2 question about take offs and updates

[hdrider]

#1, I like to take the jeep to many places I want to fly that are just all dirt. At times I take part of my roof off and use it as a pad for take-offs and landings. But do you think just using the rooftop period while on the Jeep would be an issue? It's a hardtop but obviously not metal.
I have landed by catching it before but not crazy about trying to take off by hand.

#2, I have had my Phantom for a couple months now and it has been flying flawlessly so do I really need to do updates as they come available?

Thanks

 

[Damon]

#1, I like to take the jeep to many places I want to fly that are just all dirt. At times I take part of my roof off and use it as a pad for take-offs and landings. But do you think just using the rooftop period while on the Jeep would be an issue? It's a hardtop but obviously not metal.
I have landed by catching it before but not crazy about trying to take off by hand.

#2, I have had my Phantom for a couple months now and it has been flying flawlessly so do I really need to do updates as they come available?

Thanks

#1 I would not risk it fouling up compass. The metal of vehicle not to mention if it has roll cage under hard top. But if you do, understand the risks. How about hauling launch pad or large section of cardboard to limit blown dirt.

#2 Only update if your having issues, or the release notes show a fix for safety reasons or a fix for a problem your experiencing.

 

[Meta4]

Try it and see. If you try to takeoff from a steel car roof you get the calibration necessary message
There's potential for a problem with all that metal nearby but your Phantom will tell you if it doesn't like it.
Perhaps the effect will be low enough on the hardtop for it to work.

 

[Peter Patricelli]

If you put a stock landing gear on a iron roof, you are putting a compass scrambling iron thing RIGHT NEXT to the compass....on the bottom of the leg.....while the bird is booting and calibrating. That WILL scramble the calibration. You apparently already know that and say that your roof is NOT metal. BUT...when mounted on the car....how far away from metal supports is it?

I think what most of us are doing these days is to have a plastic carrying case for the bird and controller....which has a wide enough side that it makes a convenient take-off platform. Carry the case containing all the flight essentials to the take off spot, take out the essentials, then lay on its side and put the bird on it. Then hand-catch the landing. But even a 2x2' piece of plywood would do.

I would not even experiment with taking off from the metal surface of a car, or if there were ferro-magnetic steel within 2-3 feet of the compass. It is asking for trouble.

 

[4wd]

Has anyone got definitive proof the compass is affected by launching from on or near metal objects?
I launched from a steel plate flat farm bale trailer several times without issue.

 

[N017RW]

I too am skeptical but open to experienced pilots' anecdotal accounts.

I would (at least) say that the pre-takeoff Course lock vector could be erroneous due to such localized ferrous material interference potential but once airborne I can't see the flight characteristics being compromised as a result.

(The Course lock vector could of course be reset one airborne.)

 

[ianwood]

Has anyone got definitive proof the compass is affected by launching from on or near metal objects?
I launched from a steel plate flat farm bale trailer several times without issue.

I'd say 1/3rd of all fly aways start with a take off near ferromagnetic materials. It's not a guaranteed fly away, but you're making it much more likely.

 

[480sparky]

I will use my hard case for a launch pad in cases like that.

 

[4wd]

I could imagine a metal object to one side being more of a concern than a flat sheet underneath ?

 

[N017RW]

Has anyone got definitive proof the compass is affected by launching from on or near metal objects?
I launched from a steel plate flat farm bale trailer several times without issue.

I'd say 1/3rd of all fly aways start with a take off near ferromagnetic materials. It's not a guaranteed fly away, but you're making it much more likely.

How so?

It's easy to see the effects/distortion caused by near-by objects with a compass. But once you move away or increase proximity the effects subside and even disappear.

Assuming no gaussing occured because of exposure, as would be the case for non-magnetized materials, why would a magnetometer act any differently?

 

[Buckaye]

Has anyone got definitive proof the compass is affected by launching from on or near metal objects?
I launched from a steel plate flat farm bale trailer several times without issue.

I'd say 1/3rd of all fly aways start with a take off near ferromagnetic materials. It's not a guaranteed fly away, but you're making it much more likely.

How so?

It's easy to see the effects/distortion caused by near-by objects with a compass. But once you move away or increase proximity the effects subside and even disappear.

Assuming no gaussing occured because of exposure, as would be the case for non-magnetized materials, why would a magnetometer act any differently?

Found this online... I am wondering if the concern is a semi-permanent disruption of the magnetic properties of the compass... but based on the below - it would have to be pretty strong to have a lingering effect. I would imagine that the biggest concern is determining "Home" - if you don't re-establish "home" after a magnetic field interferes with the compass - I could see a fly-away being the result of the Phantom not really "knowing" which direction "Home" is. I dunno - just spitballing

Why does the compass respond when it is near an electrical wire with current flowing through it?

We can conclude from this experiment that an electric current causes a magnetic field around it just like a magnet causes a magnetic field. When you moved the compass near a bar magnet, the needle pointed toward the magnet's magnetic field and not toward the north. When you put the compass near the electrical wire with current flowing through it, the compass did not point north; instead, the compass needle pointed in the direction of the current's magnetic field.

What would happen if we put a ferromagnetic object into the magnetic field?

Now we have established that a conductive wire with a current flowing through it has a magnetic field. If we put a ferromagnetic object in this magnetic field, the object will concentrate the strength of the field and cause the object to become magnetic. Once the current flow in the line stops, the magnetic field disappears and the object stops acting like a magnet. However, the magnetic field of one wire is small and does not have much strength, so it can only make temporary magnets from small objects. But, let’s say that we take a wire and coil it several times to form a long coiled piece of electrical wire, and then we turn on the current. We would have a magnetic field much bigger and stronger than we would without the coiled piece of wire, and we could magnetize even larger objects.

An iron bar placed through the center of the coiled wire would become a temporary magnet, called an electromagnet, as long as the electric current is flowing through the wire.

 

[hdrider]

I was figuring to do my sat. lock and compass calibration away from the Jeep as I always do and then set in on the roof. The plastic roof is actually pretty thick but yes there is a rollbar. However it's a 4 door and I could center it towards the back where there would be no metal within at least 1 foot away from being under it.
I carry the bird in a backpack case and have uses it and I also carry a 2x2 piece of plexiglass in the Jeep that I have used but in dusty areas it still kicks up so much dust that I have concern. Maybe I shouldn't have that concern with the plexiglass.