Follow me feature wobbly on Yuneec Typhoon Q500 4K drone as GPS flickers

Yuneec Typhoon Q500 4K drone shows wobbly response if satellite numbers drop.

More than a few drone pilots have noted the wobbles in the “Follow Me” mode as the Yuneec GPS struggles to stay connected to enough satellites. The issue centers on all Yuneec drone models, but has particularly frustrated first-time drone buyers unware of the complexities.

First off, the insert in the Yuneec Typhoon Q500 4K drone box that explains how “Follow Me” is supposed to work needs more attention to detail. But the most important aspect to note is that the Q500 must be connected to at least seven satellites. This can be a problem for any Yuneec drone, especially in some parts of the world where access to the satellite network it relies on is patchy, or non-existent.

At this point, the first-time user needs to know the difference between a fix and a lock. So for example, in a lock, it means I have a solid signal from three or more satellites, while a fix means the location is established. So a drone pilot could have a lock on 10 satellites, but the Yuneec GPS receiver board may not have a fixed location.

For the Yuneec drone models, that could mean that a flashing green light doesn’t equal a good position estimate, just a good Yuneec GPS lock. Understanding this difference is crucial in “Follow Me” as you have to position a Q500 at the height and angle at which you want it and switch from Angle Mode to Smart Mode.

The Yuneec GPS is used in all of the flight modes for the Q500, but you can manually turn off the Yuneec GPS by finding an online guide. But remember, the drone defaults to “on” for the Yuneec GPS, so you will need to repeat the process each time if you want the Yuneec GPS off.

But setting the drone into Smart Mode for “Follow Me” produces a series of imprecise stop and start moves, making it impractical unless you’re in a wide open space with no other people or objects around.

On the other hand, in a Yuneec vs DJI comparison on the number of satellites available across the world, DJI has a far wider network and the GPS and GLONASS uses sonar assistance.

And that brings up whether the Yuneec Typhoon Q500 4K drone is meant to compete with the DJI Phantom, as the advertised Q500 parallels to a Phantom are obvious. It’s true the Q500 is a bulkier drone, but it does attempt to employ features such as a landing gear and the custom camera/gimbal combination found on the DJI drone.

The Yuneec drone however lags in R&D and quality in the propellers. The plastic and other features are a bit flimsy. Those design flaws coupled with the prospect of the Yuneec GPS dropping mean it’s not a good idea to attempt to fly it indoors as it lacks the more sophisticated autonomous communication features of the Phantom.

That brings us back to the Yuneec GPS green light on the Yuneec Typhoon Q500 4K drone – it produces mixed results.

Sometimes the green light for the Yuneec GPS leads to the drone working perfectly, or it shows satellites in place and the drone does not respond at all. This leads to furious efforts to recalibrate the compass, or investigate other potential problems such as those with the internal WiFi card, which has had problems with a poorly soldered antenna. So a warning of Yuneec GPS loss on the ST10 controller could be caused by several issues.

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It is so troublesome to get my defective Q500 4K fixed

I would like to give Yuneec Typhoon Q500 4K 5 stars, but instead I gave Q500 4K 3 stars. Here’s why.

The CGO3 camera is very good and the steady grip is very good. That alone almost makes the entire package worth it. But the Yuneec Typhoon Q500 4K does have some issues. Mine crashed on it’s second flight due to an engine failure. The Yuneec Typhoon Q500 4K just fell from the sky and hit the ground, one of the props clipped the edge of a branch and the Quadcopter fell about 30-40 feet to the grass and shattered. The material the shell was made of was very brittle and thin and cannot take much of an impact.

We chalked Q500 4K up to material defect and went to find out how to get the Q500 4K repaired. The web site said that the only way to contact service was to call by phone. A major inconvenience. Since we were working with a security client in a very remote rural area with poor cell reception, we had to travel over 90 mins RT to an office to call. You would think that a technology based company would have a simple online repair system to enter the information and send a couple of photos. The process is extremely cumbersome. Yuneec was more concerned with their internal processes, instead of making it easy to get an expensive unit repaired. Finally we were able send the Typhoon Q500 4K to the Yuneec for repair. It took a couple of months before we heard from the Yuneec despite repeated emails asking for a status update. Finally, they sent us a quote by email to approve the repairs. We approved the repairs and then were informed that the only way to submit payment was by calling them on the phone and providing CC information. I had to resort to something that I never do and submit the CC information in multiple emails in order to get this processed. They told us they only accept payment by CALLING THEM. So the unit continues to sit at the repair depot until we can get to an office to call. They couldn’t even take an online payment, send a payment invoice (PayPal or Intuit), take e-checks, checks, invoice the company, or arrange for any alternate payment options.

As consultants, we have many clients in remote rural areas and a difficult repair process costs our clients and us money and time we don’t have. It has been a year. Getting parts and batteries takes forever. We will never recommend to a client to Yuneec again. I have flown Parrot Bebops with much less trouble then my Yuneec Typhoon Q500 4K. I would really like to love this drone, but I just can’t.

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