Eggfinder GPS

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askrob

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Hi all,
A few weeks ago I posted that my eggfinder was in the nosecone of my L1, which lawn darted. Since then, I replaced the GPS antenna. I'm still having issues with it. When I plug in the battery, most of the time it never finds the GPS signal. I say most of the time, because 2 or 3 times the amber light has lit up. Most of the time the hope module will be blinking red, but the amber light will not light up.

I have triple checked all the solder points on the GPS antenna, and can't find any bridged or not flowed correctly.

I have noticed that the board is warped a bit, as the hope module does not sit flush any more.

Any suggestions would be helpful.
 
If the board has sustained a physical shock such as lawn darting, then it's quite possible that the warping you observe has caused component pins and/or PCB pads or tracks to separate from the board, particularly around the GPS module's solder joints. One method you could use is to gently bend the board back against the warp and see if there is any change in the functioning of the board. Be aware that this procedure could also make it worse.

I would suggest that you re-flow all the solder joints on the board to make sure all are still connecting component leads to pads. If you have a flux syringe or pen, then a little dab of that around the joints before applying heat from the soldering iron will assist with heat transfer around the joint and allow better wetting by the solder.

The red LED suggests that the GPS module is transmitting data to the Tx module. The amber LED connections might have been damaged by the impact, so check them and re-flow the solder joints. If the GPS module is acquiring satellites, then the LED might not be indicating this.
 
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The gps module could have become loose from the shock. The center pin in the tan square, it has connections underneath that square. I believe it is a ground. If the board is warped its possible pads have lifted off the board or components could be damaged. Sometimes restarting consecutively after 1 minute for some reason will lock on and show the orange light. It does need 3 or more satellites to light up. However my opinion would be to not use one lawndarted that warped a board. But its also likely that it is just fine. I epoxy my gps modules from the tan square down and resonators to the boards. I've considered potting the entire board and other boards minus baro and a few spots but haven't given it much attention. Not that it needs it.
 
Bag it and get a new one. You’ll never be able to consider it reliable henceforth. There will always be doubt. That is the advantage to economical tracking devices. You lawn dart them and you can replace them. We’ve gone a long ways since the $254.00 Beeline GPS trackers. Kurt Savegnago
 
To give an update. I did try to replace the GPS module. However, it still didn't work. Noticed that during the crash some traces broke. Tried to repair them, that didn't work. I think I'm just going to have to do what @ksaves2 suggested, just by a new one. Even if I could repair this one, I'm not sure I can trust it anymore.
 
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