Thought things were looking up today having managed to get a compass Mod value over 1400 by degaussing the sensor but I still cannot calibrate the compas no matter what I try, where I go, what I do. Travelled into the middle of nowhere again today completely clear of any metal obstacles and it just will not calibrate. I had nothing with me, not even a belt buckle. Constantly getting the electomagnetic interference message. The Mod values look OK I guess (hopefully the pic attached)? KP index at the moment is 1, I have good GPS signals and everything is perfect for flying but all I have now is an expensive paperweight.
The issue started two days ago after upgrading to the latest firmware 1.4.1. Had been flying successfully up until that point with never any compass calibration errors. No crashes, no hard landings, nothing. Have since done an IMU calibration, gimbal calibration and still nothing. I've now reverted back to the old 1.3.2 firmware and still nothing. I've done the compas dance until i'm dizzy in every possible direction...

I have had no response at all from DJI Europe, DJI North America or via Social Media. Needless to say i'm totally peeeved.

Anyone got any bright ideas, i've been searching high and low and there are loads of threads on compass issues but no one seems to come to any clear comclusion of how to sort issues out.

Maybe the compass is just faulty.. You can report it to DJI or contact a dealer you purchased form.. You could also, if you dont want to send it back, buy new landing gear that has a new compass ( or just the compass itself )

Compass only - http://www.helipal.com/product_info.php?currency=GBP&products_id=12817&gclid=COiRvp2b7McCFYgIwwodPmsOrg

Compass Only - http://www.heliguy.com/dji-phantom-3-part-11-compass.html
Landing Gear - http://store.dji.com/product/phantom-3-landing-gear

Landing Gear - http://www.helipal.com/product_i ... p;products_id=12809

Landing Gear - http://www.expansys.com/dji-land ... ies-part-29-280338/

sploodge Posted at 2015-9-10 11:06
Maybe the compass is just faulty.. You can report it to DJI or contact a dealer you purchased form.. ...

I do understand that things can fail at any time but can't see how the compass can suddenly be faulty after doing a firmware upgrade? It is only 3 months old so am reluctant to start taking it apart to try to replace the compass as it looks like major surgery to me. Having said that I don't really want to be waiting months for DJI to get their act together and respond either.

Not sure what else to suggest. Looks like you have put in a lot of effort testing a lot of options.

One question.. When you do the dance, do the lights on the P3 indicate its successful?

sploodge Posted at 2015-9-10 11:40
One question.. When you do the dance, do the lights on the P3 indicate its successful?

They turn green after the first 'horizontal' rotation but then flash red after the 'vertical' rotation and then give the mag interference error.

When you turn it all on it shows safe to fly GPS. I then try to calibrate before the flight and it's the same result.

Really sounds like the compass is faulty.. No idea why it happened after a firmware but it could be that a bug was resolved related to the compass and this has highlighted the issue ( speculation )..

sploodge Posted at 2015-9-10 12:03
Really sounds like the compass is faulty.. No idea why it happened after a firmware but it could be  ...

Thanks Sploodge. I've contacted where I purchased it from and told them the issue in the hope they can get hold of someone at DJI and find out what to do. I just hope they get a reply... In the meantime it's a lovely day and i'm grounded :-(

DarrenDCClark Posted at 2015-9-10 12:10
Thanks Sploodge. I've contacted where I purchased it from and told them the issue in the hope they ...

Lovely day indeed but I'm stuck in work . Even left he P3 at home today so no lunchtime flying

sploodge Posted at 2015-9-10 12:13
Lovely day indeed but I'm stuck in work . Even left he P3 at home today so no lunchtime flying : ...

I work offshore so every day off with good weather is precious!!

DarrenDCClark Posted at 2015-9-10 13:39
I work offshore so every day off with good weather is precious!!

Hi Darren, no chance to go buy a compass/ landing gear set at a local shop and get it in the air today? From what I have seen, the compass is plugged into the board. It shouldn't take that much effort to give that a try. (and it should be inexpensive too)

Then maybe you can just send the compass back to DJI for testing.

Just a suggestion.

It is a pretty piece of tech and all, but staring at it grounded all day is no fun...

Flyhigh7887 Posted at 2015-9-10 13:09
Hi Darren, no chance to go buy a compass/ landing gear set at a local shop and get it in the air t ...

I have ordered a replacement compass but I don't want to take it apart just yet as i've only had it two months so waiting to see what the dealer comes up with. If it was a simple case of unplugging and plugging I would but it looks more involved than that and I don't want any potential warranty issues.

DarrenDCClark Posted at 2015-9-10 15:01
I have ordered a replacement compass but I don't want to take it apart just yet as i've only had i ...

understandable.

you're welcome to come fly mine. i am stuck in an office all day pretending  to be thinking about something other than flying.....

What about reinstalling the firmware there could have been a corrupt file in the download or install  

rmeyers Posted at 2015-9-10 17:31
What about reinstalling the firmware there could have been a corrupt file in the download or install ...

That was one of my first thoughts so reverted back to the 1.3.2 firmware I was using before but it still would no longer calibrate. Have now updated back to 1.4.1 as figured I might as well and the issue still remains...

No call back from my dealer today so surprise, surprise I guess he could not get any response from DJI either.

DarrenDCClark Posted at 2015-9-10 18:44
That was one of my first thoughts so reverted back to the 1.3.2 firmware I was using before but it ...

You are one of the unlucky guy's who has to replace the compass. It does happen very rarely but you tried everything and run out of options.

Stealth... Posted at 2015-9-10 17:52
You are one of the unlucky guy's who has to replace the compass. It does happen very rarely but you ...

Like I say, it's not me that should be doing it really if it does need replacing following a firmware update after only 2 months of owning it.

DarrenDCClark Posted at 2015-9-10 21:20
Like I say, it's not me that should be doing it really if it does need replacing following a firmw ...

I totally agree with that. I didn't mean literally you.

I called DJI in Shenzen China, and its could be your compass module.

Luckily I live in Hongkong, and they are just 1 hr by train,  and they can change the compass for you within 1 hr.

But they also suggested to reset your compass connection, could be loose contact... but you need to open up ...

They have similar cases like these... so dont order the module yet.

SectorDrone Posted at 2015-9-11 12:19
I called DJI in Shenzen China, and its could be your compass module.

Luckily I live in Hongkong, an ...

Good suggestion, Sector Drone

If nothing works, please, leave me your contacts, so we can solve your issue

Check this out, and see if it help?




RedHotPoker

Hi DJI-Tim,

I have tried everything I can find searching around. The Mod values change if you move the model around so I can't see how that could be a loose contact? I now have a replacement compass module but I don't want to start taking it apart to change it as i've only had it two months. If it is the only option I would have to search around on how to take it apart to change it as i'm not sure how easy it would be.
My contact is ****** if you can help at all.

Thanks, Darren
Edited and removed my e-mail address as no reply as usual.

Hooray, it's back from the suppliers! Looks like it was a fault compass after all that just happened to coincide with the firmware update - what are the chances of that! Anyway compass has been replaced and calibrated and it looks to be working again. Just powered it up and all seems well, no magnetic interference errors anyway. Need to charge up all my batteries as they have been sitting a while and then go and (cautiously) try flying again. Hopefully no other issues will come to light.

Glorious weather today but I probably won't get out now so tomorrow I predict rain and storms all across the north east of England!!

DarrenDCClark Posted at 2015-9-30 16:26
Hooray, it's back from the suppliers! Looks like it was a fault compass after all that just happened ...

Cool. Glad you got it sorted Darren. Hope you get to do some flying soon..

sploodge Posted at 2015-9-30 16:28
Cool. Glad you got it sorted Darren. Hope you get to do some flying soon..

Certainly hope so. Many thanks for all your suggestions BTW, much appreciated.

DarrenDCClark Posted at 2015-9-30 11:26
Hooray, it's back from the suppliers! Looks like it was a fault compass after all that just happened ...

Good for you, let us know about your first flight after the compass change.
Bat

capbat Posted at 2015-9-30 18:29
Good for you, let us know about your first flight after the compass change.
Bat

Will do. Weather forecast looks great for tomorrow and my final battery almost fully charged so will be out first thing to try...

capbat Posted at 2015-9-30 18:29
Good for you, let us know about your first flight after the compass change.
Bat

Three perfect flights today in glorious sunshine - hoorah!. I made sure I was away from anything for the first one. Didn't calibrate the compass and unless I really see the need too I don't think I will from now on. First flight was fine although I was cautious and did't go to far. I did try Atti mode for the first time and found it fine, just needed more corrections as it drifted in the breeze. Wasn't expecting it to be too difficult as have years of flying RC helis behind me. I had a go with the POI feature and very impressed with it. There wasn't much where I was so just did it around my car to try it! After that had a good walk and used up two more batteries in the air. Lots of video and still shots to process now. I'm a happy bunny once again.

Good for you, happy you got along with DJI.

Darren, I agree with Sploodge that it is likely your compass (could just be coincidental timing with your firmware upgrade or the firware process could have fried it). Fortunately, the compass is fairly easy to replace.  I just posted a thread today with a link to a five-part video series that goes through the breakdown and rebuild process of the entire aircraft in detail and I do include a section in there about how to take apart the compass. Might be good for you to look at the videos for yourself to see if the compass replacement is something you feel comfortable doing.   Basic steps:  remove the top shell, unplug the compass connector, remove the back right lightbridge antenna from the landing gear, unscrew the compass from the landing gear, unscrew the landing gear to pull the compass cable out that you unplugged from the top, and then repeat this process is reverse to put it back together.  Search for the following thread from me:  "P3 Full Breakdown and Rebuild"

Sorry, here's the correct title to the thread I was referring to:   P3 Pro Full Strip Down and Rebuild (Shell Replacement & Custom Paint)

The other good thing is that a compass only costs about $12.00

Sorry - I probably should have read through all the comments.  Glad you got this sorted out!

suhailimtiaz Posted at 2015-10-4 02:55
Sorry - I probably should have read through all the comments.  Glad you got this sorted out!

No problem at all thanks for the input!! Would have done it myself had it not still been under warranty.

bobasbury Posted at 2015-10-5 01:01
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5upkFg-J9c

Tried all that too. Had perfectly good MOD values after using the magnet to reset it but it still would not calibrate. Only option was to have the compass replaced.

I had the same problem. Running IMU calibration worked for me: http://forum.dji.com/thread-29631-1-1.html
You might want to try that.

kaany Posted at 2015-10-5 15:11
I had the same problem. Running IMU calibration worked for me: http://forum.dji.com/thread-29631-1-1 ...

Tried that too! I tried everything! Only option was compass replacement. Thankfully it did't have to go all the way back to DJI for that, just the supplier.

suhailimtiaz Posted at 2015-10-4 09:33
The other good thing is that a compass only costs about $12.00

Did you notice that the compass by itself is $15 ( http://store.dji.com/product/phantom-3-compass )  but if you buy the legs that INCLUDE the compass it's only $12 - odd, huh?