Compass Calibration

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I have a "mission" planned for a building approx. 15 miles from my home field. I'm pretty sure I want to re-calibrate the compass, however, the building is surrounded by streets and parking. A sea of concrete and asphalt. I understand calibrating under these conditions is ill-advised.

Alternatively, I could calibrate at the beach across the street, but is calibration really necessary for a flight that should not extend more than 600 feet distance and 150 feet height?

P3 Standard with parabolic extender
 
No you don't need to recalibrate for just a 15 miles distance.

I travelled from California to Howaii and didn't calibrate, all went well.
 
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They say it is always advisable to calibrate the compass when you go to another location. So here's an idea. I should point out I haven't tried this myself so it is only a suggestion it needs to be your decision.

Go to the beach across the road and calibrate the compass. Leaving everything switched on carry your drone to the location where you want to launch and take-off from that point. The launch point will be recorded from wherever you take off.
 
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Just to reinforce what alok said. Don't do the calibration! In general, shouldn't recalibrate unless or until the app warns you to. Even then, don't do it until you try moving the bird several feet and try to start again. There is nothing in the compass circuit that is going to drift and doing unnessecary calibrations increases the chance that you will introduce some error. This has been the topic of several long threads here and almost universally, the recommendation is not to do it.
 
I have a "mission" planned for a building approx. 15 miles from my home field. I'm pretty sure I want to re-calibrate the compass, however, the building is surrounded by streets and parking. A sea of concrete and asphalt. I understand calibrating under these conditions is ill-advised.
Even if the flight is 1500 miles from your home, there is no need to recalibrate the compass and unnecessarily recalibrating actually increases risks of problem flights rather than making you safer.
They say it is always advisable to calibrate the compass when you go to another location.
"They" say all kinds of things and sometimes they are completely wrong.
Go and download an up-to-date copy of your manual and see what DJI recommend about when to recalibrate the compass.
They have finally updated the poor wording that made some people think they should frequently recalibrate.
 
Per the most recent manual when to re-calibrate:

1> Aircraft status indicator is flashing red/yellow
2> Flying in a new location that is different than your last flight
3> Physical structure of the aircraft has been changed
4> Severe drifting during flight

I'll defer to the indicator lights. If they're flashing green, I think I'm good to go.
 
Per the most recent manual when to re-calibrate:
1> Aircraft status indicator is flashing red/yellow
2> Flying in a new location that is different than your last flight
3> Physical structure of the aircraft has been changed
4> Severe drifting during flight
I'll defer to the indicator lights. If they're flashing green, I think I'm good to go.
You're correct ... DJI haven't updated the manual for the Standard like they have for the other models.
DJI are incorrect - what the manual for the Standard still says is wrong.
Here's what they have updated the other manuals (for drones with the same compass) to say:
i-7jsKFtP-M.jpg
 
You're correct ... DJI haven't updated the manual for the Standard like they have for the other models.
DJI are incorrect - what the manual for the Standard still says is wrong.
Here's what they have updated the other manuals (for drones with the same compass) to say:
i-7jsKFtP-M.jpg
Thank you!
 
They say it is always advisable to calibrate the compass when you go to another location. So here's an idea. I should point out I haven't tried this myself so it is only a suggestion it needs to be your decision.

Go to the beach across the road and calibrate the compass. Leaving everything switched on carry your drone to the location where you want to launch and take-off from that point. The launch point will be recorded from wherever you take off.
It is NOT advisable to calibrate your compass at a new location. DJI even says to not calibrate unless the app tells you too. The Earth's declination does not change enough from place to place to need a new Cali. Unless you move to another part of the world. Calibrate it once and leave it alone.
 

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