Here4 loses many satellites and positional accuracy ~8:20min after being switched on

Test Systems:

  • Holybro 6x & Here4 on Px4 1.15.4 and Px4 1.16.1
  • CubeOrange & Here4 on Ardupilot 4.6.3
  • Here4 Hardware Version 4.19
  • Here4 Firmware Version 1.15.C71AF5…..

What happens:

Approximately 8:20minutes after system power-up, the Here4 loses about half of its satellites for a second or less. As a result, the position becomes too inaccurate, and depending on the configuration, the system switches to failsafe land mode or drops out of position modes like Position (Px4) and back to, for example, Althold. After this single dropout occurs, it does not happen again. I was able to continue a test flight for about 30 minutes after this dropout without further problems.

This dropout can also be observed while on the ground. In fact, any flight controller with a connected Here4 module is sufficient to reproduce this error. It happens consistently, regardless of the flight controller hardware (in our tests, CubeOrange and Holybro 6x) or the time of day (satellite position).

Px4 Logfiles (6x FC + Here4 setup - no flight):

https://review.px4.io/plot_app?log=ede73e3e-040e-4b26-b931-267b9b0d7549

https://review.px4.io/plot_app?log=24198eb7-7074-480b-818a-2a7d464e33cb

https://review.px4.io/plot_app?log=1af8be9a-f329-4465-8f44-0719e6e7c712

Ardupilot Logfile (CubeOrange + Here4 setup - no flight):

ArdupilotLog.zip (5.5 MB)

Dataplot Image:

Hi, I assume I spoke to you at xponential?

Is it possible to get the raw ublox log as well, this will need to be on ardupilot, with the passthrough function and I enter.

Also the firmware version on the here 4, just so we know where to start looking

Thanks Michael

Hey @Michael_Oborne ,

this is Jannis. I spoke to you at the Xponential. Michael is one of my colleagues and it seems that he was faster posting this then me :smiley: Thanks for your help thought!

Here is the FW-Version of the Here4. It should be the newest:

Here is a ublox log I recorded three days ago. But i noticed, since i enabled all debug msgs, there are some glitches in the communication, where no data is displayed (?).

tcp___127_0_0_1_500_260324_134136.zip (3.4 MB)

If you need something else just let me know!

Best regards

Jannis

is it possible to get a new log with a faster baudrate?

i can see packet loss in this log

what im trying to do is determine which part is actually the cause.

the default is 460800

also during this log, did you notice the problem?

Hey @Michael_Oborne

Sure, i will record a Log with the higher baudrate.

Since there were a lot of glitches in the u-blox center where no data was displayed, I could not see the problem occurring.

Here are two logs, with and without debug-msgs enabled.

I set the baudrate to 460800 on the SL can port on the top right in mission planner and also on the popup that appears when setting the Here4 in passtrought mode.

Hope that helps @Michael_Oborne

tcp___127_0_0_1_500_260414_113111andmore.zip (8.8 MB)

I think we are having a very similar issue posted here GPS Drops in Satellites at 4:12 elapsed time

…could be jamming? maybe?

I am chiming in to confirm that we are experiencing the exact same critical failures with our HERE4 GPS units.

We operate a drone light show fleet, and this specific glitch has already cost us 5 drones. Like you, we see a sudden drop to 0 satellites, a massive HDOP spike, and altitude instability. The most frustrating part is that there is no pattern—it happens randomly mid-flight or even while the drones are stationary on the ground.

In our case, this glitch is catastrophic because it triggers a safety feature where the drone enters Land Mode (believing it’s in the final 5 meters of the mission). Since we fly mostly over the sea, the drones simply land in the water and are lost.

A few points to add to the discussion:

  • We have tested all v1.15 firmware iterations, and the issue persists on every single one.

  • We’ve been forced to ground our entire fleet because the GPS is the core of our business and we can no longer trust the hardware.

  • I’ve attached a preview of our logs showing the instantaneous satellite drop and EKF variance.

This is a professional-grade module, but right now it’s performing like a liability. We need an official word from the developers—is this a known batch issue or a fundamental flaw in the current firmware’s GNSS processing?

Over 50% of our fleet is experiencing the glitch some after 9 min, the example below is at 51 as you can see so we cant predict it