Wide landing gear and moving compass

Joined
Aug 4, 2014
Messages
145
Reaction score
2
Anyone noting any issues with moving the compass after installing wide landing gear? I'm just curious...

If you install the compass at the correct height position, will the lateral movement of this compass actually change anything? Obviously an advanced IMU calibration and compass dance should be performed.

Any other thoughts or comments?
 
I fitted taller wider gear when I installed my gimbal and do have minor issues still. I seem yo get a little wandering about when in hover. Its not really bad but certainly more noticeable than before I changed the landing gear.

I'm wondering if I've maybe got it very slightly out of alignment (degree or two only) and still experimenting but recent bad weather in the UK has had me grounded for a week now :(
 
As long as you keep the orientation the same and you calibrate it should not make a difference.
 
You'll need to extend the cable to get the compass down onto the vertical part of the extended leg, that way the orientation is correct and the clamp fits around the leg. If you open up the Phantom's shell you'll see that there is quite a bit of slack in the compass cable - just snip the zip tie, pull the excess out through the hole, and add a new zip tie for strain relief. That way everything fits perfectly. Do a compass calibration once you're done and everything will be fine.
 
SJBrit said:
You'll need to extend the cable to get the compass down onto the vertical part of the extended leg, that way the orientation is correct and the clamp fits around the leg. If you open up the Phantom's shell you'll see that there is quite a bit of slack in the compass cable - just snip the zip tie, pull the excess out through the hole, and add a new zip tie for strain relief. That way everything fits perfectly. Do a compass calibration once you're done and everything will be fine.


+1

I did mine as stated here and all is good. I could not tell any difference.
 
Same here except I also have 16mm extensions between the Phantom and the wide legs..All good so far...
 
On my P2 I've got two "things" attached to the landing struts:

1. A silver box with a grey ribbon cable that plugs into the top of it - that's the compass, right?

2. On the opposite strut, a black box with a black cable that plugs into the side of it via a grey connector. What's that one?
 
HarryT said:
On my P2 I've got two "things" attached to the landing struts:

1. A silver box with a grey ribbon cable that plugs into the top of it - that's the compass, right?

2. On the opposite strut, a black box with a black cable that plugs into the side of it via a grey connector. What's that one?

One is compass the other w/plug opening is canbus connector for IOSD mini or Ground Station.
 
EMCSQUAR said:
One is compass the other w/plug opening is canbus connector for IOSD mini or Ground Station.

Ah, thank you. I have my iOSD Mini mounted elsewhere - I guess the dealer who built it for me must have wired it up differently.

Appreciate the information - thanks!
 
HarryT said:
EMCSQUAR said:
One is compass the other w/plug opening is canbus connector for IOSD mini or Ground Station.

Ah, thank you. I have my iOSD Mini mounted elsewhere - I guess the dealer who built it for me must have wired it up differently.

Appreciate the information - thanks!

It's likely mounted inside, but typically the canbus connector itself is moved from the landing gear leg up into the Phantom. If the canbus connector is still on your landing gear and you have a mini iOSD installed, perhaps your dealer wired the iOSD directly to the circuit board inside with a separate cable & connector.
 
AnselA said:
Remember to use non-magnetic (non-metallic) screw driver when assembling the compass unit.

non metallic?? the screws on my compass were tighter than a crabs butt and there is a dab of loctite on the thread too. no screwdriver made of plastic is going to touch them, got to be a metal screw driver, just not a magnetic one.
 
Don't be so fearful of using magnets around that compass if you're just removing screws. After you're done, just use a decent sized magnet to degauss it by waving it in circles in alternating directions and axes around the compass and aim for your compass raw MOD value to be around 1600 after your advanced IMU calibration. Make sure all of the gear that is powered on during typical flights is also powered on at the same time that you perform your IMU calibration (video tx, gimbal, gopro etc.)

Finally, make sure to perform a field compass calibration (compass dance) after this procedure is complete.

I, and a number of users, do this as part of standard routine and it works great.
 
OOPs. I fitted taller landing skids before I realised about the compass position. Is it important to re-fit it to the same height from the ground as it was on the factory fit skids ? if so does anyone have a measurement I could work to.
 
thetaxidermist said:
OOPs. I fitted taller landing skids before I realised about the compass position. Is it important to re-fit it to the same height from the ground as it was on the factory fit skids ? if so does anyone have a measurement I could work to.

No, that doesn't matter. Just move it down the leg so it's on the vertical part - that's the only place the clamp fits anyway. Just remember to recalibrate it before you fly.
 
I just installed the taller/wider landing gear , made sure to install the compass at the same distance (4" down the leg) on the new gear , hooked it all back up and flew it without even doing a compass calibration just to see what would happen and it hovered and flew perfectly. I then brought it back and did a calibration just to be safe and no difference so don't worry it's not going to cause a problem , the warning I did heed was to use a non magnetic screwdriver on the compass , happy flying.....
 
What if you have a P2 v2 with the compass in the "static shield"? The tall landing gear that i bought did not have the box for the compass board, but I was able to zip tie the cover over the compass board so it is still protected and the board will not move.
Anyone else have an idea about mounting the compass board on these legs?
 
I can confirm that the compass can be mounted on any leg, as long as there is no other electronics near it's fine, I have a phantom v1.1.1 and I moved the compass from the back right leg to the back left leg, and I fly my drone without any problems, as long as the compass is not on an angle and standing straight up it's fine, the phantom 2 uses the same compass as the phantom 1, some newer models have a new design but the compass's still work in the same way, the only thing inside the phantom1 & phantom 2 that has to be in the right orientation is the GPS module & and the Naza flight controller, when I crashed my phantom v1.1.1 I could not find a replacement shell, so I took the guts of my phantom 1 & I installed them in a phantom 2 shell, but unlike the phantom 1 shell the battery door is the back & the usb port is the front, so all I had to do was reverse the orientation of the mother board and the motors & switch the orientation of the naza flight controller around so the front was pointing in the right direction, and that's when I switched the compass to a different leg, and it all worked out in the end.
 
Last edited:

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,355
Members
104,934
Latest member
jody.paugh@fullerandsons.