Power lines, proximity for take off

Joined
Sep 26, 2016
Messages
60
Reaction score
4
Location
South Yorkshire, UK
Might need to take off about 100m from overhead power lines later and take a flight away from their position returning when batteries are low. If the P3A calibrates OK and I get no warnings about compass does anyone see any issues? Cheers [emoji1]

Sent from my SM-G900F using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
Might need to take off about 100m from overhead power lines later and take a flight away from their position returning when batteries are low. If the P3A calibrates OK and I get no warnings about compass does anyone see any issues? Cheers [emoji1]

Sent from my SM-G900F using PhantomPilots mobile app
100m away should be no issue for launch. If you have a known good compass calibration no need to calibrate before flight, unless you have travelled a long way to fly.
 
  • Like
Reactions: swoot
Might need to take off about 100m from overhead power lines later and take a flight away from their position returning when batteries are low. If the P3A calibrates OK and I get no warnings about compass does anyone see any issues?
Like lots of things, there are too many variables to give a one-size-fits-all answer.
If you are talking about suburban domestic powerlines, you could probably fly within a few feet quite safely (except for the collision risk).
If you are talking about high voltage cross-country lines, 100 metres is probably still quite safe but somewhere closer you would see effects.
How close just depends on how much current they are carrying.
This chart gives you some clues to the variability you are looking at:




i-dv3qGTV-X2.jpg

One thing ... there is no need to recalibrate your compass and to do so in a bad location is more dangerous than not recalibrating.
For the new P4pro manual, DJI have even finally dropped the bad wording that caused people to think they had to calibrate every flight.
 
  • Like
Reactions: swoot
When I was a noob I was paranoid about such things so I bought myself an EMF meter. Next I drove to some large high overhead power lines - the kind that feed an entire region. I measured the interference from different distances and although it was measurable from 100 yards distance, it wasn't strong interference. But while I stood there on the side of the road looking at the meter, I was surprised to see that every time a vehicle drove by, the meter spiked up - showing significantly more interference than the power lines!
 
  • Like
Reactions: swoot
I have flown within 20 metres with no issues at all. If power lines cause that much RFI no one would get wireless broadband if they lived near pylons. Just check your channel read out on the dji go app to establish a definitive answer.

Sent from my F3311 using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
  • Like
Reactions: swoot
Thanks everyone. Had a good flight with no compass errors etc. I did however lose GPS and went into ATTI mode at least 3/4 times during the flight, unlikely related but still skipped a heatbeat for a second. I often fly in ATTI as practice, so no issues. Thanks again!
 
Thanks everyone. Had a good flight with no compass errors etc. I did however lose GPS and went into ATTI mode at least 3/4 times during the flight, unlikely related but still skipped a heatbeat for a second. I often fly in ATTI as practice, so no issues. Thanks again!
If your Phantom has a good view of the sky, it shouldn't be losing GPS at all.
It sounds a lot like you may have had a compass error and that was the cause of the Phantom dropping GPS and switching to atti.
Uploading your flight record to: https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/
... will show you the flight data and possibly give an explanation.
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,354
Members
104,933
Latest member
mactechnic