Hi everyone,

In about six weeks I'm traveling abroad and need to consider whether I take my Mavic Air or my Mavic Pro.  The Mavic Pro works flawlessly abroad.  The Mavic Air, which I bought because it packs smaller and lighter, is a different story.  Once abroad, it NEVER calibrates compass.  In other words, it doesn't fly.  Once was in Brazil, the second time was in the Marshall Islands.  Once back home it works like nothing has happened. In both places I've flown the Mavic Pro with no problems.


You don't know how to calibrate compass:  yes, some people have told me that probably it was my problem... I've flown 100s of flights... more on Mavic Pro than Mavic Air at this point, but have flown the Mavic Air many times.  And I have tried all different ways of calibrating compass, starting with follwing the instrucitons to a T.  It never works abroad, it works in the US in the case of the Mavic Air.


You must be wearing a watch this and that, you are too close to the remote control: Nope, tried all different ways it never works when abroad and no matter what I do or don't do, it always work at home. Therefore, no, this is not the reason why it fails.


Someone is suggesitng buying a de-magnetizer because it went through scanners on airports and that de-magnetizer will take care of the problem:  Well, if that is the issue, then how would it work again once it is back home after going through another dose of airport scanners? And the Mavic Pro never suffered any of these problems on the same airpots and scannners, also here in the US.  My Mavic Air flew in San Diego after two flights and then again back home.

NOTE: I was able to fly the Mavic Air twice when in the Marshall Islands, but I had to take off on atti mode. But I did not know exactly what I was doing to get to atti mode, it is only that on the many attempts to make it work, besides trying all ways of calibrating compass, I did turn it on and off many times at different orders (RC, AC, and Phone and various vice-versas) and twice it gave me the ready to flight with ZERO satellite lock.  After hovering for a while it locked on the minimum number of satllites and recorded a RTH location.  It always followed input from the RC very precisely, including flying between a building and an umbrella on very close quarters (less than 10 ft opening).


Questions:

1. Has the 0500 firmware addressed this issue?
2. I know others have contacted DJI about this: has anyone heard back from DJI about solutions?

3. Can I purposefully set it to atti mode? And then keep it hovering to change it back to opti mode when it locks satellites?  Is that a possible scenario?
4. Any other suggestions besides the obvious one of taking my Mavic Pro instead of the failing Mavic Air?

Any help will be much, much appreciated!

I have the same issue when trying to fly in some area with my air but my friend's pro seems good. The reason i believe is mavic air GPS lock seems a little weaker compared with the pros. Usually i have to spend about 4% of battery for the air sat idle to get gps before able to fly. This happened for the previous 0400 as well. Amazingly, some of my friends' mavic air did not have this issue and also fly range further than mine in every firmware and same location, condition.

Hi MAIRDA, we're sorry for the troubles. Generally, the compass calibration fails due to the environment interference, please kindly check the compass status from here: Main Controller Settings>Advanced Settings>Sensors>Compass and upload the screenshot, we'd like to check, thanks!

Optimus_Prime Posted at 2018-10-9 17:39
I have the same issue when trying to fly in some area with my air but my friend's pro seems good. The reason i believe is mavic air GPS lock seems a little weaker compared with the pros. Usually i have to spend about 4% of battery for the air sat idle to get gps before able to fly. This happened for the previous 0400 as well. Amazingly, some of my friends' mavic air did not have this issue and also fly range further than mine in every firmware and same location, condition.

Hello Optimus_Prime, the performance might be different as the Mavic Pro and Mavic Air use different technologies. As for the compass and range of Mavic Air in the same condition, do you still remember what's the estimated range difference at that time?

DJI Susan Posted at 2018-10-9 23:48
Hello Optimus_Prime, the performance might be different as the Mavic Pro and Mavic Air use different technologies. As for the compass and range of Mavic Air in the same condition, do you still remember what's the estimated range difference at that time?

Thank you very much for your reply, Susan. My friend has the air which lock gps very fast and flight range about 1 km before video start to get choppy, but mine just about 600 meters. We flew at the same location and condition. I missed my very first mavic air which had blurry issue if you can recall several months ago. It performed great with range above 2km. I still keep flight logs, sometimes reach up to 3km without a hitch. This second one have short flight range from the beginning and after the fix from crash, it worse. I am living in Vietnam and see default 5.8GHz, so can you please confirm my area (Ho Chi Minh City) is FCC or CE?

Optimus_Prime Posted at 2018-10-10 00:46
Thank you very much for your reply, Susan. My friend has the air which lock gps very fast and flight range about 1 km before video start to get choppy, but mine just about 600 meters. We flew at the same location and condition. I missed my very first mavic air which had blurry issue if you can recall several months ago. It performed great with range above 2km. I still keep flight logs, sometimes reach up to 3km without a hitch. This second one have short flight range from the beginning and after the fix from crash, it worse. I am living in Vietnam and see default 5.8GHz, so can you please confirm my area (Ho Chi Minh City) is FCC or CE?

Thanks for getting back to us. As far as I know, Vietnam takes CE standard in 2.4GHz and FCC in 5.8 GHz as the reference, you may check the specs on our website: https://www.dji.com/mavic-air/info#specs

DJI Susan Posted at 2018-10-9 23:40
Hi MAIRDA, we're sorry for the troubles. Generally, the compass calibration fails due to the environment interference, please kindly check the compass status from here: Main Controller Settings>Advanced Settings>Sensors>Compass and upload the screenshot, we'd like to check, thanks!

Thank you so much for contacting me about this.  Before I follow up on your request, for you to get the appropriate information, does the Mavic Air need to be in the location where the problem occurred?  I'm currently back in the US and as soon as I'm back here it always has worked fine.  It is only when I travel overseas that it doesn't calibrate compass (both on urban and very remote locations). The photo below is from Laura beach in the Majuro Atoll, in the Marshall Islands. Taken from my Mavic Pro, which has no problems calibrating compass anywhere. And on this exact location the Mavic Air did not calibrate.



This is one of the most remote areas on the Majuro stretch (this atoll is about 30 miles long and this is at the remote end of it)

Thanks Susan, your assistance is much appreciated!!!

DJI Susan Posted at 2018-10-9 23:40
Hi MAIRDA, we're sorry for the troubles. Generally, the compass calibration fails due to the environment interference, please kindly check the compass status from here: Main Controller Settings>Advanced Settings>Sensors>Compass and upload the screenshot, we'd like to check, thanks!

Hi Susan,

Please see my reply above.  Thanks!

MAIRDA

Although I have flown Mavic Air overseas, I did have problems with craft asking for calibration, since .500 I have only flown 3 times with Mavic Air and no problems with craft looking for calibration.

hallmark007 Posted at 2018-10-11 14:58
Although I have flown Mavic Air overseas, I did have problems with craft asking for calibration, since .500 I have only flown 3 times with Mavic Air and no problems with craft looking for calibration.

Thanks Hallmark!  I hope to hear from Susan or some other DJI technician, they could tell us if they've known this to be an issue (I know of at least three cases so far), and whether they specifically addressed this via firmware.

thanks again!

MAIRDA Posted at 2018-10-11 14:19
Hi Susan,

Please see my reply above.  Thanks!

Thanks for the clarification. Yes, we need the screenshot when the issue happened at that time. As mentioned above, the Mavic Air and Mavic Pro use different technologies, we'd like to check the exact status case by case, thanks for your understanding.

DJI Susan Posted at 10-12 05:30
Thanks for the clarification. Yes, we need the screenshot when the issue happened at that time. As mentioned above, the Mavic Air and Mavic Pro use different technologies, we'd like to check the exact status case by case, thanks for your understanding.

Hi Susan,

Thank you for your reply.  I live in the US, where the Mavic Air flies without a problem before or after one of my overseas travel when it failed 100% of the time (except two times when I was able to fly it on atti mode).  I bought this drone because it packs small and makes it easy for me to take it on international, overseas travel.  I hope you understand that it does not make sense to me to take it with me on my next trip, just to get a screen shot when the issue happens... because I know it will not fly.

I've seen here that since I've asked this question a few other folks have encountered the same problem with their Mavic Air.  Have you or anyone at DJI noticed the pattern?  It is what I have been saying all along.  There is something related to locations in the world map.  Can you offer an explanation or at least speculate on what is this problem?  You must have an idea about this by now, especially since you know the differences between the Mavic Air and the Mavic Pro.  BTW, I do have a Mavic Pro that has flown abroad on the exact same places in the exact same conditions, with the exact same smart phones  where the Mavic Air failed.

One way I could take it on my next international trip is if I can fly it on atti mode.  I was able to take off on atti mode twice in the Marshall Islands, but it was a random thing, I don't know how I managed it (it was when turning it on and off, rc and ac and phone in different order, trying to get it to work, and I finally got the green light to take off).  It flew fine and recorded a home position when hovering in the air for less than a minute.  It was responsive to all my commands.  But once I landed it was back on need compass calibration and I was not able to replicate the atti mode to take off again and I was not able to calibrate compass either and as always.

Please let us know, offer an explanation, point to potential solutions, or buy my Mavic Air back.  I bought it explicitly to use on my international trips because it is compact!

Thank you.
  

I just got a private message from someone else indicating same problem with his/her Mavic Air.  He/she lives in Brazil.  How many cases are there?  There are four threads, that I know, on this issue here. And not all of the people with this problem are posting here.  Come on, DJI, tell us what you know!

MAIRDA Posted at 11-6 09:39
Hi Susan,

Thank you for your reply.  I live in the US, where the Mavic Air flies without a problem before or after one of my overseas travel when it failed 100% of the time (except two times when I was able to fly it on atti mode).  I bought this drone because it packs small and makes it easy for me to take it on international, overseas travel.  I hope you understand that it does not make sense to me to take it with me on my next trip, just to get a screen shot when the issue happens... because I know it will not fly.

I understand your concern and very sorry for the inconvenience. We've double checked with our engineers, this is related to the flying environment, instead of the country/region. In order to locate the exact reason, we would like to have the corresponding screenshots and flight data in the aircraft for further analysis. Speculation only leads to confusion, not solution, we appreciate your understanding and cooperation.

Also, if other users have the same experience, please contact us or our support here for further assistance, thank you!

DJI Susan Posted at 11-7 01:09
I understand your concern and very sorry for the inconvenience. We've double checked with our engineers, this is related to the flying environment, instead of the country/region. In order to locate the exact reason, we would like to have the corresponding screenshots and flight data in the aircraft for further analysis. Speculation only leads to confusion, not solution, we appreciate your understanding and cooperation.

Also, if other users have the same experience, please contact us or our support here for further assistance, thank you!

Thank you.  I'm not saying it is a country or another, but simply stating a FACT that when overseas (outside of the US, and I sited two locations which happen outside of the US) my Mavic Air has not worked, it does not calibrate compass. PERIOD.  And I sited others, also outside of the US, where the same thing happens.  Therefore, I'm asking, what is going on?  I'm not taking the Mavic Air and I DO NOT RECOMMEND anyone who plans to take it out of their home country, to buy the Mavic Air or they will risk it not working because it can't calibrate compass.  And no one offers a good explanation or a good, consistent way to resolve it.

If you talked to engineers, they could have described what is the flying environment that does not allow compass calibration. As I described many times over, it is not the way I calibrate, proximity to metals, cars, watches, etc., because these conditions happen at home (Oregon) and it calibrates properly when back home after failing to calibrate overseas (including two remote areas, one of them I've even shown a picture to prove my point).

Is it a different satellite configuration in the sky? Is it that it is so far from "home" that it cannot calibrate compass? What is it?

I hope you understand I'm not taking it with me on my next trip to give you the screen shot.  I bet that will be useless anyway and I do not want to carry the weight.  I recommend they, the engineers, look at other issues as probable causes. Thanks.

MAIRDA Posted at 11-21 11:02
Thank you.  I'm not saying it is a country or another, but simply stating a FACT that when overseas (outside of the US, and I sited two locations which happen outside of the US) my Mavic Air has not worked, it does not calibrate compass. PERIOD.  And I sited others, also outside of the US, where the same thing happens.  Therefore, I'm asking, what is going on?  I'm not taking the Mavic Air and I DO NOT RECOMMEND anyone who plans to take it out of their home country, to buy the Mavic Air or they will risk it not working because it can't calibrate compass.  And no one offers a good explanation or a good, consistent way to resolve it.

If you talked to engineers, they could have described what is the flying environment that does not allow compass calibration. As I described many times over, it is not the way I calibrate, proximity to metals, cars, watches, etc., because these conditions happen at home (Oregon) and it calibrates properly when back home after failing to calibrate overseas (including two remote areas, one of them I've even shown a picture to prove my point).

Thanks for getting back to us. Currently, we're not sure whether it is a coincidence as we cannot reoccur this at our end. Just as mentioned above, anything happens for a reason, and we would like to figure out the mystery as well. Any data about this feedback will be appreciated.

Susan,

Comprei uma Mavic Air, na semana passada, neste final de semana iria fazer o primeiro voo, acompanhado de uma pessoa que já tem um Spark, que conhece um pouco.

Assim, ele me aconselhou fazer as calibragens, portanto a calibragem da bussola foi prejudicada, ou seja, não consegui de forma alguma, tentamos diversas vezes em diversas posições, todas sem sucesso.

Comento que já fiz todas as atualizações dos softwares solicitadas.

Ontem em contato com vocês pelo chat, o atendente me sugeriu instalar o programa Assistente DJI 2 para atualizar e analisar os equipamento, mas infelizmente isto não foi possível, o software não reconheceu a aeronave.

Enfim, quando vejo a interferência magnética no aparelho, seja em qualquer local, ela está muito alta, acima de 600 na escala, passando de 700 na maioria dos locais.

Verifique algumas informações na internet e deparei com alguns comentários e vídeos para desmagnetizar a aeronave, mas nenhum do modelo Mavic.  Desta forma,  pergunto o problema pode ser este ? devo fazer esta desmagnetização ? como proceder ? Tem algum risco ? se sim, você poderiam me enviar um tutorial ou vídeo?

Aguardo sua orientação

Comprei uma Mavic Air, na semana passada, neste final de semana iria fazer o primeiro voo, acompanhado de uma pessoa que já tem um Spark, que conhece um pouco.

Assim, ele me aconselhou fazer as calibragens, portanto a calibragem da bussola foi prejudicada, ou seja, não consegui de forma alguma, tentamos diversas vezes em diversas posições, todas sem sucesso.

Comento que já fiz todas as atualizações dos softwares solicitadas.

Ontem em contato com vocês pelo chat, o atendente me sugeriu instalar o programa Assistente DJI 2 para atualizar e analisar os equipamento, mas infelizmente isto não foi possível, o software não reconheceu a aeronave.

Enfim, quando vejo a interferência magnética no aparelho, seja em qualquer local, ela está muito alta, acima de 600 na escala, passando de 700 na maioria dos locais.

Verifique algumas informações na internet e deparei com alguns comentários e vídeos para desmagnetizar a aeronave, mas nenhum do modelo Mavic.  Desta forma,  pergunto o problema pode ser este ? devo fazer esta desmagnetização ? como proceder ? Tem algum risco ? se sim, você poderiam me enviar um tutorial ou vídeo?

Comprei uma Mavic Air, na semana passada, neste final de semana iria fazer o primeiro voo, acompanhado de uma pessoa que já tem um Spark, que conhece um pouco.

Assim, ele me aconselhou fazer as calibragens, portanto a calibragem da bussola foi prejudicada, ou seja, não consegui de forma alguma, tentamos diversas vezes em diversas posições, todas sem sucesso.

Comento que já fiz todas as atualizações dos softwares solicitadas.

Ontem em contato com vocês pelo chat, o atendente me sugeriu instalar o programa Assistente DJI 2 para atualizar e analisar os equipamento, mas infelizmente isto não foi possível, o software não reconheceu a aeronave.

Enfim, quando vejo a interferência magnética no aparelho, seja em qualquer local, ela está muito alta, acima de 600 na escala, passando de 700 na maioria dos locais.

Verifique algumas informações na internet e deparei com alguns comentários e vídeos para desmagnetizar a aeronave, mas nenhum do modelo Mavic.  Desta forma,  pergunto o problema pode ser este ? devo fazer esta desmagnetização ? como proceder ? Tem algum risco ? se sim, você poderiam me enviar um tutorial ou vídeo?

Fernando Sefair de Brito Posted at 11-27 12:10
Comprei uma Mavic Air, na semana passada, neste final de semana iria fazer o primeiro voo, acompanhado de uma pessoa que já tem um Spark, que conhece um pouco.

Assim, ele me aconselhou fazer as calibragens, portanto a calibragem da bussola foi prejudicada, ou seja, não consegui de forma alguma, tentamos diversas vezes em diversas posições, todas sem sucesso.

Bemvindo ao clube que nao vooa.  Welcome to the non-flying club.  
Mavic Air has some serious problems, especially if you take it overseas.  
I just returned from a place where my Mavic Air was never able to fly... this time I had to drag my old Mavic Pro and it flew no problems.  Same location where Mavic Air has not been able to fly and DJI has not been able to provide any solution.  They know what they have, they know the differences between Mavic Pro and Mavic Air, they know there are limitations to Mavic Air when flying outside the US, but do they tell you anything before you purchase it?  NO.  I would recommend buying one of the new small, portable drones from other companies. That's what I'll be doing soon.

im having the same issues, exactly the same.it flew few first few times now nothing. dji support cant give me any answers , and wont admit there is a problem with the mavic air overseas. did you end up finding a solution? im 2 weeks into a cycletouringtrip if i cant sort it im sending it home

thestylishpedla Posted at 12-11 17:46
im having the same issues, exactly the same.it flew few first few times now nothing. dji support cant give me any answers , and wont admit there is a problem with the mavic air overseas. did you end up finding a solution? im 2 weeks into a cycletouringtrip if i cant sort it im sending it home

and getting a refund its useless if you cant fly it overseas

MAIRDA Posted at 11-21 11:02
Thank you.  I'm not saying it is a country or another, but simply stating a FACT that when overseas (outside of the US, and I sited two locations which happen outside of the US) my Mavic Air has not worked, it does not calibrate compass. PERIOD.  And I sited others, also outside of the US, where the same thing happens.  Therefore, I'm asking, what is going on?  I'm not taking the Mavic Air and I DO NOT RECOMMEND anyone who plans to take it out of their home country, to buy the Mavic Air or they will risk it not working because it can't calibrate compass.  And no one offers a good explanation or a good, consistent way to resolve it.

If you talked to engineers, they could have described what is the flying environment that does not allow compass calibration. As I described many times over, it is not the way I calibrate, proximity to metals, cars, watches, etc., because these conditions happen at home (Oregon) and it calibrates properly when back home after failing to calibrate overseas (including two remote areas, one of them I've even shown a picture to prove my point).

had the same issues talking to dji support, had five different people on the computer and they keep talking the same garbage. no-one has giiving me any solutions. just keep saying it wont fly because of the compass wont calibrate....... really

DJI Susan Posted at 11-23 05:29
Thanks for getting back to us. Currently, we're not sure whether it is a coincidence as we cannot reoccur this at our end. Just as mentioned above, anything happens for a reason, and we would like to figure out the mystery as well. Any data about this feedback will be appreciated.

dji susan, im having the same issues, have you any solutions for this?

thestylishpedla Posted at 12-11 17:50
had the same issues talking to dji support, had five different people on the computer and they keep talking the same garbage. no-one has giiving me any solutions. just keep saying it wont fly because of the compass wont calibrate....... really

There you go... the problem continues.  I just got back from an overseas trip, took the Mavic Pro instead and it flew without problems on the same exact location the Mavic Air could not calibrate compass.  Mavic Air is different, and it has issues calibrating compass when overseas... I strongly recommend: DON'T BUY the Mavic Air until DJI presents a solution.  DJI KNOWS the difference between Mavic Pro and Mavic Air, therefore they should be the first ones to provide us with THEIR data and potential reasons for the problem.

thestylishpedla Posted at 12-11 17:51
dji susan, im having the same issues, have you any solutions for this?

Thank you for posting... maybe when they receive enough posts they will take action.  DJI knows the difference between Mavic Pro and Mavic Air with respect to compass calibration, communication between the AC, the RC, and the phone.  

They could explore many items here, using for base the cross referencing of the differences between Mavic Pro and Mavic Air versus parameters for telephone communications in different countries, satellite position at different geographic locations, distance from home base (where you flew your drone for the first time), etc.   

Forget magnetization, watches, proximity to metals, etc... because that is not the case... otherwise the Mavic Pro would not work as well. And I've tried all kinds of situations with the Mavic Air.

DJI Susan Posted at 11-7 01:09
I understand your concern and very sorry for the inconvenience. We've double checked with our engineers, this is related to the flying environment, instead of the country/region. In order to locate the exact reason, we would like to have the corresponding screenshots and flight data in the aircraft for further analysis. Speculation only leads to confusion, not solution, we appreciate your understanding and cooperation.

Also, if other users have the same experience, please contact us or our support here for further assistance, thank you!

Hello I have the same problem with dji mavic air after oversea flight from Europe. Home callibration was very quick, on mountains too. Here, in Chile, south america, impossible to calibrate and so frustrating to do again and again. Is it true, that it’s after security scanning on airport? Can upload screen or data what u need to analyze. Let me know please, soon, how to solve it. Have some work things to do here, need to solve it fast. Thank you.

Here is screen from my mavick air what DJI Susan required.

fansa0fc2a92 Posted at 12-13 02:02
Hello I have the same problem with dji mavic air after oversea flight from Europe. Home callibration was very quick, on mountains too. Here, in Chile, south america, impossible to calibrate and so frustrating to do again and again. Is it true, that it’s after security scanning on airport? Can upload screen or data what u need to analyze. Let me know please, soon, how to solve it. Have some work things to do here, need to solve it fast. Thank you.

It is not related to airport screening!!! If that was true it would not work again once back home (Oregon, USA), after another round of airport screenings. It is location specific.  What about the location matters?
1. Local phone systems and communications?
2. Satellite positions?
3. Distance from home base (where you first turned it on?)
4. Other

fansa0fc2a92 Posted at 12-13 02:58
Here is screen from my mavick air what DJI Susan required.

Somehow it is not showing?  Hope you can share it.  Thanks!!!

thestylishpedla Posted at 12-11 17:51
dji susan, im having the same issues, have you any solutions for this?

Hi thestylishpedla, sorry for the late response. Could you export the corresponding flight data in the aircraft for analysis? I’ll forward to our engineers to review.

fansa0fc2a92 Posted at 12-13 02:02
Hello I have the same problem with dji mavic air after oversea flight from Europe. Home callibration was very quick, on mountains too. Here, in Chile, south america, impossible to calibrate and so frustrating to do again and again. Is it true, that it’s after security scanning on airport? Can upload screen or data what u need to analyze. Let me know please, soon, how to solve it. Have some work things to do here, need to solve it fast. Thank you.

Hi there, it seems that the screen does not show up properly. Could you check and confirm? Alternatively, you may upload to Google Drive or Dropbox, then share us the link here for better assistance, thank you!

My mavic air asks for calibrations fairly often since 0.500 update.  Checking the app for why and the compass bias is low around 90 at most but can be as low as 30 when it asks.   

I begining to wonder if it is attempting to compare the compass info between my phones/tablets and and it's internal compass and is unhappy?

Mylogic being: when I'm flying with my iPhone X it doesn't ask me as often as my older or less reliable devices like my iPad mini 2 and LG V10/Moto G.  

But.. My old mavic pro never complained about compass errors nor did it care too much.. and my spark well that thing was on an acid trip so not even worth me considering what it was thinking or doing  reguardless..

HereForTheBeer Posted at 12-14 01:46
My mavic air asks for calibrations fairly often since 0.500 update.  Checking the app for why and the compass bias is low around 90 at most but can be as low as 30 when it asks.   

I begining to wonder if it is attempting to compare the compass info between my phones/tablets and and it's internal compass and is unhappy?

That's another theory.  But it would not explain how it works for me when I'm in the US (including Hawaii, several locations in Oregon, San Diego) and does not work (never calibrates compass) when I'm in Brazil, Marshall Islands... places I travel often for work.  Others here reported problems in South America, including Chile, Brazil, Peru.

It is not airport screening because it works again when back home after being on a series of airport screenings.  And it worked in San Diego and Hawaii, after having to fly to those locations.

But I do think you are into something, which could be related to how smart phones operate in places outside the US, their frequency, even if you use an American Phone. My case, I've used both an American and a local phone when trying to fly my Mavic Air.

My Mavic Pro works everywhere, no problems

MAIRDA Posted at 12-14 07:11
That's another theory.  But it would not explain how it works for me when I'm in the US (including Hawaii, several locations in Oregon, San Diego) and does not work (never calibrates compass) when I'm in Brazil, Marshall Islands... places I travel often for work.  Others here reported problems in South America, including Chile, Brazil, Peru.

It is not airport screening because it works again when back home after being on a series of airport screenings.  And it worked in San Diego and Hawaii, after having to fly to those locations.

im not sure what causes it or why. i hope dji address this sooner rather than later because i see this as a potential risk factor to lesser experienced pilots .  it asks for it far too often to make any sense and once the error occurs it doesn't go away when you walk the drone around.

the risk being its too many false positives for a genuine error, can't just move the drone to another location to clear it, it sticks once it happens.   someone going to eventually calibrate good compass to a bad bias because of this the drone will accept it as new zero and on RTH it will fly away the wrong way.. '

this compass error happens to me almost every time i fly with 0.500  

HereForTheBeer Posted at 12-15 06:49
im not sure what causes it or why. i hope dji address this sooner rather than later because i see this as a potential risk factor to lesser experienced pilots .  it asks for it far too often to make any sense and once the error occurs it doesn't go away when you walk the drone around.

the risk being its too many false positives for a genuine error, can't just move the drone to another location to clear it, it sticks once it happens.   someone going to eventually calibrate good compass to a bad bias because of this the drone will accept it as new zero and on RTH it will fly away the wrong way.. '

The Mavic Air is definitely different than the Mavic Pro.  I wonder when DJI will let us know what's going wrong with what they use for compass on the Mavic Air, and more importantly, whether it can be fixed via  upgrading the Mavic Air operating system remotely or whether this is a design//hardware issue.  If it is the latter, forget about it.  Time to start looking at options outside DJI!.

MAIRDA Posted at 12-18 09:59
The Mavic Air is definitely different than the Mavic Pro.  I wonder when DJI will let us know what's going wrong with what they use for compass on the Mavic Air, and more importantly, whether it can be fixed via  upgrading the Mavic Air operating system remotely or whether this is a design//hardware issue.  If it is the latter, forget about it.  Time to start looking at options outside DJI!.

does not appear to be a hardware issue, because it still functions and if its a hardware issue then i would have a feeling the mavic air would have more issues navigating on its own.  and for me this issue definitely cropped up far more often post 0.500 update, i know people mentioned it in 0.400 as well but, i only had it ask me couple times at most and it actually self cleared, now 0.500 once compass error happens its kinda stuck may get lucky rebooting it a few times, but overall kinda forced into calibrating fairly often.


like i mentioned i think calibrating this often is risky because its crying wolf so often.... and walking around after error hits to try to find a clear spot..doesn't clear the error so all good practices fly out the window... now forced into calibrating regardless.  im glad DJi has some form of error checking in the system as i have encountered a few calibration fails when i intentionally tried to calibrate over a patch of the sidewalk that i know has underground pipes and wires.. however nothing if fool proof, error checking requires a known good reference..aka a parity which means it is possible to mess it up and calibrate/zero compass out to an incorrect value..

i heard someone mention IMU being root cause too..compass and IMU work together to test and check each other and it maybe possible that cuz button to turn on the battery/drone on mavic air is on the belly of the drone and have to flip it around a bit that maybe IMU or compass is booting up before each other, like for example, maybe compass still ticking itself back down after boot up and movement to zero when the IMU comes online and it sees that moment and disagrees with it and forces compass calibration..  that is possible and since by the time the IMU is online, the drone would be sitting still ready for take off and would zeroed itself out, and compass is influenced by a lot more than just movement...the fan spinning up to cool off the SoC will have a impulse of magnetism even, if that clicks on right when the system is ready to go..the compass will swing a bit but IMU will be rock solid..be in disagreement and require calibration.  im not saying this is what causes it, but it wouldn't surprise me if this is one of the reasons it maybe upset and requiring calibration

I am having the same problem, and have tried repeatedly in three or four different locations (+/- 5 km apart) without any success in calibrating. The Compass indicator is green (excellent) and yet cannot complete the second (pointing downward) maneuver to complete the calibration.

I was flying last weekend without issues (about 300km away) but on return to home, unable to calibrate, even from the  garden where I have flow before without issues.

So very very very frustrating ..... I have redone the firmware 0.500 and updated the DJI Go 4 app. I have logged a call, as I don't know what else to do.

Have removed watches, keys smart phones, smart watch, walked several meters from vehicle etc etc etc etc. :-(

Love the MA but cannot stand this uncertainty on whether it will fly or not, and when you travel to remote places to fly, only to find you cannot....

fans9bb3f68f Posted at 12-23 04:41
I am having the same problem, and have tried repeatedly in three or four different locations (+/- 5 km apart) without any success in calibrating. The Compass indicator is green (excellent) and yet cannot complete the second (pointing downward) maneuver to complete the calibration.

I was flying last weekend without issues (about 300km away) but on return to home, unable to calibrate, even from the  garden where I have flow before without issues.

Thank you for reporting this.  The more people report this problem, the better is the chance for DJI to do something about this issue, if not to solve it, at least explain what's the problem with it.  Otherwise, it also informs potential buyers about the inherent risk their Mavic Air might not fly because it can't calibrate compass.