gps compass tower ?

[johnnyb57]

Just to be accurate, the tower was not “added” to the 920, the 920 was designed with the GPS tower from day one, following what was at the time the common practice of elevating the GPS on every multirotor being constructed by anyone. The 920 design and release occurred prior to the design and release of the Typhoon H.

Yuneec also designed and produced the Chroma, another precursor to the H, that was sold by Horizon Hobby under the brand name of Blade, which also incorporated a GPS elevating, folding mast.

If we desired to be accurate we might say the GPS tower was omitted from the Typhoon H design. If we were to spend some time reviewing forums and threads discussing the Blade products and 920 we might find the prevalence of GPS and fly away issues was not often experienced with Yuneec products until the appearance of the Typhoon H. The Blade Chroma did experience some GPS issues, but the occurrence typically was associated with units where the owner forgot to raise the folding mast prior to flight.

Two be fair, there is more than one reason not to employ a GPS mast or tower. One already mentioned is portability, as a tower makes the aircraft larger, but folding masts were created to alleviate that problem. A second reason is applicable for people that crash aircraft; a mast, along with landing gear and gimbals, becomes one of the most commonly broken parts during a crash. Eliminating the mast reduces the number of parts that would be broken during a crash. The third reason is production cost. Eliminating the mast reduces parts count and assembly labor.

Sorry wrong choice of words,as I new it wasnt an add on but part of the build, I'm just going to wait abit and get johnno's tower

 

[johnnyb57]

I use this one and it’s a game changer!

I dont know what you have there, but can you explain "game changer" some more ?

 

[John Hennessy]

Hi PatR,
I was about to post that for johnnyb57 but you beat me to it. I have not contacted you for a while have been busy working and trying different mods for the best results from the fan. I have found that if I block off the top vents on the shell with cello tape from the inside, I am achieving better cooling figures from my thermometer testing after 14-minute flights and my battery mod is also giving good results before I put that on the forum. Johnno Hennessy.

 

[John Hennessy]

Hi jaylitton73,

I use this one and it’s a game changer!

Looks very interesting, I saw something the same on an H for sale in the classifieds. It looks like two $7 PANCAKE mods with a connecting piece. I am wondering is it removable and able to fit in the backpack. Johnno Hennessy. Keep flying on the GREEN SIDE of the GRASS.

 

[PatR]

What many may not realize is that any method used to elevate the GPS/ compass module up and away from the main board and battery will provide positive impact. How much is the only question as some methods will do more than others.

Those that prefer to carry their aircraft around in backpacks are pretty much stuck with the colocated GPS position but those that don’t might think about the benefits of making a change. It can be the difference between searching for an upgraded GPS module or finding you already had one plenty good enough with a minor mod.

 

[Mrgs1]

What many may not realize is that any method used to elevate the GPS/ compass module up and away from the main board and battery will provide positive impact. How much is the only question as some methods will do more than others.

Those that prefer to carry their aircraft around in backpacks are pretty much stuck with the colocated GPS position but those that don’t might think about the benefits of making a change. It can be the difference between searching for an upgraded GPS module or finding you already had one plenty good enough with a minor mod.

Perhaps more research for another bag or a modification to the existing backpack is needed, I don't know about you but it's a very convenient way of transporting if walking miles, especially over difficult terrain.

 

[PatR]

With my knees walking miles carrying a back pack is a non starter. I’ll continue to defer that activity with the hope I’ll live long enough to see BLOS get extended to all of us lacking deep pockets.

 

[Mrgs1]

With my knees walking miles carrying a back pack is a non starter. I’ll continue to defer that activity with the hope I’ll live long enough to see BLOS get extended to all of us lacking deep pockets.

Battery Golf trolley?

 

[FlushVision]

With my knees walking miles carrying a back pack is a non starter. I’ll continue to defer that activity with the hope I’ll live long enough to see BLOS get extended to all of us lacking deep pockets.

I know your pain, Pat. In my case it's bad hips and knees. I'm ok for short distances over forgiving terrains but If I ever come to more rugged terrain i'm buggered.

My mother always said: 'There's no fun in getting old'. I would now agree.

 

[PatR]

Indeed. The pains associated with aging is the penalty for everything we did to ourselves when younger. Every high impact activity we participated in during our youth becomes the price of survival later.

Sadly, all the fun stuff we want to do when we are young is not affordable at that age, and once we have accumulated the wealth needed to make it affordable we’ve aged and worn ourselves out to a point we can no longer participate regardless of price.

 

[Mrgs1]

I know your pain, Pat. In my case it's bad hips and knees. I'm ok for short distances over forgiving terrains but If I ever come to more rugged terrain i'm buggered.

My mother always said: 'There's no fun in getting old'. I would now agree.

Take it as a privilege, for many never have the honour!

 

[Eagle's Eye Video]

Indeed. The pains associated with aging is the penalty for everything we did to ourselves when younger. Every high impact activity we participated in during our youth becomes the price of survival later.

Keith Richards is living prove of that...

 

[Mrgs1]

Keith Richards is living prove of that...

https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/...JPG?width=534&height=712&fit=bounds&auto=webp

What high impact work did he do? Drink and drugs and sat on your backside, that's why he's still alive, if he did an honest days work it might be different!

 

[Eagle's Eye Video]

No one can deny that he devoted a lot of hard work and energy in doing those drugs... many could not have kept up. Several tried. Point is, that photo clearly illustrates the toll those drugs had on him. It is possible that his current looks are just his genetics... just not likely.

 

[PatR]

Try a little too hard and they end up like Janis Joplin, Jimmy Hendrix, Tom Petty, and a slew of others. I found the Adrenalin high associated with getting shot at to be a much greater “high”. They have to always miss for you to enjoy the high though...

 

[Eagle's Eye Video]

Ironic that the one who shouted "...hope I die before I get old", err... got old ?

 

[shockazulu]

Hi jaylitton73,


Looks very interesting, I saw something the same on an H for sale in the classifieds. It looks like two $7 PANCAKE mods with a connecting piece. I am wondering is it removable and able to fit in the backpack. Johnno Hennessy. Keep flying on the GREEN SIDE of the GRASS.

For the $7 Ebay mod...
(I make and sell this $7 mod)
It does not need to be removed....
Because it does fit into the case/ backpack.
On Ebay it is included free with the purchase of the battery adapter mod.
Of interest is, using a battery of a mass higher or lower than the stock battery will give GPS errors to the point of sometimes not even being able to take off.
But with the $7 mod there are no GPS errors and almost instant location of enough satellites to take flight right away.
So, this mod was developed to allow a wider range of battery options but since it fits onto the backpack without needing to be removed and since it speeds up the time to locate satellites, it has become a used alot as a stand alone mod.
I can't believe raising the module only 1 inch makes such a difference, but it does really make a big difference.

 

[KEITH KUHN]

I’m not EagleEye but I know without any reservation what John created with his GPS tower provides improvements that extend beyond the GPS.

The tower alone increases separation between the GPS transceiver and the main power board, ESC’s, and battery. By itself it permits accumulated heat inside the shell to better disperse, which benefits not only the GPS and compass, but the rest of the electrical components as well. By reducing heat accumulation by by providing space for expanded air migration the life span of everything is extended. Heat causes a lot of damage to electrical components and the effects are accumulative.

Nobody that builds high end drones encloses the GPS module in close proximity to the main power system. The main power system creates electrical noise, which is known to interfere with GPS signal. So they place the GPS modules on masts that elevate the GPS module away from the power system. Consumer drones are tightly packaged with a captured GPS unit because they are cheaper to manufacture, and because the average buyer sees them as being cleaner in appearance. It also eliminates the probability end users might break the mast.

Last I heard, Johnno took his heat dispersal method to a new level by incorporating a cooling fan to improve cooling air flow inside the drone body. If that feature is still present it’s an exceptional benefit as the H body design has a deplorable cooling air flow design. The cooling vents do not face into the general direction of flight and the exit area provided is inadequate to properly exhaust expanded hot air. His fan concept largely overcomes a major manufacturer design deficiency.

When I was doing the battery testing I dug pretty deep into the H hardware just to see how they did things inside. One of the things that concerned me greatly was seeing the adhesive used to stick the ground plane layer on the upper shell burned onto some of the GPS and compass components. I haven’t gotten around to placing a thermocouple inside the GPS hump to establish actual operating temperatures on a normal day but seeing the adhesive burned onto those components and nowhere else was enough to determine there’s too much heat at the GPS and compass modules. If and when both fail you get a fly away, and neither the GPS or compass is certified to survive an elevated temperature thermal soak. I would be really surprised if either was designed to function above 40C. Mil standards use 60C as the minimum max level, and often higher for critical systems. That 20C delta is the difference between something that can fly on a hot day and something that can’t. I saw quite a few aircraft, manned and unmanned, that had to taxi back and park because their avionics cooked off waiting on a hot taxiway.

So do I believe Johnno’s tower result helps? Without any sliver of doubt, yes. The $7.00 eBay contraption will help a little but nowhere close to what Johnno’s will.

Just an FYI, a large part of my professional life was dedicated to finding and resolving problems. Although the title was field service rep it was more about being a “fixer”. Heat stress resolution, at either end of the temperature scale, was a big part of that.

c


I purchaso went for ited the one on eBay yesterday.I had a $10.00 gift coupon so I went for it.
My total cost was approx
$4.50. So what the heck.
Keith Kuhn

 

[KEITH KUHN]

I know your pain, Pat. In my case it's bad hips and knees. I'm ok for short distances over forgiving terrains but If I ever come to more rugged terrain i'm buggered.

My mother always said: 'There's no fun in getting old'. I would now agree.

I am 68 and WOW am I feeling old age.
Amen

 

[FlushVision]

Take it as a privilege, for many never have the honour!

Unfortunately only too true.
My health is such that I always thought that I would pass before my wife. I had a heart attack when I was only 41 years old for god's sake. She died in her sleep of heart failure in 2013 at the young age of just 58. It was a bolt from the blue. I don't feel privileged to have survived her (well over 6 years now). I would have happily swapped places with her in the blink of an eye (and very nearly joined her but for my son and my doctor's intervention).