To Calibrate or Not to Calibrate

[jim81]

As my Pro4+ gets closer to arriving I would need some help, probably with many issues, to improve my chances of an uneventful flight.
The DJI manual says not to calibrate unless the app tells you to do so. Ive read the forums and some say they never calibrate and others calibrate before most flights especially when they have traveled to a new location some distance from the old one. Never have I observed anyone talking about re-calibrating when the DJI app says to do so.
What's the correct technical answer please?

 

[msinger]

If you're referring to calibrating the compass, I recommend you do it before your first flight and then follow the compass calibration guide.

 

[F3honda4me]

IMO don't calibrate anything except maybe the compass first time. Even then I'm not convinced that's necessary. When I first received my P4 and my P4P I did not calibrate the compass and they flew great out of the box.

 

[Meta4]

As my Pro4+ gets closer to arriving I would need some help, probably with many issues, to improve my chances of an uneventful flight.
The DJI manual says not to calibrate unless the app tells you to do so. Ive read the forums and some say they never calibrate and others calibrate before most flights especially when they have traveled to a new location some distance from the old one. Never have I observed anyone talking about re-calibrating when the DJI app says to do so.
What's the correct technical answer please?

You will find all kinds of good and bad advice on forums - It's up to you to decide which is good and which is bad.
If it was important that you calibrate the compass of the P4p before flight, I think DJI would tell you to do that, but they didn't.
I've been flying mine for over a month now with no calibration and no worries.

 

[Kman]

I don't rely on the app for calibrations. I always calibrate the compass if I travel 100 or more miles from the last location I did a compass calibration.

So do one when you get the drone and then when you travel over 100 miles from the initial calibration location.

 

[GMack]

If new, I'd do everything possible as there is a chance you could get a bum unit and need to return it. Best Buy has a 15 day and I took two back and exchanged with them. DJI QC isn't spectacular so things happen. Use Assistant 2 to register and do the VS calibrations. Do the IMU and Compass too. Remote and battery updates may be another. Check your focus quality on the camera too. Usually with complex electronics, if something is going to go bad it will do it early on, like the bad IMU stuff with the first batch of P4 Pro units as well as all the DOA batteries.

Sort out all the problems early on and then do what you need to get it satisfactory or the need to exchange for another. Once you pass that exchange point, you'll get into RMA and Refurb land.

 

[Kman]

If new, I'd do everything possible as there is a chance you could get a bum unit and need to return it. Best Buy has a 15 day and I took two back and exchanged with them. DJI QC isn't spectacular so things happen. Use Assistant 2 to register and do the VS calibrations. Do the IMU and Compass too. Remote and battery updates may be another. Check your focus quality on the camera too. Usually with complex electronics, if something is going to go bad it will do it early on, like the bad IMU stuff with the first batch of P4 Pro units as well as all the DOA batteries.

Sort out all the problems early on and then do what you need to get it satisfactory or the need to exchange for another. Once you pass that exchange point, you'll get into RMA and Refurb land.

What was wrong with the two units you returned to Best Buy?

 

[Meta4]

If new, I'd do everything possible as there is a chance you could get a bum unit and need to return it.
Do the IMU and Compass too.

Some people get a warm fuzzy feeling from thinking that doing stuff must be good but it's wrong thinking.
There is no need to do these calibrations as experience has shown.
Messing around with them unnecessarily is risking getting bad calibrations and not a good strategy at all.

 

[ianwood]

IMO don't calibrate anything except maybe the compass first time. Even then I'm not convinced that's necessary. When I first received my P4 and my P4P I did not calibrate the compass and they flew great out of the box.

That's great but it's also bad advise. Unless you are flying where the default calibration is set (probably Shenzhen, China) it is highly recommended you calibrate the compass.

I don't rely on the app for calibrations. I always calibrate the compass if I travel 100 or more miles from the last location I did a compass calibration.

So do one when you get the drone and then when you travel over 100 miles from the initial calibration location.

This would be the best advise here. There's more detail in the link that @msinger posted (which I wrote) but this is a good basic policy.

 

[F3honda4me]

That's great but it's also bad advise. Unless you are flying where the default calibration is set (probably Shenzhen, China) it is highly recommended you calibrate the compass.



This would be the best advise here. There's more detail in the link that @msinger posted (which I wrote) but this is a good basic policy.

We went through this in the other thread. No one could explain to us how the compass could detect magnetic deviation since that requires the drone to know true north, which is not done during the calibration. So how does the drone learn the impact of magnetic deviation? I still don't understand. What are you actually calibrating (teaching) the drone by doing the calibration, other than the affects of the magnetic field immediately around it (like a 5 foot bubble)?

Also given that the DJI manual seems to be more inline with what I said... Shouldn't we be lobbying DJI to correct this glaring mistake if my advice is bad?

 

[GMack]

What was wrong with the two units you returned to Best Buy?

First one had a knackered filter from the factory that wouldn't come off. Bottom VPS camera refused to calibrate in Assistant 2 while front was good. Then the radio failed to connect and beeped a lot. Had a bad cable too. Thing had a lot of small oddities that wouldn't work right and my product annoyance quotient went up. It went back within a week.

Second one had a camera where one side of the image was out of focus a lot, while the right side was tack sharp. It went back in 2-3 days to BB. Girl said "They got a few back and maybe the third would be okay." She's seen the DJI return drill first hand, and also suggested the Apple iPad for the monitor too as "They just don't seem to come back as much."

Third is okay, if you don't mind the inaccurate altitudes as shown in GO by 50 feet and it reports as flying underground (Negative altitudes.) at times in GO's Flight Review. Probably within DJI standards of their buggy software or firmware. But at least it doesn't seem to be possessed by mechanical defects and flies okay - not great (Horizon tilts when quickly yawed in wind gusts.) but I can live with that.

Check the things over fully with a fine tooth comb - or live with the defects! Their QC is very spotty, imho. No doubt a good DJI tech could find something wrong with any drone they make, just that it meets factory or his tolerance - but can it meet yours if caught?

 

[ianwood]

We went through this in the other thread. No one could explain to us how the compass could detect magnetic deviation since that requires the drone to know true north, which is not done during the calibration. So how does the drone learn the impact of magnetic deviation? I still don't understand. What are you actually calibrating (teaching) the drone by doing the calibration, other than the affects of the magnetic field immediately around it (like a 5 foot bubble)?

Also given that the DJI manual seems to be more inline with what I said... Shouldn't we be lobbying DJI to correct this glaring mistake if my advice is bad?

• DJI documentation is often lacking. They should be telling you a lot more about the compass considering how important it is and how vulnerable it is to interference. The fact that they have opted to tell people not to calibrate shows they are putting way too much confidence in their compass error algorithm. It's not that good.
• Calibration exists for a reason.
• Deviation has nothing to do with true north. Declination does.
• Calibration is about deviation. Deviation can only be learned through calibration. Deviation changes based on geography.

There are plenty of articles about compass calibration in other platforms and why it exists. I am not going to try to summarize it. Start here:

Compass Calibration, A Complete Primer

 

[fin032]

Will be doing a compass calibration at my usual spot that I done my P3 before the first flight and then stick to the 100 mile radius. When the P3 came out most folk were saying to also do the IMU because the qaud may have been bashed around a bit wile with the courier. I take it the advice now is not to worry about the IMU even after updates and only to do it if the app says it needs it.

 

[F3honda4me]

• DJI documentation is often lacking. They should be telling you a lot more about the compass considering how important it is and how vulnerable it is to interference. The fact that they have opted to tell people not to calibrate shows they are putting way too much confidence in their compass error algorithm. It's not that good.
• Calibration exists for a reason.
• Deviation has nothing to do with true north. Declination does.
• Calibration is about deviation. Deviation can only be learned through calibration. Deviation changes based on geography.

There are plenty of articles about compass calibration in other platforms and why it exists. I am not going to try to summarize it. Start here:

Compass Calibration, A Complete Primer

Thanks!

 

[JimHarris]

I haven't calibrated anything at all, I have like 60 flights under my belt with my P4P+ and so far nothing out of the ordinary has happened.

 

[Wrice4]

I calibrated everything before my first flight. No problems here.

 

[Liveddica]

• DJI documentation is often lacking. They should be telling you a lot more about the compass considering how important it is and how vulnerable it is to interference. The fact that they have opted to tell people not to calibrate shows they are putting way too much confidence in their compass error algorithm. It's not that good.
• Calibration exists for a reason.
• Deviation has nothing to do with true north. Declination does.
• Calibration is about deviation. Deviation can only be learned through calibration. Deviation changes based on geography.

There are plenty of articles about compass calibration in other platforms and why it exists. I am not going to try to summarize it. Start here:

Compass Calibration, A Complete Primer

Well put ianwood! These are the times I love the community and their experience that helps us all [emoji106]


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