Very nice crash that destroyed my phantom 3 pro

Every time you do a compass calibration, you risk having a terrible calibration due to interference from things in the environment you did not see or did not think about, or even stuff in your pocket. The result of that, if the calibration appeared succesfull, at best will ensure your phantom flies fine below 10ft and right above your calibration point. Exactly where it doesnt really matter as you could easily switch to ATT and take control.

But as you fly further away, especially beyond line of sight where you become 100% dependent on the compass to work, and where you are far away from the source of interference you calibrated with, Bad Things may happen.

So I would absolutely advise against calibrating on each new location; unless that location is 100's of Km from your previous calibration, or you did it a long time ago. If you did a proper calibration recently, and on a new flying site you notice toiletbowling or you are getting compass errors, simply dont fly there (or use ATT only and set failsafe to autoland rather than RTH).
 
Wow Flynfrank that was use full, I have seen it posted and seen people go back an forth about the calibration. Do you walk around the drone or have the drone rotate around you. When calibrating. I've heard it does not make a difference.

My method consist of 1st lifting the a/c and turning it 180 degrees and setting down to re-position hand lift to complete the 1st process. Next I set the props so that they don't interfere with the next process. Next I grab under each of the 2 rear motors and raise up which points the camera face down towards the ground. At this time I allow the camera and gimbal to settle, and then turn the a/c clockwise while trying to keep it level as possible. Part way through that process the hands have to be re-positioned in order to complete the processs. And finally it's just a matter of stopping at the point in which the light changes to yellow. A solid yellow light is the signal for a successful calibration. Depending on your location, it is possible that the solid yellow light will soon change to a blinking green which is the signal for locking in on 6 or more satellites. You may also hear your device sound off that home point has also been set. Btw, just so you know, the calibration process will be added to the TXT and DAT Flight Log files.
 
Get another one and install a flight termination system from 33dev.. I installing mine already. It would of saved your p3
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Every time you do a compass calibration, you risk having a terrible calibration due to interference from things in the environment you did not see or did not think about, or even stuff in your pocket. The result of that, if the calibration appeared succesfull, at best will ensure your phantom flies fine below 10ft and right above your calibration point. Exactly where it doesnt really matter as you could easily switch to ATT and take control.

But as you fly further away, especially beyond line of sight where you become 100% dependent on the compass to work, and where you are far away from the source of interference you calibrated with, Bad Things may happen.

So I would absolutely advise against calibrating on each new location; unless that location is 100's of Km from your previous calibration, or you did it a long time ago. If you did a proper calibration recently, and on a new flying site you notice toiletbowling or you are getting compass errors, simply dont fly there (or use ATT only and set failsafe to autoland rather than RTH).

Each thread you see posted by someone that mentions a flight issue related to the compass, ask them if they happened to calibrate prior to the flight. I'd say 98% of the time the response will be "no". If it is yes, and it in deed shows up on the flight data that a calibration was made, ask the person their process so you can determine if it was a proper calibration.

The thing is, the compass related issues we see from time to time only seem to take place by those that did not calibrate before flight.
 
My bottom line on compass calibrating is you should not have to calibrate each flight unless you have changed home points.

However, for my reasons, calibrating the compass prior to flight seems to be a type of insurance my P3's flight may go on without failure. I've been doing this process every since someone mentioned it back when the P2V's were the best thing on the market. Personally I feel like there are times that the firmware is subject to a glitch that results in a compass error. The pre flight calibrating I do seems to force the firmware to remember the compass settings and home point location.

The ONLY issue I've seen take place by calibrating before flight is from someone that did not know how to do a proper calibration. And because instructions and illustrations are not very good, it can be easy for someone to not do a proper calibration. Rather then relying on lights to signal a Good or No Good calibration, DJI should use a audible sound to take place. This will help those that do not take doing precise calibrations seriously a better chance of getting a proper calibration. Btw, I do want to mention that a proper calibration consist of more then just lifting and spinning the P3 around to a light change. How fast the process is done, how accurate the turning take place, and where the calibration takes place can be important. Not only that, but if at ANY time you get the compass on the P3 near metal, you need to expect the compass will then be out of adjustment. They say your vehicles keys, your metal watch on your wrist, a large amount of pocket change (coins) can all trigger a failed compass.

So this is my take on calibrating the compass prior to flight.

Please read it again and again. How nicely he has explained a complex system in easy to read words. Cheers!
 
Each thread you see posted by someone that mentions a flight issue related to the compass, ask them if they happened to calibrate prior to the flight

You can also ask if the morning of their flight, they brushed their teeth with dishwasher soap, and you'll probably find none. But doing so isnt going to prevent problems. Its just that very few people do this anyway.

This is what DJI now says in their manual :

upload_2016-7-9_20-52-50.png


You can read 3DR's manual for the solo or pixhawk, and you'll find the exact same thing. And there is a good reason why, I explained it above.

DJI used to say differently btw, as they tried to blame any of the 2 bazillion Naza V1 and 2 fly away incidents on users not calibrating their compass; word went round, and most naza flyers Ive known diligently calibrated each flight. With the result that Naza's kept flying away even more frequently and DJI had remove the ill advice from their manuals. But the myth persists to this day.
 
Wait a minute!!!

So are we supposed to calibrate each time or not?

I fly from the same spot all the time and nothing changes, NOTHING. but I still calibrate each time because it takes 10 seconds.

That said, my cheaper AR Drone 2.0 used to recommends calibrating every single time, plus it was able to do it on its on, it would fly up and spin all by itself.. Weird how we have to manually do it

Either way, I'd like to know, calibrate everytime or not?
 
You can also ask if the morning of their flight, they brushed their teeth with dishwasher soap, and you'll probably find none. But doing so isnt going to prevent problems. Its just that very few people do this anyway.

This is what DJI now says in their manual :

View attachment 59358

You can read 3DR's manual for the solo or pixhawk, and you'll find the exact same thing. And there is a good reason why, I explained it above.

DJI used to say differently btw, as they tried to blame any of the 2 bazillion Naza V1 and 2 fly away incidents on users not calibrating their compass; word went round, and most naza flyers Ive known diligently calibrated each flight. With the result that Naza's kept flying away even more frequently and DJI had remove the ill advice from their manuals. But the myth persists to this day.

I think you may not understand what it is I'm saying. To begin with, I don't disagree with anything you have said. I'm speaking from what we can clearly see are facts. And the main fact is there are compass related issues that pop up on what has become a regular basis. And another fact is that issue does not exist from those that have calibrated before flight. As I have mentioned....it's very likely the firmware has a glitch and the calibrating keeps the glitch from happening. Now that's just speculation because it's not known why the compass issue happens when it does.

I lost a 2 P2V's due to a compass issue. I bought 2 additional aircraft since and have calibrated the compass before each flight and I still have both now after a combined 450+ flights. I also keep up with 6 others that do the same process and all have the same results. So those are some facts that I have paid attention to.
 
To begin with, I don't disagree with anything you have said.

Then clearly I didnt make myself clear, because I do not agree at all with your advice. Neither does DJI, 3DR, Mikrocopter or Parrot.

As for you empirical data; Phantom 2s where naza based, and particularly with the earlier firmwares, whether you calibrated or not, took off with a full battery or not, used dishwasher soap as toothpaste or not, one day they decided to return "Home", somewhere in China. It wasnt because you didnt calibrate each flight, that was just the only way for DJI and/or its fanboys to put the blame for a faulty product with the end user.
 
Then clearly I didnt make myself clear, because I do not agree at all with your advice. Neither does DJI, 3DR, Mikrocopter or Parrot.

As for you empirical data; Phantom 2s where naza based, and particularly with the earlier firmwares, whether you calibrated or not, took off with a full battery or not, used dishwasher soap as toothpaste or not, one day they decided to return "Home", somewhere in China. It wasnt because you didnt calibrate each flight, that was just the only way for DJI and/or its fanboys to put the blame for a faulty product with the end user.

It's more then understandable why you don't agree with me. You have always been the number 1 advocate when it comes to calibrating.

How is it those that do calibrate before flight not have any compass issues? What is taking place in those calibrations that keeps the problems from happening?
 

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