date purchased 21/4/18   i am too getting these errors it looks like a lot of people are getting this error is it a batch of faulty units

mine is the same every flight it needs the compass  re-calibrating i also own a p3p ,p4a,spark and none of these need re calibrating every flight i hope this problem is resolved asap i have only the usual 14 day refund in the uk  and i can take mine back but don't really want to as its the best dji drone ive had so far and to take it back and swap for another if its a faulty batch is pointless

If there's metals less than 1.5 or 2 meters from the drone, you will get a "compass calibration required" message, all the time.

I was having that message frequently too and when I realized there was alwas a bike or a metallica bar or similar stuff around me, I fixed it and it stopped.

Bokepacha Posted at 2018-4-23 02:30
If there's metals less than 1.5 or 2 meters from the drone, you will get a "compass calibration required" message, all the time.

I was having that message frequently too and when I realized there was alwas a bike or a metallica bar or similar stuff around me, I fixed it and it stopped.

I get it all the time with no metal anywhere near me, as I've posted this morning in the other compass thread today.

I think it would help if you show a small video of your procedure from starting to getting compass errors, and would be best if you take video in the location you would mostly fly.

Here's what I posted in the other thread:

Had 2 flights over the weekend, both times I was asked to re-calibrate the Compass.

1st one was taking off on a stony beach, no metal objects within 20m.
2nd one was taking off in a farmers field, again no metal objects anywhere nearby.

I took screenshots of both times as someone previously asked what the on screen message looked like:

Where are you keeping the drone when transporting? Could be the bodywork of a car.

Datadogie Posted at 2018-4-23 05:43
Where are you keeping the drone when transporting? Could be the bodywork of a car.

That shouldn't matter, it tells you if there's interference to move away from the metal object.  But in my examples above it had been away from the car for over an hour each time, and there were no metal objects anywhere nearby.

I'll try to make a short video next time I go for a flight (it'll probably be fine that time though...)

I'm experiencing exactly the same compass behavior as you. Compass needs to be re-calibreted everytime.

what is exactly happening is i  put the drone on the ground away from anything apart from the ground (thats sitting on a big pot of gold or huge magnet thats a joke by the way ) i then make sure all is ok before i take off i then fly the drone for a good few minutes   then land the drone when the drone has landed all is still ok on the monitor screen i then pick the drone up and a minute later whilst the drone is in my hand and the controller in the other hand i get the compass error(i dont wear a watch) i am still in the same spot and have not moved it does not matter where i am standing in the middle of field a good distance away from anything the compass error appears in red in the top left corner of the tablet/phone
i am using a nexus 7 2013 tablet i use this on all my other drones using the same app..apart from the p3p ..if the drone AIR has landed i dont get an error until i pick the drone up

Robothamster Posted at 2018-4-23 03:58
Here's what I posted in the other thread:

Had 2 flights over the weekend, both times I was asked to re-calibrate the Compass.

how long have you had the drone  and has it allways done this was it a firmware update that caused this error?

havrosh Posted at 2018-4-23 11:01
I'm experiencing exactly the same compass behavior as you. Compass needs to be re-calibreted everytime.

how long have you had the drone  and has it allways done this was it a firmware update that caused this error?

I have the same problem. Sometimes it takes me 2-3 calibrations until it is OK. I am not near any metal or magnetic surfaces.

Thatsodd Posted at 2018-4-23 15:17
how long have you had the drone  and has it allways done this was it a firmware update that caused this error?

4 days.
I have latest firmware from the first flight (upgrade was made before first flight)

Wearing a watch, especially a smartwatch, can have this effect.  Try powering it up without a watch on your wrist and see if it reduces the calibration requests.

GLJones Posted at 2018-4-23 20:46
Wearing a watch, especially a smartwatch, can have this effect.  Try powering it up without a watch on your wrist and see if it reduces the calibration requests.

That is a good point... I wear Apple Watch (series 2).
I will try without watch.

Thanks

Thatsodd Posted at 2018-4-23 15:17
how long have you had the drone  and has it allways done this was it a firmware update that caused this error?

I've had it since 20th of Feb and it's always been the same.

I assumed at 1st it just had a more sensitive compass than my Spark had, but now seeing people not having the issue at all makes you wonder if something may be up.

GLJones Posted at 2018-4-23 20:46
Wearing a watch, especially a smartwatch, can have this effect.  Try powering it up without a watch on your wrist and see if it reduces the calibration requests.

Yes I do wear a titanium Seiko watch, that's the only metallic object that is nearby.

I'll do a few tests without wearing the watch and see if that changes anything.

nywrecker Posted at 2018-4-23 16:23
I have the same problem. Sometimes it takes me 2-3 calibrations until it is OK. I am not near any metal or magnetic surfaces.

how long have you had the drone  and has it allways done this was it a firmware update that caused this error?

I have done compass calibration without wearing smartwatch and this worked...  
3 flights (3 batteries) and there was no problem with compass.

i got a ticket email response from dji about my repeating compass errors

asking me did the
compass calibration
imu calibration
go ok

well i thought since the imu is calibrated in the factory it didn't need it then i thought that the imu is the brains of the drone it controls everything just like your bios does in a pc including the compass
so i did a imu calibration watching the pictures on the screen with the different moves of the drone and the last one it just stayed there for ages so i moved the drone  to another spot on the ground and it finished ok but i thought i might have got it wrong so i re-calibrated it again straight after the first calibration and the last two pictures were at different angles this time and i thought that was a bit odd

after doing the second imu calibration fingers crossed im not getting the usual every flight compass error and i can now land then pick up the drone and handle it with the drone still switched on  and put it back down in another spot  im a about four feet from metal railings and all is fine and no compass errors and re-fly the drone .. then i thought i would have a go at the wifi connection to the tablet again  as i could not find a wifi signal on my tablet from the drone.. it does connect to the wifi and the instructions are a bit vague as when powering up the air on the back of the drone pressing the drones function button on the back of the drone until you hear>>> three beeps <<<i thought press till you hear two beeps this is why i couldn't connect the first time i got the drone but its >>>three beeps<<< then your wifi signal should appear in the wifi list on your tablet/phone then you can  fly with your tablet or phone using the two thumb  joystick pads that appear on the tablet/phone on the screen .. i didn't try it flying it with the tablet as the controller (i jibbed out i have flown other drones like this and its a nightmare) also reconnecting back to the controller after this is a bit of a long haul and very frustrating as it took me six times (6 time outs) to try to connect back to the  radio controller unit.. also i have now noticed that my tablet has crashed and  restarted a few times when im in the djigo4 app ( android  ) now im assuming this is down to more power than the cpu can handle or maybe a ghost in the machine!! and repowers the tablet im not sure if this is an error with the air drone as it is fine on all of my other drones but the problem has only just started since i have been using the air....


i have just been out and tried another flight and re-flight a few times with a lot of handling of the drown turning it round and round and upside down when the drone is still switched on (i wont be doing this in real time this was just  a test) getting no compass errors so  im assuming it was down to the imu calibration
so if anyone is getting the compass errors after each flight and there not wearing a watch and not near any metal objects  suggestion is to imu calibrate the drone a couple of times straight after each other then see if they get the error if they do then something else is wrong

havrosh Posted at 2018-4-24 13:05
I have done compass calibration without wearing smartwatch and this worked...  
3 flights (3 batteries) and there was no problem with compass.

Yea!  Glad that worked for you.

Thatsodd Posted at 2018-4-25 04:25
i got a ticket email response from dji about my repeating compass errors

asking me did the

So the compass error now fixed, right? Thank you for your update.
As for the timeout issue when linking, please put the RC near the AC, unfold the antennas of your drone and RC. You can refer to the tutorial below.
For the app crashes, try to switch the mobile device to Airplane mode, shut down the apps that are not in use. Or you can try to reinstall the latest version and try again. Please note to do a backup like syncing the flight record and saving the pictures and videos before your reinstallation. See if it works.

Ok so my Air ALWAYS requested a compass calibration, and I don't buy this nonsense about metal under the ground and ion's in the air. So I set about systematically checking it. Reloaded the software, rest to factory defaults took it out and did a compass calibration, slowly and deliberately. Since then it has not asked for a recalibration and the direction is spot on.  Had 5 flights in different places and it has not requested it again. My GPS alos now locks on in a few seconds.

i bought the Mavic Air on 7th May.
Tried to fly it last night and the compass error keeps appearing.
I tried to calibrate it but it fail for at least 10 times, the light turn red when im doing the vertical calibration.
After the first successful calibration i quickly took off but upon landing, the compass error pops out again.

Honestly im quite disappointed. It cant be so sensitive like mentioned above that even a smart watch will affect the compass.
Im not a pro in this field, maybe it has to be very sensitive for certain reason but im just sharing my thoughts.

Does anyone has a solution for this?

Robothamster Posted at 2018-4-23 03:58
Here's what I posted in the other thread:

Had 2 flights over the weekend, both times I was asked to re-calibrate the Compass.

I don’t believe it’s your watch , if you follow correct procedure for calibration it shouldn’t keep asking for calibration, compass in Mavic Air shouldn’t need calibration even when moving large distance. It is equipped with look up table that stores global information.

I believe that dji have set these sensors to very high sensitivity causing some to continue asking for calibration.
Although not strictly correct procedure try turning on Aircraft first before RC and app to see if this makes any difference .

hallmark007 Posted at 2018-5-9 02:21
I don’t believe it’s your watch , if you follow correct procedure for calibration it shouldn’t keep asking for calibration, compass in Mavic Air shouldn’t need calibration even when moving large distance. It is equipped with look up table that stores global information.

I believe that dji have set these sensors to very high sensitivity causing some to continue asking for calibration.

Funnily enough, since I installed Litchi about 3 weeks ago (or was it 2?) I've flown the Air about 10 times and not had a single compass calibration request on either app.
Also, I always turn on the Air 1st, then the RC, wait for the green RC LED to show it's connected, then plug in my phone.

Robothamster Posted at 2018-5-9 02:26
Funnily enough, since I installed Litchi about 3 weeks ago (or was it 2?) I've flown the Air about 10 times and not had a single compass calibration request on either app.
Also, I always turn on the Air 1st, then the RC, wait for the green RC LED to show it's connected, then plug in my phone.

Good don’t know if it’s Litchi or last FW update but good news.

I've been involved in a few 'compass threads'  What i've found is that the solution is different for each person.   Here is a list of 'fixes' that i've compiled

1. Remove smart watch
2. Move to different location
3. Install Litchi or some other third party software
     after launching 3rd party software, DJI Go 4 no longer asks for calibration
4. update firmware and DJI Go 4 app - however this solution caused some people to get MORE requests for calibration
5. Started using CrystalSky and MA stopped asking for Calibration

What does this mean?  It means that we don't have real answers.    I hope that you find the answer that works for you, because this is just exhausting.

DJI support recommend to calibrate IMU after firmware upgrade. I am a little surprise on that but will follow their suggestions.

I found compass in MA is very sensitive. It does affected by metal structures around and even rebar in concrete. Check what is around and on your body when see the error.

chrisgp Posted at 2018-5-9 01:40
i bought the Mavic Air on 7th May.
Tried to fly it last night and the compass error keeps appearing.
I tried to calibrate it but it fail for at least 10 times, the light turn red when im doing the vertical calibration.

im in the same situation! i bought my mavic air, and its impossible to fly outdoor, only inside my house! what i did was, turn on inside my house and put my drone outside, only this way i was able to fly...

i tried to do the calibration,  on the beach, on the grass and all the time i failed,   in this moment i send a email for dji, waiting a new product ou a soluttion, because i bouth  last week and i cant fly...

Hello, i can’t fly my mavic air, i have the compass error and it is impossible calibrated, i’m in the park without structures, i try downgrade the firmware, chanche the batteries, i don’t have watch, i have my iphone in airplane mode. Please can you help me?

Fernando15 Posted at 2018-9-18 12:10
im in the same situation! i bought my mavic air, and its impossible to fly outdoor, only inside my house! what i did was, turn on inside my house and put my drone outside, only this way i was able to fly...

i tried to do the calibration,  on the beach, on the grass and all the time i failed,   in this moment i send a email for dji, waiting a new product ou a soluttion, because i bouth  last week and i cant fly...

Hi, Did you get a solution?, I have the same problem

Bokepacha Posted at 4-23 02:30
If there's metals less than 1.5 or 2 meters from the drone, you will get a "compass calibration required" message, all the time.

I was having that message frequently too and when I realized there was alwas a bike or a metallica bar or similar stuff around me, I fixed it and it stopped.

This has to be the most annoying standard reply I get for the same problem I have with my Mavic Air.  No, it is not a metal thing, it is not because it went through a metal detector nor because I don't know how to calibrate compass, nor because I'm wearing a watch this or that... how do I know? Because I've flown it many times and I've tried all different scenarios.  Mavic Air (at least some of them, mine does) have a problem calibrating compass.  In my case, I was never able to fly it outside of the United States.  Not taking it on international trips anymore, as it is a dead weight, expensive paperweight when abroad, as it NEVER calibrates compass outside the United States.  Once I'm back, one calibration and it is good to go.  Experts from DJI want me to show a screen shot of when this problem occurs.  Too late, I'm not going to carry this thing abroad again just to get a screen shot (and not be able to fly it). Yes, I'm not happy, bought this thing exactly because it is portable to take on long trips... expensive mistake.

Juan k ramos Posted at 10-30 05:52
Hi, Did you get a solution?, I have the same problem

I also have the same problem.  Good luck getting an answer from DJI.

Fernando15 Posted at 9-18 12:10
im in the same situation! i bought my mavic air, and its impossible to fly outdoor, only inside my house! what i did was, turn on inside my house and put my drone outside, only this way i was able to fly...

i tried to do the calibration,  on the beach, on the grass and all the time i failed,   in this moment i send a email for dji, waiting a new product ou a soluttion, because i bouth  last week and i cant fly...

The only two times I was able to fly my Mavic Air when outside the US was when it flew on atti mode.  Otherwise, it is stuck on the calibrate compass... and no matter what you do, you will not be able to calibrate compass.

I wish DJI came clean on their understanding of what this problem is. The worse people on these threads are the ones who do not have this problem and keep saying we are doing something wrong, it is operators' errors, they say, or that  it is an isolated problem, etc... It does not help guys.  This IS a problem! It may not affect ALL mavic airs, but it happens to mine and based on this I have NEVER recommended this drone to anyone who asks.

Robothamster Posted at 4-23 03:58
Here's what I posted in the other thread:

Had 2 flights over the weekend, both times I was asked to re-calibrate the Compass.

This is exactly the same message I get when trying to fly my Mavic Air abroad.  It never happens on US soil.  It includes being on a completely secluded beach in an atoll in the middle of the Pacific ocean with no buildings or structures around me.  Then I take it back home and on the first try it works...  Now, DJI, can you tell us what the problem is?

Dji, puede comunicarnos la solucion al problema de la brujula, lo mismo me ocurre , no siempre ero si de seguido.

Saludos

chrisgp Posted at 2018-5-9 01:40
i bought the Mavic Air on 7th May.
Tried to fly it last night and the compass error keeps appearing.
I tried to calibrate it but it fail for at least 10 times, the light turn red when im doing the vertical calibration.

Hi,
Have you managed to solve the issue? I am facing the same problem. I have never being able to fly my mavic air yet. always compass error. :-(

PSINACIO Posted at 3-17 13:51
Hi,
Have you managed to solve the issue? I am facing the same problem. I have never being able to fly my mavic air yet. always compass error. :-(

I imagine he has seen as the post was in 2018, ;+)::, what problems are having ?