Went flying today and got an #5 Error code... No GPS. I suspect that the first thing I need to check is the GPS battery level? Pardon my inexperience in MKTools, but where do I go look for this? Thanks in advance.
There is no way to check the battery level, that I know of, Chris, but double check me -- I don't think the GPS window in MK Tool shows you that. Apart from which, the only thing that battery does is provide a means for storing the satellite ephemerides -- it does NOT affect the GPS operation. You must have some other problem, I'm afraid. With the copter powered up, do you see a solid blue light on top of the GPS assembly? Or is it flashing (which means it has a GPS lock)? So connect up to the MK Flight Controller, and then start MK Tool, and click on the GPS button on the right hand side and see whether the GPS unit is operating.... If you do this outside, or in a building with just a wooden roof, you can verify the number of satellites that you're getting. If you still get the error, then check the cabling between the GPS board and the the Navigation board. Andy.
I don't see it in the GPS window either, but I've read on the mikrokopter forum where individuals who have the same issue were checking the voltage of the GPS battery? How are they seeing this? I've checked my cables... all are good. I am in my house, but I've checked GPS before and I've gotten at least 7 SAT's in this location. Attached is a picture of what I'm getting.
I had this happen recently and the problem is my GPS had been zapped by ESD. Apparently the MKGPS is susceptible to this. Quadrocopter can repair it. If you have a blue light and 0 sats, that's my theory.
The battery is charged by the 5V power to the GPS. If it loses charge, it could take 15-30 minutes to refresh the atlas. But that's pretty rare.
What do you see if you go into the MK Tools main window and click on GPS? That's the window that you see on this http://www.mikrokopter.de/ucwiki/en/MKGPS under "Show the MK-GPS Data?" Also: any data on the blue LED on top of the GPS antenna? (See my original posting.) Thanks Andy.
Everything was working perfectly yesterday. Now nothing. Mikrokopter.US forum says first step is to ensure that the 3v GPS battery is charged. I'm gonna leave it on USB charge as they descibe for the night to see what happens. Somehow people are able to check the voltage quite easily.... I however am unsure how to do this. I've checked cables and all is ok. It either the battery, or my GPS has just randomly failed...
When I click on GPS in MKTools I see nothing. Everything is zeroed out. The LED on the GPS itself is blinking....
Chris I just replied to your post in Mikrokopter.US forum but how about trying to reload new software onto the navi board? cant harm it but try right?
Let me reiterate: this is exactly what I saw when my MK GPS fried. I even loaded up the UBLOX diagnostics, and confirmed that the receiver was seeing 0 satellites.
Somewhere, buried in the instructions from Mikrokopter, I seem to remember reading that one should never touch the metal square on top of the GPS board -- which is the antenna -- I suspect that is how static electricity is zapping the units. Just speculating though... Andy.
With my luck Steve, I'm almost certain that this is the problem... However, I was hoping that my luck would change a bit, and there was a more inexpensive solution...
I never touched the antenna or any portion of the GPS board.. The day prior everything was functioning perfectly... I didn't change or touch a thing. Went out yesterday, and had no GPS.
As a last ditch effort I will try this, but would rather have an understanding of why this happened first.
So I checked the system after letting the GPS battery charge by way of USB for about 14 hours. Still same results. I then reflashed the Navi firmware.... Still nothing. I'm gonna let it keep charging, and in a last ditch effort I just ordered another set of GPS cables just in case one or both happened to have gone bad... If that doesn't work then I guess I should start looking for a new GPS?
Like I said, Quadrocopter was able to repair mine. It’s apparently just one little amplifier that’s prone to this issue. I don’t recall touching mine, either.
BTW, here’s my thread from a little while ago with the same issues: http://forum.freeflysystems.com/index.php?threads/where’d-my-gps-go.3440/
Update.... Just got home. Had the GPS battery charging all day via Mophie.... GPS works perfectly now..