Hi All,

Please advise if this is a good idea, or should I not try fix what isn't broken?
Thanks.

Yes, calibrate it. Always calibrate when moving to new location

JP Santos Posted at 2018-1-7 04:29
Yes, calibrate it. Always calibrate when moving to new location

Thanks JP.
Compass and IMU?

Only calibrate when the app advises you to do so. If the compass reading is already green/excellent then why calibrate?

JP Santos Posted at 2018-1-7 04:29
Yes, calibrate it. Always calibrate when moving to new location

As per page #49 of Spark manual:

Tviscomi Posted at 2018-1-7 07:53
As per page #49 of Spark manual:

[view_image]

Spark manual wind.
Thank you

djiuser_YTFw2mS Posted at 2018-1-7 10:41
Spark manual wind.
Thank you

Spark manual wins

Check your compass interference level though. If you're in an interference free area and the compass is green at same level as at home you should be good. If yellow I would still do the compass calibration again. Mine was showing yellow out of the box everywhere I went and wouldn't fly straight even completely out in the wilderness until I calibrated it again. Now it flies perfectly and compass is in the green.

Should be no need to calibrate the IMU.

DJI has improved their compass reliability greatly over the years. The old Phantom 3 Standard had to have the compass re-calibrated before every flight, now only do it when it tells you to. That's a huge improvement!

The effect of moving locations on your compass will depend where on the planet you are.   Magnetic declination is the reason that you might need to recalibrate your compass when going to new location and some places on the planet the effect can be quite pronounced over a relatively short distance, where effect is large enough to  be recognized by spark's firmware and trigger a compass warning.   Compass warnings are also triggered by local effects,  this is called Magnetic deviation.  Say you want to launch from a bench that iron reinforcement that runs beneath it, the  may also cause cause a large enough difference that it will trigger a compass warning, with this type of magnetic interference when you move your spark away form the cause,  the effect and the warning will disappear.  There are cases where you will be heavily affected by Magnetic deviation, but for whatever reason - the software does not detect the issue.  This is bad.  The reason this bad is the AC when leaves the source of local interference, the software will detect an anomaly that is unable to reconcile - and enter ATTI.  This is why it good to check that nose of the AC is really pointing in the direction that App thinks it pointing.

I can understand why with the spark DJI moved from the "always recalibrate" to the don't "recalibrate unless ask".  This is because they found that using a software based solution would help to greatly decrease the chances of the user calibrating where there is magnetic deviation.  Say for example the user is recalibrating while wearing a Captain America shield or their WWE belt or their trusty body armor with the steel plate inserted (I always left mine out, because of added an extra 20 lbs).

Now we all know, or should know that number of fly away drones will drop with software based solution in deciding when to calibrate.  IF someone knows the reason behind the logic, they themselves can make an informed decision whether wish to recalibrate or not.  I am confident enough to know that when I recalibrate after a firmware update or after moving a large distance - that I can do so without without introducing magnetic anomalies and that if I do. a quick check will find it does exist.

I highly encourage anyone that understands what is going on to make decisions in concert with their own mind, not blindly follow a one fits all manual that is designed to not confuse the most number people.  Adding exceptions to advice in the manual regarding "don't recalibrate unless told to", that required a glossary to understand - would cause the vast majority people to tune out the advice altogether. I understand why its in the manual the way it is, but I don't and can't abide by a dogmatic adherence a manual, while disregarding common sense and logic. Moving 1100km? I'd say absolutly recalibrate the compass, even if not ask to, but do it properly and do a sanity check at the end.

^This!!!

100% agree, and nice to see someone else bring this logic to the table too!

djiuser_pVzOCZc Posted at 2018-1-7 17:52
The effect of moving locations on your compass will depend where on the planet you are.   Magnetic declination is the reason that you might need to recalibrate your compass when going to new location and some places on the planet the effect can be quite pronounced over a relatively short distance, where effect is large enough to  be recognized by spark's firmware and trigger a compass warning.   Compass warnings are also triggered by local effects,  this is called Magnetic deviation.  Say you want to launch from a bench that iron reinforcement that runs beneath it, the  may also cause cause a large enough difference that it will trigger a compass warning, with this type of magnetic interference when you move your spark away form the cause,  the effect and the warning will disappear.  There are cases where you will be heavily affected by Magnetic deviation, but for whatever reason - the software does not detect the issue.  This is bad.  The reason this bad is the AC when leaves the source of local interference, the software will detect an anomaly that is unable to reconcile - and enter ATTI.  This is why it good to check that nose of the AC is really pointing in the direction that App thinks it pointing.

I can understand why with the spark DJI moved from the "always recalibrate" to the don't "recalibrate unless ask".  This is because they found that using a software based solution would help to greatly decrease the chances of the user calibrating where there is magnetic deviation.  Say for example the user is recalibrating while wearing a Captain America shield or their WWE belt or their trusty body armor with the steel plate inserted (I always left mine out, because of added an extra 20 lbs).

Thank you.
A great response.
Will recalibrate tonight.

The screen below opens everytime i boot up my Spark. Is it telling me to recalibrate my compass (because the box is around 'Calibrate' and not 'Normal'), or is the box around 'Calibrate' simply to indicate its a selectable option?

Thanks

MKPSG12 Posted at 2018-1-8 01:57
The screen below opens everytime i boot up my Spark. Is it telling me to recalibrate my compass (because the box is around 'Calibrate' and not 'Normal'), or is the box around 'Calibrate' simply to indicate its a selectable option?

Thanks

Nope, it doesn't tell you to calibrate - it just gives you a possibility there. The box around "Calibrate" is there to indicate it's an active button you can tap. There's no box around "Normal" because it's just an information.

Thanks for the clarification!

djiuser_YTFw2mS Posted at 2018-1-8 00:53
Thank you.
A great response.
Will recalibrate tonight.

Just make absolutely sure when you recalibrate that there is nothing around you that could cause interference with the compass. Preferably in the middle of a wide open area with no concrete, power lines, metal structures, etc etc near you.

djiuser_pVzOCZc Posted at 2018-1-7 17:52
The effect of moving locations on your compass will depend where on the planet you are.   Magnetic declination is the reason that you might need to recalibrate your compass when going to new location and some places on the planet the effect can be quite pronounced over a relatively short distance, where effect is large enough to  be recognized by spark's firmware and trigger a compass warning.   Compass warnings are also triggered by local effects,  this is called Magnetic deviation.  Say you want to launch from a bench that iron reinforcement that runs beneath it, the  may also cause cause a large enough difference that it will trigger a compass warning, with this type of magnetic interference when you move your spark away form the cause,  the effect and the warning will disappear.  There are cases where you will be heavily affected by Magnetic deviation, but for whatever reason - the software does not detect the issue.  This is bad.  The reason this bad is the AC when leaves the source of local interference, the software will detect an anomaly that is unable to reconcile - and enter ATTI.  This is why it good to check that nose of the AC is really pointing in the direction that App thinks it pointing.

I can understand why with the spark DJI moved from the "always recalibrate" to the don't "recalibrate unless ask".  This is because they found that using a software based solution would help to greatly decrease the chances of the user calibrating where there is magnetic deviation.  Say for example the user is recalibrating while wearing a Captain America shield or their WWE belt or their trusty body armor with the steel plate inserted (I always left mine out, because of added an extra 20 lbs).

I disagree, the software should know the declination correction based on the GPS location information.  

I flew from Texas to France and didn't re-calibrate a thing.  It flew just like it should, aside from the super short control range.  

TexasAerials Posted at 2018-1-8 19:02
I disagree, the software should know the declination correction based on the GPS location information.  

I flew from Texas to France and didn't re-calibrate a thing.  It flew just like it should, aside from the super short control range.

You're giving the spark too much credit.  The declination is not deduced or calculated from the GPS location alone, while it is  possible add capability with addition of a map or database to the spark with the current state of earth's magnetic field, this level sophistication is better suited military or industrial applications .  Magnetic declination changes over time.  Because you were not prompted to recalibrate  the compass doesn't mean that spark figured out the declination for the new location, what it means is that the declination difference between the two locations was not large enough to trigger an alert in the software. Different places on the earth's surface can have the same magnetic declination.

Here is western Australia, I've gotten prompted for compass recalibration  after relatively short trip from Perth to Geraldton - about 400km

Indeed!

Looking at the declination map, Paris happens to be almost exactly the same declination as Texas, so it makes sense that you had no trouble with your Spark there! Lucky coincidence I guess.

djiuser_pVzOCZc Posted at 2018-1-9 16:47
You're giving the spark too much credit.  The declination is not deduced or calculated from the GPS location alone, while it is  possible add capability with addition of a map or database to the spark with the current state of earth's magnetic field, this level sophistication is better suited military or industrial applications .  Magnetic declination changes over time.  Because you were not prompted to recalibrate  the compass doesn't mean that spark figured out the declination for the new location, what it means is that the declination difference between the two locations was not large enough to trigger an alert in the software. Different places on the earth's surface can have the same magnetic declination.

Here is western Australia, I've gotten prompted for compass recalibration  after relatively short trip from Perth to Geraldton - about 400km

I wasn't saying that the spark would figure it out, but that it would have a database of "true north" adjustments needed based on location given by the GPS.  It is not a large piece of data and doesn't change significantly in a drone's lifetime, even if it did, the data could be updated via firmware.  

Firehawk989:  while they are close, it is still a difference of around 10-15 degrees as texas is around 7-8 degrees West and paris is another 7-8 degrees East declination.  

djiuser_pVzOCZc Posted at 2018-1-7 17:52
The effect of moving locations on your compass will depend where on the planet you are.   Magnetic declination is the reason that you might need to recalibrate your compass when going to new location and some places on the planet the effect can be quite pronounced over a relatively short distance, where effect is large enough to  be recognized by spark's firmware and trigger a compass warning.   Compass warnings are also triggered by local effects,  this is called Magnetic deviation.  Say you want to launch from a bench that iron reinforcement that runs beneath it, the  may also cause cause a large enough difference that it will trigger a compass warning, with this type of magnetic interference when you move your spark away form the cause,  the effect and the warning will disappear.  There are cases where you will be heavily affected by Magnetic deviation, but for whatever reason - the software does not detect the issue.  This is bad.  The reason this bad is the AC when leaves the source of local interference, the software will detect an anomaly that is unable to reconcile - and enter ATTI.  This is why it good to check that nose of the AC is really pointing in the direction that App thinks it pointing.

I can understand why with the spark DJI moved from the "always recalibrate" to the don't "recalibrate unless ask".  This is because they found that using a software based solution would help to greatly decrease the chances of the user calibrating where there is magnetic deviation.  Say for example the user is recalibrating while wearing a Captain America shield or their WWE belt or their trusty body armor with the steel plate inserted (I always left mine out, because of added an extra 20 lbs).

Calibration gives the compass the information it needs to determine which magnetic influences are part of the Spark and what is the earth's normal magnetic field.
The compass doesn't lose calibration and doesn't ever need re-calibration unless you add or remove equipment to/from the Spark.

Yes if you are moving to an area where declination changes to a high degree.

I have just spent Christmas holidays 1500 miles from where I normally fly, I arrived did the normal checks for compass everything fine so no need to calibrate compass.

Not sure where you're getting that info from, but everything I can find from USGS etc. puts Texas in the range of 8deg E in El Paso, to 2deg E in Houston. France is at 1deg W on the West Coast, to nearly 2deg E in Cannes for a max difference of 9 or 10 deg if you went from El Paso to the Westernmost point on the West coast of France. Houston to Paris or Cannes would be a negligible difference.

hallmark007 Posted at 2018-1-10 16:11
Calibration gives the compass the information it needs to determine which magnetic influences are part of the Spark and what is the earth's normal magnetic field.
The compass doesn't lose calibration and doesn't ever need re-calibration unless you add or remove equipment to/from the Spark.

You have a lot faith in the hardware. Saying that it doesn't lose calibration and doesn't ever need re-calibration except when you add hardware (never heard of anyone doing this) or going to a place where declination difference is large.  

I say "faith", because I am not sure that even the team that wrote the very complex firmware in the spark would say that.  It's not perfect and never will be, hence the need for firmware updates.  I respect that you keep a balanced a head and genuinely care about giving good advice, but sticking to your guns on the compass thing without providing a meaningful reason as to why besides it "doesn't ever need it", is a bit like a parent telling their child "because I said so."   The real reason behind the advice could be that most people could not be trusted to correctly do it and not make the situation worse, but my feeling is that if they are hanging around the forum - they are making a good faith attempt to learn.

TexasAerials Posted at 2018-1-10 15:36
I wasn't saying that the spark would figure it out, but that it would have a database of "true north" adjustments needed based on location given by the GPS.  It is not a large piece of data and doesn't change significantly in a drone's lifetime, even if it did, the data could be updated via firmware.  

Firehawk989:  while they are close, it is still a difference of around 10-15 degrees as texas is around 7-8 degrees West and paris is another 7-8 degrees East declination.

Isn't that same thing, it can't "figure it out" without knowing the adjustment needed for a given location. It would be nice if the spark had this capability, but it doesn't.  The same could be said about dozens or even hundreds of other useful enhancements to the firmware.  

djiuser_pVzOCZc Posted at 2018-1-10 18:11
You have a lot faith in the hardware. Saying that it doesn't lose calibration and doesn't ever need re-calibration except when you add hardware (never heard of anyone doing this) or going to a place where declination difference is large.  

I say "faith", because I am not sure that even the team that wrote the very complex firmware in the spark would say that.  It's not perfect and never will be, hence the need for firmware updates.  I respect that you keep a balanced a head and genuinely care about giving good advice, but sticking to your guns on the compass thing without providing a meaningful reason as to why besides it "doesn't ever need it", is a bit like a parent telling their child "because I said so."   The real reason behind the advice could be that most people could not be trusted to correctly do it and not make the situation worse, but my feeling is that if they are hanging around the forum - they are making a good faith attempt to learn.

The fact is that they did say that, most compass problems we see here are due to flying in the wrong envoirment either surroundings or launch ground, your advice is what exactly , that if you already have a good compass that somehow you should try to make it better, but that as we know is impossible, and to add to that calibrating in an area which might make it worse.
I don’t agree with your theory that users don’t know how to calibrate compass and in fact it’s condescending on your part to say this.
The fact is dji have gone to bother of entering into their manual specific instructions shows their confidence in their hardware and firmware. And it’s the same in both hobbyists and professional drones.
Stop and think for a minute you are advising people to calibrate after firmware update, so if their compass is ok you say it needs calibrating this is ridiculous.
For almost all crashes we read about here we nearly always read , “my Aircraft was fully calibrated” yet this didn’t save their aircraft. You would say bad calibration but it’s better than nothing.
I think if we go back through dji manuals to P2 where many mistakes in how Manual was presented had people calibrating compass for every flight, this was more to do with bad English than anything else. Dji have changed this for the better and while you may see number of problems greater this is simply because instead of thousands of dji users we now have millions.
The hardware in these drones is much improved and there are many users with many firmware downloads who have never calibrated compass flying with good compasses quite happily and if firmware was going to effect your compass then I’m sure dji would have mentioned this.
I don’t have a problem with people calibrating their compass it’s their aircraft they can do what they think is best, it’s a fairly simple process, but would always advise if they get a warning to move or calibrate, to move Aircraft first.
It doesn’t matter if you calibrate or not if your flying in wrong envoirment a good calibration will make no difference.
There are many ways to check if your compass is working correctly and it’s this advice I try to give people not as you say, “Just don’t calibrate “

hallmark007 Posted at 2018-1-11 03:56
The fact is that they did say that, most compass problems we see here are due to flying in the wrong envoirment either surroundings or launch ground, your advice is what exactly , that if you already have a good compass that somehow you should try to make it better, but that as we know is impossible, and to add to that calibrating in an area which might make it worse.
I don’t agree with your theory that users don’t know how to calibrate compass and in fact it’s condescending on your part to say this.
The fact is dji have gone to bother of entering into their manual specific instructions shows their confidence in their hardware and firmware. And it’s the same in both hobbyists and professional drones.

"I don’t agree with your theory that users don’t know how to calibrate compass and in fact it’s condescending on your part to say this."

My theory is actually that this is your underlying belief, if you actually thought for second that people could calibrate their compass without screwing it up - you would not be so firm in your on stance about not recalibrating unless instructed to so by DJI's infallible software. I'd give you dollars to doughnuts that bugzilla or whatever DJI uses to track and prioritize software defects has compass related issues and many others.  What's ridiculous is blind faith my friend.

Look - you can cite the "holy" DJI manual all you want, there is no way that they would want to put every case when compass might need to be recalibrated, it would just muddy the water.  If the AC's real heading does not match was is reported in the APP and condition persist even after moving the AC and APP does not instruct to recalibrate, do you recalibrate?  (I've seen this reported a few time on this an other forums, even in threads that you have been active on) There is nothing in the DJI holy manual for this case.  Do you think that there just might be other cases in the manual that are not specifically addressed?  

My advice is for people to use their heads when they fly - not sure what you're really saying in your rambling reply, but it sorta sounds like you agree. So, maybe on that point we can agree.

djiuser_pVzOCZc Posted at 2018-1-11 05:08
"I don’t agree with your theory that users don’t know how to calibrate compass and in fact it’s condescending on your part to say this."

My theory is actually that this is your underlying belief, if you actually thought for second that people could calibrate their compass without screwing it up - you would not be so firm in your on stance about not recalibrating unless instructed to so by DJI's infallible software. I'd give you dollars to doughnuts that bugzilla or whatever DJI uses to track and prioritize software defects has compass related issues and many others.  What's ridiculous is blind faith my friend.

I do believe people should use their heads, I also believe that what they do can be helped by good advice. Only one thing I agree with you on and that’s if you move to an area with much different declination you should calibrate your compass and I also believe you will be prompted to do this.
Other ridiculous stuff like calibration after firmware update is just an urban myth, you offer no evidence as to why firmware update will effect your compass and it’s for ridiculous reasons like these which offer no facts as to why calibration is needed that cause many problems.
Same as travelling why would you calibrate your compass if it didn’t need it again another urban myth but because you read it somewhere you think it’s right, what you should tell people when they travel 100miles is why their compass will be out of whack ,what you need to do is give the information as to why they need to calibrate their compass but you don’t have that information.
What your doing is giving out information with no basis of fact so the urban myths grow and cause confusion .
I

OK, let me express myself (sorry for bad english) for my first comment. Yes, i know, i can read the manual. I have read it before times and times over. Yes, it says. Also, i don't like to calibrate my spark because something could go wrong (interference, etc) in the process. I come here very often and we can see there's a lot of different opinions about calibrating spark when moving more than X km or miles.

So, after reading a lot of post about this (you can figure oou, there's a bunch of them regarding this issue) i went traveling from Portugal (where i live) to Norway. Its 3400 km apart. Didn't calibrate the spark because you should only do it when the app asks you to. It didn't. Guess what? When i started flying, the spark went crazy (open field, satellites lock, etc) it was not responsive. I immediately land it. Then that night i came here and ask the same thing to the forum experts. Some say yes /always, others where by the book, or this case, the manual: when the app ask. And then, one of the DJI moderators advise me to do the calibration. So next day, i made the calibration. Guess what? Superb! So if the main moderators of this brand advises you to do it, why make the manual the only source of truth?

In Norway, never had a issue after the calibration. When arrived in my country did the same thing, calibrate the spark.

Then i traveled to Western Australia. If you have a earth map in front of you, you can see its in the other part of the planet. Decided not to calibrate and made a short flight with the spark. Guess what? yes, it went crazy! So this was my proof. Made the calibration and the spark went smooth. As you can see, i rule by 3 things: inform myself about this, experience it in two different global zones with same results and, not forget, it was also advise by DJI moderators (elektra, i think).  I did the calibration when i arrived to my country. Always in open fields in all of these countries -no interference nearby. Spark is always smooth (not with this new firmware but that is another subject)

And now the question? Did the app ask me to calibrate when i moved to these countries? NEVER!

Hope this helps this discussion.

djiuser_pVzOCZc.    and     JP Santos:

Your’re totally right:

I‘ve traveled from Europe to South Africa.. In Europe Spark works very smoothly without any error.
First flight in Johannesburg(open field): Spark got compass error and Go4 didn‘t ask for calibration before.
So if you travel long distance use your brain, don‘t always trust the holy manual and calibrate in open field!

007 - I and others have had the spark behave in an erratic manor after firmware upgrades. After recalibration the issues ceased. You can spout all you want about the lack of "facts", they are in fact quite hard to come by in complex software systems. You too lack facts to support your position, so welcome to the club bud.  What people can and should do is to look at firsthand reports from people like tinyUAV and JP and many others and make their own decisions.

I am amused by what you find ridiculous, that anyone dare question you is just preposterous.

Thanks JP and tiny for providing multiple real-world examples proving that calibration needs to be done again if you go somewhere with different magnetic declination, and that the app won't prompt you to calibrate in this case! It's what I always suspected but haven't traveled far enough away from home with my spark to test yet. I'll be in Japan in about a week though; that will require a calibration for sure!

Firehawk989 Posted at 2018-1-11 16:25
Thanks JP and tiny for providing multiple real-world examples proving that calibration needs to be done again if you go somewhere with different magnetic declination, and that the app won't prompt you to calibrate in this case! It's what I always suspected but haven't traveled far enough away from home with my spark to test yet. I'll be in Japan in about a week though; that will require a calibration for sure!

Hi FireHawk, can you provide us your personal experience in this issue after your travel to Japan? Did you calibrate it before your flight? Or didn't? Thanks   

I was travelling recently from Europe to New Zealand and when I turned my spark on the app asked me to calibrate and everything was fine afterwards. When I went back to Europe for some reason the app never reminded me to calibrate even though on the map it was clearly visible that Spark's orientation was maybe 120 degrees off.

So I wouldn't really trust the app in every situation. Even some admins on this forum suggested to calibrate when changing locations...

In a new location I would certainly fly a few batteries close in while assessing the compass' behaviour,checking the arrows etc and watching the sensor screen.
The software is zillions of miles out of my comfort zone, so all I can do is best guess when to calibrate.
Causes for switching to atti include
1. tight high speed turns.

2. A/C subjected to excessive wind.
3. Multipath gps signals.
I've had none of these, but I could this afternoon.

Hi guys,
Currently I live in Sydney Australia and time to time I fly my drone. Last month I went to Europe and I had successful fly. I just forgot to recalibrate compass because the app didn’t give me notifications to do it. Yesterday I fly again and everything was fine the DGI Go 4 app didn’t prompt me about calibration.

More than 16 000km distance and actually my drone doesn’t need compass calibration.

I really think this needs to be assessed on a case by case scenario.
After my 1100km trip, I didnt calibrate, and had no issues.
Now I have travelled approximately 160km and plan on flying tonight.
Catch is.... Im on top of an extinct volcano.
Loads of rocks with metallurgical properties.
Pilanesberg is the name of the place.
Will give feedback after I try it out.
Cheers

So...
Got my first ever compass error in flight.
Was told to recalibrate.
Interesting as my rth worked just fine.

So did you you check compass sensor before take off? Did it occur at certain height away from ground. Did it persist till landing? Any info welcome. Thanks

Bright Spark Posted at 2018-1-29 09:01
So did you you check compass sensor before take off? Did it occur at certain height away from ground. Did it persist till landing? Any info welcome. Thanks

Compass was on yellow, but didn't ask to recalibrate.
Must have been about 20m high and about 70m away.
Over a golf course.
Had just finished a stint in sport mode.
Will try post the flight tomorrow, but I'm traveling and don't have my personal laptop

All went green with satellites shortly before landing