Compass calibrating problems

[Aviatorwrx]

Hi, I'm having problems calibrating the compass on my phantom 3 standard. I press calibrate in the app and start the calibration process, and hold the drone in the horizontal position, rotate 360 and the lights go green, BUT then I do the vertical 360 and the lights go red and it says "calibration failed magnetic interference" but I'm stood in the middle of a field with nothing for miles, and the only place a magnetic interference can come from is the motors/magnets in the gimbal, why does it do the horizontal alright but not the vertical. Sometimes when I just turn it off and back on again it seems to reset itself and doesn't need calibrating. What am I doing wrong on the vertical, please please help, I'm quite new to drones.

 

[Oso]

Hi, I'm having problems calibrating the compass on my phantom 3 standard. I press calibrate in the app and start the calibration process, and hold the drone in the horizontal position, rotate 360 and the lights go green, BUT then I do the vertical 360 and the lights go red and it says "calibration failed magnetic interference" but I'm stood in the middle of a field with nothing for miles, and the only place a magnetic interference can come from is the motors/magnets in the gimbal, why does it do the horizontal alright but not the vertical. Sometimes when I just turn it off and back on again it seems to reset itself and doesn't need calibrating. What am I doing wrong on the vertical, please please help, I'm quite new to drones.

Two things.
First, why do you think it needs to be calibrated? Are you seeing some erratic behavior?
Second, in the unlikely event that it does need a calibration you can try going beyond 360 degrees to see if it "takes" the calibration.

 

[RunningWithScissors]

A few questions:
How long have you had your Phantom?
Was your Phantom compass ever correctly calibrated previously? If so, what changed that it required recalibration?
Has your Phantom ever been crashed or sustained damage?
Has your Phantom been stored or placed near any magnetic objects (speakers, etc.)?

 

[ryantrax]

I have had some issues when calibrating with my large metal smart watch on. Make sure there are no metallic objects on your person.

 

[Aviatorwrx]

Two things.
First, why do you think it needs to be calibrated? Are you seeing some erratic behavior?
Second, in the unlikely event that it does need a calibration you can try going beyond 360 degrees to see if it "takes" the calibration.

Hi, I think it needs calibrating because sometimes when I turn it on the status bar in the DJI app is flashing red and it opens up on the calibration page in the app, like I said it sometimes asks to be calibrated and other times it's fine, but when it does ask it does the horizontal 360 calibration ok but then I do the vertical and it comes up error, I've watched different YouTube videos but nothing works on mine. Thanks anyway.

 

[ryantrax]

Just wanted to make sure you are doing the calibration properly too, here is DJI's tutorial:

 

[RunningWithScissors]

I press calibrate in the app and start the calibration process, and hold the drone in the horizontal position, rotate 360 and the lights go green, BUT then I do the vertical 360 and the lights go red and it says "calibration failed magnetic interference"

I seem to recall a posting some time ago who was having a nearly identical problem as you have. He solved the problem by having someone else with a steadier hand do the entire calibration process (in the same location) and that time it was successful. I know, bizzare, right? Seriously, I couldn't make this stuff up if I wanted to.

 

[ryantrax]

Also in reference to the video above, I have better luck just holding the drone still and rotating my whole body in a circle for both the horizontal and vertical rotations, seems to work way better for me.

 

[Aviatorwrx]

Yes, tried it all different ways but can't get it to work on the vertical calibration.

 

[Aviatorwrx]

I seem to recall a posting some time ago who was having a nearly identical problem as you have. He solved the problem by having someone else with a steadier hand do the entire calibration process (in the same location) and that time it was successful. I know, bizzare, right? Seriously, I couldn't make this stuff up if I wanted to.

Yes mate, just read that about getting his 11 year old son to do it with him and it worked so I'll give my brother a shout tomorrow.
Thanks.

 

[RunningWithScissors]

Yes mate, just read that about getting his 11 year old son to do it with him and it worked so I'll give my brother a shout tomorrow.
Thanks.

I do believe that's the one. Can't really explain that, don't know if it will work for you, but I guess anything is worth a shot at this point. Good luck to you and please post back here with your results.