Thanks for your comment Bob and sorry for the late reply. I've done all that. I live in the country.. no concrete around and launching off a blacktop hiway where I launch my other Dji drones with no problem. I tried a IMU calibration again and didn't like the numbers, although I am defiantly a beginner.. the mod number was at around 3500 and the think the sweet spot is supposed to be around 1500 and I was still getting the error. We had a couple days of snow and I wanted to check it again before I replied so I fired it up in my home and everything is working great now. The gps was always "grayed out" before but was still detecting the satelites and now it stays lit up all the time and when it got up to 8 I FINALLY got the green ok to fly in gps mode and even got up to 11 satellites in my livingroom. I never did get any error messages either and have rebooted everything several times The mod number is at 1800 now, the X is -280 Y is-1290 and Z is 1230.. not sure what they mean though, and it's taking a minute or more to warm up which I never had before but after I did the IMU calibration I remembered that you should cool it down good before and have the screen all set up to run it before you turn it on.. it says it doesn't need a calibration but I think it might fix that if I cool it down and do it over. .. I live in South Dakota so it would probably take even longer to warm up outside Also I think I'm going to turn off the two sensors underneath. My P2 vision + V.3 landed a lot smoother.. the P3 seems to be fighting me when I land and usually tips over and see some recommend turning it off.. Anyway I'm feeling a lot better about it now and thanks for the input. Going to wait for a calm day to fly it again
Compass error - IMU calibration not clearing it
- Thread starter Australis5
- Start date
Maybe it's me, but I'm a little confused. Did you mean to say that you did a compass calibration (not IMU calibration) and the MOD number was 3500? Also, from the post befor this one it reads like you may have done the compass calibration inside?
Sorry for the confusion.. no I did do the compass calibration outside and that went well... the IMU mod number was 3500 and I thought that was way too high from what I read.. I just got done with the IMU calibration again about an hour ago... today the mod number was 1800 and when I did the calibration it ran awhile and then said it wasn't necessary but my mod number is at just below 1500... also had it in my entry and cooled it down first this time and after the IMU calibration I cooled it down again and started it up and from a 30 degree cold start there was no warming period at all so looks like it helped to get rid of the long warm up period.. and it locked into 8 satellites while in my home and is still showing "safe to fly in gps mode" so all seems to be going great. I was pretty worried there for a while.. I also turned of the low altitude sensors underneath it as I won't be flying indoors and have read in forums that some are shutting them off and getting smoother landings. Waiting for a nice calm day to try it out. Thanks again for your comments and follow up.
The Mod number for the IMU should be about exactly 1.0. A Mod number of 1500, 1800 has got to be the compass mod number. Calibrating the IMU won't have any effect on the compass or it's calibration. So are you doing a compass calibration? That's different than the IMU calibration.
Ok.. was going to take it out for a test flight and as soon as I picked it up it gave me... compass error.. do not fly in gps mode. So I calibrated the compass and all was well and locked into 16 satellites.. but as soon as I moved to set it down I got the compass error again so I recalibrated it.. all is well until I moved it again.. any movement of it will give me the compass error... it goes out of the error mode and into non gps mode and then in safe to fly gps mode without calibrating it but then when I mode it a little it goes right back into the.... compass error do not fly in gps mode.. wait a little and once again goes into safe to fly non gps and then safe to fly gps... started it up and it goes back to compass error again... no concrete or metal or anything around and have flown a P3 Advanced and my P2 vision plus from same spot with no problems... hope someone can help me.. don't want to fly it like this again after the last disaster.
Yes I did the compass calibration 4 or 5 times and it always went to solid green and then as soon as I moved it right after the calibration and while I'm still holding it, it goes to compass error do not fly in gps mode.. I posted a more lengthy reply probably at the same time you were posting this, and thanks for your reply
I think you need start fresh.
Indoors - the IMU calibration
Don't turn on the phantom for an hour. Do it early in the morning. The moment you turn on your phantom 3, try and do the IMU calibration immediately on a surface that is levelled, perfectly parallel to the horizon. Use a spirit/bubble level if you have one or download one from the app store.
This will hopefully fix your warm up times - the longer the warm up times, the more likely errors occur.
Outdoors - the Compass dance.
Go to a wide open field free of metal, concrete etc. Remove phone, wallet, and watch (apple watch will heavily influence the compass). Do the compass dance with the phantom above your head. Why? the app tells you minimum of 150cm, therefore the higher the better.
Once done, screen shot your compass mod values and post here. I still think your +1800 value is way too high.
Read the other advice BudWalker gave you-- I ditto that. You may have to do one other thing-- degauss the compass sensor.
Simple process but it clears the sensor
Watch this video on the P2-- same sensor
Ok I have done the IMU several times in the last week, and I did all of that today.. the IMu calibration on a level table.. used my level and a few spacers under the leg's to make sure it was perfectly level.. and put it in my entry room and cooled it down completely, had everything turned on and ready before brought it in the warm roon and I ran the IMU.. that took care of the long warm up problem and everything seemed fine.. no error messages.. fired it up a few times on the table. Then later on I was going to do a test flight outside and did the calibration outside with nothing around for interference.. got the green light on both horizontal and vertical.. but as soon as I moved it just a little, before I could even sit it down I got the compass error.. so I recalibrated it again... same thing happened.. did that about 4 times.. always got the solid green light and then got the warning before I could even sit it down... the warning actually would go away in a minute or less and I'd get the safe to fly non gps message.. it was locked into 16 satellites and it would then go to safe to fly gps message.. and if I was holding it as soon as I moved it a little to set it down the compass error message would come up instantly and if it was sitting on the ground as soon and I fired the motors up it would go to the compass error message... so I'd recalibrate the compass... I did just run across an article about deguassing the compass today and that's the only I haven't tried yet from the advice offered so far. I'll see if I can find a strong magnet in the shop tomorrow and give that a whirl and see what happens. I sure appreciate all the help and advice. I can usually go to forums and find answers for problems with other stuff and was checking and trying the above solutions before I fiinally made my own post... first time I've posted in a forum.... Thanks again everyone... will give you and update!!!
Well I got a small strong magnet and did a and went around each leg individually on my compass, took it outside and calibrated it. That went well... no compass errors, and had 18 satellites locked in... fired it up and all was still good. Shut it down and set it out on the back step for awhile and did the IMU calibration. It ran for about 5 mintues and said the calibration was ok, the same as the other times I had run it. Then I took it outside again and got the compass calibration error again. I calibrated it, the horizontal calibrated ok but took about 5 or 6 times to get the vertical to calibrate but I was still getting the compass error. I shut the drone down and started it back up and all was fine, locked in to 18 satellites. Fired it up and took to to about 8 to 10 foot to see if it would hover ok and it was all over the place. It was about 20 to 30 foot from my start point and all over.. mananged to get it back close to my start point and got it back down.. it wouldn't hoover so tipped it over again and it takes awhile for the motors to shut down but didn't screw up any props anyway. Took it back inside, had it setting on a table and turned it back on and got the ok to fly gps and locked in on 10 satellites. Fired the motors up and all was still ok, shut them off, and then did an RC/remote control calibration, about the only thing I hadn't done yet that I could think of... all is well and ready to fly gps mode. So I took it outside and I get the compass error again. No metal or high line wires around. Shut the drone down and turned it on again and it booted up with no errors and 18 satellites again.. took it up about 5 or 6 foot to see if it would hoover and once again all over the place, compass error again, and tipped over again on landing and flipped upside down by the time the motors shut down. Posted a shot of my IMU numbers .... I am totally frustrated and don't have a clue what to do next.. been thinking of buying a whole different body only but getting a lot of money into it to do that too... and finances are a bit tight this month... Anybody have any other ideas????
Attachments
Was this image taken while the P3 was outside or inside? Without doing another calibration please provide us with the same image with P3 outside if this image is inside, or the P3 inside if this image was outside. I.e. take the new image in the opposite location.
Thank you. A compass mod value of 1464 is a little lower than what I'm used to seeing but it is within specs and certainly no cause to think something is wrong. A value of 1050 inside is consistent with a weaker geomagnetic field inside a structure.
It seems there are three possibilities.
1. The compass isn't being calibrated properly. I did an experiment a couple of months ago where I tried to get a bad calibration by doing the calibration next to my truck. It's very hard to get a bad calibration without the GO app complaining and rejecting the attempt. The best I could do is a calibration that was only slightly off.
2. Your P3 has a broken compass. Possible, but, the fact that you've done multiple compass calibrations makes a broken compass unlikely. If it were an intermittent broken wire kind of thing you'd expect that to happen during the compass dance routine.
3. The geomagnetic field is distorted at your launch site. I gotta go with this if only because it's the least unlikely among the 3 possibilities. I know you've heard this before but the launch site has to be clear of anything that distorts the geomagnetic field. Unknown underground pipes, etc. If it's sitting on the ground can you place it higher. You could try suspending it on a rope tied to a tree (not suggesting flying from here, but it might be informative). Anything to make sure it's not close to something that distorts the geomagnetic field. If you try some new locations please report the compass X,Y,Z,Mod numbers. No need to take an image, just write them down and tell us what they are. Don't re-calibrate the compass; that just adds to the confusion.
The IMU, it's values, and it's calibration aren't relevant here. No need to re-calibrate it.
Thanks again! It sure seems like something is goofy with the compass alright. I didn't have time to mess with it today and plan on taking it along to church.. I go to a country church.. and should be a good place to take another reading.. but then I also live in the country steele or iron pipes around.. do have old buried phone lines underground and that is insulated...and that's about it.. everything else is plastic.. My P2 Vision + Version 3 has never had a problem and hoovers beautiful a foot of the ground when landing.. lands like a feathers, although I've read where the P3 is touchier and and not as smooth landing, hence some have shut off the underside sensors to help with that. I sure appreciate you taking the time to help me resolve this.. been pretty bummed ;~)
Well not a good day.... took it to the church parking lot.. did the calibration and horizontal was ok, as usual, and then the vertical gave a message "high magnetic interference recalibrate in a different location" or something to that effect. tried several different spots and finally got it to calibrate ok... locked into safe to fly gps... fired it up and went to the "compass error not safe to fly in gps". I shut the drone down and restarted it and it went to "safe to fly gps" fired it up and all was well... and once again as soon as I took off it went up about a foot or two and headed sideways again and the red compass warning again.. not even close to hoovering and not just drifting... so I set it down again right away, which happened to be a wet and muddy spot... upside down and in the mud. Props were covered with mud and some splashed on the rest so had to come home and clean it up. I also did a remote controller calibration too, which I hadn't done before and was hoping that that would fix the sideways take off.
Also brought my P2 along so was going to take that up and take some pictures. A beautiful day on wind or clouds and 35 degrees. I hadn't flown it in about a month had had only flown it about 10 times, and I couldn't get that to connect. I'm that's always been a good flyer and held a nice and tight hoover pattern. I'm sure I was doing something wrong on the start up process, goofed around with it a bit, was totally bummed out again and loaded everything up and came home.. I've had enough for the day.
I'm a retired photographer and loved the pictures I was getting with the P2 and wanted to upgrade to a better camera. At this point I'm about ready to get out of the drone photography business... it sure has been a disaster.. I wonder is there is a box that got checked that is goofing things up... I sure ain't having any fun anymore that's for sure.................
Also brought my P2 along so was going to take that up and take some pictures. A beautiful day on wind or clouds and 35 degrees. I hadn't flown it in about a month had had only flown it about 10 times, and I couldn't get that to connect. I'm that's always been a good flyer and held a nice and tight hoover pattern. I'm sure I was doing something wrong on the start up process, goofed around with it a bit, was totally bummed out again and loaded everything up and came home.. I've had enough for the day.
I'm a retired photographer and loved the pictures I was getting with the P2 and wanted to upgrade to a better camera. At this point I'm about ready to get out of the drone photography business... it sure has been a disaster.. I wonder is there is a box that got checked that is goofing things up... I sure ain't having any fun anymore that's for sure.................
Maybe God doesn't want you flying near his holy grounds or the devil just likes to mess with your north pole.
I don't know how to make this clearer. You are doing the compass calibration in an environment full of magnetic influence.
Is the parking lot concrete??? You know doing a calibration in parking lot is really asking for a flyaway. There is cars about, rebar in the concrete and buildings near by.
Can you simply do us a favour and tell us where you will be flying next. We will then google map and suggest you a location nearby where you do a clean primed compass calibration.
Wide open space, no concrete, no fences-- mine will not fly out of my back yard, the compass doesn't like chain link fences, concrete patios, concrete sidewalks, cast iron sewer lines, metal patio tables etc. And don't try to take off from your car hood or pickup tailgate in the wide open spaces, the compass also hates my pickup bed and hood. 
@Mako79 @bobmyers I'm coming around to your thinking; that the compass calibration isn't good. It really is difficult to get the P3 to accept a bad calibration, but, he seems to be working at it until he manages to get it to accept the marginal/bad calibration. Then he tries to fly in that same environment.
He states that the "horizontal calibration" is OK but it fails the "vertical calibration". I'm supposing this means that it's when he gets to the vertical part of the compass dance he gets the calibration failed message. But, it's only after all the dancing is done can there be enough data to determine the calibration failed.
He states that the "horizontal calibration" is OK but it fails the "vertical calibration". I'm supposing this means that it's when he gets to the vertical part of the compass dance he gets the calibration failed message. But, it's only after all the dancing is done can there be enough data to determine the calibration failed.
Thanks again for the replies.. I would think the spot is ideal.. it's a country church... gravel parking lot bordered on three sides by a field and a gravel road and a chain link fence about 30 foot away and I was the only car there, all the electrical and utilitlies are one the other side of the lot on the other side of the church.. the church itself is made of stone and and I was 50 foot away from that. My P2 problem was operator error and I flew that from the parking lot about a month ago.. took it out of the car.. fired everything up and went up about 250 foot took some photos for my church FB page and had it back it the car in less than 10 minutes and wasn't late for church ;~)
It calibrates fine on the horizontal the vertical is touchy.. and get the retry message and usually the second or third try it calibrates. I had a P3 Advance that flew perfect from my place and no calibration errors. I'd fire up my tablet and RC indoors, take it it out on the middle of the blacktop road in front of my place, turned on the video and went up 350 foot, did a 360 degree pan and straight back down. There was about a 10 mph wind and hovered perfect, very smooth video. Brought it down to about 6 foot.. hoovered prefect and landing slowly came down to a foot and hoovered and then landed. Did a firmware, IMU, and gimble calibration on that one too... sold it and got the this one because I wanted the better camera... sure wish I'd have kept it now.
Hard to find a good spot close by... this is South Dakota... just got 8 inches of snow a few days ago and now warmer weather, so it's either snow covered or wet, or windy and mostly fields, and usually only one or two days a week at the most when I can fly if I'm lucky.
Now my dad fell this weekend and broke his hip so will be dealing with that this week... when it rains it pours... or snows ;~)
It calibrates fine on the horizontal the vertical is touchy.. and get the retry message and usually the second or third try it calibrates. I had a P3 Advance that flew perfect from my place and no calibration errors. I'd fire up my tablet and RC indoors, take it it out on the middle of the blacktop road in front of my place, turned on the video and went up 350 foot, did a 360 degree pan and straight back down. There was about a 10 mph wind and hovered perfect, very smooth video. Brought it down to about 6 foot.. hoovered prefect and landing slowly came down to a foot and hoovered and then landed. Did a firmware, IMU, and gimble calibration on that one too... sold it and got the this one because I wanted the better camera... sure wish I'd have kept it now.
Hard to find a good spot close by... this is South Dakota... just got 8 inches of snow a few days ago and now warmer weather, so it's either snow covered or wet, or windy and mostly fields, and usually only one or two days a week at the most when I can fly if I'm lucky.
Now my dad fell this weekend and broke his hip so will be dealing with that this week... when it rains it pours... or snows ;~)
Take care of Dad-- all the ol folks like us need the help-- hope they get him fixed up right so he can go again.
