Electromagnetic Interference Error and Crash

[astraldrone]

Hey guys,

Love this forum.

I got the P3S yesterday, and have been having heaps of fun, mainly flying low and close in Beginner mode while I get the hang of it.

Now, I had no problems yesterday, and then today I went to an empty oval with no buildings, trees, anything I can think of that would cause any interference. Calibrated the compass as it was a new area.

I had about two take offs and landings, over a 10 minute period, experiencing no problems and around 11 Satelites showing on my app.

Now the third time I took off, I was given the all clear by the app -Safe to fly.

As soon as I took off about 5 metres off the ground, I got a "Warning- Electromagnetic Interference" and it uttered what I think would have to have been Atti mode.

It all happened very fast and I freaked out and tried to land it but the drone continued to go in one direction at full speed, therefore crashing into the ground rather than gracefully landing. (No damage has been done to the drone thank god)

Now.....

1.If I had been flying in the exact spot for that long, why would I have got electromagnetic interference all of a sudden?

2. If it was saying ATTI mode like I presume... Will that just make the drone maintain height but go full throttle in the one direction? Is that right? Maybe I freaked and I should have hit the stick in the opposite direction that it was flying at, rather than just trying to lower the drone and land?

Before you tell me to read the manual, I have read all the documents that came in the box

Churr

 

[Meta4]

As soon as I took off about 5 metres off the ground, I got a "Warning- Electromagnetic Interference" and it uttered what I think would have to have been Atti mode.
It all happened very fast and I freaked out and tried to land it but the drone continued to go in one direction at full speed, therefore crashing into the ground rather than gracefully landing. (No damage has been done to the drone thank god)

1.If I had been flying in the exact spot for that long, why would I have got electromagnetic interference all of a sudden?

2. If it was saying ATTI mode like I presume... Will that just make the drone maintain height but go full throttle in the one direction? Is that right? Maybe I freaked and I should have hit the stick in the opposite direction that it was flying at, rather than just trying to lower the drone and land?

Before you tell me to read the manual, I have read all the documents that came in the box

First up ... you probably didn't find a manual in the box.
It's here: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/pha...antom_3_Standard_User_Manual_v1.4_en_0112.pdf

1. This is a little puzzling.
Usually it would suggest that your compass was calibrated in a bad area close to a lot of steel and when it lifted away from the magnetic influence, the compass would have trouble knowing where north is.
That may not be the case here but the best way to find out would be to look at your flight data.
Go to https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/
Follow the instructions to upload your flight record.

Come back and post a link to the report it provides and someone here might be able to analyse it and give you an understanding of the cause of the incident.

2. No .. atti won't make your Phantom zoom away

ps ... you don't need to recalibrate the compass for every new location.
This introduces the risk of getting a bad calibration.
Get a good calibration and stick to it.

 

[ChiefStealth]

1. Who knows?? Freak of nature? Sun spots? I don't think anyone can tell you what caused that.

2. In Atti mode, if you move the right stick in any direction, the drone will continue in that direction even if you let go of the stick. The drone will not stop if you just let go of the stick. You must move the stick in the opposite direction to slow down, stop, or move the opposite direction.
The up/down is stabilized. The turn left / turn right is stabilized. The move forward/back or move left right is not stabilized.

 

[Richard R]

And of course, once in atti mode any wind will push your bird have to be in GPS mode to maintain position (Switch in "P" on A/P birds).

 

[IsraeliDroneFlyer70]

Even DJI website says not to calibrate your compass every time you fly.


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots

 

[astraldrone]

Thanks for the info guys, much appreciated

I won't calibrate my compass every time now. I have read conflicting things with people saying to calibrate every time, and then others saying stick to a good calibration. (Official DJI videos contradict this as well)

I will upload my flight data and see if anyone can spot anything suss. I was already anxious about going high, and now im even more afraid its going to randomly lose GPS with interference and go haywire at 100metres up! That's a recipe for disaster.

 

[astraldrone]

Go to https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/
Follow the instructions to upload your flight record.

Come back and post a link to the report it provides and someone here might be able to analyse it and give you an understanding of the cause of the incident.

Here is my flight record. Any info is much appreciated

Phantom Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

 

[Meta4]

Here is my flight record. Any info is much appreciated

The compass was complaining from just after liftoff.
Because the flight controller can't handle the conflicting data it's getting from the compass and GPS, it drops the GPS data and puts you into atti mode.
This isn't much help though because it's the compass data that's all screwy which is why you had trouble

Why the compass gave you trouble after already flying successfully on that calibration is the puzzle.
I haven't seen one do that before.
I see you launched from a cricket pitch.
I'd think it unlikely but could there be some steel or reinforced concrete buried under there?

I'd go out to a clear area and calibrate it again and take it for a gentle test flight to see if it was a one-off thing or a real problem.
Slowly take it up a metre and see that it's holding position without wanting to slowly spiral, take it up to 5 metres and see if it flies straight.
Then higher and if everything is good, you should be right for further flight.

 

[astraldrone]

The compass was complaining from just after liftoff.
Because the flight controller can't handle the conflicting data it's getting from the compass and GPS, it drops the GPS data and puts you into atti mode.
This isn't much help though because it's the compass data that's all screwy which is why you had trouble

Why the compass gave you trouble after already flying successfully on that calibration is the puzzle.
I haven't seen one do that before.
I see you launched from a cricket pitch.
I'd think it unlikely but could there be some steel or reinforced concrete buried under there?

I'd go out to a clear area and calibrate it again and take it for a gentle test flight to see if it was a one-off thing or a real problem.
Slowly take it up a metre and see that it's holding position without wanting to slowly spiral, take it up to 5 metres and see if it flies straight.
Then higher and if everything is good, you should be right for further flight.

Yeah I wouldn't think there would be any steel or anything, so its a mystery

I wanted to check last night and make sure I didnt do any damage to the aircraft or gimbal so I took it for a test in a new area. Re-Calibrated, and flew for about 20 minutes, at my 30 metre limit with no problems whatsoever.

Maybe it was a once off with something weird, who knows

Sorry if I sound ignorant, but I'm trying to be as safe as possible......but because the compass was all screwed, I had no hope controlling it in ATTI mode? Or do I just need to work on my ATTI mode control in case something like this happens again

Thanks again for your time and help

 

[Meta4]

Sorry if I sound ignorant, but I'm trying to be as safe as possible......but because the compass was all screwed, I had no hope controlling it in ATTI mode?
Or do I just need to work on my ATTI mode control in case something like this happens again

Your Phantom dropped into atti mode when it was six inches off the ground - but it had bad compass data so it couldn't fly straight.
Sounds like whatever it was is fixed now and you should be all OK for future flying.

Atti (with a good compass) is like driving on ice with no brakes.
Test it out somewhere with nothing to hit around you.
Go slowly and close at first as you get the hang of it.
Any issues and you can quickly flick back to P-GPS mode and have position holding back again.

 

[Phantom-Paul]

Everybody should learn to fly in atti mode as soon as they are comfortable with the sticks. It's amazing how many crashes and fly always can be saved if you can fly hands on with no flight controller assistance.
Unfortunately what has made our current generation Phantoms so good has also spawned a whole lot of people who can't actually fly they just point it in the general direction and it works .

Sent from my SM-G900I using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[Richard R]

Everybody should learn to fly in atti mode as soon as they are comfortable with the sticks. It's amazing how many crashes and fly always can be saved if you can fly hands on with no flight controller assistance.
Unfortunately what has made our current generation Phantoms so good has also spawned a whole lot of people who can't actually fly they just point it in the general direction and it works .

Sent from my SM-G900I using PhantomPilots mobile app

That's why i drag out the Soma X8H every once in a while too. It has, basically, atti mode so its a good trainer fro my Phantoms in that mode. Gave one to my 14 year old grandson that also has FPV. When he gets proficient with that one, he can graduate up to one of my Phantoms. Also, its a lot cheaper bird to use to train my 9 year old grandson. He's actually pretty good, guess all those hours in front of a video game weren't entirely wasted!

 

[kirk2579]

Thanks for the info guys, much appreciated

I won't calibrate my compass every time now. I have read conflicting things with people saying to calibrate every time, and then others saying stick to a good calibration. (Official DJI videos contradict this as well)

I will upload my flight data and see if anyone can spot anything suss. I was already anxious about going high, and now im even more afraid its going to randomly lose GPS with interference and go haywire at 100metres up! That's a recipe for disaster.

typically going higher will allow more satellites to be received
many are low on the horizon level and cant be seen until you get up a bit...

as mentioned without gps , wind is the new pilot until you compensate and recover.

multi year flyer and have had 6 different phantoms models .
my current p3p was last calibrated a year ago......

good luck and have fun flying.

 

[royster]

Used to fly at an old cricket pitch here just outside of town, huge flat area, no homes around for miles. But, I always had wonky messages when I flew there, until I got altitude.
Last summer the place was bought up & is again, a thriving Cricket club.
I didn't know this until they started doing the place over but, the underground watering/sprinkler system consisted of metal pipes/nozzles, unlike the replacement stuff they are using which is all plastic. I figure the wonky readings could have been the miles of galvanized/steel piping.
And, they club has no problem with me flying there, weekdays only.