Re: [Paparazzi-devel] Your experience with GPS failings in flight?

[David Conger]

Hello,
Ah, yes, ok. More clear now, at least to me. :)
It is fairly simple to jam GPS with other electronics. In one instance
I added a HobbyKing video recorder to a well flying aircraft and
immediately jammed it's ability to get any fix at all. Removing it and
again 3D fix was quickly acquired.
However this is quickly and easily seen on the GCS before you fly.
Almost as important as anything mechanical is a good checklist of
items to make sure you are prepared for flight. That would include a
verification the GPS 3D fix is acquired and remains. That on a map you
see your current location with the aircraft where you are. It is too
easy to manually input GPS coordinates wrong and really mess up the
GPS coordinates for a flight. The aircraft is not confused only you
when it does what it is told to do...fly somewhere else.

Notes:
1. The GPS13 board used by Paparazzi has a .2F super cap that supplies
low voltage to the u-blox module. This keeps the configurations intact
during power off. These super caps requires a long time to charge.
Possibly even an entire day. Just running it a few minutes on the
ground or bench is not going to full charge it.


On Wed, Mar 12, 2014 at 12:45 PM, Mark Schnittman <address@hidden> wrote:
> Hi David (and all),
>
> Sorry, I should have been clearer.  I am interested in what troubles people
> have experienced, even outside of hardware and software issues.  Your
> mention of solar activity is a perfect example.  I know that can be an
> issue, I'm wondering how often you all have seen things like that cause a
> GPS blackout, or very inaccurate positioning.
>
> Thanks again!
> mark
>
>
> On Wed, Mar 12, 2014 at 3:40 PM, David Conger <address@hidden>
> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Mark,
>> I have not seen any GPS failure on my part while flying. I have
>> followed and worked with Paparazzi since 2006 and not read of
>> in-flight failure of GPS or even Paparazzi hardware. It probably helps
>> that the software inside is tested with formal methods to weed out
>> exceptions that could cause problems.
>> I noticed your question "GPS can go wrong" could be widely
>> interpreted. GPS itself could go wrong due to solar activity etc.
>> -David
>>
>> On Wed, Mar 12, 2014 at 12:05 PM, Mark Schnittman <address@hidden>
>> wrote:
>> > Hi all,
>> >
>> > I'm curious to learn a bit about how often and in what ways GPS can go
>> > wrong
>> > while flying at the altitudes that scale aircraft typically fly.  I'd
>> > love
>> > to hear about the experiences you've had with GPS inaccuracies and/or
>> > failings, and how often you've had these troubles
>> >
>> > Thanks a lot!
>> > mark
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
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>> >
>>
>>
>>
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