Compass failed - cannot control Phantom 4

[Darknezz]

Hello my firends..

I got before some hours my new Phantom 4 and I was very happy. But now I'm speptical. I did the IMU calibration (by watching a video tutorial) with success. But compass calibration always fail. I tried inside house with no success, I tried in the roof (outside) with no success. Only one time when i went in a corner far away from walls I succeed compass calibration, but when I tried to fly, the phantom 4 didn't obey the orders of the controller (except throttle and landing). Left and right didn't working, so i land phantom 4 for safety. I watch the sreen of the ipad 3 (not mini) and saw again compass failed message. i dont know if i did something wrong and I m wondering how can I shoot (video) in an urban place if compass is sensitive and every time it gets failed, you dont have control of the phantom 4 ?

 

[jcommisso]

Hi,
I do not have an answer to your question but I do have a question myself... how do you fly with an iPad 3? I tried to use my iPad 3 with my Phantom 4 but it is incompatible. Two questions... Does the iPad fit in the tablet holder? Also, does your iPad have the 30 pin connector (old long connector) or the lightning connector (short new connector with 8 pins)? Thanks.

 

[Darknezz]

Hello... Sorry, I mean Ipad 4 (not 3) ... my mistake. But ipad4 do not fit at tablet holder as well. I put it on a table, not on tablet holder :/ . It doesnt't fit so I put it on a table near controller or carried it on hand. Ipad 4 using the lighting connector.

 

[WWK888]

I use my iPad 4 just fine, why does yours not fit?

 

[jcommisso]

I use my iPad 4 just fine, why does yours not fit?

I have an iPad 3, which doesn't fit and is incompatible. I'm thinking about going for an iPad Pro with an adapter once the next one comes out. I believe that you can buy a 3D printed iPad 4 adapter though.

 

[WWK888]

I was responding to Darknez...by the way I use both my iPad 4 without the adapter and iPad Pro with the adapter.

"Hello... Sorry, I mean Ipad 4 (not 3) ... my mistake. But ipad4 do not fit at tablet holder as well. I put it on a table, not on tablet holder :/ . It doesnt't fit so I put it on a table near controller or carried it on hand. iPad 4 using the lighting connector."

#3Darknezz, Today at 6:49 AM

 

[jcommisso]

I was responding to Darknez...by the way Im use both my iPad 4 and iPad Pro with the adapter.

Hello... Sorry, I mean Ipad 4 (not 3) ... my mistake. But ipad4 do not fit at tablet holder as well. I put it on a table, not on tablet holder :/ . It doesnt't fit so I put it on a table near controller or carried it on hand. iPad 4 using the lighting connector."

#3Darknezz, Today at 6:49 AM

Oops! I thought that you and Darkness were the same people for a minute. Sorry.

 

[Norval]

Back to the original post: you need to make the compass calibration, if possible, outside, far away from any metal or obstruction. Seems from your post that you are flying the p4 indoors, or too close to the house or buildings?


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[Darknezz]

hello... yes! I m trying to fly the phantom 4 near my building in an urban environment and compass callibration failed.
However i noticed that if I turn off the "obstacles" protection, phantom 4 works fine. Don't know why. Another question is : how you fit Ipad 4 on the tablet holder of Phantom 4 ? It doesn't fit. the "holder" should be a bit higher... (i m talking about ipad 4, NOT the ipad 4 mini).

 

[DeweyAXD]

Norval is 100% correct on this. People since the P1 seem to have the compass issue a bit confused. The key is to calibrate the compass in a location near you that is free from any ferite metal or electrical interference.
When i say 'near' i mean within 50 miles of you. Once this is done you have no need at all to re-calibrate the compass unless you fly in a location 50-100+ miles from you where the magnetic declination changes (very slightly if its 50 miles).
Many people seem to recalibrate their compass every flight but that is actually, imo, more dangerous as you could change a perfectly valid calibration.
With this all said don't expect to never get compass errors on the P4. If you are near ferite materials or electromagnetic interference it will warn you and tell you. I for example and typing this from a solid steel canal boat in the UK. I have to get at least 6-10 feet from the boat before getting rid of the compass error.
So in conclusion find a park, field or somewhere with no major metalwork near you and calibrate.... Then try and fly near your home. You will likely find it lets you fly with no warnings as buildings in general (unless metal sheds) are not massively filled with ferite metals.
Hope that helps


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[Darknezz]

how important is the compass in a flight ? for example what it will happened f you try to fly phatom in an urban environment where you get the message about "strong interference..." and compass failed ?

 

[DeweyAXD]

If the compass is out then bad things can happen. The IMU (brain) uses a he compass reading to work out aircraft orientation and compares this to the GPS to prevent it from wandering and to know where forward/bacward actually is. If the compass is wrong the IMU gets confused and it can, at best, drift and act weird. At worst it powers the wrong motors up to compensate a drift and the 'flyaway' occurs.
The "strong interference" is a different warning. That is just telling you that the 2.4ghz bands that it uses are cluttered with noise. No surprise in an urban situation as most of the wifi routers in houses are pumping out 2.4ghz too and if you are powering the P4 up in your own home you will likely get that warning. The 32ch hack is one way to improve the chance of finding a clean channel to fly on but the legality of why it is a clean channel is 'iffy' (by which i mean using some of those channels are illegal).
Personally i would try flying in your yard/garden if you have the interference warning and it is probably fine. If you have done the clean cmpass calibration (away from your location) and still get the warning where you live then it is more of a problem and the only solution will be to find another place to fly (flying in dense urban areas is not always wise afterall).


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[Darknezz]

ok let me ask something to be clear for me and all new users/pilots. Lets suppose that you go on a place with no metals and electric wires and you calibrate compass... you calibrate IMU as well... the you go back home, in this urban environment. And now you are ready to fly on the sky. What if you get again the message for strong interference and need for compass callibration ? Can you fly safe ? or its better not fly ? For example I did right the compass calibration ang went on my balcony to fly the phantom 4... for a moment the Phantom turn a bit left with no order by me. I was a bit scared and carefully bring it back and land it.

In controller (ipad) I was getting a message for strong interefernce and compass alarm but not all time..

edit : just now I did another try... in a difference place of the building where no alarm detected. I noticed that the P4 is not staying (hold) at the place it was taken off.. I get it up 5 meters from the ground and start rolling left front and right but there were no wind... any idea ?

 

[DeweyAXD]

If you are getting either error it is not wise to fly. As far as i recall the compass error won't let you take off but the strong interference one will. If you are flying from a balcony then you will almost certainly have metal near you... Reinforced concreate, ceiling joists.... Many things not visible in buildings are metal and the bigger the building the more the issue. That said if you do take off and fly away from the building more than say 10m the compass issue should go away.
The wandering movement is likely the compass and is a worry. The interference would tend to just mean you get a really bad signal and hence cannot fly too far away without getting weak transmission warnings. The bigger risk with interference is that if the signal from the TX gets too weak and a third party signal on the same channel overpowers it, the aircraft could get a message from the third party signal that translates to a control input that you didn't want.... Not good.
I think it would be wise to post some images of your building/flying location maybe but either way i wouldn't risk it if you always get those errors.


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[bernek]

Norval is 100% correct on this. People since the P1 seem to have the compass issue a bit confused. The key is to calibrate the compass in a location near you that is free from any ferite metal or electrical interference.
When i say 'near' i mean within 50 miles of you. Once this is done you have no need at all to re-calibrate the compass unless you fly in a location 50-100+ miles from you where the magnetic declination changes (very slightly if its 50 miles).
Many people seem to recalibrate their compass every flight but that is actually, imo, more dangerous as you could change a perfectly valid calibration.
With this all said don't expect to never get compass errors on the P4. If you are near ferite materials or electromagnetic interference it will warn you and tell you. I for example and typing this from a solid steel canal boat in the UK. I have to get at least 6-10 feet from the boat before getting rid of the compass error.
So in conclusion find a park, field or somewhere with no major metalwork near you and calibrate.... Then try and fly near your home. You will likely find it lets you fly with no warnings as buildings in general (unless metal sheds) are not massively filled with ferite metals.
Hope that helps


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50 miles ? these things fly only a few miles at max why would you want to calibrate that perfectly ? I even doubt it makes any difference if its 1 mile or 10 or 20. I would calibrate maybe 100-200 ft. away from big metalic/eletrical structures.

 

[WWK888]

50 miles ? these things fly only a few miles at max why would you want to calibrate that perfectly ? I even doubt it makes any difference if its 1 mile or 10 or 20. I would calibrate maybe 100-200 ft. away from big metalic/eletrical structures.

He means if you launch from another area which is 50-100 miles away from the last launch area you may want to recalibrate.

 

[DeweyAXD]

50 miles ? these things fly only a few miles at max why would you want to calibrate that perfectly ? I even doubt it makes any difference if its 1 mile or 10 or 20. I would calibrate maybe 100-200 ft. away from big metalic/eletrical structures.

Yes as WWK888 says i meant that after you calibrate your compass you can travel anywhere within a 50-100 mile radius and fly perfectly ok with that compass without seeing any weird affects. Say you calibrate in Seattle and then travelled to NY, took off (without doing another calibration) you would find the Phantom will be wandering and weird...because magnetic North in Seattle is not the same as in NY.


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[eyecon82]

My first p4 did this. Turned out the compass was bad. I did an exchange and it worked fine

 

[Start Visit]

I unpacked my brand new Phantom 4, charged batteries and went flying with no issues. no any calibrations or settings change.

 

[bernek]

Yes as WWK888 says i meant that after you calibrate your compass you can travel anywhere within a 50-100 mile radius and fly perfectly ok with that compass without seeing any weird affects. Say you calibrate in Seattle and then travelled to NY, took off (without doing another calibration) you would find the Phantom will be wandering and weird...because magnetic North in Seattle is not the same as in NY.


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Sorry ... I think I'm retarded a little or my english skills aren't good at all ...

Regarding the 50-100 mile I personally think it can be easily pushed towards 200-300 miles (400-500km) without any big/visible difference in the calibration. I've flown my good old P2V at 650km distance with no compas calibration and it was perfect.