And now more problems...

[TheRealNick]

Interesting, my feeling is that DJI has better conditions for the IMU and gimbal calibration, I have only done a compass calibration on mine. I check the sensors each flight to confirm they are in range.

 

[With The Birds]

You have to get a good run now, statistically you couldnt possibly be that unlucky...

 

[marzipana]

Interesting, my feeling is that DJI has better conditions for the IMU and gimbal calibration, I have only done a compass calibration on mine. I check the sensors each flight to confirm they are in range.

I think this was an issue with the compass itself though, not the IMU...but I'm certainly no expert [emoji6]


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[With The Birds]

Interesting, my feeling is that DJI has better conditions for the IMU and gimbal calibration, I have only done a compass calibration on mine. I check the sensors each flight to confirm they are in range.

Dji has no control over what happens to your phantom in transit. Rough handling could have an effect on the imu. There is a mechanical component to it. Its also advisable to run a calubration after firmware update (according to some posters who know a lot more than i do).

 

[With The Birds]

Now you can concentrate on enjoying your new hobby. Im pleased they buckled and went the replacement route. Its bad enough learning all the new skills witjout being suspicious about the reliability of the hardware

 

[TheRealNick]

I think this was an issue with the compass itself though, not the IMU...but I'm certainly no expert [emoji6]


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I would agree the two were probably unrelated, just wanted to point out to others that not everyone does an IMU calibration on arrival.

 

[TheRealNick]

Dji has no control over what happens to your phantom in transit. Rough handling could have an effect on the imu. There is a mechanical component to it. Its also advisable to run a calubration after firmware update (according to some posters who know a lot more than i do).

Agree some advise this, but I tend to follow what the manufacturer advises first and then if I find some evidence to contradict that I deviate. DJI doesn't seem to recommend IMU calibration on arrival or with firmware updates.

I am not saying it hurts anything if done properly, but based on what I have seen DJI probably has pretty specific conditions that they do the factory IMU calibration under. Those conditions are probably used for all their validation, testing, and troubleshooting. The main purpose is to learn the nuisances of all the sensors...those deviations do not change with firmware changes or typical shipping.

I used to have to go through the calibration process with some old school accelerometers and many times I would redo them over and over and over again as I can be a little OCD. Many of those times the first one was the best and I should have just stopped messing with it!

So in my mind I did not think I could get the Phantom in a better position than DJI to run the IMU calibration. Is it best to level it based on the skids being level or perhaps you want all the arms level, or maybe the circuit board?

So for myself I stuck with the factory calibration after reviewing all the sensor data....which I look at before each flight....

 

[marzipana]

I would agree the two were probably unrelated, just wanted to point out to others that not everyone does an IMU calibration on arrival.

That's true...some people are adamant you do it, others don't worry about it.

 

[marzipana]

Dji has no control over what happens to your phantom in transit. Rough handling could have an effect on the imu. There is a mechanical component to it. Its also advisable to run a calubration after firmware update (according to some posters who know a lot more than i do).

Yes, the tech guy did calibrate the IMU after he installed the new firmware, and I've seen many people recommend this, so not a bad idea.

 

[marzipana]

I must add, too, that I'm very grateful to this tech, as he spent a lot of time with me today going over everything and testing the Phantoms. One of the office workers was stunned that the 2nd unit had a dead compass right out of the box, apparently DJI sometimes give them grief over returns and they lose money.

Anyway, here's a screen grab from the test flight on the 3rd unit I received today...

 

[Sinisalo]

I had the same error "no attitude data" and I couldn't get the firmware to update successfully. I took a closer look at the gimbal and one of the 2 wire connectors were completely disconnected. I am sure your wires were not disconnected from the gimbal because I had telemetry data but no video in the Go app and you did have video but my point is that you should have tried updating the firmware before returning your last unit when it wouldn't calibrate. I updated the firmware after plugging in the wire and the "no attitude data" error went away.

 

[RoyVa]

Glad all is well now. I tell you the shipping is deadly, especially with electronic sensors. You should see how cargo gets handled when it's transported from oversees. Even the big containers get banged around and dropped to ground sometimes from many feet up. That's why it's necessary to do an IMU calibration after shipping, a crash or a major firmware upgrade. Happy flying and enjoy. Be sure to study that manual it's the key to see flying and getting your craft to return to you. HOMELOCK is the key.

 

[marzipana]

I had the same error "no attitude data" and I couldn't get the firmware to update successfully. I took a closer look at the gimbal and one of the 2 wire connectors were completely disconnected. I am sure your wires were not disconnected from the gimbal because I had telemetry data but no video in the Go app and you did have video but my point is that you should have tried updating the firmware before returning your last unit when it wouldn't calibrate. I updated the firmware after plugging in the wire and the "no attitude data" error went away.

It didn't matter, as the tech guy updated everything before he tested it anyway. Still had the same issue with the compass even after all that.


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[marzipana]

Glad all is well now. I tell you the shipping is deadly, especially with electronic sensors. You should see how cargo gets handled when it's transported from oversees. Even the big containers get banged around and dropped to ground sometimes from many feet up. That's why it's necessary to do an IMU calibration after shipping, a crash or a major firmware upgrade. Happy flying and enjoy. Be sure to study that manual it's the key to see flying and getting your craft to return to you. HOMELOCK is the key.

Thanks RoyVa - even before I got the first unit I was watching as many tutorials as I could about them - the manual doesn't cover everything in enough detail. We tried the Homelock feature today too, which was good [emoji4]


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[kphantom]

Um, I have no idea where the compass is even located? Nor what it actually looks like?

I think it's in one of the legs.

Here is a video showing compass calibration. I'd hold off on placing magnets near it until some basics are ruled out.

 

[kphantom]

Agree some advise this, but I tend to follow what the manufacturer advises first and then if I find some evidence to contradict that I deviate. DJI doesn't seem to recommend IMU calibration on arrival or with firmware updates.

I am not saying it hurts anything if done properly, but based on what I have seen DJI probably has pretty specific conditions that they do the factory IMU calibration under. Those conditions are probably used for all their validation, testing, and troubleshooting. The main purpose is to learn the nuisances of all the sensors...those deviations do not change with firmware changes or typical shipping.

I used to have to go through the calibration process with some old school accelerometers and many times I would redo them over and over and over again as I can be a little OCD. Many of those times the first one was the best and I should have just stopped messing with it!

So in my mind I did not think I could get the Phantom in a better position than DJI to run the IMU calibration. Is it best to level it based on the skids being level or perhaps you want all the arms level, or maybe the circuit board?

So for myself I stuck with the factory calibration after reviewing all the sensor data....which I look at before each flight....

I put it on my pool table, which is a slate table, to level it for IMU calibration.

 

[marzipana]

I think it's in one of the legs.

Here is a video showing compass calibration. I'd hold off on placing magnets near it until some basics are ruled out.

It's already sorted, I returned it today, tech checked it out and compass was dead, so they replaced with a new one (and tested it before I came home, as I live 2 hours away from them.)

 

[Sinisalo]

It's already sorted, I returned it today, tech checked it out and compass was dead, so they replaced with a new one (and tested it before I came home, as I live 2 hours away from them.)

Glad you got it sorted

 

[kphantom]

I think this was an issue with the compass itself though, not the IMU...but I'm certainly no expert [emoji6]


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Sorry for your run of bad luck. But it sounds like things should get better after the new compass.