Is it ok to calibrate when ac is warming up
- Thread starter Cameroncarver
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What are you calibrating, IMU, compass, RC? For the IMU, the bird should be cool and calibrations started immediately. Wait until everything is up to speed before starting the compass calibration dance.
Meta4
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Why are you wanting to calibrate anything?
There is no need to recalibrate either the compass or the IMU before flights.
If you have a good compass calibration, just stick with it.
Unnecessary recalibration of a perfectly good compass could cause bigger problems that you think you are preventing.
Absolutely not! To have any significant change in magnetic deviation, you would have to be several 100 miles from the original location. Even then, calibration wouldn't really be needed since we aren't really using the compass for long range navigating. Do it once, do it right and leave it.
I'm traveling to the Right Coast from the Left Coast tomorrow. If my bird does not prompt me to calibrate should I do it anyways?
No. again, only if/when you get a prompt. And even then, I wouldn't automatically do it until I had moved the bird some distance from the first spot. More likely to be some local interference such as metal in the ground than a problem with you compass. Going from one coast to the other is only going to mean a difference of about 8 degrees between where magnetic North is in relation to True North (About +4 on one coast and -4 on the other). And again, you aren't navigating from one location to another so minor differences don't really impact. Only issue would be that if you had the aircraft pointing to a specific direction at a Waypoint like in Litchi, it would be off a few degrees. But your estimate of what direction you wanted to point could be off that much to start with. Main purpose of the compass is so the flight computer knows which direction the bird is pointing for things like RTH. Here again, a few degrees is only going to result in 'missing' home point by a meter or 2.
Meta4
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DJI had some poor wording or bad translation in the manuals that gave people the impression they needed to calibrate frequently.
DJI have finally corrected this in the manuals for newer drones.
Once you have a good calibration, just leave it alone.
Here's some background reading that explains it: Compass Calibration, A Complete Primer
Meta4
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Moving any distance makes no difference and never did.
The whole 100 miles thing was a myth.
I bought a lightly used P3 from 4400 miles away and flew it for 6 months without any calibrations.
My P4 pro came from China and I've been flying it for 6 months without any calibrations.
If your Phantom hovers in place without wanting to make slow spirals, the compass is fine and needs no recalibration.
Ah, good old PhantomPilots.com. Eight replies full of lectures, none of them actually answering the OP's question.
If you have determined you need to calibrate your compass, for whatever reason, follow the instructions at the link Meta4 provided. The short answer is, wait until the aircraft has warmed up and is ready to fly.
If you have determined you need to calibrate your compass, for whatever reason, follow the instructions at the link Meta4 provided. The short answer is, wait until the aircraft has warmed up and is ready to fly.
Actually, I answered his initial question in Post 2.
Meta4
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Actually, it would make no difference.
The compass is independent of the IMU, GPS etc and it is either on or off and needs no warming up.
I take my P3A from NY to CA and back. At first I used to always calibrate even with no prompt. After a few times and with guidance from a flying buddy in CA I stopped calibrating. Still no prompt and still no issues. YMMV.
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