Mid Air "Compass Error, Exit P-GPS Mode"

[zgembit]

Well you can only calibrate drone on the ground, where else to calibrate? Ofcourse on a wide open area, but if you get successfull calibration on site and "safe to fly" with full gps coverage, shouldnt that be sign for you that flying is safe? But if it starts to cut off and go in and out of modes on same place flying no further then 50m and no higher then 25m then that is not reliable.

In other words, dont fly drone if there is a any wind and if you are not standing in wide open area with nothing but grass 10km around

Then you will also only need barometer (atti) because other gps modes are just in the way..

 

[whoreable]

so how come people like in big citys can fly around no issue, im sure they calibrated near tons of metal things

 

[Vertigo]

Im not saying the rocks are the problem, but they could be. Some types of minerals are located from the air using a magnetometer, ie 'compass'. I really couldnt say what range or altitude that will give problems, but its likely substantial and not something you can solve with calibration.

I also never said wind was a problem. It isnt really, not if you have the experience flying in attitude mode, and you keep it in attitude mode. Then its just up to you as a pilot to compensate for the wind drift and turbulence, and that is something you will want to practice somewhere safe, preferably without that many tall trees around you.

 

[whoreable]

Well you can only calibrate drone on the ground, where else to calibrate? Ofcourse on a wide open area, but if you get successfull calibration on site and "safe to fly" with full gps coverage, shouldnt that be sign for you that flying is safe? But if it starts to cut off and go in and out of modes on same place flying no further then 50m and no higher then 25m then that is not reliable.

In other words, dont fly drone if there is a any wind and if you are not standing in wide open area with nothing but grass 10km around

Then you will also only need barometer (atti) because other gps modes are just in the way..

This is pretty much my option, fly in a field with nothing and miles of nothing. Then I can use the intelligent features to track the nothingness, in theory.

Or, its what i expect and there is an issue with my craft and other peoples.

 

[Vertigo]

so how come people like in big citys can fly around no issue, im sure they calibrated near tons of metal things

Many, in fact most, construction metals arent magnetic. Even steel usually isnt, it depends on the specific alloy and how much iron it contains. Calibrating in a city can be a problem mind you, but the overall quantity and density of iron and magnetite even in a large city is probably negligible compared to what you would find in certain mountain area's.

 

[zgembit]

Im not saying the rocks are the problem, but they could be. Some types of minerals are located from the air using a magnetometer, ie 'compass'. I really couldnt say what range or altitude that will give problems, but its likely substantial and not something you can solve with calibration.

I also never said wind was a problem. It isnt really, not if you have the experience flying in attitude mode, and you keep it in attitude mode. Then its just up to you as a pilot to compensate for the wind drift and turbulence, and that is something you will want to practice somewhere safe, preferably without that many tall trees around you.

Yes, that is a big point, learning how to fly in ATTI mode only. I appreciate your answers.

 

[losman26]

I think you could have a defective phantom. I would return it, otherwise it's going fly away on you, and you won't be able to bring it back. This happened to me a couple of months ago.


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[zgembit]

ive done it out in a field with nothing near me, pretty sure its not working correctly. I would rather buy another Phantom and test it side by side than send it to DJI and be drone-less for a few weeks.

Exactly, and few weeks may be a couple of months if you are lucky enough.

But, I will maybe have chance to get another phantom 4 in couple of days and I will compare them in same spots. Maybe that can rule out something. I will be posting here if I get that other one.

 

[Meta4]

Many, in fact most, construction metals arent magnetic. Even steel usually isnt, it depends on the specific alloy and how much iron it contains.

Almost all steel you would encounter and definitely the steel used in construction has a magnetic field that will deflect any compass needle.
The larger the steel object, the stronger its magnetic field.
Some special alloys (eg 316 stainless steel) are not but these are an exception.

 

[Meta4]

where else to calibrate? Of course on a wide open area, but if you get successfull calibration on site and "safe to fly" with full gps coverage, shouldn't that be sign for you that flying is safe? But if it starts to cut off and go in and out of modes on same place flying no further then 50m and no higher then 25m then that is not reliable.

so how come people like in big citys can fly around no issue, im sure they calibrated near tons of metal things

If you don't calibrate your compass away from iron and steel that distorts the earth's normal magnetic field, you may get compass errors in flight.
The key is to get a good compass calibration and stick with it.
Every time you go recalibrating, you risk giving your Phantom a bad calibration.

 

[zgembit]

How to know if compass calibration is good?
I did calibration on 3 different geographic places and drone indicates good calibration on every one. I still get a lot of "satellite positioning off" warnings and gps cut outs.
Last calibration today in very big nature reserve field. It was little windy but under 7 m/s. Maybe small wind cuts out the GPS, how sensitive is this machine.
Irritates me that I only will be able to fly it without fear when there is no wind. Thats 10 days per year in Sweden.

 

[PlanetPapi]

From what I gather from these postings is, that no matter how many times you calibrate, you will still see those errors coming back. Most people think that they did some thing wrong and blame it on themselves. When you ask DJI they also ask you to re-calibrate and redo IMU. That's also blaming you from a big company. My strong belief is that certain batch of Phantoms are ridden with this bug. DJI should acknowledge and recall them. My 2 cents.

 

[Kamloops]

How to know if compass calibration is good?
I did calibration on 3 different geographic places and drone indicates good calibration on every one. I still get a lot of "satellite positioning off" warnings and gps cut outs.
Last calibration today in very big nature reserve field. It was little windy but under 7 m/s. Maybe small wind cuts out the GPS, how sensitive is this machine.
Irritates me that I only will be able to fly it without fear when there is no wind. Thats 10 days per year in Sweden.

I am experiencing similar results, right from flight number 1 with my week old p3a. I am in a very rural area with no measurable magnetic interference sources. The compass signal failures seem to be random, if I recreate a mission, sometimes I get the compass errors, sometimes the drone works as designed.

I am thinking that this behaviour is not directly related to the compass calibration and there is more to this issue (firmware??) than just a valid compass calibration.

My question is will the Phantom 4 (with 2 compasses) be resistant to this behaviour (with a good compass calibration and no magnetic interference of course)

 

[Surrealplaces]

I've had this issue as well...almost on every flight. I've re-calibrated several times, and each time it seems to take the calibration, and will start off normally, but will change to Atti mode intermittently....usually for about 5-10 seconds and then go back to GPS. I've always calibrated in an open area away from metal, and I've always had lots of satellites 9 or more.

Luckily I've been getting better at flying Atti mode, and so far it hasn't been too much of a problem. It's seems to happen mostly whenever the drone makes sharp stops or turns.

 

[zgembit]

I've had this issue as well...almost on every flight. I've re-calibrated several times, and each time it seems to take the calibration, and will start off normally, but will change to Atti mode intermittently....usually for about 5-10 seconds and then go back to GPS. I've always calibrated in an open area away from metal, and I've always had lots of satellites 9 or more.

Luckily I've been getting better at flying Atti mode, and so far it hasn't been too much of a problem. It's seems to happen mostly whenever the drone makes sharp stops or turns.

I flew today on open field and got again a lots of compass error. I do feel that som of the cut-outs can be associated with sharp turns and stops, like you also mention.

Somebody pointed out that one should stick with good calibration (maybe made in some really open field) and stick with it if one does not travel 100km to another flying spot. I will try that.

Or maybe there is really bad compass-batch going on in the streets?

 

[whoreable]

kind of pathetic we spend a grand on this toy and cannot diagnose our problems better.........I will update my results when I purchase a new phantom and fly side by side in a few days

 

[zgembit]

kind of pathetic we spend a grand on this toy and cannot diagnose our problems better.........I will update my results when I purchase a new phantom and fly side by side in a few days

Yeah I feel the same, seeing people on youtube sending their birds on all kind of long trips in different places and we are flying in open fields shitting pants for sending it 25m in the air.
Positive side is that you got to search for and walk to (recreation) open spaces and good spots in your own surroundings, makes you **** good at geographics (know your open spaces )

Funny that both of us may get phantom 4 in few days for side by side test. I will wait for your results you BET on that one ))

 

[Surrealplaces]

I'll be anxious to see how it goes with your new drones.

Cheers!

 

[WetDog]

Although this thread started in mid 2015, it seems like the complaints are increasing of late. Personally, I've had both P3Ps complain about this in random places. Both have had up to 1.6 firmware. My gut feeling is that it started more in 1.6 but I should really keep better records. Sigh.

And something I've recently noticed is if I put my hand over the GPS module, it complains and wants to run to ATTI mode. Didn't used to do that. Now, either the weight I've gained of late is due to some ferromagnetic substance or DJI has tweaked something for some unknown reason. Be nice if they said something about it.

Either that, or it's Aliens.

 

[zgembit]

Idea of freely flying across different places and possibility to see the world from birds perspective through long range aircraft with great lens, that idea is wonderful. But technically that idea is somewhat, as we see from examples above, difficult to achieve.

What DJi is selling to us is something that is close to that dream