Has anyone had their Controller report 0 for sats, yet know 6 to 8 are locked? My Controller always shows 0 sats, and I know I have multiple locked as my Cinestar has an inter-lock requiring sat lock before the motors will engage. Controller : Movi Monitor : Sats 0
Derek: Just to clarify are you saying that the Cinestar MK GPS board is showing 6-8 satellites but the MoVI controller is always showing zero on the MoVI monitor screen? Are you indoors, outdoors, or does it not make any difference? What do you see for the MoVI's GPS status when you connect up with the Configurator application program? Andy
Correct - zero sats showing on the Controller for the Movi M5. I know we have sats cause the MK-GPS has locks. Outside. Only fly the Cinestar in the house after 3 martinis and the wife's out! I'll see what configurator says and report back.
Well, that's the problem. You need four martinis. It won't actually allow the MoVI controller to lock on to GPS satellites, but you'll find that you don't care that it doesn't. I'm not near my MoVI controller, so I can't fire it up and compare what I see with what you're seeing. Anyone else seeing zero satellites reported on the MoVI monitor screen? Andy.
Thats only reporting the amount of satellites the MoVI is receiving. If its showing zero then the MoVI is probably not receiving any. Now the question becomes why. You can also double check by connecting via the app and see what the app reports as far as sat count. This will confirm if its the Controller or just the MoVI not receiving sats. If the latter, check to make sure the antenna is properly connected. You could also remove the copter and see if reception improves.
Thanks, Brad. I think checking via the Configurator App is the next thing that Derek's going to do. Andy
Interesting. So I just ran a test - Cinestar outside, no sats on the Controller. Connected to the Movi M5 using Bluetooth, and confirmed it is seeing 5 sats - see screenshot. And guess what, the Controller then showed 5 sats - first time I've seen more than 0 sats on the Controller. Sounds like there is a firmware issue, perhaps? Talking to the Movi using the Configurator somehow triggered it to communicate number of sats back to the Controller?
Interesting. So the next rational step might be to revert back to the original setup, taking the Configurator App out of the setup. Does the MoVI controller continue to work and display the number of sats? Andy
Done - and as you might have guessed, the Controller now shows sats that MK-GPS sees. Both see 9 in the attached images. Not sure what would have caused the Controller to now start seeing the sats. Maybe it was connecting the Configurator that somehow forced it to see the sats?
Something is wonky - flew yesterday again, zero sats on the Controller. Identical conditions. Has anyone else tested this?
I know this is a pain, Derek, but could you try what you did before -- connect up with the Configurator app and see if that provokes the MoVi controller into displaying the satellite count -- if it does, it'll be really helpful for the software devs to know that you can make the issue come and go. Thanks Andy.
Just setup the test, and you guessed it, sats on the Controller before getting to the Configurator. I'm a bit stumped. Not sure how to replicate the problem reliably. I'll think about options.
Derek, I'm not quite sure what you meant when you wrote: "sats on the Controller before getting to the Configurator." Do you mean that now the MoVI controller is displaying the number of satellites and you didn't need to start up the Configurator app? Thanks Andy.
Hmm. I guess all you can do is email to support@freeflysystems.com, open up a ticket and indicate that the MC is only intermittently displaying the number of satellites, going from N (where N is a number like 8), to 0, and back. Weird. Andy.
I know Chris at Quad has been following this post, so he may pipe in with a response. Bought the Controller from them. I don't see any performance hit with 0 sats on the Controller, but it's disconcerting to look down and zero the big goose-egg.
The copter itself is probably blocking some of the GPS capability. Thats why I said take the copter off and see if it gets better.. Lots of carbon between it and the sky
Likely the reason Brad, indeed. Odd that at times I get 0 sats, while others I get 5-7 in the exact same config and location.
If you've got a Toad setup, (as I think you have), it would be interesting to see if you can get the MoVI controller to "change state." That is, if it's showing zero sats, then remove the copter frameset and see if then changes. Similarly, if it's showing 5-7 sats, remove the copter and see if it changes. I take Brad's point re: CF -- it's good shielding, but the evidence that it can *ever* get 5-7 sats with the frameset above the MoVI is a little bit disquieting.... Andy.