phantom 3 pro firmware

scooterchris · Jul 31, 2015

Picked up a phantom 3 pro last weekend. Get it home. Charge the battery up and go outside. Thing flys fantastic. I love it. Best drone I've owned.

Here's the fun part. So....I go back inside and download the firmware update to the controller and quad.
Take it out the next day. Slide auto lift off. Phantoms in the air. Move it back in fourth making sure all is well.

Quad takes off by itself. Full throttle to the left went inverted and slammed the concrete. like it was jumping off the top rope at a WWE match.

So I pick it up. check it out. All is well. Quad is scratched up pretty good. Propellers are shot.

Fast forward past several good flight.
Quad does it again in the grass at my house.
(I calibrate before every flight)

So basically in my mind now it's possibly a 50/50 chance the phantoms gonna take off every time I take it out.

My advice if you buy a new phantom. Don't download the firmware until it's fixed.

I sold the beat up phantom
Got a pro and a advanced on the way.
Bought a yuneec q500 4k in the mean time from a local hobby shop. Doesn't even come close to being as good as the phantom

Thanks all for listening,
Scooter

envisionabove · Jul 31, 2015

Sounded like a very fixable user error, enjoy the Q500 I guess.
At no time did you say you updated the MUI or Calibrated the compass?
I would call this a classic Open Box and Fly Drone Error.
When the other ones come you mite want to ask a few questions, also the new ones if your getting them may have the new firmware pre installed.
BTW the help received on this Forum is impeccable.

scooterchris · Jul 31, 2015

Please reread my post sir. I most certainly said I updated the quad, controller, and batteries.

I also stated I calibrate before every flight.

I'm selling the q500 4k.

tvckz · Jul 31, 2015

scooterchris said:
Please reread my post sir. I most certainly said I updated the quad, controller, and batteries.

I also stated I calibrate before every flight.

I'm selling the q500 4k.

Why do you calibrate before each flight? Do you wanna break it?

envisionabove · Jul 31, 2015

scooterchris said:
Please reread my post sir. I most certainly said I updated the quad, controller, and batteries.

I also stated I calibrate before every flight.

I'm selling the q500 4k.

That's great
"Picked up a phantom 3 pro last weekend. Get it home. Charge the battery up and go outside. Thing flys fantastic. I love it."

Did you Calibrate the MUI before anything else then the Camera then the Compass.
This should have been done right after you updated the firmware.
Has not been a Battery update yet so no Biggy, it would not have caused a crash.

You Most likely had a bad Calibration on the compass, and the MUI should have been calibrated after the firmware. Some feel even before you fly the first time you should calibrate the MUI you got lucky so did I when I first received mine.

I understand not everyone reads forum specific groups on Items they buy.
This should be a mandatory note from any company when High Tech equipment is purchased.

SO MUI, Did you calibrate on a level surface after updating the firmware?

scooterchris · Jul 31, 2015

Yes I calibrated before I flew the first time. After reading the calibrating sticky note here on the forum. I do believe that I am calibrating to much. I thought that since my work is about 40 miles away I should do it every time I fly which is mostly between my house and my shop

So maybe that was the problem. With my two new ones I will only calibrate if I travel over 100 miles like it says in the sticky thread.

Mike Gravo · Jul 31, 2015

scooterchris said:
Yes I calibrated before I flew the first time. After reading the calibrating sticky note here on the forum. I do believe that I am calibrating to much. I thought that since my work is about 40 miles away I should do it every time I fly which is mostly between my house and my shop

So maybe that was the problem. With my two new ones I will only calibrate if I travel over 100 miles like it says in the sticky thread.

Two different things are being discussed here, IMU (not MUI) calibration and compass calibration. Only calibrate the IMU when first purchasing, after firmware update, or after a crash. This must be done on a flat, level surface. Do not do this in the field. The 100 mile travel distance you are referring to is the compass calibration. Some follow the travel distance rule, others calibrate before each flight.

You should check your mod values (sensors) before taking off. The first should be 0, second should be 1, and the third should be between 1400-1600.

jr619 · Sep 19, 2015

Whoooo...IMU calibration? I'm a newbie at this. I know about the compass calibration. What is the IMU calibration, and how is it done?

rowdyjim · Sep 19, 2015

jr619 said:
Whoooo...IMU calibration? I'm a newbie at this. I know about the compass calibration. What is the IMU calibration, and how is it done?

Hi I used this method after updating to 1.4 and it seemed to have fixed my camera level as well.

shadow · Sep 19, 2015

Thank you for this video. Very much appreciated.

aopisa · Sep 19, 2015

What is the area like around your shop? Large amounts of metal around can throw the compass off.

I took off from a wooden foot bridge tonight. All checked out before I lifted off. Flew it out a few feet over the stream. All of a sudden I get a Compass Error and the thing starts drifting all over the place. Threw it into ATTI mode and coaxed (fought) it back to the bridge. Turns out the wooden bridge was built on top of two steel girders. Totally my fault, I should have checked first.

rowdyjim · Sep 19, 2015

aopisa said:
What is the area like around your shop? Large amounts of metal around can throw the compass off.

I took off from a wooden foot bridge tonight. All checked out before I lifted off. Flew it out a few feet over the stream. All of a sudden I get a Compass Error and the thing starts drifting all over the place. Threw it into ATTI mode and coaxed (fought) it back to the bridge. Turns out the wooden bridge was built on top of two steel girders. Totally my fault, I should have checked first.

Performing an imu calibration is different to a compass calibration. My understanding is the IMU calibration "zero's' everything to keep it level etc. This only really needs to be done before first ever flight out of box ,after firmware updates or after a crash. Some have even said they skip the imu calibration after updates because their values still read ok. Personal decision really.
I just follow the recommendation from DJI. This way if something happens I can say i followed their instructions.