Comments

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  Dr. Pete April 24, 2015 at 10:35am

  A cold start of any GPS requires that current ephemerids have been downloaded to the local GPS receiver. Each satellite sends its own ephemerids. The ephemerids contain the coefficients that allow the receiver to determine the satellite position. Ephemerids are transmitted with the coded L1 signal at 50 baud.
  
  All this means is that a cold start GPS may take 10-12 minutes to download a complete set of ephemerids. IF the satellites are visible.
  
  The Iris's Pixhawk and GPS can function and communicate find with the the 5v USB connection. Take the Iris and a laptop outside, plug the Iris into the laptop, open and connect to Mission Planer and observe the GPS.
  
  The PDOP (position dilution of precision) value is what is used to determine if the position solution is good enough for flight. Lower is better. Going from memory, the stock value is 3.0.
  
  Think of PDOP as the inverse of the volume of a pyramid described between your position and each satellite. The complete sky would be 1. A view of the sky blocked by trees, buildings, or mountains will reduce the volume available.
  
  Coeur d'Alene has a couple little hills around. You may have to move to Wyoming. Kidding, I'm in West Virginia, the PDOP limit can really hurt flying in and around our hills and trees, so I've modified the stock parameter. But wait until you gain some flight experience before modifying.
  
  * Spelling and grammar, though well intentioned, may have been inadvertently assisted by my iPhone while enjoying some great Bluegrass at MerleFest in 70 degree sun and a light breeze.
• Nick April 22, 2015 at 9:11am

  @Adam Calkins
  
  Well it has to be green before you can fly it. Are you getting yellow blinking led while you wait. If so sounds like it is trying to locate a satellite. You know once you plug in the battery dont touch it, don't evem close the battery door.
• Adam Calkins April 22, 2015 at 7:53am

  I don't know if any of you will be able to help.  I recently purchased an Iris+ and getting the UAV to start has been a real issue.  I follow the directions exactly to start the drone; turn on the controller, plug in the battery, and don't touch for 10 seconds.  Every time I do this I get the yellow error lights.  If I wait patiently for maybe 30-40 minutes it might turn to green so I can fly it.  But then when I need to change batteries, this happens all over again.  Yesterday I updated the firmware in mission planner did the compass calibration in hopes of fixing the problem, it is still doing the same thing.  Any tips on what might be the problem and what I can do to fix it?  
• Dave Eller April 18, 2015 at 8:40am

  I'm trying my maiden flight. I get a low battery alarm on the IRIS+ (Lights and beeping)  The controller reads voltage of 7.5 volts.  My Venom LOW Voltage alarm reads 12.5 volts with each cell balanced in the 4.17-4.18 range.  I'm hoping someone can give me some suggestion on how to troubleshoot this issue.  I've bought the entire IRIS+ package, but can't get off the ground.    Thanks in advance!   Dave 
• Brad Roekle April 8, 2015 at 2:36pm

  I created a SOLO group to discuss the new 3DR SOLO being released on April 13, 2015.

  http://diydrones.com/group/solo
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  Santiago Peñuela April 4, 2015 at 7:38am

  Seeking a partner to incorporate drones shop in Colombia
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  Global_Saffer March 11, 2015 at 8:50am

  Iris owners, this is the COMMENT wall.  If you need to ask questions, click on "Forums" at the top of the page.
• Nigel Coxon March 8, 2015 at 3:55am

  Sorry members, just sent intended discussion thread as message...format is not designed for clarity!
• richard lamanna February 22, 2015 at 8:20pm

  see like i said i dont what the hell im doing with these forums. alot of confusion if u ask me
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  Erik Graham February 22, 2015 at 7:03pm

  Richard - you posted your question on the "Comment Wall".  I think you want to start a post in the Discussions (ie. the forums).  You are more likely to get a reply there.  If you scroll down, you will see other people have done the same.  Personally, I'm not really sure what the point of this Comment Wall is ;-)