Beginner Mode: Cannot Take Off (NO GPS)

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Hi. I received my first ever drone and P4P today. I was setting up my drone in our balcony. I don't understand the reason why there is no GPS signal when I was trying to fly my drone. Please explain to me. Im a super newbie. [emoji144]
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Please explain to me. Im a super newbie

Almost looks like you have some kind of cover on the camera lens in that shot?

Trying to take off from a balcony and you are a self admitted "super newbie"! Probably........in fact, NOT a good idea.

If that is a balcony with concrete floor and perhaps another above you there is plenty of rebar imbedded in that which will interfere with calibrating the Phantom prior to take off. Not to mention any metal railings!

It would be wise of you to sit down - read your manual and check out a few "beginner videos" on YouTube.

As much as it states "ready to fly" - they are speaking of the Phantom ---- NOT the PILOT or rather new pilot.

EDIT; Welcome to the forum by the way - this is a great start for you to get all kinds of assistance and tips for safe flying etc. Plenty of experienced pilots on here - heed what is being said and you will be fine.........don't rush out to fly as tempting as it is ......... before you know how to fly.

Best of luck going forward.
 
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Probably a good idea to calibrate it somewhere close to where he lives now so the drone no longer thinks it is in China.
 
He said he was setting up the drone from he's balcony. That's enough reason to calibrate imho

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What? That makes no sense. You don't calibrate the compass based on the kind of surface you are taking off from. You don't calibrate the compass unless the drone drifts or flies in an irregular manner.
 
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What? That makes no sense. You don't calibrate the compass based on the kind of surface you are taking off from. You don't calibrate the compass unless the drone drifts or flies in an irregular manner.
You kidding? You do understand that a balcony is full of metal right? Even one made of concrete had lots of metal which will affect the compass
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LOL - The manual states you should calibrate if you move away from your usual flying area. My rule of thumb is to calibrate if I travel 150 miles from where I last calibrated. Probably being over cautious and 300 miles would be a satisfactory rule of thumb.

Ones location; proximity to magnetic forces or physical objects (iron) that would deflect a compass x degrees has to be considered to get an accurate calibration. There are those who calibrate every flight to err on the side of caution. I recall one bloke who calibrated on the top of a parking garage only to have his drone fly wacky - didn't consider the hidden concrete reinforcing rebar. Oops.

What is being calibrated is the magnetometer - the compass that guides the drone as it flies. The earth’s magnetic field changes depending on where you are, if you move your drone a large distance (several hundred miles) the drone will likely misread its heading and fly a few degrees off ones intended line.

Are there good places and bad places to calibrate your drone? Likely answer is "yes". If you want to calibrate before every flight, go for it. If you don't, fine. Just be smart about it one way or the other.

Oh yeah, don't store your drone in a box of magnets, or next to your car's massive sub woofer - I never do.

"Hey grandpa, why do you wear your hat sideways?"
"It keeps Martians away."
"Grandpa, that's just crazy."
"You don't see any Martians, do you?!"
 
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So yes... you do calibrate based on where the drone is.... or do you think its ok to calibrate in a magnet factory too?

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I must have missed where the OP said he was CALIBRATING his drone on his balcony? And if you did decide to calibrate it, of course you wouldn't do it on a balcony with metal and concrete.

You seem to be implying that merely using a drone around metal/concrete means you need to calibrate the compass after the fact. But that is NOT true.

If anything you'll get the compass not working correctly because of trying to use it around metal/concrete, but if you move the drone away from that stuff it will return to normal behavior. The use of a drone around metal/concrete doesn't cause the compass to lose all calibration, so you don't need to recalibrate the compass after the fact...
 
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LOL - The manual states you should calibrate if you move away from your usual flying area. My rule of thumb is to calibrate if I travel 150 miles from where I last calibrated. Probably being over cautious and 300 miles would be a satisfactory rule of thumb.

Ones location; proximity to magnetic forces or physical objects (iron) that would deflect a compass x degrees has to be considered to get an accurate calibration. There are those who calibrate every flight to err on the side of caution. I recall one bloke who calibrated on the top of a parking garage only to have his drone fly wacky - didn't consider the hidden concrete reinforcing rebar. Oops.

What is being calibrated is the magnetometer - the compass that guides the drone as it flies. The earth’s magnetic field changes depending on where you are, if you move your drone a large distance (several hundred miles) the drone will likely misread its heading and fly a few degrees off ones intended line.

Are there good places and bad places to calibrate your drone? Likely answer is "yes". If you want to calibrate before every flight, go for it. If you don't, fine. Just be smart about it one way or the other.

Oh yeah, don't store your drone in a box of magnets, or next to your car's massive sub woofer - I never do.

"Hey grandpa, why do you wear your hat sideways?"
"It keeps Martians away."
"Grandpa, that's just crazy."
"You don't see any Martians, do you?!"
Completely agree. My point being, if your compass is "off" a bit you'll see it when you fly as the drone won't fly quite right. At that point you should immediately land and do any necessary calibration in a proper area (away from interference). But to calibrate every flight OR sometimes even if you change geographical location by a large margin isn't always necessary. And, doing unnecessary calibration increases risk of something going wrong. Because you may end up doing a calibration in an area you didn't realize had interference or hidden metal/magnetic forces nearby and suddenly you go to fly and your drone goes into a tree or wall or other object after takeoff. It happens.

To quote the old saying, if it ain't broke don't fix it.
 
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agreed. calibration every flight is unnecessary and can be pretty dangerous cuz you have a higher chance to screw up your compass readings. I've only calibrated my compass twice in the last year. No issues whatsoever.
 
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1) it obviously says balcony... Look.. I even high lighted it for you

2) not once did I say calibrate every flight so have no idea where you got that from

3) might be a good idea to Sue your school for really bad teaching when it comes to reading

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View attachment 70760

1) it obviously says balcony... Look.. I even high lighted it for you

2) not once did I say calibrate every flight so have no idea where you got that from

3) might be a good idea to Sue your school for really bad teaching when it comes to reading

Sent from my HUAWEI LYO-L01 using PhantomPilots mobile app
I think you're the one who is having reading comprehension issues... You're still not explaining why he has to calibrate his compass. He said he was setting up his drone on his balcony, and you said "that alone is enough reason to calibrate your compass". You have yet to explain WHY.

I set my drone up in my basement surrounded by concrete and rebar. I didn't need to calibrate my compass after that. "setting up" doesn't necessarily mean he did a compass calibration on his balcony, especially since the quick setup guide doesn't have that in the steps.

While we are on that topic, the P4Pro manual says to only calibrate the compass when prompted to do so. They removed the wording where it says to calibrate compass when you make a regional change.

https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/phantom_4_pro/Phantom+4+Pro+Pro+Plus+User+Manual+v1.0.pdf
 

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I think you're the one who is having reading comprehension issues... You're still not explaining why he has to calibrate his compass. He said he was setting up his drone on his balcony, and you said "that alone is enough reason to calibrate your compass". You have yet to explain WHY.

I set my drone up in my basement surrounded by concrete and rebar. I didn't need to calibrate my compass after that. "setting up" doesn't necessarily mean he did a compass calibration on his balcony, especially since the quick setup guide doesn't have that in the steps.

While we are on that topic, the P4Pro manual says to only calibrate the compass when prompted to do so. They removed the wording where it says to calibrate compass when you make a regional change.

https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/phantom_4_pro/Phantom+4+Pro+Pro+Plus+User+Manual+v1.0.pdf
Sorry... I didn't mean to get sarcastic... 7.45am in England now and I haven't been to sleep yet [emoji30] so I do apologize. Just that metal around the compass is a bad thing to do while calibrating

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Sorry... I didn't mean to get sarcastic... 7.45am in England now and I haven't been to sleep yet [emoji30] so I do apologize. Just that metal around the compass is a bad thing to do while calibrating

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Water under the (london?) bridge. We totally agree there, calibrating around metal/concrete is a recipe for disaster!
 
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When first bought my drone, on my second flight I calibrated the IMU and compass on a pier on lake Michigan . I had beach on one side and the river on the other. Luckily it wigged out and went to the beach side........ Stupid move on my part. But you live and you learn if your bird is OK.... But wow that could have been really bad fast.

coming from mars
 
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