New compass mount

[Hawkeye 1]

I've noticed a few comments from people who have added new landing gear, including carbon fiber, and who have had problems with flight characteristics due to the compass mounting or suspected problems caused by the CF. I'm here to tell you that neither one is a problem as evidenced by my new gear and the way it flies...like a charm ! People are under the misconception that the compass has to be mounted as near as possible to the same place but this isn't true...it only has to be aligned in the same way. As you can see from the picture, the compass is mounted much higher than usual and outside the area where it's normally mounted but this little gizmo puts it in the right position as far as alignment and gets it out of the way. As you can see, it is very close to the CF gear but it doesn't interfere in any way...after a compass calibration the Quad flies as good as ever; I'm so pleased with the mounting that I now have it on two ther Phantoms as well. This mod can be found on eBay at : Taco.Toy(16243). Sorry but I can't figure out how to put the actual link on here. Hope this helps some other fliers...it's a great solution to the problem of compass placement after changing landing gear.

 

[Hawkeye 1]

Here's another picture on a deifferent Quad with a slightly different set of CF landing gear.

 

[p fandango]

i've got the same mount, but i drilled a hole so the pole could be mounted through the other side of the mounting bracket. As said tho, i've never had a problem & has always flown perfectly

 

[ianwood]

CF is non-ferrous so should have no influence on the compass whatsoever. The two things critical to compass function are orientation and interference.

Orientation: it has to be aligned with the craft in all 3 axes.

Interference: the closer you move the compass to the ESC, motor or other onboard electronics, the more likely it will be subject to interference. That's why it was put on the leg in the first place. The motors are not only full of magnets but they generate a lot of noise at varying intervals based on speed.

Your phone most likely has a similar magnetometer in it. Download a compass app that lets you see raw xyz values and see how they change when you turn electronics on and off, or pass it over a piece of steel, or concrete, etc.

 

[Hawkeye 1]

What you say makes perfect sense to me. However, in this case, all I can say is that being closer to the motors has no effect on the compass that I can see. Every function on the Quad performs flawlessly as far as I can tell...it flies perfectly and the IOC functions perform as always. It's a great little mod for those who change their landing gear...I just wish I had thought of it myself!

 

[ianwood]

It may be fine. Measuring the magnetic field at that location while turning the motors on/off and putting them under load will tell you everything you need to know. Often compass issues don't manifest themselves until they counter act with a particular situation or circumstance. Compass issues are by far the leading cause of fly aways. I'd measure it to be sure.