Compass problems

[DenMac]

I been having problems with my compass on start up.I always check my settings before each flight. Compass always shows normal. I go to start and get a yellow message to calibrate.I only fly at one place and I have to calibrate every time with is not a big deal. But is it?i mean when I do it starts fine but than why doesn’t it show up in settings in the beginning Saying no good I’ve seen people say not to calibrate every timeI make sure I’m not near any metal that I know of . I have not updated firmware. Could this be the problem. Thanks for your input.

 

[Oso]

I have to calibrate every time. I make sure not to be any ware near metal.

What leads you to think that you need to calibrate every time?

Are you thinking that the box around the word Calibrate means that the app is telling you to calibrate?

 

[Meta4]

I been having problems with my compass on start up. I only fly at one place and I have to calibrate every time. I’ve seen people say not to calibrate every time. I make sure not to be any ware near metal. I have not updated firmware. Could this be the problem. Thanks for your input.

You should never need to calibrate the compass unless you modify the Phantom.
Like Oso asks ... why do you think you have to calibrate your compass?
What is the surface you are launching from - is it reinforced concrete?

 

[DenMac]

What leads you to think that you need to calibrate every time?

Are you thinking that the box around the word Calibrate means that the app is telling you to calibrate?

The craft won’t start unless I calibrate

 

[DenMac]

It’s was blacktop parking lot. Probly not the best Spot.

 

[RunningWithScissors]

I only fly at one place and I have to calibrate every time.

You mention that you only fly from one location. As a process of elimination, I would suggest that you go to an entirely different location free of metal and concrete to see if you still get a compass error, or if a new location solves the problem. Even if you don't actually fly from the new location, making that change could tell us if the problem is your usual location or if there's something else going on. Good luck.

 

[DenMac]

You mention that you only fly from one location. As a process of elimination, I would suggest that you go to an entirely different location free of metal and concrete to see if you still get a compass error, or if a new location solves the problem. Even if you don't actually fly from the new location, making that change could tell us if the problem is your usual location or if there's something else going on. Good luck.

Thanks I try that first. I hope that’s the problem.

 

[RunningWithScissors]

I hope that’s the problem.

We do too because that would likely be the easiest fix. Good luck and let us know how that goes.

 

[Meta4]

The craft won’t start unless I calibrate

can you give any more information?
What do you see on your screen that makes you think you can't start unless you calibrate?

It’s was blacktop parking lot. Probly not the best Spot.

Unless the blacktop is over reinforced concrete or steel pipes or live electric cables, it should probably be OK.

 

[DenMac]

can you give any more information?
What do you see on your screen that makes you think you can't start unless you calibrate?

Unless the blacktop is over reinforced concrete or steel pipes or live electric cables, it should probably be OK.

I have taken off from this spot before with no problems. But when I tried this last Sunday when I tried to start I got a message on the screen compass error. So I tried to start fresh and shut every down and restarte everything. Same message came up. So I calibrated the compass. I flew 2 batteries and it flew flawles. Now I know this sounds like a rookie question but when I go to my new location to (all grass) see if there’s no more problems. Should I Not calibrate?

 

[Meta4]

I have taken off from this spot before with no problems. But when I tried this last Sunday when I tried to start I got a message on the screen compass error. So I tried to start fresh and shut every down and restarte everything. Same message came up. So I calibrated the compass. I flew 2 batteries and it flew flawles. Now I know this sounds like a rookie question but when I go to my new location to (all grass) see if there’s no more problems. Should I Not calibrate?

The compass error isn't something wrong with the compass that you need to fix.
It's your perfectly working compass telling you that it has detected a problem.
The screen message would have said Compass Error - Move Aircraft or Calibrate Compass but because the message moves across in a small box, a lot of people only notice the word Calibrate.
Unfortunately 99% of the time, that is the wrong action.
Almost always, the correct action is to move the aircraft away from the source of magnetic interference that the compass is warning you about.
In this pic I have placed my Phantom on the car roof.
The compass is just above the steel roof and it's warning me.

If I take the Phantom away from the magnetic influence the problem goes away.
DJI advise not to calibrate the compass close to magnetic influences like cars, pipes, electric cables and reinforced concrete.

I only fly at one place and I have to calibrate every time

Your compass has been nagging you and you've been ignoring it.
There is magnetic interference close to where you have been launching.
So far you've just been lucky that the additional magnetic field hasn't been strong enough to cause serious problems.
Find somewhere else to launch and give your compass a good calibration in a magnetically clean area.
After that you should never need to calibrate it again.

 

[DenMac]

The compass error isn't something wrong with the compass that you need to fix.
It's your perfectly working compass telling you that it has detected a problem.
The screen message would have said Compass Error - Move Aircraft or Calibrate Compass but because the message moves across in a small box, a lot of people only notice the word Calibrate.
Unfortunately 99% of the time, that is the wrong action.
Almost always, the correct action is to move the aircraft away from the source of magnetic interference that the compass is warning you about.
In this pic I have placed my Phantom on the car roof.
The compass is just above the steel roof and it's warning me.

If I take the Phantom away from the magnetic influence the problem goes away.
DJI advise not to calibrate the compass close to magnetic influences like cars, pipes, electric cables and reinforced concrete.

Your compass has been nagging you and you've been ignoring it.
There is magnetic interference close to where you have been launching.
So far you've just been lucky that the additional magnetic field hasn't been strong enough to cause serious problems.
Find somewhere else to launch and give your compass a good calibration in a magnetically clean area.
After that you should never need to calibrate it again.

Thanks for your input. Will do and if I see that message again. I’ll move craft instead of calibrate.I downloaded the Tesla recorder to check for my clean spot to calibrate thanks again

Safe flying

 

[RunningWithScissors]

DJI advise not to calibrate the compass close to magnetic influences like cars, pipes, electric cables and reinforced concrete.

This subject was featured in a thread not long ago which explained what happens when an accurately calibrated compass is recalibrated in the presence of a magnetic influence. There's also some anecdotal evidence of that phenomenon on this site from pilots who did just that, and then had their Phantoms go crazy once they cleared the magnetic influence. As Meta4 clearly illustrated above, the takeaway from this is, once your compass is accurately calibrated, relocate your Phantom to a safer area, not recalibrate it, when you get a compass warning message. Good luck.

 

[DenMac]

This subject was featured in a thread not long ago which explained what happens when an accurately calibrated compass is recalibrated in the presence of a magnetic influence. There's also some anecdotal evidence of that phenomenon on this site from pilots who did just that, and then had their Phantoms go crazy once they cleared the magnetic influence. As Meta4 clearly illustrated above, the takeaway from this is, once your compass is accurately calibrated, relocate your Phantom to a safer area, not recalibrate it, when you get a compass warning message. Good luck.

Thanks for your input. Going to park today for my clean recalibration.

 

[msinger]

This subject was featured in a thread not long ago which explained what happens when an accurately calibrated compass is recalibrated in the presence of a magnetic influence.

The compass calibration should always fail in this scenario since the cars, pipes, electric cables, reinforced concrete, etc. do not rotate with the drone during the compass calibration process.

Got a link to that thread?

 

[RunningWithScissors]

Got a link to that thread?

Hoo boy. Gotta look for it. Will post back when I find it.

 

[RunningWithScissors]

Not sure how far back my content history goes but I haven't found it there. I may have bookmarked it. Will have to go deep diving.

 

[RunningWithScissors]

Found it! Enjoy!

Compass Calibration, A Complete Primer

 

[msinger]

Found it! Enjoy!

Compass Calibration, A Complete Primer

Excellent! Now, where can I find this reference?

"This subject was featured in a thread not long ago which explained what happens when an accurately calibrated compass is recalibrated in the presence of a magnetic influence. There's also some anecdotal evidence of that phenomenon on this site from pilots who did just that, and then had their Phantoms go crazy once they cleared the magnetic influence."

 

[RunningWithScissors]

Excellent! Now, where can I find this reference?

Will have to manually search for those threads as time permits.