Calibration for Phantom Near Arctic Circle.

[Snowdug]

Hi Guys,

I have just moved to Northern Sweden, Can you please tell me what calibration procedures I should implement prior to flying my little beasty!

Thanks Again for your help.

 

[Great Pumpkin]

You must calibrate the compass by doing a compass dance as specified in the DJI manual.

 

[pb7424]

I just saw this on Page 25 of the Phantom manual:

Flight Environment Requirements

(5) The Phantom cannot operate within the polar areas.

 

[Dirty Bird]

I just saw this on Page 25 of the Phantom manual:

Flight Environment Requirements

(5) The Phantom cannot operate within the polar areas.

That's because GPS doesn't have sufficient coverage above a certain latitude. You could still fly in non-GPS mode without RTH or GPS stability.

 

[Snowdug]

Thanks Guys, I will keep you posted on progress.

 

[paulajayne]

Plenty of apps for the phone to measure GPS coverage. May be worth getting an app and check what coverage you have prior to flying.

Android one I use is GPS Test.

 

[NatureGurl]

Hi Guys,

I have just moved to Northern Sweden, Can you please tell me what calibration procedures I should implement prior to flying my little beasty!

Thanks Again for your help.

Can you please let me know how it goes. My friend told me his Phantom 3 took off out to sea....and he couldn't get it back. I will be up above 80 degrees for a month in May-June and need any advise on how to control the drone. I will be flying from a boat...yikes.

 

[NatureGurl]

If anyone has any tips on flying in far north (the poles) please post. I would like to know what can possibly happen and how it can be corrected. Thanks.

 

[Mako79]

If anyone has any tips on flying in far north (the poles) please post. I would like to know what can possibly happen and how it can be corrected. Thanks.

ATTI or VPS (10ft or less).
ATTI will turn off the compass and GPS. It will drift with the wind the moment you let go of the sticks.

 

[MapMaker53]

You will be limited to flying it within visual range or via FPV. Without enough satellites in the polar sky, you will have none of the features that rely on GPS -- such as autonomous waypoint flying, setting a home point, Return To Home (RTH) in event the signal is lost, non-drift hovering, Find Your Phantom, and Fail Safe return via the S1 switch. Basically, if you lose signal, you will lose your Phantom because it is just going to keep on flying in one direction until the battery dies. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do about it.

 

[BlackTracer]

You will be limited to flying it within visual range or via FPV. Without enough satellites in the polar sky, you will have none of the features that rely on GPS -- such as autonomous waypoint flying, setting a home point, Return To Home (RTH) in event the signal is lost, non-drift hovering, Find Your Phantom, and Fail Safe return via the S1 switch. Basically, if you lose signal, you will lose your Phantom because it is just going to keep on flying in one direction until the battery dies. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do about it.

Mapmaker you are an experienced flyer which is why I don't know how you missed this one. Flying without sattelites, if you lose signal the Phantom will not keep flying in one direction. It will land straight down where it is, drifting with the wind of course, but descending until it hits ground, or snow or ice in this case. Agreed?

 

[NatureGurl]

Mapmaker you are an experienced flyer which is why I don't know how you missed this one. Flying without sattelites, if you lose signal the Phantom will not keep flying in one direction. It will land straight down where it is, drifting with the wind of course, but descending until it hits ground, or snow or ice in this case. Agreed?

Thanks so much Blacktracer and Mapmaker. These posts are so helpful. So, unless I can afford to lose my P3 in the water, I should abandon any hope of flying there? I want to photograph there so badly - if I keep the P3 close (how close though?), is it not possible to maintain control?

 

[NatureGurl]

You will be limited to flying it within visual range or via FPV. Without enough satellites in the polar sky, you will have none of the features that rely on GPS -- such as autonomous waypoint flying, setting a home point, Return To Home (RTH) in event the signal is lost, non-drift hovering, Find Your Phantom, and Fail Safe return via the S1 switch. Basically, if you lose signal, you will lose your Phantom because it is just going to keep on flying in one direction until the battery dies. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do about it.

Don't like. :-(

 

[NatureGurl]

Don't like. :-(

But thank you so much for your reply. Frustrated....

 

[MapMaker53]

Mapmaker you are an experienced flyer which is why I don't know how you missed this one. Flying without sattelites, if you lose signal the Phantom will not keep flying in one direction. It will land straight down where it is, drifting with the wind of course, but descending until it hits ground, or snow or ice in this case. Agreed?

Well, you learn something everyday. Thanks, BlackTracer. I have never run into that situation and didn't know it would autoland. Thought the battery had to run out for that. Makes sense though.

 

[BlackTracer]

ATTI or VPS (10ft or less).
ATTI will turn off the compass and GPS. It will drift with the wind the moment you let go of the sticks.

Just to elaborate on this a little more. Without GPS, it will drift with the wind at all times, not just when you let go of the sticks. So if you are flying with a 20 mph crosswind, it will drift because of that crosswind. It just may not be as noticeable if you have stick induced velocities. Kinda like the force of gravity acting on a bullet with the same z velocity whether you drop that bullet from a stationary position or give it lots of x and/or y velocity.

So be careful when flying without satellites. The behavior is definitely different.