Need help with home point!

[MattxGod25]

So when I go to set my home point before take off, the pilot app comes up with RC signal to weak. The signal shows full bars and everything is 100%. Does anyone have an idea what's going on here? I tried adjusting antennas, moving location

 

[Blue Bird]

What version of firmware are you using? I see you joined today! Welcome to Inspire Pilots!

 

[MattxGod25]

What version of firmware are you using? I see you joined today! Welcome to Inspire Pilots!

Thanks, I just got my Inspire a few days ago, and I did the new firmware update, I would have to check to confirm but I'm sure it's up to date! Is there an easy way I can check

 

[MattxGod25]

Did you start the motors

Ahhh..no I did it with a non start, should it be in the air then set home point?

 

[slim.slamma]

On the ground props spinning. If not try again in the air.

 

[Blue Bird]

Re update the firmware in the remote via the latest update. Check radio to craft

Ahhh..no I did it with a non start, should it be in the air then set home point?

Try to use the home point lock with in the pilot app before take off. I would not be in the air for that! You must follow the pre flight manual. There are many YT videos on this subject. Good Luck!

 

[The Editor]

So when I go to set my home point before take off, the pilot app comes up with RC signal to weak. The signal shows full bars and everything is 100%. Does anyone have an idea what's going on here? I tried adjusting antennas, moving location

Welcome to Inspire Pilots.
Are you trying to set home point to the aircraft or the remote control? From the error message you describe I am guessing you are attempting dynamic home point to the remote.
If you are trying to set to the aircraft, then it will self set on motor start. If its the RC then there is still a bug in the FW and it will not set for some but will for others.
This will be addressed in the next FW release which is very very soon.

 

[IrishSights]

....
This will be addressed in the next FW release which is very very soon.

You could get a job with DJI now that you have perfected their veryvery 'speak' LOL

 

[MattxGod25]

Welcome to Inspire Pilots.
Are you trying to set home point to the aircraft or the remote control? From the error message you describe I am guessing you are attempting dynamic home point to the remote.
If you are trying to set to the aircraft, then it will self set on motor start. If its the RC then there is still a bug in the FW and it will not set for some but will for others.
This will be addressed in the next FW release which is very very soon.

Thank you!! Very helpful

 

[Queen1944]

So when I go to set my home point before take off, the pilot app comes up with RC signal to weak. The signal shows full bars and everything is 100%. Does anyone have an idea what's going on here? I tried adjusting antennas, moving location

I have the same problem. New out of box 7/1/15. Updated J1, RC & Battery. Cannot find procedure to set Dynamic RC home point. Regular Aircraft home point set OK. Out on remote farm. ipad Air with no cellular plan connection. Will try with cellular iphone 6 next. 17 satellites and still weak RC GPS signal.

 

[Scotflieger]

I have the same problem. New out of box 7/1/15. Updated J1, RC & Battery. Cannot find procedure to set Dynamic RC home point. Regular Aircraft home point set OK. Out on remote farm. ipad Air with no cellular plan connection. Will try with cellular iphone 6 next. 17 satellites and still weak RC GPS signal.

Welcome to the I1. First of all you do not need cellular/mobile coverage to operate the I1 home point. This is only used to update the map if you have not cached it before going out to the field.

The I1 GPS signal strength and satellite count is displayed but that for the RC is not. The RC GPS receiver is not as sensitive and is hidden behind the back antenna panel and the iPad can shield it. Living at 57N I have to wait for the RC to acquire a GPS lock (blue circle on map) before I can launch. This can take up to 10 mins.

If you get a weak signal warning when you try to select Dynamic Home Point, you need to elevate the white panel at the rear of the RC and point it towards the equator sky for a few seconds to get a good GPS position. Then try select Dynamic HP again. It should work.

A word of caution. The accuracy of the Dynamic HP can not be guaranteed so be ready to cancel RTH and to resume manual control to land safely.

 

[Queen1944]

Welcome to the I1. First of all you do not need cellular/mobile coverage to operate the I1 home point. This is only used to update the map if you have not cached it before going out to the field.

The I1 GPS signal strength and satellite count is displayed but that for the RC is not. The RC GPS receiver is not as sensitive and is hidden behind the back antenna panel and the iPad can shield it. Living at 57N I have to wait for the RC to acquire a GPS lock (blue circle on map) before I can launch. This can take up to 10 mins.

If you get a weak signal warning when you try to select Dynamic Home Point, you need to elevate the white panel at the rear of the RC and point it towards the equator sky for a few seconds to get a good GPS position. Then try select Dynamic HP again. It should work.

A word of caution. The accuracy of the Dynamic HP can not be guaranteed so be ready to cancel RTH and to resume manual control to land safely.

 

[Queen1944]

Thanks for the advice. I got Dynamic Home point to work...twice! I cached the maps before I flew and got those to work too! From reading the forum here the trouble with dynamic home point seems to focus on A) setting it too close the the aircraft home point. B) blocking signal to RC with a big iPad. C) some interference from using other cellular services either on the iPad or on the person with a cell phone. I left my cell phone in the car. I was flying at an RC airplane field. I noticed some video break up when the guys started flying and I was pre-flight my menus. I1 flash red warnings. I had 18 satellites registered. And 5 bars on the RC strength. Weird!

Considering the above I manually took off. As soon as airborn it establish an aircraft home point. I flew the I1 up 30 ft and 30 yards out, made sure the aircraft had a clear shot to the back of the RC. (Thanks for sharing where the receiver is.) First attempt said weak signal. Second try immediately after the first try, I got a dynamic lock and it said to check the map to confirm the new location. It moved. It was right. Flew it about 5 minutes and hit RTH button and she flew up to my failsafe altitude and proceeded to land near me. Textbook perfect flight. And my iPad has no cellular plan but can jump on the wifi. (Hint: I park at McDonalds restarant, jumped on there free wifi, cached my maps (Apple maps...not google maps) and it worked.)

I think the thing that's missing from the manual is that you have to be airborn to update the dynamic home point. I did a second flight and moved even further form the launch point and it updated just fine.

I was planning on filming an RC event. Should I have concerns with a bunch (four fliers) using 2.4 transmitters? What's the risk? Loss of video or loss of aircraft? Or both? Wondering?

 

[Scotflieger]

@Queen1944 I would be concerned when operating in a dense 2.4GHz environment. All the I1 command & control C2 and video downlink (Lightbridge) uses the 2.4Ghz band with a nominal maximum output of 100mW. There are limited number of channels so there will be potential clashes. Any use of 'range extenders' will give some users an unfair advantage. The loss of the video downlink is less important than the loss of C2.

Most professional pilots will have a handheld spectrum analyser to check for interference. If it was too noisy I would not launch. I also switch off my iPhone wifi and switch my iPad to Airplane mode when flying the I1. Better safe than sorry.

 

[greytail]

I am still confused after reading most of the posts about home point with the Inspire Pro. Currently, when I push the RTH button on the RC and hold it down, there are a series of beeps. The craft climbs and comes back to me. Is it coming back to the controller? What happens if the controller is dead? Or there is trouble with the Go APP...didn't put it in Airplane mode etc? How do you set the height for the return? If there are tall trees about, or power lines, what is a safe height to be assured you don't hit anything on the way back. How much power reserve do you need for an RTH, especially if you need the aircraft to return at say 60 or 100 feet?

 

[Scotflieger]

I am still confused after reading most of the posts about home point with the Inspire Pro. Currently, when I push the RTH button on the RC and hold it down, there are a series of beeps. The craft climbs and comes back to me. Is it coming back to the controller? What happens if the controller is dead? Or there is trouble with the Go APP...didn't put it in Airplane mode etc? How do you set the height for the return? If there are tall trees about, or power lines, what is a safe height to be assured you don't hit anything on the way back. How much power reserve do you need for an RTH, especially if you need the aircraft to return at say 60 or 100 feet?

The RTH function will come back to the Home Point (HP) set on take off or to the Operator/Controller position depending on what you select in the main menu. You can also set the RTH height in the same menu to avoid trees/buildings; this defaults to 30m. When you trigger the RTH (in the App or pressing and holding the RTH button on the RC), the aircraft will turn to face the HP, climb to the safe RTH height, return, lower landing gear and descend. However, the RTH accuracy can vary from 2-6m so you best advised to turn it off (by pressing the red X on screen or the RTH button) and land manually.

There is also a Smart RTH which will trigger the RTH automatically when the power remaining is calculated (indicated by the Yellow dot on the time line) to have dropped to that required to fly the aircraft home. Caution: this does not include wind in its calculations.

 

[Scotflieger]

 

[Queen1944]

Scotflieger hit up all the proper points in his response. Excellent job! All I can add is beware setting the RTH height. The manual does not say it, (and I improperly assumed) but it is always in meters. If you changed your display to imperial (feet-miles) it doesn't change the RTH values. It's always meters. Secondly it shows 500 meters available, but 120 is about all you'll get without a warning you are violating FAA 400 foot height rule.