracker is available in the UK
http://eurekaproducts.com/wp-cont ...

Other than the US they just say they are now shipping to Canada. The only problem i see with the Marco Polo is you have to be within 2 miles to find it. How far do fly aways go?  For the same amount of money you could use a Trackimo for 3 years.

I was thinking that if the "Find My Phantom" on the vision app can give an idea of last known position then maybe a Loc8tor Lite http://www.loc8tor.com/uk/ may be an idea. It has a short range but if you know the general area of your Phantom it should work. If it's a "major" flyaway then it won't be much use but then what would. I just don't like the idea of the GPS RF interference using things like Trackimo etc.

I like that the Marco Polo does not activate until you tell it to, which negates any possibility of interference in flight.  Even though range is 2 miles, as long as are proceeding in direction you know the Phantom was flying in, you should be able to connect.

kjkisatsky@comc Posted at 2015-1-17 22:55
I like that the Marco Polo does not activate until you tell it to, which negates any possibility of  ...

As I understand it the Loc8tor Lite does the same as the Marco Polo. It's just not as powerful. I found this review on YT