Hello! My first post here. I have been searching around the internet trying to answer this question since yesterday, but can't seem to find anything that matches up with what I was experiencing, so I was hoping someone here might have an answer

I got my MP yesterday, and took it to my mom's house (she lives next to a golf course, so it's a lot of open grassy area) to try it out. I calibrated the IMU, no problem. I tried calibrating the compass - no issue in the horizontal orientation. However, when I did the nose down calibration, I got an error about a magnetic field.

I didn't have anything in my pockets, no metal in my body, no watch on - remote was on the deck about 50 feet away. No metal in the area at all. I tried it several times, with the same result. I checked the sensor readings, and compass 1 was barely lit green, but compass 2 was about halfway lit (in the yellow zone).

I shut everything down and restarted. It came up, and I checked the compass sensors again - both in the green this time (no yellow and no error message - blinking green light on the back of the drone). So, I started my flight. During the flight, I got errors a couple of times that the compass needed to be calibrated/magnetic interference (along with the blinking red/yellow light on the drone). It would last for just a second to 30-45 seconds.

I'm just worried because a lot of what I want to do is in some terrain and over water. Anything dealing with the guidance system is a huge red flag for me. Any ideas on what is going on here? I never saw the sensor in the red, only the yellow. I also confirmed that the firmware was updated to the most recent firmware version (using the PC application).

I contacted DJI tech services, but I know they can be a little hard to get information from sometimes.

I should also note that any time I tried calibrating the compass, it passed the first part (horizontal spin) and failed the second part (nose down spin). I tried it probably 8 or 9 times in total in different places around the yard and even on the course itself.

First off why did you calibrate IMU and try to calibrate compass? In the manual it tells you not to calibrate compass IMU unless prompted.
You now obviously have a bad compass , so maybe you need to go to another location and try to calibrate again, or you may just have a problem .
You can check to see if your compass heading and aircraft are on the same heading by starting your aircraft just hover at 6 feet or so and in bottom left hand corner of your app you will see small red arrow, if this is pointing in the direction as your aircraft then your compass is working.
But you may want to try another calibration first.

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-6-9 08:26
First off why did you calibrate IMU and try to calibrate compass? In the manual it tells you not to calibrate compass IMU unless prompted.
You now obviously have a bad compass , so maybe you need to go to another location and try to calibrate again, or you may just have a problem .
You can check to see if your compass heading and aircraft are on the same heading by starting your aircraft just hover at 6 feet or so and in bottom left hand corner of your app you will see small red arrow, if this is pointing in the direction as your aircraft then your compass is working.

Thank you for the information.

To be honest, in the days before receiving the unit in the mail I was watching a ton of videos and doing a lot of research on how to set it up, all the settings, menus in the app, etc so I would be ready to go once it came in. Everything I saw/read said that you needed to calibrate the compass...some said every time, but others said at least whenever you move to a new location. I figured that it would be necessary based on that.

AutoEuphoria Posted at 2017-6-9 08:33
Thank you for the information.

To be honest, in the days before receiving the unit in the mail I was watching a ton of videos and doing a lot of research on how to set it up, all the settings, menus in the app, etc so I would be ready to go once it came in. Everything I saw/read said that you needed to calibrate the compass...some said every time, but others said at least whenever you move to a new location. I figured that it would be necessary based on that.

Some great advice there on post 3. However, I would double check make sure that you have the firmware updated and that are you are trying a compass calibration elsewhere.

DJI-Mark Posted at 2017-6-9 08:40
Some great advice there on post 3. However, I would double check make sure that you have the firmware updated and that are you are trying a compass calibration elsewhere.

Agreed. I will try another calibration in a different location. Who knows - there may have been something unseen that was causing the issue. I do know 100% that the firmware is up to date - I checked it via the DJI application last night when I got home.

Thank you again

AutoEuphoria Posted at 2017-6-9 08:33
Thank you for the information.

To be honest, in the days before receiving the unit in the mail I was watching a ton of videos and doing a lot of research on how to set it up, all the settings, menus in the app, etc so I would be ready to go once it came in. Everything I saw/read said that you needed to calibrate the compass...some said every time, but others said at least whenever you move to a new location. I figured that it would be necessary based on that.

Once you get your compass calibrated properly there is no need to calibrate again until prompted , you may at times be asked to calibrate compass or move to another location to take off from , always move.

A lot of what you read about calibration comes from older dji manuals where the wording was a bit suspect and urban myth about calibration took hold.
Maybe if you move very long distance away but not always, just check it the way I mentioned in post 3.

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-6-9 09:15
Once you get your compass calibrated properly there is no need to calibrate again until prompted , you may at times be asked to calibrate compass or move to another location to take off from , always move.

A lot of what you read about calibration comes from older dji manuals where the wording was a bit suspect and urban myth about calibration took hold.

Will do, thank you! This is my first "real" drone, so a lot of these features are foreign to me. I tried to prepare myself, but apparently got some suspect advice. I appreciate the information, though - I'll take that advice, calibrate it well, and not calibrate it again unless prompted to.

I've never calibrated IMU or compass on mine.  Just took it out of the box, charged the battery, and fired it up.  Yes, I read the manual a couple of times while waiting to get it, and since.  Presumably, it was manufactured and last calibrated in China, so  it has moved half way around the globe and still hasn't called for a calibration.  The more often you calibrate, the more likely you may get a bad calibration that will give you trouble.  Calibrate very carefully, and only when it tells you to.  Since you did it already, I'd take great care to get a very good calibration in it and then leave it alone if all looks good.  If all is well, fly and enjoy!

When you recalibrate the compass, be sure you don't have metal objects in your pockets!

Well for starters, the second part of the calibration isn't nose down, look at the calibration diagram on the app during calibration, the second part shows you exactly the position it's supposed to be in, and it's not nose down.

You can do the second part nose down no problem.

In the beginning I had the same issue as you. My problem was that I held the MP too close to the ground. It needs to be at least 1m above ground when compass calibrating.

Hy there,
I am very noob here. I am from Brazil and I've experienced that issue...and terror AutoEuphoria described.
I've looked for answers and as you may know, in Brazil we don't even have technical support. So, as I said it is a nightmare.
I've seen that the problem on background compass, or second compass is a hardware problem that DJI have already assumed. For folks that are on Asia, Europe and USA it is a bit easy to have a new one. But, as I experience many difficulties on support I decide to fly by my own, assuming my risks.
And I really don't get much problems.
There is an interne video, that the guy says to click the controller right button for choosing P or S mode some times before you initiate the compass calibration. It is an unique video.
Maybe you should try this "magical" deal.
And there is another technical issue that we may have in mind: the compass is made in China; rounding the globe, changing latitude and longitude may affect the calibration of the compass.
Cheers!
DocAraxá

Hi, i have the same problem with calibration. Always show the message that im close to magnetic things, but im not, i tried a looot of times. Anyone knows why this happen?

Maybe if you move very long distance away but not always, just check it the way I mentioned in post 3.


I've had my Mavic a little less than a year.  It has NEVER been calibrated (compass or IMU) since it was released by the factory.  I assume they calibrated it in China when it was made.  It has never given any request to calibrate.  It just works.    IF it does ask me to recalibrate, I will do everything I can think of to make sure it really needs it before doing it.  If it ask for calibration, there must be some outside cause.  If you go to a place to fly and you get a compass error, get the heck out of there and do not launch.  

True. I've had my MP for 4-5 months and I've calibrated once b/c I was prompted other than that never again.