compass calibration

[milesdr1m]

Yes I am a new Phantom 2 pilot and had a suceessful flight yesterday. I did the compass calibration before I flew. Everything went fine. My question is, I live on 20 acreas next to a conservation area. if I fly 400 yrds away from where I calibrated the compass will I need to recalibrate? I have several spots close that I want to fly but not sure on the compass thing.
Thanks

 

[RussA]

No, you only need to recalibrate if you move a long distance, probably hundreds of miles.

 

[milesdr1m]

Thanks sound like I don't even need to recalibrate at the flying field 20 miles away.

 

[J Dot]

I agree, if I'm within eye distance from where I calibrated, I do not recalibrate, but anything farther, I always recalibrate ( a) better safe than sorry , ( b ) you never know if you had some mAgnetic interference, on the way to fly zone ( buried wire,speaker magnet ( in car on ride over ), or other UNKNOWN factor? Truth is you could calibrate after each flight ( not necessary ) but doesn't hurt anything to do. This brings me back to ( a ) better safe than sorry ! I personally recalibrate after 5 full batteries spent, even if in same location, and I use line of sight method ( if I cannot physically see ( with my eyes ) my last fly location, I recalibrate! I have never had an issue ( yet ). It is personal preference for the most part.
Most people recalibrate at each new location ( regardless he distance ? )
I believe the new 3.0 firmware with newest assistant software. Has the ability to tell you if your compass
Is out of whack? Pretty cool feature. I personally have not tried yet, but might check it out later.

Take care my friend,
And I would not worry to much, just keep a close eye on your phantom ( right after take-off ) if it does small circles, or tries to fly away from you at an angle ( ie: forward & left / backwards & right / ect, ) that is the first sign of compass mishap. Land right away, and recalibrate ( also take our time during calibration ) it is not a race, take it steady and slow the phantom will wait for you, you have plenty of time to complete accurate calibration!

Jerry D
USA
( J Dot )

 

[tanasit]

For the US, you may want to calibrate if you travel to the different time zone.
Also you can always check if the CL works because it requires the compass only, unlike the HL which requires the GPS.
If all work well, the flight patterns should look like below:

Assuming that you, the pilot is in the center of the circle.

 

[milesdr1m]

Thank you. Very good info.

 

[DeweyAXD]

Yeah I am a firm believer of calibrate once in a 'clean zone' near where you fly most and stick with it. Anythin inside 100 miles will have very very little bearing and in fact it is more risky IMO to calibrate at every location cause you simply don't know what hidden magnetic fields are around you. By clean zone I mean ideally a wide open space with no metal objects, cables, wifi etc... don't have your phone in your pocket either. You'll know its clean cause when you test fly it after the 'dance' it'll fly nice and straight with a good hover.

I've been the wrong end of a recalibration in a high magnetic zone (where I'd flown several times with no issue until i chose to do the 'dance' there). Result was an erratic flyaway ending in a high speed field crash.