How precise should my hover be?

[Sabalon]

Am wondering on the P3S, just how stable my craft should be when hovering. What I noticed yesterday is that it was staying mostly in a 4'x4' box. Altitude seems to be pretty solid, but it drifts left and right, front and back.

I did an IMU calibration on a flat surface, and a compass calibration, but it still looked a little drunk - unable to just "stand" in place. I was in P-GPS mode and had 9-11 satellites IIRC. I also swapped the props out with the unused second set that came with it. There was not any real wind at the time either.

This was at about 6-10 feet off the ground. When I took it up to about 40' it did seem to be more stable.

So, is this normal? If not, what steps should I take to get to the bottom of it? Not sure what I should be seeing on the sensors screen. The mod value for the compass was around 1500, which I understand is good.

 

[dg8882]

Whenever I let my p3s hover, it does tend to sway a bit for me too. Mine still flys fine.


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[mikecorn1]

My P3A does the same. Really close to the ground, 2-4ft or so it will sway some. Up higher and its rock steady. Flies just fine.


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[Air Ontario]

Look at spec. sheet for your model. Likely 2.5 m horiz. in PGPS

 

[Sabalon]

Look at spec. sheet for your model. Likely 2.5 m horiz. in PGPS

Didn't see a thing in there about it for the Standard, but 1.5m is what it says for the p3a,p3p and p4, so I'll call what I'm seeing within specs.

Wish it was a little more accurate - as trying to hover along a creek bed was unnerving...but 1.5m is better than typical standard gps accuracy, so I'll live with it

 

[kirk2579]

the lower you hover the more prop wash you will have.
this will push the quad around as it comes back up from the ground

 

[Sabalon]

the lower you hover the more prop wash you will have.
this will push the quad around as it comes back up from the ground

I know, but those leaves aren't going to blow themselves around

 

[kirk2579]

I know, but those leaves aren't going to blow themselves around

I can do my drive in no time!

 

[Mark The Droner]

Also, the lower your craft is to the ground (especially hovering over a creek bed), the worse your GPS mask will be. In other words, the more satellites your craft can see, the easier it is for your craft to lock into one place.

 

[Sabalon]

Also, the lower your craft is to the ground (especially hovering over a creek bed), the worse your GPS mask will be. In other words, the more satellites your craft can see, the easier it is for your craft to lock into one place.

Thanks! I didn't think about it that way. I just thought of GPS as being in the sky so as long as that's not obstructed - bit didn't think about the ones that I'd see from lower angles. Also, I assumed that if I had enough satellites that I was good to go, but was not really aware that more satellites meant more precision. Never really did much with GPS before, aside from phone directions, so haven't looked too much into the details. Hard to believe it's been around (fully operational) for only 20 years. Didn't even know that Selective Availability was no longer a thing.

If anyone needs me, I'll be over here under this rock