Question Regarding Compass Calibration

[lil boss]

Regarding this.... When calibrating

• Remove all metal from within 10ft radius, e.g. watch, phone, ring, belt, coins, controller.

No issues... perfectly clear !!! After calibration and when flying can the above items go back on, or do they stay off ? I'm not sure I'm wanting my pants to fall off while flying !!! Seriously though... should the watch, coins, phone, keys stay in the car.. or OK on persion ??? Thanks in advance !! Take Care.

 

[m0j0]

I lose all the stuff including my wedding band during calibration. Then put it back on and fly.

 

[G35 Mass]

GMass has to register as a sex offender because he followed the manual's direction and removed his pants (to get button, rivets and zipper away) when calibrating the compass.

 

[msinger]

When you're calibrating the compass, the Phantom should not be close to any magnetic metal objects. That's why it's recommended that you remove all metallic objects from your person at that time. Unless you're hand launching, any metallic items you have on your person should not cause an issue when you're flying.

 

[alokbhargava]

Compass of drone is located on drone it self, when it's in air, it's not affected by what's on ground. No doubt when it's on ground, it will be affected by the nearby metals and might lose its orientation.

RC always remains on the ground. It uses compass of the tablet that gets affected by the nearby metals.

Also RC has to send and receive signals to and from aircraft and any metallic shielding will affect the quality of signals.


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[Meta4]

I lose all the stuff including my wedding band during calibration. Then put it back on and fly.

When DJI say metal ... what they really mean is iron and steel - things with a magnetic field of their own.
You don't have to worry about gold, silver, brass, copper, aluminium etc

 

[G35 Mass]

Compass of drone is located on drone it self, when it's in air, it's not affected by what's on ground. No doubt when it's on ground, it will be affected by the nearby metals and might lose its orientation.

The issue is if the compass is "calibrated" with interference on the ground, the lack of that interference in the air may cause issues. The bird is expecting the compass baseline to be the same on the ground and in the air, and if the baseline is set with interference, the measurements will be off when the interference is removed. It's like "taring" out a scale. If you tare it out with weight on the scale, it will read "0" but when you remove that weight, the scale will read a negative weight.

 

[lil boss]

GMass has to register as a sex offender because he followed the manual's direction and removed his pants (to get button, rivets and zipper away) when calibrating the compass.

OMG.... Awesome Humor !!! People will now wonder why I am laughing while I do my compass calibration !!!

 

[lil boss]

The issue is if the compass is "calibrated" with interference on the ground, the lack of that interference in the air may cause issues. The bird is expecting the compass baseline to be the same on the ground and in the air, and if the baseline is set with interference, the measurements will be off when the interference is removed. It's like "taring" out a scale. If you tare it out with weight on the scale, it will read "0" but when you remove that weight, the scale will read a negative weight.

Makes perfect sense to me.... except.. (and I don't mean to sound stupid, but... with regards to tablet or phone compass on the ground... keep the metals off so the tablet's compass will operate correctly ??

 

[alokbhargava]

When DJI say metal ... what they really mean is iron and steel - things with a magnetic field of their own.
You don't have to worry about gold, silver, brass, copper, aluminium etc

Absolutely correct.


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[lil boss]

When DJI say metal ... what they really mean is iron and steel - things with a magnetic field of their own.
You don't have to worry about gold, silver, brass, copper, aluminium etc

Oh good, then I won't have to worry about my brass balls

 

[alokbhargava]

Makes perfect sense to me.... except.. (and I don't mean to sound stupid, but... with regards to tablet or phone compass on the ground... keep the metals off so the tablet's compass will operate correctly ??

Direction of the aircraft on the map and on radar is related to the compass of the tablet.


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[alokbhargava]

Oh good, then I won't have to worry about my brass balls

Yes compass is affected by the magnetic materials or by the electrically generated fluxes around. These fluxes are generated by current passing through conductors.


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[G35 Mass]

Makes perfect sense to me.... except.. (and I don't mean to sound stupid, but... with regards to tablet or phone compass on the ground... keep the metals off so the tablet's compass will operate correctly ??

I guess. TBH, I'm not sure what the compass on the RC / tablet have to do with the operation of the drone. I don't know of any tilt-based operations on the controller side of the device so I'm not sure what use it even serves. I often leave my r/c on my trunk when I fly (using full-size iPad so it gets heavy) and occasionally it calls for the red-circle tilty compass calibration.

 

[With The Birds]

I haven't worried ever about watch, jewellery, coins or keys when calibrating and have never had an issue. The compass is only effected by ferrous metals. Many mechanical compasses have stainless steel or brass enclosures. Your watch may have some ferrous metal however of its mechanical will be mainly brass and nickel in the movement with precious metals and/or stainless steel in the case/band. Coins and keys are also non ferrous.

It's easy to check the influence of a particular thing, fire up the bird and AC and open the sensor screen and watch the mod value as you bring it close to the compass. No change means it can't be having an influence.

 

[Multicoptertec]

When DJI say metal ... what they really mean is iron and steel - things with a magnetic field of their own.
You don't have to worry about gold, silver, brass, copper, aluminium etc

Iron and steel don't have a "magnetic field of their own", unless they are magnetized.


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[alokbhargava]

Iron and steel don't have a "magnetic field of their own", unless they are magnetized.


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Compass has its own magnetic field and tries to align itself with the earths magnetic field. Any magnetic material like iron disturbs the pattern of field produced by compass thus disturbs its alignment.


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[With The Birds]

Iron and steel don't have a "magnetic field of their own", unless they are magnetized.


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They don't need to be magnetised to have an influence. Watch the inductance of a coil of wire change if you stick a single steel nail inside or near it. The magnetic field acts on it, similarity the earths magnet field will seem stronger in closs proximity to non ferrous structures.

Iron and steel don't have a "magnetic field of their own", unless they are magnetized.


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True. However the military can detect the presence of submarines by their influence on the earths natural magnetic field. The magnetometer in your quad is similarly influenced by large ferrous objects. Even small ones if close enough.

 

[lil boss]

Thank You All... I learned a lot from all of you. I now know how to correctly calibrate the Phantom's compass, and why. This forum is excellent, and I glad I found it ! Take care all !

 

[G35 Mass]

Anyone have any idea what the compass in the controller end is for??