GPS and compass error

jskdog · Apr 21, 2016

Hi,
I've been wanting to fly an old (abandoned) colliery not far from me, so I went over, did the usual pre flight checks and took off, after climbing to around 20 metres I got a compass error and a no satellite warning, I brought it back safe and tried again with a new battery, this time I got a compass calibration error?
When I packed up and returned home there were no errors, could it have been interference from somewhere?
There were no power lines close so I'm at a loss.

This is the video I managed and a screen shot.

alokbhargava · Apr 21, 2016

Looks like heavy metals are affecting your compass.

jskdog · Apr 21, 2016

It was the gps that bothers me, I took off fine but then it popped up with the error, the puzzling thing is that it is still reading 14 satellites.

FrequentFlyer · Apr 21, 2016

You still should be able to fly around that beauty it atti mode to get your shots. Make sure it's a nice calm day so you don't have to fight the wind.

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

Trackman1 · Apr 21, 2016

Weird. But you did take off near a chain link fence. Might have something to do with it.

Meta4 · Apr 21, 2016

jskdog said:
Hi,
I've been wanting to fly an old (abandoned) colliery not far from me, so I went over, did the usual pre flight checks and took off, after climbing to around 20 metres I got a compass error and a no satellite warning, I brought it back safe and tried again with a new battery, this time I got a compass calibration error?

The GPS error is a weird one and I've only heard of it once before.
I'm not sure what to make of it but it's extremely unlikely that it is related to any interference.

The compass issue needs more information to work out what caused it.
When/where did you calibrate the compass before the flight?

jskdog · Apr 21, 2016

I calibrated from where I took off, there is a public footpath round the back (bit of a trek) so I might go for a walk another time and try from a different location. It did flash up that it needed firmware updating which I'd done 2 days ago. Definitely going back to try again as it's a perfect place to fly.

Meta4 · Apr 21, 2016

jskdog said:
I calibrated from where I took off, there is a public footpath round the back (bit of a trek) so I might go for a walk another time and try from a different location. It did flash up that it needed firmware updating which I'd done 2 days ago. Definitely going back to try again as it's a perfect place to fly.

Just guessing but a possible cause for the compass symptoms you described could be calibrating close to the magnetic influence of a lot of iron or steel.
When you fly away from that steel, the compass registers an error because the magnetic field is now different from where you calibrated/

jskdog · Apr 21, 2016

I wonder why the gps decided to switch itself off?it's taught me one thing, I need to practice a lot more in atti mode without gps

Mimoid · May 13, 2016

Happens to me all the time with my P3A - some locations are just impossible to fly around as I get the Compass Error message, and than the gimbal goes all wonky, making the footage useless. I suppose it is caused by calibrating at the wrong spot (might be hidden metal objects hidden underground or something).

//Thomas

jimmybonsaville · May 13, 2016

Exactly the same thing happened to me last week taking off from the site of an old steel works factory. Flown there many times as part of a survey job but this day instantly Hit a no gps compass error message!! P3 started veering to the left but managed to bring down safe. The compass issue is easy to sort but gps issue was very worrying as literally registered no satellites for a few secs. I'm on 1.4 after a recent update and starting to regret it with a list of new issues!

Anywhichway · Jun 5, 2016

jskdog said:
I calibrated from where I took off, there is a public footpath round the back (bit of a trek) so I might go for a walk another time and try from a different location. It did flash up that it needed firmware updating which I'd done 2 days ago. Definitely going back to try again as it's a perfect place to fly.

Hi.

Just the same here!

Perfect flying anywhere, then the freakin upgrade on 17th April, then compass error at three different locations. Now trying to downgrade but I don`t know how to go back from this upgrade and do I also go back on RC and the APP? Anyone help please!

xuler · Jun 16, 2016

Hopefully this helps out others, thought I'd share my story. I started seeing GPS and compass errors for the first time on about my 24th hour of flying time. I started receiving the errors more often, even with compass calibrations. The drone also took off on its own one time while sitting on ground with props spinning. About 3 flights later and at a spot I've flown at many times before the drone went rogue at about 250 feet up and about 10 minutes into the flight. It drifted off on its own eventually reaching 70mph before crashing into an abandoned grain elevator. Also, with compass and GPS errors. The flight was the day before my warranty was up. DJI received my drone and after analyzing the logs it did make a warranty repair - the drone crashed one day before my year warranty was up. The tech notes state that they determined it "likely" drifted off due to interference. I accept this as an answer. However, it's still concerning that the compass and GPS issues did not start occurring until recently and they got worse.

Example of such an error, you can see how shortly after it passed the concrete stack the gimbal completely dropped as if it was turned off. The errors occurre a few feet after it passed the stack. I did recover and finished this flight fine. DJI did have access to this video as well and they did not address it specifically, however they did send me an RMA after I asked what would have caused it. I flew another couple times after in open field (the story above) to verify it really did need to go in and wasn't just interference.