Moving the GPS and COMPASS MODULE.

[John Hennessy]

Well I have finally gathered enough knowledge to hopefully be able to post this modification on the forum for your questions and recommendations.
Having read about problems with gps lock and Compass alerts I looked at this project and came up with an answer. I have found that I achieve GPS LOCK marginally faster but have no fewer than 20 sats to the H and some days have 24 . I have been using this since early January and to this day have not had a GPS or Compass warning , and we fly in close proximity to buildings of all kinds in our Roof Inspections business. I would like to get a more accurate Barometer so as to stop the H from moving up and down when close to roos and awnings on Windows etc. That is why I tried to get Dario to bring his 3 Sphere GPS module to market , but that has not moved forward. So here are some photos for your perusal and comments and maybe it can become a usefully addition to the H . So please be patient with me as most of you know that I am knew to this posting and the forum and most of all a DINOSAUR with computers. Johnno Hennessy. Keep flying on the green side of the grass .

 

[John Hennessy]

 

[bobbyrichter]

Great stuff John! [emoji106]

 

[Dustoff]

guess it void the warranty ,,, good job . are thouse 3d printed parts .

 

[Thomas111]

Nice work John but seems the users are finding better ways to improve the H it's just a pity yuneec could not come up with these ideas so we can enjoy flying them more instead of down time

 

[Racepro60]

Nice work, keep us updated as to how it works for you, I see the 920 has a raised module as well, I don't think many people buy the H for setting speed records so wind resistance shouldn't enter in to it and if it makes it more stable to fly all the better

 

[Thomas111]

If this works I can see John having lots of H packages arriving to have this done lol

 

[gwhuntoon]

Great work John, so apparently even with the stock shielding in the top of the H's cover, using an extension cable and proximity are also factors. I see you also added additional shielding in your GPS nacelle. Your H now looks a lot like my old Cheerson CX 20, although your pylon is considerably longer. For what it's worth, I never had GPS issues with my CX-20 either even without GLONAS.

 

[Photo]

View attachment 10375

Well I have finally gathered enough knowledge to hopefully be able to post this modification on the forum for your questions and recommendations.
Having read about problems with gps lock and Compass alerts I looked at this project and came up with an answer. I have found that I achieve GPS LOCK marginally faster but have no fewer than 20 sats to the H and some days have 24 . I have been using this since early January and to this day have not had a GPS or Compass warning , and we fly in close proximity to buildings of all kinds in our Roof Inspections business. I would like to get a more accurate Barometer so as to stop the H from moving up and down when close to roos and awnings on Windows etc. That is why I tried to get Dario to bring his 3 Sphere GPS module to market , but that has not moved forward. So here are some photos for your perusal and comments and maybe it can become a usefully addition to the H . So please be patient with me as most of you know that I am knew to this posting and the forum and most of all a DINOSAUR with computers. Johnno Hennessy. Keep flying on the green side of the grass .

John, do you really mean that you can lock up and "use" 24 or even 20 sats, within the elevation mask area? I doubt...

 

[John Hennessy]

guess it void the warranty ,,, good job . are thouse 3d printed parts .

Yes Dustoff,
They are 3d printed in ABS & ABS + also PETG. ABS is what the shell is made out of . Petg is more robust but it is working very well. Touch wood I am yet to have a GPS or COMPASS warning since I put them on in early January. Thanks for the interest. I am thinking of making them available for sale , just doing sums and costs to post around the world at the moment. Johnno Hennessy. Keep flying on the green side of the grass .

 

[John Hennessy]

View attachment 10375

John, do you really mean that you can lock up and "use" 24 or even 20 sats, within the elevation mask area? I doubt...

Hi Photo,
Thank you for your interest, I recieve 20 to 24 sats on my St 16 for the H when in use. I don't know how many of them that the ublox module uses , but I can tell you that since I have had these installed on 2 of our H' s , neither of them have had a GPS or COMPASS WARNING on the controler. But it is very good between industrial metal sheds when doing inspections ,with no problems to report on any warnings , which is part of our company REOC for CASA . We are very ,very happy with the results of this modernization. Johnno Hennessy. Keep flying on the green side of the grass .

 

[John Hennessy]

Great work John, so apparently even with the stock shielding in the top of the H's cover, using an extension cable and proximity are also factors. I see you also added additional shielding in your GPS nacelle. Your H now looks a lot like my old Cheerson CX 20, although your pylon is considerably longer. For what it's worth, I never had GPS issues with my CX-20 either even without GLONAS.

Hi gwhuntoon,
Thank you for your reply, I put the shielding under the module platform to cope with any possible interference from the motors or any that may come from the penetration in the stock shielding in the top of the shell which I left partly open to allow for ventilation of the body above the battery and electronics up the tower shaft and out the top cap that has clearances of 1.5mm on all sides for that specific purpose of ventilation. Earlier on in January I had a conversation with PatR and we could not work out why you would put a GPS and COMPASS module over a battery and near all the electronics and here you have it. With these in use for the past 6 months without any warnings on the St 16 and no problems at all I think that I have achieved what I set out to do. It is contoured to fit the roof line of the H and is water tight and has been tested for rough use by myself. I am going to do a video on this soon to show how it is installed and what is achieved, but I will need help from my mate to video it and put it on here ,it's the DINOSAUR problem that I have with computers. Johnno Hennessy. Keep flying on the green side of the grass .

 

[John Hennessy]

If this works I can see John having lots of H packages arriving to have this done lol

Thank you Thomas111 for your interests. I think that you could be correct, I have tried to design it to be done by most of the H owners themselves. I am putting things together so that I can make it available to all at a reasonable price, postage,parts, organizing etc etc. I hope to have an idea of prices soon and will ask for a show of interest of possible purchases. I will keep it to a bare minimum as I think that it is a necessity for our H's. It will make them safer and more stable and accurate. Johnno Hennessy.
Keep flying on the green side of the grass .

 

[Dustoff]

Yes Dustoff,
They are 3d printed in ABS & ABS + also PETG. ABS is what the shell is made out of . Petg is more robust but it is working very well. Touch wood I am yet to have a GPS or COMPASS warning since I put them on in early January. Thanks for the interest. I am thinking of making them available for sale , just doing sums and costs to post around the world at the moment. Johnno Hennessy. Keep flying on the green side of the grass .

Have not tried PETG yet PLA works easy but does not very good final prints .

 

[John Hennessy]

Have not tried PETG yet PLA works easy but does not very good final prints .

Hi Dustoff,
PLA is no good at high temperatures that the tower will be exposed to, and not as robust as ABS + or PETG which are a lot higher in temperature resistance. PLA buckles a lot in the high temperatures that the GPS Tower is asked to handle and also a bit more fragile. The ABS + is the one that has tested the best so far, except of course for the carbon fibre one that is now in test, but costs need to be considered, thus Yuneec shell is pressure moulded ABS not even the ABS+ it comes down to costs. As you read the other replys you will also see that there is ventilation of the inside heat. Keep watching as I will put up a package for all to install at a very reasonable price ,that is if the orders are there. Johnno Hennessy. Keep flying on the green side of the grass.

 

[Dustoff]

Hi Dustoff,
PLA is no good at high temperatures that the tower will be exposed to, and not as robust as ABS + or PETG which are a lot higher in temperature resistance. PLA buckles a lot in the high temperatures that the GPS Tower is asked to handle and also a bit more fragile. The ABS + is the one that has tested the best so far, except of course for the carbon fibre one that is now in test, but costs need to be considered, thus Yuneec shell is pressure moulded ABS not even the ABS+ it comes down to costs. As you read the other replys you will also see that there is ventilation of the inside heat. Keep watching as I will put up a package for all to install at a very reasonable price ,that is if the orders are there. Johnno Hennessy. Keep flying on the green side of the grass.

think i am going to order some PETG filament to play around with , i was making a box to hold blades but pla is just not sturdy enough .

 

[PatR]

Well done John.

 

[John Hennessy]

Well done John.

Thanks PatR,
I said that I was working on it when we were discussing the module with Dario from Spain. I am very happy with the results from January and not having one warning for Compass or GPS and have been putting it in between some close buildings that are metal clad with no problems. Very cautiously I might add , coming down from the top very slowly incase of a warning or total loss and I could push up the left stick and get out. Yes I am very happy with the results. But now am looking at moving the BAROMETER, which Steve Carr pointed out was under the main board some where ,but I will find it and see what can be done. I am doing some sums to see if it is worth while putting the GPS TOWER on the market if people are interested. With alot of people saying that they are finding that they are getting more COMPASS warnings now for some reason,I think that this would make a world of difference . I will keep the forum posted as to my results. Johnno Hennessy . Keep flying on the green side of the grass .

 

[slick]

Thanks PatR,
I said that I was working on it when we were discussing the module with Dario from Spain. I am very happy with the results from January and not having one warning for Compass or GPS and have been putting it in between some close buildings that are metal clad with no problems. Very cautiously I might add , coming down from the top very slowly incase of a warning or total loss and I could push up the left stick and get out. Yes I am very happy with the results. But now am looking at moving the BAROMETER, which Steve Carr pointed out was under the main board some where ,but I will find it and see what can be done. I am doing some sums to see if it is worth while putting the GPS TOWER on the market if people are interested. With alot of people saying that they are finding that they are getting more COMPASS warnings now for some reason,I think that this would make a world of difference . I will keep the forum posted as to my results. Johnno Hennessy . Keep flying on the green side of the grass .

That Is a great thing your doing.we are lucky to have many people on this forum that have researched at their own expense to find better more efficient ways for other pilots to more enjoy the drone they have been flying .thank you all for your time and effort.

 

[Rubik]

John, I see that your TH with pink foam footies has the CGO3+ antenna dangling below the camera. I assume the footies are to make landing clearance for the antenna. Have you seen any significant improvement in video transmission with this arrangement? It looks similar to the new TH+ camera antenna configuration.
BTW, great job on the GPS module relocation! Its wonderful to see user innovations like that. The only GPS errors I have experienced (audible complaining from ST16) is when I lean over the TH while affixing propellers or ND filter.