Take out of gps mode

[buzzthecat2019]

So i was flying my drones a spot i always got to but today i took my first flight was all ok
landing the drone and went for another flight but this time i got up to say 40ft and it said compass error
take out of gps mode so i did a calibration shut down the drone same thing
So i went to fly my other drone a p34k
same thing got up to like 60 ft same error

i know its not the drones why would they both do it and i always got to that spot

 

[Deleted member 62848]

So i was flying my drones a spot i always got to but today i took my first flight was all ok
landing the drone and went for another flight but this time i got up to say 40ft and it said compass error
take out of gps mode so i did a calibration shut down the drone same thing
So i went to fly my other drone a p34k
same thing got up to like 60 ft same error

i know its not the drones why would they both do it and i always got to that spot

Mayby something transmitting a signal around that height or for some reason sats for gps might drop causing a atti mode change till it regain sufficient gps again,,clould cover,solar flare,who knows,,strange for both to do it,ok at another spot,when my p3s gives me compass error I aways redo very slow and it comes ok

 

[cheddarman]

Did you calibrate your compasses before the flights? There is almost nothing, apart from being indoors, that will block the GPS signals so unlikely to be that.

 

[buzzthecat2019]

Did you calibrate your compasses before the flights? There is almost nothing, apart from being indoors, that will block the GPS signals so unlikely to be that.

i calibrated the compass the imu the camera it can not be the drone cuss it does the same thing on both my p34k and p3adv
strange there is no power lines or nothing im in the woods open fields

i get gps green ready to fly start going up and i get the message on both drones
my next drone will not be a dji

 

[sar104]

i calibrated the compass the imu the camera it can not be the drone cuss it does the same thing on both my p34k and p3adv
strange there is no power lines or nothing im in the woods open fields

i get gps green ready to fly start going up and i get the message on both drones
my next drone will not be a dji

It sounds like magnetic interference at the takeoff point, even though that may seem unlikely out in the woods. Did you check whether the aircraft direction arrow on the map was pointing in the same direction that the aircraft was actually pointing? If not then the IMU yaw ends up incorrectly initialized and as the aircraft takes off and climbs out of the distorted magnetic field, the IMU yaw and compass will start to disagree, leading to that message.

 

[WV. Rootman]

i calibrated the compass the imu the camera it can not be the drone cuss it does the same thing on both my p34k and p3adv
strange there is no power lines or nothing im in the woods open fields

i get gps green ready to fly start going up and i get the message on both drones
my next drone will not be a dji

Dji has the least problems with their drones. I'm not pro DJI company. You get less for your money with another brand. Why do you think DJI is #1in drone sells. Because of their wonderful customer service. Lol
Could there be metal close by that would throw the compass off? You have a problem and it is unlikely to be an internal issue with both drones at the same time.

 

[buzzthecat2019]

Dji has the least problems with their drones. I'm not pro DJI company. You get less for your money with another brand. Why do you think DJI is #1in drone sells. Because of their wonderful customer service. Lol
Could there be metal close by that would throw the compass off? You have a problem and it is unlikely to be an internal issue with both drones at the same time.

i been to that spot over ten time and this never happened before don't you think that is kind of strange and not just to one drone but both

 

[sar104]

i been to that spot over ten time and this never happened before don't you think that is kind of strange and not just to one drone but both

It's not strange if there was something causing very local magnetic distortion - that would affect both drones if you launched them from the same spot.

 

[WV. Rootman]

Try flying in a different location.

 

[Oso]

don't you think that is kind of strange and not just to one drone but both

From what I've read, you seem to be of the opinion that a compass calibration is the first thing to do when you see a compass error. All conjecture of course, but is it possible that you did the previous compass calibration in a magneticaly influenced location such as near large metal objects including on your person? That could be another common demoninator impacting both drones.

The standard recommendation we give is to leave your compass alone once you have a known good calibration. Many of us havent done a compass calibration in years. If you get a compass error, before doing anything else first move to another location even just several feet away. Doing a compass calibration is not the first recommended step when you see a compass error. Cheers!

 

[N017RW]

To add to Oso...

Compass compensation (calibration) does nothing to eliminate ambient interference.

It ONLY characterizes and compensates for the distortions created by on-board materials... ONLY.

Unless you add or remove items it is not necessary to re-compensate on any schedule or regularity.

 

[cheddarman]

To quote from the manual: IMPORTANT: Always to calibrate the compass in every new flight location.

 

[KachemakDiver]

Very interesting! About two weeks ago I encountered a similar problem.
I live in a small town by most people standards. Most of my flights are in a E2 zone. Never had a problem.
This one day in particular, nice sunny calm day, I prepared to fly. At this location I have built a nice landing pad up off the ground,( in Alaska from spring through fall, the weeds grow fast and tall). Anyway, full charge on the RC’s and multiple AC batteries.
I first started with a P3A my pad location. Got it up to around 30 feet, then first got the compass error, then a critical low voltage message. So of coarse, the drone was coming down. I could control the rate of decent to a certain degree, but could not make it to the LZ. It would also jump back and forth to atti mode.
Hmmm, so I went to fly my P3P,,, same exact issues.
Did all the same procedures and calibrations ,same problem.
I ended up on the FAA website,through the B4UFly app and emailed them a letter.
I was told that I didn’t need a waiver to fly in this zone, just stick to the flight parameters for this zone.
They also said that they think DJI jumped the gun and put the restrictions on me for trying to fly Within the 5 mile from an airport rule,,, even though the dji go app said to just fly with caution. The B4UFly app said no waiver was needed for an E2 zone.
2 days later I was flying around this area without any problems!
So,, just FYI, something smells fishy around the powers that be.
P.S. Luckily there was no damage done to my drones!!
Leland

,

 

[N017RW]

To quote from the manual: IMPORTANT: Always to calibrate the compass in every new flight location.

Yeah,

Probably a translation issue. Proven here time and again to be unnecessary.
My oldest drone is a P2-NV (2014). Compass last compensated around 07/2014 when I installed a Futaba Rx when upgrading the radio. Travelled as much a 750 miles from compensation location as well as airport scanners and have not compensated since (~5 yrs!)

 

[sar104]

Very interesting! About two weeks ago I encountered a similar problem.
I live in a small town by most people standards. Most of my flights are in a E2 zone. Never had a problem.
This one day in particular, nice sunny calm day, I prepared to fly. At this location I have built a nice landing pad up off the ground,( in Alaska from spring through fall, the weeds grow fast and tall). Anyway, full charge on the RC’s and multiple AC batteries.
I first started with a P3A my pad location. Got it up to around 30 feet, then first got the compass error, then a critical low voltage message. So of coarse, the drone was coming down. I could control the rate of decent to a certain degree, but could not make it to the LZ. It would also jump back and forth to atti mode.
Hmmm, so I went to fly my P3P,,, same exact issues.
Did all the same procedures and calibrations ,same problem.
I ended up on the FAA website,through the B4UFly app and emailed them a letter.
I was told that I didn’t need a waiver to fly in this zone, just stick to the flight parameters for this zone.
They also said that they think DJI jumped the gun and put the restrictions on me for trying to fly Within the 5 mile from an airport rule,,, even though the dji go app said to just fly with caution. The B4UFly app said no waiver was needed for an E2 zone.
2 days later I was flying around this area without any problems!
So,, just FYI, something smells fishy around the powers that be.
P.S. Luckily there was no damage done to my drones!!
Leland

,

DJI geofencing will not produce compass errors or battery warnings. Compass errors are due to magnetically bad takeoff locations (very common) or poorly calibrated compasses (much less common). Rapid critical low voltage errors are due to taking off with a partially charged battery or a battery with one or more bad cells.

 

[Oso]

Proven here time and again to be unnecessary.

No kidding, huh? Its truly astounding how we just cant seem to put the compass calibration thing to bed once and for all even after hundreds of posts explaining it. I suppose it will just never go away.

@Meta4 , you have been one of the many folks here who have been continuously explaining the facts about compass calibrations and the compass error. Do you see the misunderstandings ever going away?

 

[Meta4]

To quote from the manual: IMPORTANT: Always to calibrate the compass in every new flight location.

Or to quote from the P4 pro manual where they finally corrected that ...

DJI documentation has a number of inaccuracies.
Fortunately some forum members users have worked out what really is important.

Part of the problem is DJI's term compass error which makes some think there's something wrong with the compass and they get the completely wrong idea that calibrating the compass somehow "fixes" that.
Post #11 above explains what calibrating the compass actually does.

If your compass warns you of magnetic interference nearby (compass error), no amount of recalibrating the compass will do anything to solve the problem.

i been to that spot over ten time and this never happened before don't you think that is kind of strange and not just to one drone but both

That it's showing up in two drones at the same place is a pretty strong indication that the place is a factor.
You can set off the compass with just a small bolt if it's close enough to the compass.
You could have launched many times from nearby with the compass a little further from the offending piece of steel but moving the drone a few inches could cause the problem.
Post #5 tells you haw to avoid that.

 

[KachemakDiver]

Just saying in response to an earlier post that I was having a similar problem.
It happened for only day ,cannot explain it.
I know about all the do’s and don’ts, proximity of cell phones ,metal builds, etc,etc!
I take off and land in the exact same spot Every Time.
My copter pad is all plastic, so it’s not a bolt or screws.
Everything was fine until I got up 10-20 feet, then the problems.
Must’ve been a Klingon warship somewhere in the area!
I do appreciate the comments and advice from all the experienced pilots on this forum!
I have learned many things by reading posts from all.

 

[Greybush]

@Oso . Out of curiosity would solar flares cause issues?

 

[Oso]

@Oso . Out of curiosity would solar flares cause issues?

We normally advise that solar flares have no noticeable impact. If there is a very rare major geomagnetic storm of K8 or more, we could see some impact such as GPS position errors of something in the neighborhood of 10’s of feet. Again, thats only for the rare very large events.