Is this area okay for a calibration?

Joined
Jan 9, 2016
Messages
290
Reaction score
33
Just wondering if a rural high school oval would be a good place to calibrate?
 

Attachments

  • cc.jpg
    cc.jpg
    196.8 KB · Views: 488
Yep. Should be fine.
 
It's important to ensure you're not near anything metal. And, that you don't have anything metallic on your person (e.g. phone, ring, watch, etc.).
 
Should be fine, the compass is generally fine to calibrate anywhere as long as there isn't magnetic interference from say a large metallic object. For an IMU calibration you need to get the drone dead level and do it as cool as possible (I.e. When the unit has been switched off for a while and the ambient temperature is low)
 
For an IMU calibration you need to get the drone dead level
Right -- which means it's best to do this one indoors. It's tough to find a perfectly level location outdoors.
 
You need to make sure there isn't any buried metal with a few yards - it isn't always obvious. You may be able to use free magnetic sensor app in your phone to look for any problems.

I calibrated once in a open field, and then, right after taking off, at about 30 feet, I got compass warnings. At first I thought it was a malfunction, but after calibrating again in a different part of the field everything was fine.

Later I researched the location and found that it used to house a hospital complex that was torn down a decade ago, so I think there must have been old pipes or metallic debris hidden under the surface.
 
Right -- which means it's best to do this one indoors. It's tough to find a perfectly level location outdoors.
Yeah indoors is fine, ideally you want it to be cool though as the IMU will always need to get to whatever temperature its calibrated at so if it's warm in your house it will be a while before you can fly on a frosty day.
 
Just wondering if a rural high school oval would be a good place to calibrate?
Hi Tamara ... that should be fine and it looks like a good place to start up and get your confidence back.
No trees is always good for your early flights.
Get a good compass calibration and don't touch the compass again unless you make changes to the Phantom or you travel a long way from home.
 
Thanks all for your answers...just to clarify, I wasn't referring to an IMU calibration, I was referring to the compass on the drone. I have done an IMU indoors since my drone crashed the other evening, as well as a gimbal calibration...but I haven't taken the P3A out flying since the crash, so I thought a new compass calibration would be a good idea. The last calibration I did was at the golf course, 4 minutes later it switched itself into P-OPTI mode and crashed into a tree.

By the way, when you say not to have a phone near the drone - my iPhone 6 Plus is attached to the RC controller, so how far away does the controller need to be from the drone? As to metal...so take off a gold wedding ring, and silver ring earrings as well?
 
It would be good to keep 20+ feet away from anything metallic. I remove everything metallic from my person before calibrating. You don't need to calibrate often (unless you travel long distances between flying locations), so you won't need to calibrate again until you update the firmware.
 
It would be good to keep 20+ feet away from anything metallic. I remove everything metallic from my person before calibrating. You don't need to calibrate often (unless you travel long distances between flying locations), so you won't need to calibrate again until you update the firmware.

Oh dear, well I've been doing it wrong, because I've had the RC in one hand (with iPhone attached), the drone in the other, simply because I thought you needed to see the DJI app to let you know whether the calibration was successful :(

Even when you watch the DJI videos, the guy doing the calibration isn't that far away from his RC with tablet attached?
 
The lights on the Phantom will tell you whether or not the calibration was successful -- as seen here:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Yeah, you don't want to always try to mimic instructional videos exactly.
 
Here's a screen grab from the DJI official youtube channel, look how close he is to the phone or tablet, and he's wearing a watch...

tutorial.jpg
 
Oh dear, well I've been doing it wrong, because I've had the RC in one hand (with iPhone attached), the drone in the other, simply because I thought you needed to see the DJI app to let you know whether the calibration was successful :(

Even when you watch the DJI videos, the guy doing the calibration isn't that far away from his RC with tablet attached?

This is the way I've done it, too. No problems in flight at all. Just don't stand near power lines, giant metal poles or cement with rebar.
 
Compass calibration is recommended before each flight in a new area. I say if you had to get in your car to get where
you're flying, a calibration should be done. Either side of a field you can do one for all your flights.

USUALLY if there's considerable interference during the calibration, the calibration will fail, and your GO APP will tell you.
You're taking precaution when you take steps to avoid metal objects during the calibration. You don't have to stand naked in the
middle of nowhere... You can wear ear rings and small jewelry. If you got a beastly Rolex, don't wear it (and trust
whoever holds it for you). Standing next to a BBQ, or a baseball back stop, a metal shed, your car or motorcycle
will all effect calibration. I put the controller down a few feet away from me.

A possible bad calibration is one reason it's recommended to hover about 5-6' in place for about 30 seconds. Test all
your controls, and make sure the P3 is stable and responsive BEFORE you start your flight/mission.
Nothing will be 100% fool proof... but if you do your checks, you'll have done everything you can to ensure a
safe flight.

My hover before flight goes like this (stand 10 ft back minimum):

Take off up to eye level (about 6' for me) P3 facing away from me.
Climb up a few feet ...hold.... decend back to 6'... hold.
Rudder right 180*... hold... Rudder Left 180* hold.
Forward a few feet... hold... Backwards a few feet... hold
Pitch left a few feet... hold... pitch right a few feet... hold.
Your Phantom should be right where it started, facing away from you.
If your P3 drifts excessively, shows any errors, such as compass error
signal loss, poor reception, don't fly!

This gives ALL your flight controls a test, and you look cool doing it!

Also look here: UAV Weather Forecast because there are times during the day
that fewer satellites are available in the sky, and a high Kp reading can affect your Phantom's
guidance. I set the altitude on the web site for 400 ft and if it says don't fly.... I don't.

Good luck, and fly safe! (sorry... that got wordy...)
 
[QUOTE="Good luck, and fly safe! (sorry... that got wordy...)[/QUOTE]

Thank you - I'm learning a lot already! I just checked that link for my area, what do you consider a high Kp reading? At the moment it says Max Kp is 5.
I'm not game to go high at the moment, my P3 A put itself in P-Opti mode at the golf course the other evening and just took off drifting to the left and hit a tree...my highest altitude was 12.4 metres...
 
IMHO, you can ignore the K-index. I've never seen a crash where a high K-index was determined to be the cause.
 
Last edited:
Also look here: UAV Weather Forecast because there are times during the day
that fewer satellites are available in the sky, and a high Kp reading can affect your Phantom's
guidance.
what do you consider a high Kp reading? At the moment it says Max Kp is 5.
You can ignore the K-index.
It's overhyped and never been shown to have any measurable effect on Phantom flight.
By the time the K-index is high enough to be a problem for your Phantom, you'll have a lot more to worry about.
 

Recent Posts

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,352
Members
104,933
Latest member
mactechnic