Hi. Recently bought a used Phantom 3 pro. 3 days it was all good. Now a compass error appears all the time. The calibration does not help. I kept the drone all this time in the car. What happened? Need to change the compass? This is normal? Help me
Compass error. Tilted horizon when making turns
- Thread starter Camila BR
- Start date
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2016
- Messages
- 161
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- 38
Unless the compass was somehow damaged, there are likely easier ways to correct the problem. There have been occasional reports of pilots having compass errors that can't be resolved after storing their drones in vehicles but, i'm not sure if that's the problem in your case. I want to ask, was the drone placed near any large speakers (i.e. subwoofers) while in your vehicle?
RodPad
Premium Pilot
@Camila BR,
Welcome to the Forum!
@RunningWithScissors,
I have been here a long time,
"There have been occasional reports of pilots having compass errors that can't be resolved after storing their drones in vehicles"
I have not seen any of these posts, can you find a couple?
Rod
Welcome to the Forum!
@RunningWithScissors,
I have been here a long time,
"There have been occasional reports of pilots having compass errors that can't be resolved after storing their drones in vehicles"
I have not seen any of these posts, can you find a couple?
Rod
RodPad
Premium Pilot
@Camila BR,
You have tried another location for compass calibration?
Compass Calibration, A Complete Primer
Looking for Trouble ??
Rod
You have tried another location for compass calibration?
Compass Calibration, A Complete Primer
Looking for Trouble ??
Rod
Absolutely, Rod....
Compass error message solved - I think.....
and...
Compass error. Calibration does not help.
There may be others, but these were the easiest ones to find.
RodPad
Premium Pilot
I don't know what you are missing, but post #6, @RunningWithScissors answered my question, did you click on the two links he provided?
Compass error message solved - I think.....
Compass error. Calibration does not help.
Rod
Camila,
I'm sorry if you did not understand. The point that I was trying to explain is this, by placing your Phantom P3 near the speaker in your car, the magnet in the car speaker MAY have affected the compass in your drone, to a point where calibrating the compass does not fix the problem. I am not saying for certain that the car speaker caused the compass error because I do not have enough information about your situation to say for certain if the speaker caused the compass error. In most situations, when compass calibration is required, calibrating the compass will fix the problem. I only suggested the car speaker may have caused the compass error based on some circumstantial evidence in your posting and some other similar situations from other pilots. But, there could be something else going on in your situation. Good luck.
I'm 100 percent sure that I magnetized the compass with a speaker from the car door. I read a lot about a special device for demagnetization - Cfixer. Tomorrow I'll go to the service. They have this device. Soon I will write about the result.
If nothing else has solved your problem, then having someone demagnitize it may solve your problem. Hopefully, they can do that for reasonable cost. Let us know how that goes for you. Good luck.
RodPad
Premium Pilot
This is very interesting to me, I have been around speakers system and seen them mess up pictures on televisions, project screens etc. Of coarse move the speaker, change the angle of the speaker the effect goes away.
So the theory is if degauss fixes the problem, the compass is not defective or damaged. It has been magnetized or parts that can be magnetized on the Phantom are causing the problem?
So, could you take a analog compass and actually see if picks up something from the phantom?
Put the Phantom on a turn table, record player, etc. Have a strong magnet beside and take it for a spin.
Rod
So the theory is if degauss fixes the problem, the compass is not defective or damaged. It has been magnetized or parts that can be magnetized on the Phantom are causing the problem?
So, could you take a analog compass and actually see if picks up something from the phantom?
Put the Phantom on a turn table, record player, etc. Have a strong magnet beside and take it for a spin.
Rod
This phenomenon would appear to make sense, although I don't think it's gotten a lot of attention. The compass, being sensitive to general magnetic forces could, in theory, become overwhelmed by a strong local magnetic presence (coercivity) and have its magnetic field realigned, although that effect typically disappates once the stronger magnetic force is removed and the compass returns to its normal magnetic state. If you want to magnetize the tip of your screwdriver to hold onto screws, you place it in the presence of a strong magnetic field. Is it possible to realign the compass' field on a Phantom to create the type of problem discussed in this thread? Not sure but, there is some anecdotal evidence of this in other threads on this site. Needless to say, it will be interesting to hear the report from Camila. Maybe this subject needs more investigation. As always, just my two cents.
Yes. I was right. My compass was magnetized. Cfixer demagnetized my compass - after that I calibrated the compass into the field. I'm very glad. The compass error no longer appears. This is magic - I'm very happy. I decided to buy this device. Thank you all for your support.
RodPad
Premium Pilot
Apparently. That's like the third one in the past few months where demagnetizing fixed the compass error. I'm thinking this is looking less and less like anecdotal incidents.
