First Flight out of Box observations

[lyricon]

Hi all,
Just joined this forum and my Phantom came today by UPS.
I want to share an observation that I'm sure some have experienced but after a search of the forum I don't come across it.
After assembly and charging the LiPo I headed out to a vacant field for a test flight. Powered up as instructed. All good it seemed. Did the compass calibration after the warm up period of 6 yellow flashes and good GPS lock, no red flashes. hat went as expected but after I set the phantom down I noticed 6 green flashes after the control mode flash, ATTi in my case. The chart said that was normal it the aircraft had been moved. It had so I thought I would power up a see what happens. As I increased throttle it started to nose over a bit. That was a warning. I pulled back a bit on the pitch and let it lift off a meter or so. Very hard to control. There was wind but not enough to cause what was happening. I set it back down, more or less, and looked at the light chart again. The 6 greens can also mean the calibration is off. Back home to run the Naza assistant and sure enough, it was off. Seems the trip from where ever it was by UPS took a small toll. After calibration it flies beautifully. Held GPS position in a pretty good wind. All modes worked as expected.

Point. If you see 6 flashing greens out of the box it the IMU is likely out of calibration. May be its worth doing the basic cal by default when you receive a Phantom in the mail.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?
Thanks,

Greg

 

[Mark P]

You have to calibrate it every time you plug the battery in, where you click from Atti to GPS mode 10 times fast and then spin 360 horizontal, then vertical which I see you did I think. Not sure of this but I would assume thats the case and always do it and never had a glitch in about 15 flights now

 

[jdawson]

You do not have to calibrate you compass every time you use your phantom.

Here is a video from DJI that will let you know when you need to do the compass reset.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... jt1Zxz5-Q4

 

[jdawson]

As a MINIMUM you should watch all videos on the DJI page before you use it.
http://www.dji-innovations.com/products ... /overview/

 

[Mark P]

You do not have to calibrate you compass every time you use your phantom.

Here is a video from DJI that will let you know when you need to do the compass reset.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... jt1Zxz5-Q4

Well I know I'm sticking to calibrating everytime considering I transport mine in vehicles stuffed full of magnets including in the seats and a Kawasaki Mule which is a giant hunk of metal, I'll try not calibrating and see what happens.

My little experience with helicopters that may not effect Quads is you need to get them about 6' off the ground to get them out of their own rotor wash or they can get a little shaky from their own wash, not sure if a Quad has this effect but I would think it would be worse considering each rotor is moving at different speeds

 

[lyricon]

This was an IMU calibration I had to do. The lights indicated the need. I didn't hook up to the NAZA assistant right off. Didn't see that mentioned in the manual. Have watched all the videos. I believe they only mention the Basic calibration if you don't get good lights on start up. I mistook the 6 green that could mean " unit has moved" for IMU needs calibration. Second flight was much different, very controllable as was the third just now. It couldn't keep itself level at all. Ran all over and took full range of controls not to crash. I put it down right away. Once I did the basic cal, not compass, did that too, all was well.

Cheers,

Greg

 

[lyricon]

I did find this in the Manual, finally. Page 11 of the quick start. I guess I I didn't catch the 6 green when I fist moved it. Assumed they were because I moved. Learning.

A pleasure to fly. I'm graduating from the AR Drone 2.0. Quite different. I added the Macgyver RC mod so it's similar but the throttle would center. This will be better once I get used to it. I see the toy quality of the AR now. Still a fun one though.

 

[noahnesha]

this was my first flight

http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/X19Q_blYq6I

 

[Sac D]

this was my first flight

http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/X19Q_blYq6I

Very nice! Looks cold there though!

 

[pwright]

Well I know I'm sticking to calibrating everytime considering I transport mine in vehicles stuffed full of magnets including in the seats and a Kawasaki Mule which is a giant hunk of metal, I'll try not calibrating and see what happens.

I also do it every time as I also am traveling around via truck and Polaris Ranger between flights. Considering how little time and effort is needed to take this extra precaution it is foolish not to do so.