Hovering, Drifting, Yaw Problem

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I've started a new thread with this solution gathered from various posts mainly because people in some cases have to read through pages and pages of content in order to get to this remedy. If there's a consensus on changes, I'll certainly make them.

If you are having problems with hovering, drifting, and/or Yaw control, you can choose to do the following:

You can send your unit back and hopefully start over.

You can call DJI support who, after assuring them all your software and firmware are up-to-date, you haven’t modified your Phantom in any way, you just put on new props, and you performed an advanced calibration in their award winning Phantom Assist Software, will tell you to send the unit in. Don’t even bother telling them this problem is rampant, they won’t believe you, or they won't admit it. You’ll hopefully be flying again in less than a month.

You can go another route. You can realize what exactly the problem is and repair it yourself.

The problem is with your flight controller. It’s inside your Phantom. It has to be re-calibrated in the Phantom Assist software. The only problem is, it has to be spot on level before this is done and in most cases, it’s “not” sitting perfectly level inside your unit. What to do.

Get your Phantom as level as possible on your desk and perform an Advanced Calibration in the Phantom Assist software. Next, take it in the field making sure you calibrate the compass again before takeoff (calibrate the compass before every takeoff during this trial and error period). If you are still drifting, try this:

Adjust the attitude of your Phantom before re-calibrating in the software. Try turning the unit 180 degrees in the exact same spot and re-calibrate and field test. Still no luck? You can place pieces of paper, business cards, or playing cards under the left, right, front or back of the landing gear. If your unit drifts to the left, raise the left side and re calibrate in the software. Perform another field test. Things better but not perfect? Put more cards under the gear, same side. Things worse? Put the cards under the gear on the other side. Repeat the process until you are happy. Of course, make sure you place your unit in the exact same spot in the exact same direction on your desk. The best result would be if in flight your Phantom spun as if it was siting on a pole.

If you are more adventurous and not worried about warranty issues, you can skip all this and do the very first thing the DJI technician would do. Open up the Phantom and place a bulls-eye level directly on the flight controller and do an advanced calibration. Don't forget to calibrate the compass once again in the field. Good luck.
 
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I wrote about this once before... if you really want to be precise you need to align the TV (thrust vector) and the IMU. Since you can't alter the motor mounts you should make sure both the IMU and TV are level and parallel to each other. Now you have both your control and output systems aligned. If not then the IMU maybe level but there is a vector to the thrust which the IMU must constantly compensate for.

Also, when you say 'calibrate in the field' are you referring to the compass?
 
I guess as long as you are in there, you might as well align the TV and the IMU. I'll be more precise on the calibrations. Thanks.
 
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