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NO GPS

You would not be a slave to GPS mode if you fly in advanced pilot mode. To my understanding though you can not turn off the GPS on the Karma. Therefor GoPro must want to replace every drone I crash free of charge as they are not providing me with the ability to learn their product the right way.

Makes perfect sense to me!!! Even though GoPro has finally agreed to replace my Karma, I'm now struggling with them to replace my HERO4...which was obviously attached to the Karma when the fly away happened. They are insisting I present proof of purchase (receipt)...however, it was a gift from over a year ago. What bugs me even more, they have all of my equipment registered with GoPro so they know it's mine! Plus you can't even fly the Karma without the camera attached...or can you? I never did.
 
Jake, I can appreciate your positive attitude, but what bothers me is your point about needing to learn from our mistakes. How can we learn and understand if GoPro does not share with any of us what they say we're doing wrong? IF WE'RE DOING ANYTHING WRONG TO BEGIN WITH! Almost everyday I read a new story that mirrors each other's. If we all seem to be experiencing the same, how is that pilot error? Let's just say, it is...then why wouldn't GoPro release some training videos and documentation to help us all overcome these so called pilot errors? It would save us all a lot of time and money from both sides of the table! I truly believe there is something much bigger behind all of this and time will reveal what that is.

That is the problem I have with go pro. It only ever told me "hey GPS loss means your going to die" after it lost GPS signal. There was NO information about this risk prior. Speaking to a friend who owns a DJI Phantom it FORCED him to fly 10 minutes WITHOUT GPS as they wanted their consumers to understand the risk and hazards for flying without gps. No GPS is fine but the fact go pro completely ignores it? Its just like Purple matress putting hazardous plastic powder in their mattress and suing anyone who questions what it is. They are trying to rely on the fact 80% of their consumers wont ever loose GPS and that they won't complain about it. It feels like a con to me, kind of like drinking "miracle water" even though its tap water. Off topic, the fact they hid this from us bothers me. Sure pilot error caused me to crash it when i lost GPS but manufacturer error because you didnt warn me. Imagine if chevy said something similar about their seat belts. "Oh you didnt know you have to double click it to keep it locked in, sorry your loved one died but its not our fault."
 
Makes perfect sense to me!!! Even though GoPro has finally agreed to replace my Karma, I'm now struggling with them to replace my HERO4...which was obviously attached to the Karma when the fly away happened. They are insisting I present proof of purchase (receipt)...however, it was a gift from over a year ago. What bugs me even more, they have all of my equipment registered with GoPro so they know it's mine! Plus you can't even fly the Karma without the camera attached...or can you? I never did.

I think you can fly it without the camera but you do need the gimbal. If you have video footage from it you can use that as proof. Always record so you can record your crash. I won't blame Karma for my first crash, as I hit a twig, my fault. I won't even blame Karma for the 2nd crash as the product (I want to believe) did what it was supposed to do. I blame go pro for not providing proper warning and training options for GPSless flight. Now if they had the warned me and provided a fly w/o GPS mode then sure I would be 100% responsible and I wouldn't even be here. None of us would be (I want to believe that my karma didn't stop responding control, jury is still out on that).
 
"We can confirm that it's not a manufacturing defect and won't be covered under warranty." Says GoPro.

Two weeks ago, like any usual sunny day, my Karma took off in a wide open space. When I saw the low battery signal I immediately press the return button. I saw my drone coming back at a fairly high alititude so I tried to descend it but it wouldn't respond. Instead, it just went straight ahead into a branch and got stuck. Few seconds later it smashed to the ground. The Karma, stabilizer, and even the camera were all total loss.

I emailed GoPro with all the information I could provide including flight logs and pictures. And all I get is "Not a manufacturing defect and won't be covered?" Like everyone else here, I'm definitely fighting for my replacement, fingers crossed.

Good luck my pilot friend! It's taken me six weeks of back and forth emails and calls to get GoPro to take accountability. I'm strongly looking at a DJI Mavic as my next move. Even though I will have the Karma replaced...and hopefully the camera, I won't be flying it again until I see strong accountability from GoPro and some major software/equipment updates before attempting to fly again. I look forward to seeing some updates from you...hopefully good ones.
 
I have decided to that I will take more precautions.

1. Dont fly so far.
2. Learn no GPS flight if i can.
3. Make a floaty for the drone, so if it does go in the water I can at least recover it and say suck it gopro, here's my dead drone.
4. Get a bluetooth, wifi or gps secondary tag tracker (they make these for your keys, phone, and other stuff) just a small dog tag that has tracking.

This way i can ensure i find, recover, and replace and go pro can kiss my fat butt.
 
That is the problem I have with go pro. It only ever told me "hey GPS loss means your going to die" after it lost GPS signal. There was NO information about this risk prior. Speaking to a friend who owns a DJI Phantom it FORCED him to fly 10 minutes WITHOUT GPS as they wanted their consumers to understand the risk and hazards for flying without gps. No GPS is fine but the fact go pro completely ignores it? Its just like Purple matress putting hazardous plastic powder in their mattress and suing anyone who questions what it is. They are trying to rely on the fact 80% of their consumers wont ever loose GPS and that they won't complain about it. It feels like a con to me, kind of like drinking "miracle water" even though its tap water. Off topic, the fact they hid this from us bothers me. Sure pilot error caused me to crash it when i lost GPS but manufacturer error because you didnt warn me. Imagine if chevy said something similar about their seat belts. "Oh you didnt know you have to double click it to keep it locked in, sorry your loved one died but its not our fault."

I'm sure time will bring out the truth for GoPro and their antics. I really do like their products. It's obvious history is repeating itself for GoPro from two years ago. They are trying to stay low and hopefully this will go away. Ostrich sticking his head in the ground!

A while back I did see a post to either this thread or another thread where a guy in Germany who is considering a class action lawsuit against GoPro...for all of the reasons we've experienced.
 
I have decided to that I will take more precautions.

1. Dont fly so far.
2. Learn no GPS flight if i can.
3. Make a floaty for the drone, so if it does go in the water I can at least recover it and say suck it gopro, here's my dead drone.
4. Get a bluetooth, wifi or gps secondary tag tracker (they make these for your keys, phone, and other stuff) just a small dog tag that has tracking.

This way i can ensure i find, recover, and replace and go pro can kiss my fat butt.

Some good points Jake. I may take you up on #4. Even though I feel that GoPro Karma should have this feature already. We just end up spending more of "OUR" money to insure a enferier product!
 
negative.. so I think gopro's answer of signal interference from surrounding devices is null and void. Or that the xmitter/recievers on the karma are far inferior.

Hey Dennis, you couldn't be more spot on regarding signal interference... When my fly-away happened, there was a number of strong GPS signals. In fact with no issue, I calibrated right before flying. All systems were a go! After the fly-away happened, I checked with a few other people who had cell phones and they had good GPS but some had no cell service. As I said, it was a remote area with no cell towers, etc. Just as I was leaving the area, a guy with a DJI was walking to the same area and he had great GPS signal. BTW, no one was in the area at the time my fly-away happened. In past flights I've flown over my neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods with LOTS of homes and strong cell signals...NO ISSUES AT ALL. I would think if there was to be some interference, then it should have happened during those flights. So proof is in the flight types and history..."interference from surrounding devices is NULL and VOID!" Below is a link to the video I produced when flying over a local community...


My advice is to call GoPro weekly. Don't let them tell you they are working on it and will get back to you. If you get an email staging, "We haven't heard from you...we assume you are satisfied" (automated email), immediately reply and let them know your case is NOT closed and you are NOT satisfied. Keep a history of all communications. I also sent emails to Nick Woodman, CEO. He never replied, but the emails never got returned. Once I started doing that, I seemed to get some resolution.

Screen Shot 2017-08-26 at 11.33.34 AM.png
 
I really appreciate the feedback. Hopefully all goes well with Gopro.
 
Good luck my pilot friend! It's taken me six weeks of back and forth emails and calls to get GoPro to take accountability. I'm strongly looking at a DJI Mavic as my next move. Even though I will have the Karma replaced...and hopefully the camera, I won't be flying it again until I see strong accountability from GoPro and some major software/equipment updates before attempting to fly again. I look forward to seeing some updates from you...hopefully good ones.

Thanks Jnazario, good for you man! Now that everyone seems to be getting something I'm feeling slightly more optimistic. It's been almost a week and I've been emailing GoPro back and forth as well, yet so far it's the same answer; "not a manufacturing defect and won't be covered."

Previously in the last email, they narrowed down to two possible sources that led to the accident; 2nd warning signal, and calibration. I told them numerous times that I immediately pressed the Land button after I heard and saw the FIRST signal. They said according to the flight logs, it's the 2nd one. Then I emphasized that the controller never did instruct me to calibrate before the flight so I assumed it's all good.

Whatever it is I'm gonna fight till the end until I get a more satisfying solution. I totally agree with you, Mavic Pro is most likely my next drone, I only got the Karma coz I wanted to get the Karma Grip, but seems it'd make more sense if I went with the whole package, now I'm regretting.
 
Thanks Jnazario, good for you man! Now that everyone seems to be getting something I'm feeling slightly more optimistic. It's been almost a week and I've been emailing GoPro back and forth as well, yet so far it's the same answer; "not a manufacturing defect and won't be covered."

Previously in the last email, they narrowed down to two possible sources that led to the accident; 2nd warning signal, and calibration. I told them numerous times that I immediately pressed the Land button after I heard and saw the FIRST signal. They said according to the flight logs, it's the 2nd one. Then I emphasized that the controller never did instruct me to calibrate before the flight so I assumed it's all good.

Whatever it is I'm gonna fight till the end until I get a more satisfying solution. I totally agree with you, Mavic Pro is most likely my next drone, I only got the Karma coz I wanted to get the Karma Grip, but seems it'd make more sense if I went with the whole package, now I'm regretting.

I wish your the best. I too purchased the entire Karma package just to get the Karma Grip. However, that was one of the initial issues I had. The day before my fly-away, I had issues with my Grip and called Karma to resolve. Part of the resolution was to update my Grip from 1.4 to 1.5. The very next thing I did with the system after the update was to fly the drone. From there it's bee a nightmare since. I sure hope this next go round brings better experience.
 
Bought a new Karma on 9/3/17. First drone. Flew pretty good, all things considered until I ran the update a couple of days ago. Finally got a chance to go out yesterday. Got the Karma about 2 feet off the ground, lost GPS, shot to the right toward a tree. Fortunately, I was able to get some control and with the joystick full left, was able to keep from the tree. Releasing the joystick, it kept trying to go right. holding the stick to the right and full down, I was able to get it back on the ground and held it until the rotors shut down. In the air maybe 4 minutes total. Think I am heading out to buy a Mavic Pro and let the Karma sit until Go Pro does something to make the drone more reliable. Being new to this hobby, I have no trust in the Karma and am very hesitant in trying this thing again.

Jim
So, I went out and bought a Mavic Pro. First flight, about 10 feet from where Karma lost GPS, Mavic Pro lost gps and hit a tree. Fortunately, it was a pretty slow speed crash. I am definitely thankful for the folding propellers, no damage incurred. Now I am trying to sort out what may be the issue in my front yard. I have one of those big green transformer boxes in the yard. Now I wonder if that is creating the interference. My question to the forum, is there any device to measure potential interfernce from the transformer box. Thanks, Jim
 
Jake have you tried flying the karma in an area that has no GPS, like a basket ball hall or some thing similar? we just flew ours in the gym, it has no GPS signal in the room. On start up the karma controller advises you that there is no signal and asks if you wish to proceed. There is a fingerprint icon on the screen that you touch in the same manner as the ready to launch and away you go. No problem. suggest that you knock it out of sport mode first as it takes a bit of getting use to.
 
Some good points Jake. I may take you up on #4. Even though I feel that GoPro Karma should have this feature already. We just end up spending more of "OUR" money to insure a enferier product!
Been using this device for a few days, great results

I never did hear anything back from the Gopro tech guys on using a Trackimo so Ive gone ahead and done a few test flights.I use the hook & eye tabs and connected the tracking device onto the back of the karma near the power button.





original


There is no problem with clearence for the props and on all test flight the minimal weight dose not look to effect the handeling



original




For the test flight i flew the drone approx 300 mtrs from my launch spot and landed in the sports field, the Iphone app was easy enough to use and showed the location of the drone, it was easy enought to find. There is a feature that indicates your position as you approach the drone, closer you get the green indicator increases and decreases as you move away. I prefered to use the map feature with the blue dot being me/phone and the red icon the drone
original




The Trackimo also records flight details, i had this session set to record location every minute



original
I've yet to experience any loss of GPS or fly aways but would be confident that I could locate the drone with this device if it ever happened
 
Some good points Jake. I may take you up on #4. Even though I feel that GoPro Karma should have this feature already. We just end up spending more of "OUR" money to insure a enferier product!

Quoted you because I wanted to share the most recent bad "karma"! I took my drone out last night. GPS signal was fine, it showed that the compass was set and didn't need calibration (it is supposed to prompt you prior to flight if its needed).

So I pressed auto launch then it went up 1 foot and dove left into the ground and destroyed all 4 props :)

I will say this much... I thought I should manually calibrate before the flight but I figured "karma will tell me if it's needed." NOPE!

The Karma is a great drone but its as stupid as a $100 child's drone. If it really needs calibration prior to EVERY flight then it should prompt/force you to calibrate before the flight as it's supposed to. If it thought it didn't need calibration then the damn drone is just stupid.

------------------

All that being said my previous flyaway suicide drone incident is being replaced. I informed GoPro of the situation and they are replacing the broken parts no questions asked as the logs clearly showed GPS signal was lost during flight. Because they do not let you fly without GPS, losing GPS and crash landing when GPS is lost IS a manufacturer defect.

Now I have to wait for the new parts if they ever come as their customer service is very slow. Once they come ill be flying again and I will submit another case for this most recent incident and hopefully get them to send the new props asap.

Again, Karma drone is an awesome concept but my god does it need some quality assurance.
 
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The Karma is a great drone but its as stupid as a $100 child's drone. If it really needs calibration prior to EVERY flight then it should prompt/force you to calibrate before the flight as it's supposed to. If it thought it didn't need calibration then the damn drone is just stupid.

------------------

All that being said my previous flyaway suicide drone incident is being replaced. I informed GoPro of the situation and they are replacing the broken parts no questions asked as the logs clearly showed GPS signal was lost during flight. Because they do not let you fly without GPS, losing GPS and crash landing when GPS is lost IS a manufacturer defect.

Now I have to wait for the new parts if they ever come as their customer service is very slow. Once they come ill be flying again and I will submit another case for this most recent incident and hopefully get them to send the new props asap.

Again, Karma drone is an awesome concept but my god does it need some quality assurance.

Everyone who had GPS fail and got pushed aside by GP Customer service needs to share your result with GoPro!!

Oh, and the damn drone is stupid X-D


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
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Nine weeks to the day when my out of control fly-away happened over the beautiful shores of Maui, eight voice calls adding up to 13 hours of my valuable time, 18 emails of which most were never replied back to and three times my case was closed without any reason...persistence paid off...my replacement Karma, gymble, battery and Hero finally arrived today! It is the most melon-collie feeling. I'm so relieved this nightmare is finally over...or is it? Now I'm freaking nerves as hell to even fly this thing again. I guess I will have to take baby steps, continue to do my research, and build up to my first flight. I'm seriously considering getting the GoPro care package first. Anyone have issues getting GoPro making good on replacement while under the Care package?

I just want to thank everyone in this forum for all your support, expert insight and patience during some of my rants. I will continue to share my experiences...hopefully good ones...as I continue growing my wings.
 
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Just happened to me with lost GPS and like everyone else mine just straight up flew away. I was so pissed but after about 2 mins I got GPS back and was able to get it to come home. Lost GPS 2 more times before being able to crash land it nearby. Thought it might be something I did but checked and rechecked and I did everything right. Now reading this I realize its a problem that needs to be fixed by GoPro. Imagine had this flown into a restricted fly zone and done some real damage... Get it together with the software updates GoPro or there could be much bigger problems. Just glad I got it home safely.
 
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Received a GoPro email today promoting their new version 2.0. Anyone download and fly under this new release?
 
Received a GoPro email today promoting their new version 2.0. Anyone download and fly under this new release?
Yep, downloaded & updated... However, you go first...... No, seriously, I'm on crutches & cant get out so I won't be in the driving seat for a while. Waiting to see how others fair with the updated firmware....
 
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