iPad Ground Station Issues

T

tiggybengal

Member
iPad ground station

Hi Tahoe Ed
thanks for your reply

I have a non bluetooth ground station i use on a toughbook cf29
how do i use the bluetooth version on a toughbook cos it aint got bluetooth please
also do you think the original ground station is the same or equal to the bluetooth version?

then i will wait for update of software for iPad
 

SamaraMedia

SamaraMedia

Active Member
tiggybengal said:
[The new GS app is now available and is optimized for iOS7. Those that were having issues should now be able to connect

hi Tahoed
mine is a brand new iPad air latest software
worked ok until i updated datalink/ground station firmware now cannot get it to connect to iPad login ok but no connection updating firmware was a NIGHTMARE took 50 attempts at least now i wish i had left it alone am seriously thinking of selling all my dji stuff it is nothing but trouble haven't even got my new x8 with wookong m 50 waypoint plus iOSD MKii
(sent my first faulty iOSD MKii back to quadcopters.co.uk and bought another that works perfectly still waiting for refund) in the air yet it weighs 7k am worried that with dji kit on it i will end up killing someone when it falls out of the sky if it ever gets into the sky

any help please

tiggybengal
Click to expand...

I too have just purchased an iPad Air (should have saved money and aggravation and bought a mini or earlier version iPad) so that i could try the GS app. When I first connected everything I was able to get it all to work although I did lose connection with the ground station and my iPad as others have described. I wanted to try the Flight Simulator and got the same error message that has been mentioned here (BTU not compatible with sym, update BTU) which I did. Also update ground and air station to latest from DJI. Had a difficult time getting it to update but finally have all with latest firmware (seems that is not always the best thing to do with DJI). When I tried to test everything at first I was not able to get the BTU to flash green, it was solid red or flashing. I tried plugging the BTU into a CAN-BUS connection on my quad to try the iPhone NM app to see if it was the BTU, that worked fine, so I connected everything back to ground station. When I launch the app it keeps searching for the Main Control but can not connect. When I went into my Bluetooth settings it saw my control but couldn't connect. So I deleted the app and started fresh thinking that might allow me to re-connect but that I'm still not able to find the controller in the Bluetooth menu, keeps searching but no discoverable devices.

Not very pleased with this setup right now. I also had a question like an earlier post that what happens when I go into the field to try and set a "mission" and I don't have a wifi signal since I did not purchase an iPad with cellular service. Can you load the waypoints at home and save to the controller? Can't seem to find any tutorials that can explain this part to me. Sick of hearing that DJI techno musak on their tutorials. Love how they can show you how to get it up and running in 1:38 on their site, leaves much to be desired, but that seems to be DJI's way of doing things.

Thankfully there are many others out there suffering the same pain as I and we can help each other figure it out, until then this crap is going back in the box and going to go fly the old fashioned way, with sticks ;)

John
 



soler

soler

Member
jwoike said:
Not very pleased with this setup right now. I also had a question like an earlier post that what happens when I go into the field to try and set a "mission" and I don't have a wifi signal since I did not purchase an iPad with cellular service.
John
Click to expand...

While you have wifi signal i.e at Home, zoom in on the area where you will be flying and let the map load. That way once you go out to the field the map data will still be stored in the app and you do not need wifi signal.
 




SamaraMedia

SamaraMedia

Active Member
Magnus, reset the BTU from NAZA assistant, I'm back up and running although I sometimes lose my connection even when my iPad is near the ground station. What distance do you recommend and what does your GS setup look like? Pic's?

Thanks again,

John
 


SamaraMedia

SamaraMedia

Active Member
After looking at your pic's I'm guessing you have both your FS and DataLink stashed away inside that white plastic box and feeding it with the single lipo on the top. Nice and tidy! Is that just a plain old weatherproof electrical box you're using?

Also, you mentioned that if you lose connection with your iPad GS your multi continues on with the mission. That has been a concern of mine since I lose connection with my iPad while sitting in the house sometimes. I will have my GoPro mounted on my Tarot gimbal and a FPV camera to boot. I can use the GoPro as my FPV camera but haven't quite figured out how I'm going to provide the 5v power. I have the AV out cable from Tarot so that part is in place, just trying to figure out whether I should use a BEC or voltage regulator for the power.

Weather is crappy here this weekend so I may not get a chance to test but that will give me time to tidy up my GS to look similar to yours.

Thanks,

John
 

M

Magnus Lindgren

Member
Yes, i have put everything exept the LiPo inside the box. And yes, it's a waterproof electrical box i took on my work.

I have done a v2.0 of my box, with a powerswitch and voltage meter, and some improvements inside.


Regarding loosing connection inside the house i have the same problem, but it works better outside. If you loose connection you can reconnect.

To get 5v there is cheep DC/DC converters.
 

B

blade strike

Member
jwoike said:
After looking at your pic's I'm guessing you have both your FS and DataLink stashed away inside that white plastic box and feeding it with the single lipo on the top. Nice and tidy! Is that just a plain old weatherproof electrical box you're using?

Also, you mentioned that if you lose connection with your iPad GS your multi continues on with the mission. That has been a concern of mine since I lose connection with my iPad while sitting in the house sometimes. I will have my GoPro mounted on my Tarot gimbal and a FPV camera to boot. I can use the GoPro as my FPV camera but haven't quite figured out how I'm going to provide the 5v power. I have the AV out cable from Tarot so that part is in place, just trying to figure out whether I should use a BEC or voltage regulator for the power.

Weather is crappy here this weekend so I may not get a chance to test but that will give me time to tidy up my GS to look similar to yours.

Thanks,

John
Click to expand...

John -

If you have a wifi router at the house this the most common reason why you would see disconnects. But please test this out in the field with range checks. Regarding your power issue, I would just use a BEC set to 5v.

Ken
 

SamaraMedia

SamaraMedia

Active Member
blade strike said:
John -

If you have a wifi router at the house this the most common reason why you would see disconnects. But please test this out in the field with range checks. Regarding your power issue, I would just use a BEC set to 5v.

Ken
Click to expand...

Ken, i do have wifi in house so I will need to test it in the field. I do have a Castle Creations BEC that I can set to 5v so I will connect that to my PDB.

Thanks,

John
 

P

Paulie_NZ

New Member
Ipad Air and GS RaNdOmNeSs

Hi Guys,

OK so i have the new iPad Air (with cell data) and the connection to the receiver continuously drops out on the Ground Station app. the bluetooth connection is fine.

* I have moved the Datalink receiver around on my hexacopter
* Tested the connection between the ground and air portions of the Datalink hardware at various distances apart
* Uninstalled and then re-installed the Ground Station app on the iPad
* Checked the power connections on both the ground and air end of the Datalink hardware
* Wiped the iPad back factory default and re-installed the Ground Station app

But still the connection between the Datalink hardware would randomly cut out. Without moving any equipment the Ground Station app would show perfect connection on the little receiver icon and then nothing and say signal lost.

At a complete loss as to what is going on and the headache of thinking i have faulty equipment i decided to install and use the Groundstation app for the PC and...... WOW!!!! everything works 100% perfect with no issues. Then i try the iPad and again the pesky problem raises its ugly head

Just for curiosity sake i connected the ground station unit to the pc (USB) and the iPad (BT) at the same time. while watching both the laptop and iPad the laptop remained at full connection and the iPad dropped its connection continuously

SO from my not so scientific mucking around i can conclude that its the Apple Ground Station app is the one having the constant Brain Farts seeing as the PC version of the Ground Station app works fine and the bluetooth component which is the only hardware variant used to connect the two different computer devices to the ground station unit is always shown as having a full and steady connection


Paul
 
Last edited by a moderator:

SamaraMedia

SamaraMedia

Active Member
Paulie, I had the same issues, read the last two posts, it could be your in house wifi that is causing the drop outs. I have not tried my setup in the field just yet do to weather and the holidays but I just received my Phantom 2 and will be trying to reconfigure that with the DataLink for GS app so I will let you know how I make out when i try it, maybe this weekend if things go as planned.

John
 

P

Paulie_NZ

New Member
jwoike said:
Paulie, I had the same issues, read the last two posts, it could be your in house wifi that is causing the drop outs. I have not tried my setup in the field just yet do to weather and the holidays but I just received my Phantom 2 and will be trying to reconfigure that with the DataLink for GS app so I will let you know how I make out when i try it, maybe this weekend if things go as planned.

John
Click to expand...

Hi i have experienced the same issue at many different locations away from home and any close wifi routers, However one thing i never tried was disabling the Wifi on the iPad. I will try this and update later

Cheers :)

Paul
 




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