-
Notifications
You must be signed in to change notification settings - Fork 91
FAQ
Jump to...
β Awesome! Now with virtually no range limit how can I further increase my flight time?
β What is the latency like compared to the normal Wi-Fi connection?
β My question is not covered in here, can you help me?
β How much data per hour is required? / What bandwidth is required?
Video stream resolution | Data usage | Bandwidth required |
---|---|---|
480p | ~1.1 GB/hour | ~2.4 Mbit/s |
720p | ~2.2 GB/hour | ~4.8 Mbit/s |
π to switch resolution, change the recording resolution in FreeFlight Pro.
If recording is set to 1080p, the live video stream will be 480p (default in FeeFlight Pro)
If recording is set to 720, the live video stream will be 720p
The data rate can be further reduced, but requires some manual scripting.
If you never want to use the option for 4G/LTE video/controls/telemetry, you can ignore the following installation steps entirely:
- A mobile tethering device is not required.
- ZeroTier account does not need to be created.
- The following config files do not require to be set:
disco/uavpal/conf/zt_networkid
skycontroller2/uavpal/conf/wpa
skycontroller2/uavpal/conf/ssid
skycontroller2/uavpal/conf/zt_networkid
-
/tmp/disco4g/skycontroller2/skycontroller2_install.sh
does not need to be run (double pressing the Settings button will have no effect) - All steps after
reboot
can be ignored
β Are there any other charges than the mobile data?
- Whenever a microSD card is inserted into the modem, the Disco's power button LED will change its color from orange β green β cyan β blue β magenta quickly to indicate that videos and photos will now be recorded to the microSD card.
- Whenever a microSD card is removed from the modem (or the Disco could not detect/mount the file system), the Disco's power button LED will flash red three times. This indicates that all videos and photos will be recorded to the internal storage.
In addition, the Disco will send a Push Notification/SMS for the events above to your mobile device (if configured).
For 720p video recording, you will require at least an
- SDHC Class 10 (Symbol: "10", minimum sequential write speed: 10 MB/s)
For 1080p video recording, you will require at least an
- SDXC I UHS Speed Class 3 (Symbol: "U3", minimum sequential write speed:30 MB/s)
or - SDXC II Video Speed Class 30 (Symbol: "V30", minimum sequential write speed: 30 MB/s)
β Does this softmod work on the Parrot Bebop 2 as well?
β Can I use the softmod on my Disco and Bebop 2 with the same Skycontroller 2?
skycontroller2_install.sh
). Make sure you use the same ZeroTier network ID (conf/zt_networkid
) for all three devices!
β Why did you chose blue LED on Skycontroller 2 to indicate 4G/LTE mode?
β Is UAVPAL in any way affiliated to Parrot Drones SAS?
β Which Huawei E3372 model is right for me?
E3372 Model | LTE Band supported | should* work in |
---|---|---|
153 and 210 | 1,3,7,8,20 | Africa, Asia, Central and South America, Caribbean, Europe, Middle East, Oceania |
510 | 1,2,4,5,7,28 | US (excluding Sprint) |
607 | 1,3,7,8,28,40 | Africa, Asia, Central and South America, Caribbean, Europe, Middle East, Oceania, Russia |
*This is only a guideline, you should double check our list of Known Working Mobile Carriers and Settings where we recommend specific modem models per carrier. Or check out LTE bands used by your mobile network operator and make sure you buy a model that covers at least one supported LTE band.
Huawei E3372 modems are available in two different flavors, Hi-Link mode (firmware 22.x) and Stick mode (firmware 21.x). Both firmware versions can be found on E3372s and E3372h hardware types:
- E3372s is slightly older and comes mostly (but not exclusively) in Stick mode.
- E3372h is newer and comes mostly (but not exclusively) in Hi-Link mode. A conversion between Stick and Hi-Link mode is possible in most cases, but the process is not straight-forward.
Both types work with the 4G/LTE softmod. We recommend the E3372h modem with Hi-Link.
β Can I use other USB modems than the Huawei E3372?
- E3372h, E3372s
- MS2372h
- E8372h
- E3276s
β What does the Huawei E3372 modem's LED indicate?
- Green, flashing twice every 2s: The USB-Modem is powered on.
- Green, flashing once every 0.2s: The software of the USB-Modem is being upgraded.
- Green, flashing once every 2s: The USB-Modem is registering with a 2G network.
- Blue, flashing once every 2s: The USB-Modem is registering with a 3G network.
- Cyan, flashing once every 2s: The USB-Modem is registering with a 4G network.
- Green, solid: The USB-Modem is connected to a 2G network.
- Blue, solid: The USB-Modem is connected to a 3G network.
- Cyan, solid: The USB-Modem is connected to a 4G network.
β What happened to the Raspberry Pi?
RIP RPi! π₯
β How much extra power does the 4G/LTE modem consume?
- maximum (e.g takeoff): 15.5A
- average: 3.6A (based on Parrot's "45 minutes" specification)
- C.H.U.C.K. without motor running: 0.7A
Therefore, the power consumed by the 4G/LTE modems is not significant (less than 5%). Additionally, not fully utilizing the Wi-Fi antennas during a 4G/LTE flight, saves a fair bit of power as well.
β Where can I purchase the hardware?
β Isn't the extra hardware too heavy for the Disco?
If Glympse indicates your connection being relayed [R], you can try to add a port forwarding rule on your home Wi-Fi Router/Access Point for incoming connections on UDP port 9993 to the LAN IP address of your Skycontroller 2. This should give you a [D] direct (low latency, full throughput) connection.
β What if the 4G/LTE connection gets interrupted during a flight?
β What if the Wi-Fi connection to the tethering device is lost/interrupted during a 4G/LTE flight?
β I can't seem to fly past the 2 km mark without my Disco turning around. Why?
β Where can I find the Release Notes (Change Log) and links to download older releases?
If you are interested in the latest Beta version, check out this FAQ article.
β Do I need to reinstall the softmod after a firmware upgrade/downgrade?
- Turn on your Disco and connect your PC's Wi-Fi to the Disco (e.g. DISCO-123456).
- On Disco firmware 1.7.0 and newer: Double press the Disco's power button to enable the telnet server.
- Open a Command Prompt (Windows)/Terminal (macOS/Linux) and Copy/Paste the following commands manually.
telnet 192.168.42.1
mount -o remount,rw /
ln -s /data/ftp/uavpal/conf/70-huawei-e3372.rules /lib/udev/rules.d/70-huawei-e3372.rules
reboot
If you upgraded/downgraded Skycontroller 2's firmware, or if the above steps did not work, you should do a full reinstallation according to the Installation Instructions. Have a look at this FAQ entry on the steps that can be skipped during the reinstallation.
β How do I update the softmod to the latest version? / How do I reinstall the softmod?
If the softmod was/is already working fine, you can skip the following steps:
- Creation of Glympse, Pushbullet and ZeroTier accounts
- Authorization and setting of Ethernet Bridging in the ZeroTier Web UI (as long as the ZeroTier Network ID has not changed).
- the FreeFlight Pro App crashes or loses connection and is unable recover
- the mobile hotspot crashes, runs out of battery or runs out of data
- the phone/tablet running FreeFlight Pro runs out of battery or crashes
- Skycontroller 2 runs out of battery
Additionally, Glympse shows more 4G/LTE relevant data than FreeFlight Pro: the name label (e.g. DISCO-123456) is followed by detailed telemetry data, e.g. Sig:4G/70% Alt:45m Bat:86%/12.09V Ltn:28ms [D]
-
Sig:4G/70%
- the mobile signal of the drone's modem. 3G vs. 4G and the signal strength in percentage, derived from the RSSI dBm -
Alt:45m
- the current altitude in meters, relative to the take-off point -
Bat:86%/12.09V
- battery capacity in percentage and voltage (important for some of the Li-Ion battery mods) -
Ltn:28ms
- latency between the controller and the drone (shown in Wi-Fi and 4G mode) -
[D] / [R]
- indication whether the ZeroTier connection is [D] direct (low latency, full throughput) or [R] relayed via ZeroTier's cloud infrastructure (higher latency, limited throughput)
β telnet is no longer available on newer version of Apple's macOS, how to install the softmod then?
- try
nc 192.168.42.1 23
instead or - install telnet via Homebrew (Instructions)
β Is it possible to uninstall/remove the softmod?
β Can I just reinstall Disco4G? Will anything be overriden?
However, if the config file you want to change is on Skycontroller 2 (e.g. Wi-Fi passphrase), it gets a bit trickier. Reinstall is the easiest option unless you are a Unix/Linux guru.
- 2 SIMs same carrier - internal connections allowed - direct
- 2 SIMs same carrier - internal connections blocked, NAT traversal might be possible - mostly direct, some relayed
- 2 SIMs same or different carrier, at least one SIM with public IP - direct
- 2 SIM different carriers, two symmetric NATs cannot be traversed - relayed
Check out our list of Known Working Mobile Carriers and Settings, to see if ZeroTier is able to get a Direct or Relayed connection per carrier.
Glympse indicates whether the current connection is direct or relayed ([D] or [R]).
β Can I use the softmod without zerotier, as I don't want to rely on third-party infrastructure?
Or you can set-up your own zerotier relay server (called "moon")
β Can I participate in beta testing? / How can I try the latest untested version of the softmod?
Feedback via our Slack Workspace (#dev channel)
- Your carrier's coverage might be bad in the area where you are trying to fly, you can use CellMapper or OpenSignal to check for 4G/LTE coverage.
- It is highly recommended to use both SIM cards from the same carrier for higher performance and lower latency. Also check that you are using the same APN on the Disco and your mobile tethering device (if possible).
- ZeroTier might be relaying the connection via public Internet, see this FAQ entry for more information.
- Make sure your mobile tethering device as well as the Disco's modem have a 4G (and not a 3G) connection, see also Huawei E3372 LEDs.
- Using a single device for the mobile hotspot and FreeFlight Pro can have a performance impact if the device is not powerful enough. Although it's possible, we recommend to use two separate devices, one as mobile hotspot with Glympse and the other one running FreeFlight Pro which is connected to SkyController 2 via USB cable.
- Some carriers impose a bandwidth cap to tethering data (e.g. T-Mobile USA). Make sure your carrier unlocks the full speed.
- Run the following two speed tests to confirm there is sufficient bandwidth available:
- Plug the modem into a PC and use a browser to run a speed test, e.g. http://speedof.me (ensure the PC has all other LAN/Wi-Fi interfaces disabled)
- Use a PC and connect it via Wi-Fi to your mobile tethering device, use a browser to run a speed test, e.g. http://speedof.me (ensure the PC has all other LAN/Wi-Fi interfaces disabled)
It's important not to use an App on your mobile tethering device to conduct the second speed test. It will not reveal any carrier imposed bandwidth cap on tethering data.
- If the connection is lost and does not recovered at all, confirm that you have sufficient data balance available on both SIM cards.
- If your recording quality is set to 720p in FreeFlight Pro, the video stream will require more bandwidth as it's 720p as well. We recommend to record at 1080p, so the video stream quality will implicitly be set to 480p, which is slightly lower quality but also requires less data and bandwidth. More info here.
β Why does my modem's LED keeps flashing when connected to the Disco?
- Has the softmod been installed without any error? If not, reinstall the softmod
- Have you recently upgraded the Disco's firmware, see "Do I need to reinstall the softmod after a firmware upgrade/downgrade?"
- Are you using a supported modem?
- Is the USB cable used to connect the modem to CHUCK just a power-only cable without data wires? This will not work, you need a proper USB OTG cable.
- Is the SIM card inserted properly?
- Is the SIM PIN code disabled? This is required for the softmod to work!
- Does the modem work when plugged into a PC?
- If you have upgraded from an earlier version of the softmod, please ensure that you set the
apn
config file correctly, it was not required with older versions (on Hi-Link modems).
If it still does not work and never worked before, repeat the installation steps.
β Why does the installer script return file not found
?
- Two members need to be listed (Disco and Skycontroller 2) - both should indicate status "Online" while Skycontroller 2's LED is flashing blue.
- Both need to be authorized (checkbox "Auth?" should be set).
- Both need to have "Allow Ethernet Bridging" enabled (click the wrench icon).
If you have accidentally removed a member in the ZeroTier Web UI, it will be blocked from joining. You will need to remove and then reinstall the softmod again, so that the Skycontroller 2 and the Disco gets added as new members again (of the same Network ID).
β I did not receive the SMS with the Glympse link to track my Disco's location, anything I can do?
- Some SIMs are "data-only" and don't allow you to send SMS. This is a restriction imposed by your mobile network operator.
- Some users have reported it worked when omitting the international prefix or just the "+" in front of the number in the
conf/phonenumber
file. - The phone number in
conf/phonenumber
should be the device where you want to receive the SMS with the link (and not the Disco's SIM phone number itself).
π As alternative to SMS, you can also use Push Notifications to receive the Glympse link. Have a look at the Installation Guide.
- Make sure you set the config files
ssid
andwpa
correctly. - For iOS: the curly apostrophe (single quote sign) in the Hotspot's name can be an issue, e.g. "Nameβs iPhone". Quick fix: remove any special characters (e.g. "My iPhone"). This can be done in Settings β General β About β Name. If you want to use the straight apostrophe sign (e.g. "Name's iPhone") instead, you need to rename it in iTunes as the iOS keyboard does not offer straight apostrophes.
- For iOS: if Personal Hotspot was activated for a long time, it stops broadcasting itself. This is a known iOS issue. You might need to disable and re-enable Personal Hotspot, or even restart your iOS device.
β How can I debug issues on the Disco?
On Disco firmware 1.7.0 and newer: Double press the Disco's power button first to enable the telnet server.
By running the command ulogcat | grep uavpal
you see the log messages created by the softmod.
All logs on the Disco are only stored in memory and are therefore lost after the Disco is shutdown. To persist the kernel and user logs on the internal storage: create an empty file /data/ftp/uavpal/conf/debug
, the softmod will then write all logs into /data/ftp/internal_000/Debug/ulog_debug_{date/time}.log
, these log files can easily be retrieved via ftp (in /Debug
) as well.
β How can I debug issues on Skycontroller 2?
/data/ftp/uavpal/bin/uavpal_sc2adb.sh
to hop on to Skycontroller 2.
or
b) You can directly connect from your PC to Skycontroller 2 using a USB Ethernet adapter on Skycontroller 2 connected via Ethernet to your PC. You need the tool adb
which is freely available for all major OS platforms. The Apple USB Ethernet Adapter (MC704ZM/A) is known to work.
By running the command ulogcat | grep uavpal
you see the log messages created by the softmod.