The title may sound a bit weird, and quite frankly, my issue is pretty weird. I was flying my Phantom 3 SE today and was happy and everything was fine - for the first couple of minutes.
Without changing location, I suddenly started experiencing compass issues. The gimbal drifted a little and got tilted, which usually indicates a compass issue or interference. Eventually, the drone reported a compass error, but only for a very short time.
I then flew her back home while the gimbal was moving a little bit like a drunk person.

How is this possible? Is there any thing I can do that keeps my compass from suddenly going bad?

Note: I was flying at 3° Celsius.

Don't understand how the compass could ever have an effect on the gimbal.

ALABAMA Posted at 2017-12-1 08:29
Don't understand how the compass could ever have an effect on the gimbal.

Well, I'm almost sad to know this, but from many issues in the past I have figured out that they are definitely, in soem way, connected.
My guess is that, since the yaw arm uses a magnet for knowing its position, the magnetic sensor uses a compass input to cancel out interference from the earth's magnetic field when controlling the gimbal yaw.
Compass issues lead to a wrong alignment of the yaw arm, and if the drone isn't level (fighting the wind or so) this will also mess up the tilt and a little bit the pitch. This is just a guess, though, based on my past issues.

Again, I'm sad that I know this, because I know it from having issues, but still - so far I have either had issues or not had them. There has never been a flight where they suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

How is this possible? Is there any thing I can do that keeps my compass from suddenly going bad?

A lot of people get confused by the term Compass Error.
A compass error is not a malfunctioning compass.
It is a good compass telling you that it has detected a magnetif field that is different from the earth's normal magnetic field.
Your compass doesn't suddenly go bad.

fansef854c89 Posted at 2017-12-1 14:53
Well, I'm almost sad to know this, but from many issues in the past I have figured out that they are definitely, in soem way, connected.
My guess is that, since the yaw arm uses a magnet for knowing its position, the magnetic sensor uses a compass input to cancel out interference from the earth's magnetic field when controlling the gimbal yaw.
Compass issues lead to a wrong alignment of the yaw arm, and if the drone isn't level (fighting the wind or so) this will also mess up the tilt and a little bit the pitch. This is just a guess, though, based on my past issues.

Alabama is right, gimbal issues have nothing to do with the compass.

Labroides
Yes, exactly. The compass is supposed to filter out a certain amount of interference, though.
If I'm completely understanding your comment correctly, the only way my issue could happen was that another magnetic field suddenly popped up (since I hadn't changed location). If that's the case, I have nothing to worry about and I thank you very much.

Hey there, generally speaking, aircraft status indicator will flash red and yellow alternatively if the compass requires to be calibrated. It will be helpful to verify if changed to another location without interference.