'Poor GPS , move for better coverage...'

[Lucinator]

resurrecting this topic. I've been going back and forth with Skydio support. Apparently, in any mode, manual or tracking, there is a low high limit if the drone has less than 15 satellites in lock. I spend all of my time forested mountains. The earlier software loads on the Skydio 2 worked fine, but now the Skydio 2+ can't get above the trees on the trail and/or above a rock outcropping to get a good view of the sky. Anyone know why it takes so many satellites to fly manually? Even 7 satellites is often not possible in the steep mountains. IDK how Skydio made the
video of tracking a biker on a forest trail. Anyone have a work around, maybe I'm not seeing something obvious?

 

[ETdronehome]

resurrecting this topic. I've been going back and forth with Skydio support. Apparently, in any mode, manual or tracking, there is a low high limit if the drone has less than 15 satellites in lock. I spend all of my time forested mountains. The earlier software loads on the Skydio 2 worked fine, but now the Skydio 2+ can't get above the trees on the trail and/or above a rock outcropping to get a good view of the sky. Anyone know why it takes so many satellites to fly manually? Even 7 satellites is often not possible in the steep mountains. IDK how Skydio made the
video of tracking a biker on a forest trail. Anyone have a work around, maybe I'm not seeing something obvious?

I’m a bit confused about what your describing.

It seems like you can launch with a less than optimal sat count <15 but encounter a elevation ceiling that you can’t exceed????

 

[Lucinator]

I’m a bit confused about what your describing.

It seems like you can launch with a less than optimal sat count <15 but encounter a elevation ceiling that you can’t exceed????

correct, can't go above approx 30' w/o 15 satellites locked. which means on a trail with trees on both sides but blue skies above, cannot go high enough to get 15 satellites. catch 22. same thing applies on trail with rock outcroppings or cliff on one side.

 

[ETdronehome]

correct, can't go above approx 30' w/o 15 satellites locked. which means on a trail with trees on both sides but blue skies above, cannot go high enough to get 15 satellites. catch 22. same thing applies on trail with rock outcroppings or cliff on one side.

That’s seems strange but what do I know 😀

Are you in “tracking” mode??

https://support.skydio.com/hc/en-us/articles/360036118854-How-high-can-Skydio-2-2-fly-

Not sure if this applies:

https://support.skydio.com/hc/en-us/articles/4407530253211-Understanding-Height-Limits-on-your-Skydio-2-2-Enterprise

 

[Lucinator]

That’s seems strange but what do I know 😀

Are you in “tracking” mode??

https://support.skydio.com/hc/en-us/articles/360036118854-How-high-can-Skydio-2-2-fly-

It sure if this applies:

https://support.skydio.com/hc/en-us/articles/4407530253211-Understanding-Height-Limits-on-your-Skydio-2-2-Enterprise

Thanks. I found the section that refers to this area of discussion in your first link.

• values represent the max height and distance from the subject being tracked, not the maximum operational altitude
• the maximum height of Skydio 2/2+ when not tracking a subject is 426 feet (130 meters) from the launch point
• there is no maximum distance, you can fly Skydio 2/2+ as far away as the wireless range will allow
• a strong GPS signal is required to track beyond 66 feet (20 meters)

The issue is that the 66 ft high limit w/o strong GPS applies in all circumstances, not just tracking (confirmed by customer support). Our issue was the height limit is 66 feet is also in manual mode, not just when tracking. + 2 other parts: 1) the actual height limit was around 25 feet, and 2) strong = 15 satellites, which is a very high bar. We're lucky if we have 6 sats on a mountain trail.

Does anyone have ideas about what can be done here to get above 25 feet?

 

[ETdronehome]

Thanks. I found the section that refers to this area of discussion in your first link.

• values represent the max height and distance from the subject being tracked, not the maximum operational altitude
• the maximum height of Skydio 2/2+ when not tracking a subject is 426 feet (130 meters) from the launch point
• there is no maximum distance, you can fly Skydio 2/2+ as far away as the wireless range will allow
• a strong GPS signal is required to track beyond 66 feet (20 meters)

The issue is that the 66 ft high limit w/o strong GPS applies in all circumstances, not just tracking (confirmed by customer support). Our issue was the height limit is 66 feet is also in manual mode, not just when tracking. + 2 other parts: 1) the actual height limit was around 25 feet, and 2) strong = 15 satellites, which is a very high bar. We're lucky if we have 6 sats on a mountain trail.

Does anyone have ideas about what can be done here to get above 25 feet?

I wonder if the 66ft value is total distance from controller??? Perhaps the 25 height limit is because you are 41 horizontal?? Easy enough to test. Just throwing out ideas.

The Enterprise level software load and the published capabilities of the X2 (fly at night, SAR use etc) would imply that they know how to let the aircraft move around.

Perhaps you should try to contact Adam Bry and explain your use case. He might give you an X2!!😀

 

[scrampker]

The GPS height limitation is very real, and prevented me from flying this done on about 6 awesome waterfall hikes on Maui.

Something changed on the firmware recently to require way more satellites. 7 is a LOT, and Skydio support says you should have more than that. They also say you should have 20 when flying over water. These are nearly impossible numbers. I think they are trying to remove their liability by imposing these strict, arbitrary bs thresholds.

One thing to worry about is that the s2, despite showing location, can and will misbehave if you don't have all the required satellite locks. The official answer from support is to just wait it out and do not take off at all.

Mine had GPS last week, but apparently not good enough. I didn't manually count the locks. I just assumed that since I could reach higher elevation and see the drone on the map that I was good to go. Nope. The drone knowing exactly where it is, and what the home point is does not matter at all to the drone logic that has been programmed in recent firmware. If you do not have the required arbitrary lock count, it can just randomly fly away and never come back. Ask me how I know, despite having nearly 3 years of experience with this thing. Something changed, and not for the better

Be weary. Don't fly the drone anywhere but in plain vanilla situations, and even when you do, like I did, make sure the drone/software isn't malfunctioning and having unreported GPS issues before flying visual distance near your own home. Your $2,500 toy will just vanish. Screen shot the 20 required satellite locks before taking off so you have proof to argue with support if anything happens.

 

[Ridefreak]

I might add, if it's flakey right after launch, land it, power cycle everything and start over.

 

[scrampker]

I might add, if it's flakey right after launch, land it, power cycle everything and start over.

The mistake I made was thinking it was simply a time issue. I landed mine and did not power cycle. Skydio will only give people canned BS responses in these scenarios.

It's not like I was doing some bleeding edge obstacle avoidance and hit some branch at 60mph.. this is one of the most basic functions of a drone, and my unit failed to operate at that minimum level. Though somehow that's the user's fault when the drone does not give any indication there's a massive glitch happening. Good times.