Hi, I stay in Singapore. I have to calibrate my compass almost every single time before I fly. Is this normal?

Try doing a factory reset then recalibrating the IMU and see if that helps.

Same with me. Almost every flight I will first need to calibrate the compass. Suspect this is due to firmware issue. Before my upgrade, seldom the system will prompt to calibrate compass.

Not sure after factory reset will solve this problem?

Eric.. Posted at 2018-5-12 19:24
Same with me. Almost every flight I will first need to calibrate the compass. Suspect this is due to firmware issue. Before my upgrade, seldom the system will prompt to calibrate compass.

Not sure after factory reset will solve this problem?

I've just started seeing this on my Mavic Air every time I turn it on, never had it that frequently before so I'm guessing its linked to latest firmware.

I have the same problem.  I have a Mavic Pro but bought Mavic Air for its more compact size since I travel light and travel a lot.  I flew the Mavic Air in my back yard in Oregon and it did fine.  Packed it and took it on an overseas trip and then... was never able to calibrate this POS.  I'm still in Brazil and was never able to fly this POS because it won't calibrate.

Eric.. Posted at 2018-5-12 19:24
Same with me. Almost every flight I will first need to calibrate the compass. Suspect this is due to firmware issue. Before my upgrade, seldom the system will prompt to calibrate compass.

Not sure after factory reset will solve this problem?

The issue is not related to the latest firmware.
It ihas happened to me since I bought my Air and the issue remains after the FW upgrades.

nywrecker Posted at 2018-5-13 07:20
The issue is not related to the latest firmware.
It ihas happened to me since I bought my Air and the issue remains after the FW upgrades.

For my case, initially when I fly with minimum minimum calibration needed but now almost every time  need to calibrate.

There are lots of posts about Compass Calibration.  Peoples results seem to be all over the place.  The firmware update, actually helped me, but it also made a lot of other pilot's problems worse.  I'm hoping that DJI is actually looking into this and will provide some sort of remedy/solution soon.  Although i couldn't be happier with my Mavic Air and it's performance now, there are certainly a lot of people that aren't sharing my experience.

Take a look at the following threads:

https://forum.dji.com/thread-145306-1-1.html
https://forum.dji.com/thread-146739-1-1.html
https://forum.dji.com/thread-148196-1-1.html

Those are just a few where people are complaining about compass issues.

I was lucky in that each time i had to calibrate, it only took a few seconds, and then i was able to take off.  I've read where there are pilots who have to calibrate more than once to even take off, and then each time they have to change the battery!

Please someone from DJI can help here?!??!?! I've posted also about this issue in this two other posts:

https://forum.dji.com/thread-133778-2-1.html
https://forum.dji.com/forum.php? ... p;extra=#pid1387756

Can't fly my drone anymore since I'm in Argentina, any idea how to hard reset it maybe to test?

Are you calibrate compass by pointing the aircraft head down on second turn?

Follow the calibration picture show on DJI Go roll aircraft 90 degrees for second turn. Don’t do that by pointing the aircraft head down.

Be careful when takeoff on concrete surface. The rebar in concrete can affect the compass. Try move to other position if compass error occurs.

GDL Posted at 2018-6-4 22:54
Are you calibrate compass by pointing the aircraft head down on second turn?

Tried to calibrate it both ways, no success, and also in the USA I was able to calibrate and fly it multiple times, since I arrived to Argentina there is no way to calibrate it, tried in multiple areas far away from everything and still fails, no smartwatch on my wrist, iphone on airplane mode, etc., can someone from DJI help here?

Are you using iOS or Android device?

I, too, am having to calibrate my compass every single time I fly. I'm currently flying in remote locations (Northern Territory of Australia, Kakadu National Park etc) where there's no power lines, no steel or metal objects whatsoever which could affect the compass. The only thing which I'm thinking may be affecting the on board compass is that when the arms of the drone fold up, there would be significant disturbance from the magnets in the motors which could affect the compass - any thoughts on this?

GDL Posted at 2018-6-5 18:01
Are you using iOS or Android device?

I use my iPhone X

Last week I was on holiday in France.  I had a number of successful flights, but the one area I was really looking forward to flying at, near some stunning waterfalls, no matter what I did I couldn't calibrate the compass.  Was really annoying.  There was no metal nearby, no concrete, just all natural.  Ah well, guess it was just not to be.

Finally I was able to calibrate it and fly it, what I did was open the Compass sensor screen as seen below and moved around my garden until I found a spot under a roof structure with no walls where the interference went down to the 600s, line was still red but there I was able to calibrate my drone and then fly it without issues getting out of the roof obviously, I suggest everyone tries the same thing, just have the app in that screen and move around with the drone until you find a spot where the line goes down and try to calibrate there.

The calibration process was done like the app shows, that is on the second step with the drone 90 degrees to the floor and NOT the facing down as the old manuals state, I guess it might work both ways but just so you know how I managed to make it work.

Compass interference screen:


Hope this helps someone, and I will post again if I manage to keep flying without problems.

Guys, its me again, this is what I know so far, my MA will take off only if I turn it on under a roof (or as soon as I turn it on and pairs with my remote I take off) so it will fly on vision mode only once flying I can fly it outdoors and wait for it to get GPS signal and I will be able to then yes fly it wihtout restrictions, this is so far the only way I'm able to fly my MA since I traveled to Argentina from NY.

As I posted https://forum.dji.com/forum.php? ... 778&pid=1397212 even with my compass signal in green the calibration fails, doesn't matter if I have my Apple watch far away or any other electronics, event he remote control with my iphone its far away and still the calibration fails. From what I've seen so far this doesn't look like a man error, why I say this, cause before coming to Argentina (South America), I was living in NY and flew my MA there multiple times, most of those times in the city where for sure there are more cel and WIFI antennas that could cause interference and it even never asked me to calibrate the compass like it happens here in Argentina.

Reading around this Forum I found people complaining about really similar issues, basically when they travelled south of the hemisphere the compass started complaining and didn't matter how the tried to calibrate it, never worked, and there is one that had this issue when traveling to Brazil, went back to the USA without being able to fly his drone even once but the day he set foot back in the USA he was able to calibrate and fly it without any problems. Post: https://forum.dji.com/thread-148996-1-1.html

Another user (djiuser_YqxJsq3O8g9j) in South Africa having the same issue: https://forum.dji.com/forum.php? ... 778&pid=1236803

Some other posts found about Mavic Airs having compass issues:
- https://forum.dji.com/thread-142696-1-1.html
- https://forum.dji.com/thread-145306-1-1.html
- https://forum.dji.com/thread-133778-3-1.html

Any ideas on why this might be happening? I'm going back to the US in some weeks so I'm planning on taking it with me and try it over there and see if it keeps happening there.

arg_tigger Posted at 2018-8-5 20:09
Guys, its me again, this is what I know so far, my MA will take off only if I turn it on under a roof (or as soon as I turn it on and pairs with my remote I take off) so it will fly on vision mode only once flying I can fly it outdoors and wait for it to get GPS signal and I will be able to then yes fly it wihtout restrictions, this is so far the only way I'm able to fly my MA since I traveled to Argentina from NY.

As I posted https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=redirect&goto=findpost&ptid=133778&pid=1397212 even with my compass signal in green the calibration fails, doesn't matter if I have my Apple watch far away or any other electronics, event he remote control with my iphone its far away and still the calibration fails. From what I've seen so far this doesn't look like a man error, why I say this, cause before coming to Argentina (South America), I was living in NY and flew my MA there multiple times, most of those times in the city where for sure there are more cel and WIFI antennas that could cause interference and it even never asked me to calibrate the compass like it happens here in Argentina.

If only we had time and money...

It would be interesting to see what happens with compass calibration when done,
1) 100 miles North of equator
2) 100 miles South of equator
3) At equator

Hi,

I had the same issue I can't calibrate the compass with the latest update after moving from Europe to South Africa. It did ask to change Wifi band the first time then I've tried a lot of different places, all kind of recommend ways from youtube,etc it was never successful. Also in compass sensor it's around 500/600 all the time even far away from any metallic stuff.
So it seems this south hemisphere compass issue is real with the latest firmware (from 05/18).  Flying properly in ATTI mode inside but never outside with gps mode (12 satellites and more).
I've tried to refresh the firmware but haven't reset to factory settings.
Is it working for anyone after passing the equator?

mrflo Posted at 2018-8-26 14:09
Hi,

I had the same issue I can't calibrate the compass with the latest update after moving from Europe to South Africa. It did ask to change Wifi band the first time then I've tried a lot of different places, all kind of recommend ways from youtube,etc it was never successful. Also in compass sensor it's around 500/600 all the time even far away from any metallic stuff.

Hi, sorry for the inconvenience. I would recommend restoring factory defaults and refresh the firmware again using the DJI Assistant 2 afterward reboot your unit re-calibrate the IMU as well as the compass to see if there will be changes. Please keep us posted for further updates. Thank you.

I need to do this once a day. But otherwise then that I don’t experience any other issue. Had to perform a factory reset after the firmware update though. But it looks like the MA is quite sensitive.

Eric.. Posted at 2018-5-12 19:24
Same with me. Almost every flight I will first need to calibrate the compass. Suspect this is due to firmware issue. Before my upgrade, seldom the system will prompt to calibrate compass.

Not sure after factory reset will solve this problem?

In my case it didn’t. Calibration has become a part of the pre-flight checks

Guys, after looking all over the place finally found a fix, its the CFixer, find links below. Basically I bought it, ran it twice on the back right corner as this image shows:


And right after I went to calibrate the compass (the screen sensor for the compass went to crazy values after running the CFixer) and done, calibrated on my first try.

CFixer: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C2SSFQ9/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Mavic Air cable: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077CS9NJ3/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Looks like my compass got magnetized by one/many of the airport security scanning machines it went through, and depending on how is the Drone wrapped up is how protected it might be from this machines, but well, I suggest buying this thing and having it always with the Drone specially if you are going to travel by air.

Hope this helps many of us with Mavic Airs having this issue.

arg_tigger Posted at 2018-9-2 17:25
Guys, after looking all over the place finally found a fix, its the CFixer, find links below. Basically I bought it, ran it twice on the back right corner as this image shows:
[view_image]

CFixer - Small, hand held Degaussing tool.  At least small to ones used in ancient days of Picture tube TVs.