Hello all

So today I went out on my 806th flight, wind was quite breezy at around 35km/h.

At one point I was flying backwards and got a compass error(no ATTI mode), stopped the craft and error went away, flew backwards again error comes back and so on. went into compass status and everytime I fly backwards the interference goes red?? Only goes up a little when flying forward.

So I flew back and got a new battery, did a compass calibration (first one in quite a while) and took it for a spin, wind still going at a good pace. Interference still went up when flying backwards but only into yellow, no warnings popped up.

Why does the compass interference change with the angle of the craft, especially backwards? Any ideas?

Why does the compass interference change with the angle of the craft, especially backwards?

Something I have not looked for.  Have to give it a try.
No idea as to why, but a theory.  When drone flies forward, nose tilts downward.  When flying backward, nose tilts upward.  Tilting would cause two of three magnetic field sensors to change angle in relation to earth.  

Possibility, something is going wrong during compass calibration.  Except why only one of two compasses?  Leading to one of effected sensors on one of compasses has a problem.

HedgeTrimmer Posted at 11-20 15:35
Why does the compass interference change with the angle of the craft, especially backwards?

Something I have not looked for.  Have to give it a try.

I held the craft in my hand and tilted it in all directions at all angles and the interference did not budge.

Will check what it does when the wind dies down a little. See if the wind had an effect.

Koelkop Posted at 11-20 20:52
I held the craft in my hand and tilted it in all directions at all angles and the interference did not budge.

Will check what it does when the wind dies down a little. See if the wind had an effect.

Oh well, dead theory.  At least your testing eliminated possibility of changes to drones angle as a cause of compass interference.

806 flights - very impressive. Sorry if I didn't catch this if you mentioned it, but what environment were you flying in? Was it near water? Buildings? Trees? Wilderness? Do you fly in this environment/location frequently? And what condition is your drone in - any crashes or hard landings?
I'm trying to see if any of these things would have any relation to a compass error of any sort - this type of problem intrigues me.

I wish you safe flying ahead!

Nordium Posted at 11-20 21:56
806 flights - very impressive. Sorry if I didn't catch this if you mentioned it, but what environment were you flying in? Was it near water? Buildings? Trees? Wilderness? Do you fly in this environment/location frequently? And what condition is your drone in - any crashes or hard landings?
I'm trying to see if any of these things would have any relation to a compass error of any sort - this type of problem intrigues me.

Hi, I always fly on our farm which is open wilderness. Few powerlines here and there but they have never interfered with the drone. This error popped up about 2km from the nearest powerline.

I did fly it into a tree at around the 80th flight. It was a very leafy tree with soft twigs so not like a solid impact against a tree trunk. Nothing broke except a cracked landing leg. Drone is now about 8 months old.

The wind was really strong, I don't know if the motors give of more magnetic interference when spinning really fast trying too keep the drone in place and then tilt to fly?

So I just went out to fly again. wind blowing at a steady 55km/h...

2nd compass now only went up a little bit going backwards, every now and then blips orange for a second or two and then green again.  Going forward produces no noticeable increase. Still flies like it did when new.

I went to one of the power lines to check what the interference shows, I have to fly really close to the wires before it picks up any interference and then both go orange and it switches into ATTI mode as expected, once I move away it all goes green again.

Koelkop Posted at 11-21 08:59
So I just went out to fly again. wind blowing at a steady 55km/h...

2nd compass now only went up a little bit going backwards, every now and then blips orange for a second or two and then green again.  Going forward produces no noticeable increase. Still flies like it did when new.

Very interesting for sure... I appreciate you following up and am glad to hear that everything is (for the most part) back to normal!