Heading Indicator going in circles and jumping around

djsydvicious · Dec 20, 2014

My Heading Indicator going in circles and jumping around the Compass Radar at the bottom left of the Vision App Camera Screen.

Help! Can someone help me determine what is going on with the Navigation Radar in the Vision App. I'm using an HTC ONE M8 on Android. I calibrated the drone and the compass on my Smartphone.

Watch this video and observe the change and behaviour at 1:23 point and then at 4:06 it seems to correct itself...

http://youtu.be/Q0qQqGThFys

Any ideas what's going on. I know there was a compass issue with my phone model months ago but they fixed it with a firmware update to the phone.

Mako79 · Dec 21, 2014

Re: Heading Indicator going in circles and jumping around

Never seen that.

Turn on dynamic home point and see if it fixes.
And look in the ground station to see if does the same thing.

kenargo · Dec 21, 2014

Re: Heading Indicator going in circles and jumping around

It looks like the compass is getting some interference, causing it to jump around; at least that is the 1st thing that comes to mind when I watched the video.

djsydvicious · Dec 21, 2014

I do wear a Pebble Smartwatch. However, I was informed that Bluetooth devices do not interfere with Phantom flights. Other than that, I have no idea what could be causing this. I see it at different locations.

Does the phone's compass have any effect on this indicator? I do know the radar will show the phones heading in the maximized radar.

Meta4 · Dec 21, 2014

Re: Heading Indicator going in circles and jumping around

Download a compass app and check if the problem is just with the Phantom or your phone's compass in general.

robinb · Dec 21, 2014

Re: Heading Indicator going in circles and jumping around

I had exactly the same problem, the arrow was in front, then behind etc etc.

I calibrated my phone compass and then it was ok.

djsydvicious · Dec 21, 2014

I always use GPS Essentials and sometimes GPS Test to calibrate the compass. I will try again today and give an update later this evening.

djsydvicious · Dec 21, 2014

Re: Heading Indicator going in circles and jumping around

OK, I took it for another test flight today. Here is the video showing the problem....

http://youtu.be/09CcBoQRrZY

I also programmed a Ground Station mission. I will post that one next. You can really see the odd behavior in that one.

djsydvicious · Dec 21, 2014

I just thought about something... I use High Accuracy GPS MODE which uses GPS, WiFi, and Cellular, to get a location fix. Perhaps, I should try using just the GPS? Maybe even turn off the Cellular when flying.

On another note, it's definitely not a Bluetooth issue. I left my Smartwatch in the truck this flight.

robinb · Dec 22, 2014

Re: Heading Indicator going in circles and jumping around

I only use GPS, I don't have a sim card in the phone.

djsydvicious · Dec 22, 2014

Re: Heading Indicator going in circles and jumping around

robinb said:
I only use GPS, I don't have a sim card in the phone.

I will give GPS Only a try later today.

djsydvicious · Dec 22, 2014

Re: Heading Indicator going in circles and jumping around

Here is a Screen Capture example of the problem while using Ground Station with Waypoints

http://youtu.be/IDVojKl4oag

robinb · Dec 22, 2014

Re: Heading Indicator going in circles and jumping around

Very frustrating.

The quad is going in the right direction.

Have you tried using a different phone or tablet ?

djsydvicious · Dec 22, 2014

Re: Heading Indicator going in circles and jumping around

robinb said:
Very frustrating.

The quad is going in the right direction.

Have you tried using a different phone or tablet ?

I have an old Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 that I may be to do a test with. I haven't tried to load the Vision App onto it. I will give it a shot and see if I can get someone to hold the tab while I fly the Quad. Or maybe I can try with someone elses phone. Let me see what I can do and report back.

Mako79 · Dec 22, 2014

Re: Heading Indicator going in circles and jumping around

Whats the MOD readings in the Phantom assist? Do the mod readings in an open field with a laptop. It should be between 1400-1800 for decent readings. If you do it inside, it will be affected by magnetic interference.

aartsf · Dec 24, 2014

Re: Heading Indicator going in circles and jumping around

djsydvicious said:
robinb said:

Very frustrating.

The quad is going in the right direction.

Have you tried using a different phone or tablet ?

Click to expand...

I have an old Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 that I may be to do a test with. I haven't tried to load the Vision App onto it. I will give it a shot and see if I can get someone to hold the tab while I fly the Quad. Or maybe I can try with someone elses phone. Let me see what I can do and report back.

Possibly, the compas of your smartphone/tablet is not stable (they ofter aren't). If that is the case you can fix your problem by blocking/locking the compas-icon on the upper-right corner of the ground station page of the app; just by clicking on it.
Trying can't hurt.

djsydvicious · Dec 24, 2014

Re: Heading Indicator going in circles and jumping around

I decided to exchange the Plus for the V3.0

Now I'm just waiting for rain to go away so I can see if I have the same issue. If so, I'm definitely sure it's a compass issue on the phone.