Calibration of p3p

[jake88]

Was just reading another forum and someone said u don't need to calibrate the phantom every flight even in different locations.....I thought the whole point of calibration was to pickup satellites that are close to u and to set a RTH point.if I don't recalibrate how will the phantom know where's it's new rth is?

 

[msinger]

That was in reference to calibrating the compass. See more details here:
http://www.phantompilots.com/threads/compass-calibration-a-complete-primer.32829

 

[III% Streve]

RTH is set when you spin up the motors or when you set a dynamic RTM point. It has nothing to do with calibration

Satellites are picked up when the P3 is turned on and again, has nothing to do with calibration.

The above info, as with 99% of the info on PhantomHelp.com is great

 

[Meta4]

Was just reading another forum and someone said u don't need to calibrate the phantom every flight even in different locations.....I thought the whole point of calibration was to pickup satellites that are close to u and to set a RTH point.if I don't recalibrate how will the phantom know where's it's new rth is?

Calibrating the compass has nothing to do with RTH location.
Your Phantom's GPS works out exactly where it is from GPS satellites without you doing anything.
Doing the compass dance allows your compass to understand the local magnetic environment it has to work in.
Once you have a good compass calibration, if you don't change things on your Phantom or travel more than 100 miles away, there is no need to recalibrate the compass.

 

[jake88]

So how does it know where to rth at a different location?

 

[jake88]

So should I go out on some big flat in the middle of nowhere and calibrate that way I know there is no interference and use this calibration from there on?

 

[Justgregg]

if you had a ipad air tablet when you arm your motors you would hear the sexy ladies voice say" homepoint has been updated" I drove 50 miles from my last homepoint yesterday....no problems. Flew 5700 ft out and back in gps mode.

 

[III% Streve]

Every time you turn on the P3 and spin up the motors is sets the home point.

A big open flat?? Not really. Just not on concrete or pavement, and away from anything metal by more than 10 to 15 feet. The middle of an average yard for a house is good.

 

[III% Streve]

if you had a ipad air tablet when you arm your motors you would hear the sexy ladies voice say" homepoint has been updated" I drove 50 miles from my last homepoint yesterday....no problems. Flew 5700 ft out and back in gps mode.

Doesnt matter what tablet you use, they all run the same app with the same voice

 

[bobmyers]

So should I go out on some big flat in the middle of nowhere and calibrate that way I know there is no interference and use this calibration from there on?

You should be away from all metal and anything that could affect the compass. Don't set it on concrete-- as most of that is reinforce with wire or rebar-- don't set it on or near your car or vehicle-- the field doesn't have to be big. You will receive a compass error if you are near metal.. so if it calibrates, you should be good to go.

 

[III% Streve]

You should be away from all metal and anything that could affect the compass. Don't set it on concrete-- as most of that is reinforce with wire or rebar-- don't set it on or near your car or vehicle-- the field doesn't have to be big. You will receive a compass error if you are near metal.. so if it calibrates, you should be good to go.

Where I fly from at home is grass. Saturday I had a dumb bed trailer in the driveway, about 20 feet away, and got a compass error. Had to move about 30 feet away to clear the problem. Never expected a trailer to cause that much of a magnetic field. But its something to think about while doing your calibration.

 

[Sky*viewer]

"if you don't change things on your Phantom or travel more than 100 miles away, there is no need to recalibrate the compass" .... Are you sure about this statement ? I have read you have to recalibrate your compass every single new flight location .

 

[jake88]

I have a twister quattro drone/quad and the manual as well as the YouTube video say calibrate before every flight...

 

[III% Streve]

I have flown all over the place, max distance traveled was about 90 minutes, and the only time I ever has a variation that asked for a compass calibration was near the trailer Saturday. Once I moved away from it everything was fine

 

[III% Streve]

It sure isnt going to HURT to do it every flight, beyond the public humiliation from doing the chicken dance to calibrate

 

[Sky*viewer]

http://wiki.dji.com/en/index.php/Phantom_3_Professional-Calibrating_the_Compass

 

[Justgregg]

my nexus 6 didnt have the voice

 

[III% Streve]

Everything I fly with.. 5 devices, are all the same. But I didnt ever have anything older than a version 1.1

 

[rmfa]

If I go over 100 miles away from the last calibration point I will calibrate but not otherwise. I've logged over 150 flights w/the P3 with zero issues.

 

[Meta4]

"if you don't change things on your Phantom or travel more than 100 miles away, there is no need to recalibrate the compass" .... Are you sure about this statement ? I have read you have to recalibrate your compass every single new flight location .

Yes .. I'm sure.
DJI are over-conservative in the manual and fail to explain what constitutes a different location.
I've tested it with lots of flights for 1.5 years.
The DJI guys that drop in from time to time confirm that this is no problem.
You do not have to recalibrate your compass every flight.

It sure isnt going to HURT to do it every flight, beyond the public humiliation from doing the chicken dance to calibrate

There have been more than enough tales of calibrate-every-time flyers getting a bad calibration that has caused grief.

Read this to get an understanding of what compass calibration is all about:
http://www.phantompilots.com/threads/compass-calibration-a-complete-primer.32829