Hi,
after my 3rd attempt to fly with the APM 2.0 the plane was pretty stable in stabilize mode, but when I changed to RTL mode, the plane went straight into the ground.
The bixler got smashed, and the GPS module broke off. Fortunately I was able to find it in the field, but I'm not really sure, whether I will be able to re-solder the module on the APM.
Can anybody give me any hint, if it is worth a try, after looking at the damage pics?
I have no experience with SMD soldering, and only have a normal soldering iron.
Thanks for any hints.
MarcelI also attach the flight data, maybe someone is interested.
Replies
You can buy this board if don't want spend your money https://store.diydrones.com/MediaTek_MT3229_Adapter_Basic_p/br-0014... for solder your GPS chip.
Looks like all the pads came off with the module. You're pretty screwed in that respect. It's very hard to solder to those little traces you have left. You'll have to glue down the module with some epoxy, scrape the coating off a stretch of the remaining trace then try to bridge it back to the pads.
On the pads you can't bridge back to the trace you can try to solder back a small wire to the last component the trace leaves. The project isn't impossible, but it's far from easy.
Unfortunately the APM uses 5V, so you can't just connect the module back through the APMs UART port unless you want to add a regulator and level shifters.
Good luck!
Sorry you crashed, I have been there too,
If your APM2 is still operational:
The good news is your APM2 is now ready for a new 3DR Ublox, mounted in a remote location away from ESC and transmitter antenna, without any cutting or soldering!
Just plug any GPS supported by APM into UART1. Latest software should recognize and set up Ublox or MTK.
Use your soldering iron to make a pocket to hold new GPS.
I would solder a ribbon cable to current MTK and connect it to what's left of pads or to SMD components on daughter board while waiting for new GPS to arrive, but don't risk soldering on your APM2, learning to solder SMD without good tools will probably end well.
Looks to me as though the row of solder pads have been stripped from the board so you will have nothing to solder to. They should be a shiny colour. The lighting angle on them is a bit dark so hard to tell. Just buy an external one and plug it in.