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K index is a real danger when rising from 5 to 6 !!
4526 17 2015-9-11
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Willie Wonka
First Officer

United States
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I looked at the K index and it was 5 and about a couple of hours it will go to 6. Well lets go out in this nice afternoon and let my phantom follow me, started "walking" and let it follow me, so far so good till i got to about 2000 feet of "walking"  then i was able to get GPS signal weak warrning for the first time when i was doing follow me in a "undisclosed location" and i am hesitant to show the footage from "that" follow me, after it lost the signal on the GPS it halted the follow me and stayed in its spot then i had to switch it to GPS mode to bring it back to my "new" location then manually bring it to a safe landing spot.

Testing of two things in one, K index does hurt even for a split second, and the other is do not "drone and drive".
2015-9-11
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LeHussard
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Flight distance : 297523 ft
France
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Thanks for sharing that!
I made a warning post yesturday for this KP5/KP6 risk.
Some were laughing, and replyed it's not important, kp doesn't matter, u just have to learn to fly in ATTI....

I agree with you, with a kp5 or more index,  you have to be carrefull.And ready to go in ATTI if things are wrong with the compass or GPS.
But...., if the RC control signal is affected (and there is a big probability!!!) ... no matter if in ATTI or GPS, you have big chances to loose your P3, and have a flyaway..
Solar eruption have effects on human health,  and affect all electronic and electric devices, especially GPS and all radio communications (TV, Radio TX/RX, Video TX/RX, Wifi, GPS etc...)
But first...before impacting earth and the atmosphere, they are touching the satellites in orbit... and of course all positionning satellites...

In my case, i rarely fly at KP5 and never at KP6.Just take a look on your car GPS when KP=6, and u'll see sometimes position and speed errors.

A good app for that KP index: MAGNETOLOGY.
On apple or android, and GRATIS (with kp>5 alarm notifications)!
Usefull!

We really have to be carrefull, these magnetic storms are invisible for us but have real bad effects...
Remeber the 2003's blackout!...

2015-9-11
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Willie Wonka
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United States
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LeHussard Posted at 2015-9-11 18:51
I made a warning post yesturday for this KP5/KP6 risk.
Some were laughing, and replyed it's not impo ...

Yeah i remember that it was scary in that blackout as it was unusual, what is more important it is can be normal flying but once there is an eruption which causes sudden K index rise that is when you have to be very careful, its the hours that it is expected for the k index to rise from one point to the other, the solar indexes are recorded on the hour and sometimes every three hours so if it starts to decrease then you are safe as the sun eruptions start cooling down.

2015-9-11
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vu.q.le
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United States
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Tip: the author has been banned or deleted automatically shield
2015-9-11
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Willie Wonka
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United States
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vu.q.le@outlook Posted at 2015-9-11 19:01
If the kp-index is off the charts, can i fly it without GPS assuming that all the flying will be man ...

Sat reception is on 1.5ghz and r/c link is at 2.4ghz, the higher you go in the frequency the less it gets affected by solar activity, just practice caution as we are still unsure 100% of what the solar activity does to our little phantoms, more reports will give us more insight.
2015-9-11
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LICENSED PILOT
First Officer
Flight distance : 692090 ft
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United States
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LeHussard Posted at 2015-9-12 06:51
Thanks for sharing that!
I made a warning post yesturday for this KP5/KP6 risk.
Some were laughing,  ...

http://www.uavforecast.com/
for KPS forecast and other things.
2015-9-11
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jack1144
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Canada
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Cool site thanks licensed
2015-9-11
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Rigworker
First Officer
Flight distance : 52303 ft
Canada
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I have flown in very high K index times with no issues. I am a bit more focused in case something goes funny during these times. Even with high K index i still get plenty of satellites for good GPS. I have never had any issues with RC signal strength or loss of signal.
2015-9-11
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Willie Wonka
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United States
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Rigworker Posted at 2015-9-12 00:30
I have flown in very high K index times with no issues. I am a bit more focused in case something go ...

My phantom was passing by solar panels, the phantom got an extra dose of reflected crap from the sun. does that make any sense or am i crazy ?
2015-9-11
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Rigworker
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Flight distance : 52303 ft
Canada
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Willie Wonka Posted at 2015-9-11 22:38
My phantom was passing by solar panels, the phantom got an extra dose of reflected crap from the s ...

You are probably crazy ;-)

I have no idea if the solar radiation can be reflected and made stronger.
Interesting thought though. I dont fly near anything like that an have no experience with your issue. I usually fly in big open fields with no power lines or other obstructions.
2015-9-11
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Willie Wonka
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United States
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Rigworker Posted at 2015-9-12 00:42
You are probably crazy ;-)

I have no idea if the solar radiation can be reflected and made strong ...

I thought so too, i got a couple of nuts loose, ill go to the mechanic to fix them, but first i need to find my id card that has the part numbers LOL
2015-9-11
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jayhkr
Second Officer

United States
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So I have a question regarding this.  I have an app that updates itself every 3 hours.  It'll show one KP reading, while www.uavforecast.com will show another.  Which to believe?  It's not off by 1 but by 2-3.  Just curious.
2015-9-11
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chris
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Finland
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kp index can be local, and uav takes your location, not shure about other site though, and withing a location say Helsinki, parts of that city can receive more than others just like a showery day with rain shower clouds
2015-9-11
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chris
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Finland
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I was at work and my phone gps was off by about 100 m kp 7 but at home 10 k away it was bang on
I also state I am no expert by far, I just see the results often in the form if the northern lights
2015-9-11
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Willie Wonka
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United States
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I am also subscribed to a mailing list for Aurora watch in the mid latitude lines of earth where i live to warn me of any Auroras  affecting VHF and UHF frequencies, it is becoming aware of the RF spectrum makes you have better informed decisions.   
2015-9-12
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Nicholas Rønsho
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Denmark
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Willie Wonka Posted at 2015-9-12 06:38
My phantom was passing by solar panels, the phantom got an extra dose of reflected crap from the s ...

I have tried the RC connection is also affected when K-index is high. Luckily I managed to get it down safe, but had to hand catch, very hard to control the drone
2015-9-13
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Willie Wonka
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United States
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Nicholas Rønsho Posted at 2015-9-13 13:14
I have tried the RC connection is also affected when K-index is high. Luckily I managed to get it  ...

This gets me to the conclusion of that it is very critical to do the IMU calibration on a perfectly balanced surface as when it does not have GPS or RC data and it becomes blind and it solely relies on the internal gyro and barometer to keep its position and altitude.

If the gyro is off center for a little bit, then it will start drifting all over the place if there is no GPS data to augment the drifting, just like putting the phantom in atti mode in a windy day, it will go in the direction of the wind. except that the gyro if its not calibrated correctly it will give incorrect input in all three axis, thats why it starts going crazy all over the place.
2015-9-13
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Adriano Araujo
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Brazil
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Willie Wonka Posted at 2015-9-13 10:17
This gets me to the conclusion of that it is very critical to do the IMU calibration on a perfectly balanced surface as when it does not have GPS or RC data and it becomes blind and it solely relies on the internal gyro and barometer to keep its position and altitude.

If the gyro is off center for a little bit, then it will start drifting all over the place if there is no GPS data to augment the drifting, just like putting the phantom in atti mode in a windy day, it will go in the direction of the wind. except that the gyro if its not calibrated correctly it will give incorrect input in all three axis, thats why it starts going crazy all over the place.

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/impacts/space-weather-and-gps-systems
2017-10-13
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