Compass dance with or without gimbal powered?

[tferrari]

Is it ok to perform the compass dance with the gimbal powered? When I do the vertical rotation portion of the compass calibration, the gimbal motors move a lot as they try to compensate for the vertical orientation and I'm thinking that it could potentially cause compass interference during calibration?

Should I do the compass dance with the gimbal physically attached to the P2 but with the ribbon cable unplugged so it isn't receiving power?

Thoughts?

 

[BigBadFun]

No, do it with gimbal powered on. No problem.

 

[GerdS]

For correct compass calibration you need to power all items which are under power during flight (gimbal, OSD, FPV tx, GPS tracker...), otherwise the calibration is wrong in flight condition.

Regards, Gerd

 

[tferrari]

Thank you. The logic is sound and that's what I'll do.

 

[OI Photography]

For correct compass calibration you need to power all items which are under power during flight (gimbal, OSD, FPV tx, GPS tracker...), otherwise the calibration is wrong in flight condition.

Regards, Gerd

I've done it with the gimbal powered on and off, no difference in flight and no difference in reported compass values when the gimbal is in either state.

 

[ianwood]

Anything powered during flight should be powered during compass calibration.

 

[WCSpectre]

Does the compass calibration need to be done for every battery change?

 

[tferrari]

Does the compass calibration need to be done for every battery change?

I really don't believe so. The compass calibration data is stored once you perform the calibration. I think it should only be recalibrated when moving to a significantly different location or a location where there is any expected change in electromagnetic characteristics. You should also do the compass dance if you do an advanced IMU calibration in the DJI software.

I've read a number of users say that over-calibration of the compass (compass dance) can be a cause of issues in the field due to a bad compass calibration just happening to be accepted by the phantom for whatever reason.

I just did about 8 or so flights today and did not do the compass dance for each flight and I had zero symptoms that would indicate there was an issue.

I do tend to plug my phantom in to check the compass mod values quite often. I'm paranoid about my compass being out of whack though.