GPS not working for Starling 2 Max

Bernhard

Hello,

I am a bit puzzled. We are using a Starling 2 and a Starling 2 Max.
On the Max we do not get any GPS Satellites. I thought that the sensor might be broken, so I swapped the sensors, which did not affect the outcome.

Both drones show the same services running.

The output for voxl-inspect-gps is 0.00000 and 0.000000 for lat and long, 0 Stallites.

For px4-listener sensor_gps I get:

TOPIC: sensor_gps 

sensor_gps 
    timestamp: 89961786 (0.126000 seconds ago) 
    timestamp_sample: 0 
    time_utc_usec: 0 
    device_id: 11272245 (Type: 0xAC, SERIAL:6 (0x00)) 
    lat: 0 
    lon: 0 
    alt: -17000 
    alt_ellipsoid: 0 
    s_variance_m_s: 36.37900 
    c_variance_rad: 3.14159 
    eph: 4294967.50000 
    epv: 3750000.50000 
    hdop: 99.99000 
    vdop: 99.99000 
    noise_per_ms: 86 
    jamming_indicator: 59 
    vel_m_s: 0.00000 
    vel_n_m_s: 0.00000 
    vel_e_m_s: 0.00000 
    vel_d_m_s: 0.00000 
    cog_rad: 0.00000 
    timestamp_time_relative: 0 
    heading: nan 
    heading_offset: 0.00000 
    heading_accuracy: 0.00000 
    rtcm_injection_rate: 0.00000 
    automatic_gain_control: 0 
    fix_type: 0 
    jamming_state: 0 
    spoofing_state: 1 
    vel_ned_valid: False 
    satellites_used: 0 
    selected_rtcm_instance: 0

The cables and sockets look ok, but of course it might be a broken cable.

Is there anything else I can test/try?

BR
Bernhard

Zachary Lowell 0

@Bernhard what is your testing environment? Safe to assume you are outside yeah? Also to confirm can you run cat /etc/modalai/voxl-px4.conf and paste the output?

Bernhard

@Zachary-Lowell-0 yes, we test outside.
The only difference between the Starling 2 and the Starling Max is the 5G board. On the Max we have the 5G board installed, which seems to be the root of the problem.
We have tried switchen the GPS modules and the VOXL board itself in the meantime, and the GPS always works on the Starling 2, but not on the Max.
Is there something additional to do when installing the 5G board? We swapped the Wifi module for the 5G module, configured voxl-modem and it works. But GPS does not work with it it seems.

Besides, output for voxl-px4.conf:

GPS=AUTODETECT
RC=CRSF
POWER_MANAGER=VOXLPM
DISTANCE_SENSOR=NONE
OSD=DISABLE
DAEMON_MODE=ENABLE
SENSOR_CAL=ACTUAL
EXTRA_STEPS=()

Zachary Lowell 0

I wonder if there is some form of interference - I do know that from time to time when I am in the same situation as you (GPS showing 0's for both lat and lon) I just have to wait it out for like 10 minutes and then after that, the GPS data shows - unsure why it would take that long, but I can say I have recreated this issue in the past and the solution was to wait - @brahim I believe you ran into this and just let the drone sit for a while before gps was acquired.

I would be hard pressed to say the issue is directly from the 5g hat - all the hardware is tested rigorously together to ensure safe flights and such.

Bernhard

For anyone wondering:
We figured out what the problem was.
The 5G is not the only source for interferences.

It turned out the video transmission hardware we use (Siyi MK 32 https://shop.siyi.biz/products/siyi-mk32?VariantsId=10619) blocks the GPS from finding any satellites.

We will try to somehow shield the GPS from the video transmission signal.

@Zachary-Lowell-0 FYI

Zachary Lowell 0

@Bernhard said in GPS not working for Starling 2 Max:

We will try to somehow shield the GPS from the video transmission signal.

Makes sense to me @Bernhard we have leveraged faraday tape to dull the signals coming off.

Bernhard

@Zachary-Lowell-0 actually I have to correct that statement.

I have now invested quite some time into testing the whole situation thoroughly.
The drone's GPS works fine without 5G and video transmission. The drone's GPS has problems with 5G (at least where we are testing - populated area, probably some other interferences). The drone's problem also has a problem with the video transmission.

So basically, both 5G and video cause the problem. But it does not even work with the 5G module that ModalAI provides. Is there any further help available?

nuallaino

@Bernhard Maybe our issues are related? See [my post].(https://forum.modalai.com/topic/3912/problem-acquiring-gps-satellites-possible-voxl2-board-emi?_=1731073406011)

Bernhard

@nuallaino that might be.
But for us the GPS-sensor usually works, we only have problems when using 5G and/or video transmission.

We will test if an external GPS-sensor fixes the situation.

Kory4Drone

Hello,

Has there been any resolution on this? I have a brand new Starling 2 Max, with 5G and have let the drone sit for over an hour and no GPS.

Bernhard

@Kory4Drone sadly there has been no update.
@Zachary-Lowell-0 is there anything ModalAI can do to support?

groupo

@Bernhard I also have had GPS related issues with my sentinel drone that happens to have a 5G modem. I have two drones and one does work so we havent chased the other one down much. I will be interested to hear what steps the team will have for you