Every single time I take the Mavic out, I'm asked to calibrate the compass. Is this absolutely necessary? "Return to home" will set automatically whether I calibrate the compass, or not.

Obviously if your being asked to calibrate, than it would be smart to calibrate. However calibrating in certain places doesn't always work. For example calibrating on a small street, with parked cars on both sides. That's when I get a strong magnetic warning (or something like that) and calibration fails. So can I safely fly without calibrating the compass?

You shouldn't need to continually calibrate your compass , I suggest next time this happens take your aircraft to a safe place calibrate it there.
If you calibrate in a dodgy area it will not be good and the more times you calibrate your compass the more chance you will have of getting a bad compass.
Is your firmware up to date,?   if it is and this keeps occurring then I would send it back to dji

Do you get a message asking you to calibrate or does it just say calibrate in front of the compass on the settings menu?  (The latter doesn't mean you have to calibrate)

WolfgangStiller Posted at 2017-1-6 07:03
Do you get a message asking you to calibrate or does it just say calibrate in front of the compass on the settings menu?  (The latter doesn't mean you have to calibrate)

I do not get an actual message to calibrate compas. However, every time I start the DJI app, it automatically brings me to the aircraft status page, so I always assume that I need to calibrate it. I guess this is normal? Wow, I'm an idiot, lol. Thanks for the help!

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-1-6 06:30
You shouldn't need to continually calibrate your compass , I suggest next time this happens take your aircraft to a safe place calibrate it there.
If you calibrate in a dodgy area it will not be good and the more times you calibrate your compass the more chance you will have of getting a bad compass.
Is your firmware up to date,?   if it is and this keeps occurring then I would send it back to dji

Your suggestion is very helpful. Thank you very much!

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-1-6 06:30
You shouldn't need to continually calibrate your compass , I suggest next time this happens take your aircraft to a safe place calibrate it there.
If you calibrate in a dodgy area it will not be good and the more times you calibrate your compass the more chance you will have of getting a bad compass.
Is your firmware up to date,?   if it is and this keeps occurring then I would send it back to dji

Your suggestion is very helpful. Thank you very much!

Cooldraw Posted at 2017-1-6 16:38
I do not get an actual message to calibrate compas. However, every time I start the DJI app, it automatically brings me to the aircraft status page, so I always assume that I need to calibrate it. I guess this is normal? Wow, I'm an idiot, lol. Thanks for the help!

When you first start the app up the aircraft status page will run through some tests, at this point just let it sit for 30 secs or so ... those warnings and calibration messages should go away ... if they remain after 30 secs (or so ..) you would be advised to follow the prompts.

It is Deffo not recommended to do a compass calibration every time you fly, infact it has the potential to make things worse for you.

Calibrate the compass in a good electromagnetic interference free area like a field once, and only again when prompted properly by the app ... Also, if you take the mavic more than 70+ miles or so away from the last place you calibrated it.

I'm about 15 flights in without calibrating, I haven't been prompted to do so and its flying so well no need yet. One thing to add though never calibrate on concrete or a street,  rebar in concrete or pipes or any kind of steel under a street could cause problems. Definitely a field or large grassy area is best. Happy flying.

Socalrob Posted at 2017-1-6 18:28
I'm about 15 flights in without calibrating, I haven't been prompted to do so and its flying so well no need yet. One thing to add though never calibrate on concrete or a street,  rebar in concrete or pipes or any kind of steel under a street could cause problems. Definitely a field or large grassy area is best. Happy flying.

Thanks for the heads-up. Much appreciated.