WHAT IS THE COMPASS 'DANCE' RADIUS.

[phantomoperator]

This may seem to be a bit of an odd question but I have seen several different answers to this. Some say that you should re calibrate at 'every' new location regardless of distance apart. Others say you have to travel many miles before this becomes necessary. So which is right.

As I live on an island I cannot go MANY miles before falling into the sea, As I live at one end of the island the furthest I could go is 20 miles. So would ONE 'dance do the job.
I moved on up to the P2V+ from the old original purely because as a photographer I was hooked by the self centering sticks and the waypoint facility. I will never fly ATTI only GPS. If I lose connection it will just have to 'Go Home' . For me it is just out to a POI photographs and return.

This particular Phantom was a lemon right out of the box. Never flew, only crashed. So it had to go back for overhaul. I still have NO faith in it until it proves itself. In fact I will only do tethered vertical tests at first, and gradually move on up until I feel it will behave.
Just now waiting for a decent day to do a first flight.

Best to all out there

POTO

 

[Meta4]

This may seem to be a bit of an odd question but I have seen several different answers to this. Some say that you should re calibrate at 'every' new location regardless of distance apart. Others say you have to travel many miles before this becomes necessary. So which is right.

As I live on an island I cannot go MANY miles before falling into the sea, As I live at one end of the island the furthest I could go is 20 miles. So would ONE 'dance do the job.

Contentious topic. Some will even advocate calibrating every flight!
The calibrate every time people will say they are right and others will say that's wrong.
Here's my take on it and you'll find lots of opinions of others in the same thread.
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=22435&p=205776#p205776

ps ... I have travelled 100 km north and south of my home base and my Phantom flies perfectly without any recalibration.
One calibration should be all you need if you stay on your island.

 

[harbourside]

I did it once, but whichever way you do it the important bit is to do it well out in the open and away from anything that could influence the compass.
If the phantom flies in a straight line and hovers ok, then there really is no need to keep on calibrating, in my humble opinion....

 

[smokiespliff]

In my completely unprofessional and anecdotal opinion I started calibrating every time again after a period of not bothering. Its probably all in my mind, but a few times I've sent the phantom up and let it hang for 10 secs or so as usual to check out everything seems normal before I send it off. A few times it hasn't seemed quite right - not remaining stationary within a 1m radius. Down it came, calibrated the compass, up it went and all was well. Same thing when I tried the GS function for the first time.

It's probably all in my head, but it makes me feel better and only takes 10 seconds to do.

 

[DownunderPhantom]

I can not see why there is any confusion here, the manual says;

1 Calibrating the Compass
IMPORTANT: Make sure to calibrate the compass in every new flight location. The compass is very sensitive to electromagnetic interference, which can cause abnormal compass data leading to poor flight performance or even flight failure. Regular calibration is required for optimum performance.

Every location is unique and even a small distance can affect the Compass. It does not take much effort to perform the Compass Calibration.

If you do go to a new location and do not do the compass calibration and something happens, will you be covered by warranty if you are still in the warranty period...?????

 

[4wd]

Now you can start it from the app there's less reason to be *a bit* concerned about the wear on S1 switch.
I wouldn't be much concerned 20 miles away but there is still the time since last done factor.
I'd think a minimum of once a month even at the same area.

The app and phantom lights will tell you if things are far out, and if flying and hovering is normal everything is likely fine.

 

[Panamon Creel]

I once also was a believer in the calibrate every flight method but changed it to "only if necessary" because with every calibration done there is also a chance of a calibration going wrong and secondly better understanding what the compass calibration is for which is determining permanent magnetic distortions surrounding the sensor and correcting for them so for example if you remove your gimbal assembly and want to fly without it you should do a compass calibration because the distortions from the servo motor magnets are gone and the sensor needs to "learn" that.

 

[Dirty Bird]

In my local area (<40 miles I seldom calibrate). The exception to this I would say is, if you intend to fly from a mountainous region where there are lots of potentially magnetic rock formations, then I would recalibrate.

 

[ilovecoffee]

There is the off-chance you may pull an idiot move like me and attempt to recalibrate it on top of buried rebar....and off your Phantom will go into the distance.

Now I only recalibrate it if I'm in a new area and not near anything remotely magnetic or that can cause interference. Simple test, take it off a few feet from the ground and see how it hovers.

 

[N017RW]

"If it aint broke, don't fix (calibrate) it"!

 

[Dirty Bird]

Here is an idiot move I did a few weeks ago that I am still trying to completely rectify. Have a new Sony stereo boombox sitting upstairs in the box unopened. Huge boombox....30#+. The box is sitting on end and, just for a minute, I sat the Vision+ on the box without even thinking. What do you think those monster speaker magnets did to the compass? :shock: Ever since I've been getting compass recalibration notices on a regular basis...like every other flight. Going to have to connect to the Assistant and see how wacked out the compass is....may have to degauss. Been avoiding connecting because of DJI's infuriating propensity for installing updates without asking permission. Need to disconnect from my network first!

UPDATE: Just connected to the Assistant. Compass MOD is ~300...used to be around 1400. Degauss time! :roll:

 

[Panamon Creel]

In my local area (<40 miles I seldom calibrate). The exception to this I would say is, if you intend to fly from a mountainous region where there are lots of potentially magnetic rock formations, then I would recalibrate.

IMO calibrating near potential magnetic rock formations could be more problematic than going there with a "clean calibration" done beforehand. In anyway flying in such areas will be problematic no matter how the calibration was done and Atti only flight might be a better choice there.

 

[RCF - DRONE]

I calibrate every flight, it only takes a moment, even after lift-off, I take the 3 seconds to manually set the home location. How many times have you turned on mapping on a phone or a tablet, and it shows you were miles away when you used the map...

 

[gunslinger]

In my completely unprofessional and anecdotal opinion I started calibrating every time again after a period of not bothering. Its probably all in my mind, but a few times I've sent the phantom up and let it hang for 10 secs or so as usual to check out everything seems normal before I send it off. A few times it hasn't seemed quite right - not remaining stationary within a 1m radius. Down it came, calibrated the compass, up it went and all was well. Same thing when I tried the GS function for the first time.

It's probably all in my head, but it makes me feel better and only takes 10 seconds to do.

Same here. If it's acting in any way out of character, down it comes and let the dance begin...

 

[N017RW]

I calibrate every flight, it only takes a moment, even after lift-off, I take the 3 seconds to manually set the home location. How many times have you turned on mapping on a phone or a tablet, and it shows you were miles away when you used the map...

That's why you have to wait for the second set of confirmation green flashes.

As more and more SVs are acquired the location becomes more certain. That's why the initial 'jump' or 'miles away' location occurs.

While 3 SVs is all that is required for a 2-D fix, DJI has decided that 6 SVs is what they want since this further reduces errors due to DOP and other factors including location, surroundings, and atmospheric for example.

 

[phantomguy]

I calibrated maybe four months ago. Since then I've flown from about 11 different areas in a 250 mile radius. No issues. Besides, it's my understanding that a message appears on your phones screen/in the DJI app letting you know if calibration is needed again

 

[N017RW]

I calibrated maybe four months ago. Since then I've flown from about 11 different areas in a 250 mile radius. No issues. Besides, it's my understanding that a message appears on your phones screen/in the DJI app letting you know if calibration is needed again

Same here... mostly.

I've done compass compensation twice so far in 6-7 mos.

Once when new or out-of-the-box, then about 5 flights (1 month) later when I replaced the OEM control system with a Futaba Tx & Rx.

I have flown as far away as 600 miles (N. Carolina) and frequently 10-30 miles away to near-by locations of interest without the need to compensate so far.