P3 Pro, Compass Error, Atti Mode Enabled... Crash

[jameslilley]

I am new to the whole forum thing and I am fully aware of similar threads out there, none of which seem to help, therefore please bare with me!

I’ve had my P3P for a couple months now and have had about 10-15 consecutive, flawless flights in different locations. More recently, about 10 minutes into EVERY flight, my phantom switches from GPS to ATTI mode or OPTI mode, regardless on the location, which have all been nowhere near buildings or other magnetic interference. It says “Compass Error: Exit P-GPS mode, ATTI mode enabled.”

I make sure on every flight that I have atleast 16 satellites connected and if I do not have phone service then I pre-load the map before I arrive at the location. This method worked for about a month without fail and then suddenly no matter if I load the map, have 3G and satellites connected or not, an error occurs every time.

2 of the occasions have been out over the sea and the wind has just carried my drone away, forcing me to panic (with hardly any control) and bring it down for a tactical crash land as close to me as I can. Luckily this has only caused minor injuries but one of these days it’s going to end up in the sea or a crash land is going to cause serious damage.

I am beginning to think there is a fault in my drone’s compass? But then surely the error would happen straight away and not 10 mins into a flight? I bought it used, not new if that helps.

I’ve seen all the suggestions that it could be magnetic interference or lack of satellites connected etc etc etc and this is clearly not the case, so please only get in touch if you believe you have a solid justification.

Thanks in advacne folks!

SCREENSHOTS (I think?!)
Errors | DJI Phantom Drone Forum

 

[GrammatonxXXxCleric]

The compass can fail. Also the thin cable that runs up the leg can be pinched severing one or more wires inside. A P3 compass with legs has cost me around $20. I've replaced two in the last few years. It is so important to have a working compass I take no chances. But first.... have you ever calibrated the compass?.....

 

[MapMaker53]

It actually might take a little bit of flying around for it to detect that the GPS coordinates and compass direction don't jive depending on distance traveled and type of flight path. For example, let's say your compass has an error but the error is a small one that has not set off any warning at startup. If you fly a small course, the Phantom might not pick up on the error since the GPS readout would match pretty closely to the compass headings. But fly further out and the compass angle discrepancy will tend to get larger when compared to the current GPS location and say the home point. So I think the Phantom would be more likely to pick up on it then and sound a warning.

 

[Meta4]

I make sure on every flight that I have at least 16 satellites connected and if I do not have phone service then I pre-load the map before I arrive at the location. This method worked for about a month without fail and then suddenly no matter if I load the map, have 3G and satellites connected or not, an error occurs every time.

The name Compass Error is misleading.
It makes people thing that there's something wrong with the compass but usually I's a good compass warning of a problem.
Think of it more as a Compass Warning.
You are losing GPS because your Phantom switches to atti when it has a compass error.
That's what it's programmed to do when it has conflicting data coming from the compass and GPS.
The number of sats in the sky, 3g coverage and a map are completely unrelated. (The map and 3G coverage have no bearing on anything to do with flying at all).
The most common cause of compass errors like you describe are launching from reinforced concrete surfaces or somewhere on top of steel.
If you aren't doing that, you'd have to start looking for other possible causes but there aren't many.
Have you modified your Phantom, added accessories etc?

I am beginning to think there is a fault in my drone’s compass? But then surely the error would happen straight away and not 10 mins into a flight?

Post #3 could be a good explanation of why that happens.

 

[Brockrock]

My most tense moment flying was when I took my P4 off from the roof of my car. I don’t know what I was thinking... I had no errors as it warmed up and then acquired its home point, so up I sent it. Then, things got very interesting. Warnings, switching to ATTI, drifting toward a tree. I’ll never do that or anything similar again.

I’m wondering if one of the early occurrences of this was a true compass error due to magnetic interference ending in one of the hard landings you mention. This may then have caused damage to your compass resulting in subsequent issues.