Interesting Flight Today-Lesson Learned

[Sfgiants24]

I had a beautiful day for flying in a park nearby, sun going down, wispy high clouds. All the makings of a great sunset. I flew off my first battery with no issues whatsoever. Got some decent footage, but it would get better as the light conditions improved. Oh, I forgot to mention that I upgraded to the latest firmware a week ago. The process went great, no problems, a successful upgrade. One minor detail I missed. I did not recalibrate the compass or IMU afterward.

My second flight is shown here
Phantom Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

I got out past 10,000 feet, no issues. As I was coming back, I started getting compass error messages, then "ATTI MODE". Alright, no problem. I'll bring the bird back in atti mode. I started descending and everything is still ok. Then, just as I'm almost home, I get the "DISCONNECTED" message. I let go of the sticks, and because I'm in ATTI mode, the bird drifts in right toward me. If I'm disconnected much longer, it's going to RTH mode, and I don't know whats going to happen then. I am reconnected right at the home point, I slam the quad into the ground, and shut down the motors. No damage, and I got her back. Only later, on the hike back t the car and thinking about what happened did I understand. Failure to recalibrate after an upgrade is a major mistake.

Another thing. I'm getting some battery error messages. Is this anything to worry about? I think I have about 40 flights on that particular battery.

 

[shockwave199]

Compass and IMU are not an absolute must after an update. Good idea, I suppose, but not a must. You should keep your flights conservative for a while and see how things go. Battery errors are a problem. If one battery shows an error such as a bad cell, battery done. Don't fly it.

 

[Meta4]

Only later, on the hike back t the car and thinking about what happened did I understand. Failure to recalibrate after an upgrade is a major mistake.

No, there is no need to recalibrate either after a firmware upgrade.
If it was important DJI would recommend it - and they don't.
It's just a forum superstition that seems to have taken off.
I've never recalibrated anything after firmware updates and never noticed any ill effects.

 

[Sfgiants24]

A forum myth to calibrate after upgrading. I think I'll probably buy into it and do it anyway.

I was flying in an area I had never been before, but not very far from home, so I saw no need to calibrate for that reason. Maybe there was some sort of interference from the towers around the area, but I was several miles away from them. Microwave? Perhaps, I don't know.

As far as the battery errors, heathy drones says they are within normal range. I'll just keep an eye on it.


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