If the connection drops

The app watches the module's data stream while you're connected. If no GPS fix arrives for about 10 seconds, the app declares the connection lost.

What you see when the connection drops

1. A red message slides up at the bottom of the screen — for example "No data from controller for 10s — connection lost." On a DIG module the wording is different: DIG module is connected but sending no GPS data. Check power and the cable to the GPS receiver. That one means the Wi-Fi link was fine and the module itself had nothing to send. It stays for a few seconds, long enough to read above engine noise.
2. The connection indicator at the top of the screen goes grey.
3. The Start button greys out (or, if you were already digging, Stop stays available so you can finish closing your job). You cannot start a new dig with no GPS.
4. The Wi-Fi icon in the top stats bar goes grey and switches to the wifi-off glyph (it does not turn red). Tapping it while disconnected shows a hint SnackBar — Tap a workflow card on the Home screen to connect. — it no longer opens a connect dialog. To reconnect by hand, re-enter the workflow from Home, or just wait: the DIG background retry reconnects on its own every ~2 seconds.

The chevrons and bucket gauge freeze on the last known reading until either the connection comes back or you start a new connect.

What happens next depends on which module you were using

• Ditch Assist DIG — keeps trying to reconnect on its own in the background, about every two seconds, for as long as the app is open. When the DIG module comes back online (you re-join its WiFi, or it finishes a brief power-cycle), the app re-engages silently and the indicators turn green again. You usually don't need to do anything except wait — though if you want to force it sooner, tapping Connect and then the DIG Module card is faster than waiting for the next background retry.
• Ditch Assist Control Module — does not auto-reconnect. Tap Connect in the connect step and reconnect by hand.

The most common cause: the tablet hopped to a different WiFi

If you are running DIG and the connection drops while the module is still powered up, nine times out of ten the tablet jumped from the DIG WiFi onto a different network — your home WiFi at the shop, your phone's hotspot, the office network, or another WiFi network with a stronger signal. Android does this automatically when it thinks the new network has internet.

To fix it:

1. Open the tablet's WiFi settings.
2. Re-join the MECU_Ditch_Dig network (the DIG module's WiFi). Password 12345678.
3. If your tablet keeps hopping, mark the DIG network as the preferred one and tell Android to stay connected even without internet. (The exact toggle name varies — look for "Stay connected" or "Switch to other networks" in the WiFi advanced settings.)
4. Come back to Ditch Assist. The next background retry — or a tap on the DIG Module card in the connect step — will land.

Other things to check

• Was the module power-cycled or unplugged? Get power back, wait about 30 seconds for the WiFi to come up, then re-join from the tablet.
• Did you walk away from the machine? The DIG WiFi has a working range of a few cab-lengths, not across the whole yard.
• Did the tablet's WiFi turn off (Airplane mode, battery saver)? Turn WiFi back on and re-join.

When the connection just dies silently

A real Android failure mode is for WiFi to keep reporting "connected" while the DIG module has actually gone silent (powered down, crashed, antenna unplugged). The TCP socket doesn't fire any error — the OS holds it open. Ditch Assist's 10-second data watchdog catches this: if no GPS data arrives for 10 s, the app forces the socket closed, fires the red SnackBar, and starts the 2-second background reconnect loop. Because the socket was still open when the data stopped, that SnackBar reads DIG module is connected but sending no GPS data rather than connection lost — the module was reachable, it just had nothing to forward. Look at the GPS receiver first: its power feed, the data cable into the DIG module, and the antenna. A receiver that reboots or loses its cable produces exactly this, repeating every 10 to 15 seconds for as long as the fault lasts. Wait for the module to come back, or tap Connect to skip the wait.