phantom fell from the sky... help!

[moswissa]

R

I called them and they sent me a bunch of stuff to fill out and some shipping labels. I dropped it off at fed ex Tuesday. Sent it to a California address. I'm in Colorado so it should be there today.

Haha and why not ? It's an expensive toy so I was following the directions. The videos on dji told me tI calibrate before every flight. And I've flown some small nano drones in my house . So it's not like I didn't know the stick controls. I really don't think I made it crash . I just hope I don't have to buy and 400 camera to put back on it lol

Really? Can you send me the link for that?
I used to calibrate before every flight on my phantom 2 and never had an issue. It won't hurt I guess but too many calibrations may risk having one single bad calibration you know? This is what I've heard from the forums.

The phantom shouldn't drop out of the sky for no reason at 82% battery life, you didn't do anything wrong.

 

[nick1441]

R


Really? Can you send me the link for that?
I used to calibrate before every flight on my phantom 2 and never had an issue. It won't hurt I guess but too many calibrations may risk having one single bad calibration you know? This is what I've heard from the forums.

The phantom shouldn't drop out of the sky for no reason at 82% battery life, you didn't do anything wrong.

I'm not sure in that link. I watched all the videos on dji website like the tutorials and the previous flight stuff just to make sure I was doing everything right . And on one those videos it said to calibrate it every time. What saying makes sense though never thought about that. I don't know well see what happens dji just sent me an email saying they got the quad copter so hopefully I'll be back flying soon before winter

 

[moswissa]

I'm not sure in that link. I watched all the videos on dji website like the tutorials and the previous flight stuff just to make sure I was doing everything right . And on one those videos it said to calibrate it every time. What saying makes sense though never thought about that. I don't know well see what happens dji just sent me an email saying they got the quad copter so hopefully I'll be back flying soon before winter

Would appreciate it if you keep this thread updated. I would be interested on what happened. Glad they responded very quickly. Good luck

 

[Ohary]

I'm not sure if the P3's are similar to the P2's, but if they are, it's certainly possible to inadvertantly shut down the quad. If you hover in the same place for a few seconds then hold the left stick fully down, the craft will shut down b/c it assumes it has landed.

learned this the hard way with one of my P2's.

 

[Hunter Clark]

I have four p3 and the reason for that is the first 2 fell out of the sky. The reason mine did was because I calibrated them out of the box and that was it. Now I calibrate 1x a day and if I move locations I will calibrate there

 

[happydays]

I'm not sure if the P3's are similar to the P2's, but if they are, it's certainly possible to inadvertantly shut down the quad. If you hover in the same place for a few seconds then hold the left stick fully down, the craft will shut down b/c it assumes it has landed.

learned this the hard way with one of my P2's.

No it won't. If the craft senses movement it will descend. It will only shut off the motors of it detects that there has been no downward movement for more than three seconds.

 

[flyNfrank]

I calibrate after each battery install with the P3. Plus I have now looked at the flight logs from just over 40 members that crash and need answer's why. I have noticed that none of those crashes calibrated the compass prior to takeoff.

 

[bobmyers]

I also calibrate before every flight with the P3. Plus I have now looked at the flight logs from just over 40 members that crash and need answer's why. I have noticed that none of those crashes calibrated the compass prior to takeoff.

There seems to be differing opinions on compass calibration before every flight and the opinions vary from no, never to absolute musts.
Meta, the one of the moderators says -- no it is not necessary-- it only increases the chances that of a bad calibration. it would be nice if DJI would make an official statement regarding the necessity and frequency of compass calibration.

 

[olof Ekbergh]

My P3P flies perfectly straight, and I only calibrated the compass when it was first started about 60 flights ago. I also did the advanced IMU calibration, make sure you do the advanced, and be on a truly level surface. It has survived 3 FW updates and 2 IOS and GO app updates with no ill effects.

I have flown lots of MRs some big some small with WKM and NAZA controllers. Typically you only calibrate the compass if you have moved a big distance as magnetic north changes with location.

Make sure when you calibrate you are in an area free of metal objects and no overhead or underground power lines. Make sure you are not carrying your cellphone or any metals like a keychain or large metal belt buckle. Don't be close to a car. Even metal water or sewer pipes you can't see can cause a problem, so try different spots, middle of a big lawn usually works well. I have seen problems when done in parking lots and drive ways.

On all my MRs once I get a good calibration. I don't recalibrate unless I notice a problem.

If a FW update causes problems like this, just do a careful recalibration of compass, IMU (advanced) and gimbal.

If that does not fix the problem contact your dealer or DJI.

This is my experience flying MRs for the last 5 years, thousands of flights.

 

[bobmyers]

My P3P flies perfectly straight, and I only calibrated the compass when it was first started about 60 flights ago. I also did the advanced IMU calibration, make sure you do the advanced, and be on a truly level surface. It has survived 3 FW updates and 2 IOS and GO app updates with no ill effects.

I have flown lots of MRs some big some small with WKM and NAZA controllers. Typically you only calibrate the compass if you have moved a big distance as magnetic north changes with location.

Make sure when you calibrate you are in an area free of metal objects and no overhead or underground power lines. Make sure you are not carrying your cellphone or any metals like a keychain or large metal belt buckle. Don't be close to a car. Even metal water or sewer pipes you can't see can cause a problem, so try different spots, middle of a big lawn usually works well. I have seen problems when done in parking lots and drive ways.

On all my MRs once I get a good calibration. I don't recalibrate unless I notice a problem.

If a FW update causes problems like this, just do a careful recalibration of compass, IMU (advanced) and gimbal.

If that does not fix the problem contact your dealer or DJI.

This is my experience flying MRs for the last 5 years, thousands of flights.

A good explanation, that I totally agree with-- I have had the same results with only a few compass occasional calibrations when I had errors crop up-- we still need a good qualified engineering explanation regarding the whys, and why nots to put all the opinioins to rest-- Shouldn't be that difficult for the designer of the P3 compass systems.

 

[flyNfrank]

There seems to be differing opinions on compass calibration before every flight and the opinions vary from no, never to absolute musts.
Meta, the one of the moderators says -- no it is not necessary-- it only increases the chances that of a bad calibration. it would be nice if DJI would make an official statement regarding the necessity and frequency of compass calibration.

I hardly ever calibrated the compass on P2V+'s. I also had 2 gps fly-aways. But then comes the P3 with completely different technology. They both are flown with R/C's but that is almost the only comparison in similarities. Out of the 250-275 P3 flights I have calibrated so far, 5-6 of them were bad calibrations. However, when there is a bad calibration the LED lights will flash yellow non-stop until you repeat the calibration process. So unless I was to ignore the flashing yellow lights, there will be no launching with a bad calibration.

I had also confirmed with dji beta admin concerning calibrating. He responded saying it was the best way to go.

 

[nick1441]

Well the guys at dji are taking care of this. Not to bad of customer service. It's easier to log on online and see your repair status if you call you'll be on hold for 15 min. But free if charge and there working on it now. I should be back in the air next week!