I haven't posted much here, but have been reading a lot of useful information on these boards.

I just wanted to share an experience I had yesterday, which shows the importance of a good compass calibration.

So preflight, in new locations, I always do compass calibrations as per recommended by DJI.

Except this time I was rather sloppy while doing it.

When I told the pilot app that I was going to do a compass calibration, the Inspire was about 3 feet from where I was. Usually I do compass calibrations at least 15 ft away from the controller/tablet/cellphone to be far away from metal and electromagnetic interference (hopefully). So while it was in compass calibration mode, I started walking away from the controller/tablet/cellphone while rotating it until I was about 15ft away. I got the green light. Then I pointed the Inspire nose down doing the second calibration. Compass calibration was successful, so I thought everything was all good.

After calibration was completed, I was in a driveway and there were trees on either side (not the ideal location for takeoff), and I told the app to do a takeoff. Once the bird started hovering, I immediately noticed drift in which I had to compensate with the controller to keep the Inspire in one spot, nearly hitting a tree in the process. I landed the bird immediately, thinking that my compass calibration must have been out of whack because I was walking around while rotating the bird.

I recalibrated the compass, ensuring that the bird was already far enough away from the controller and electronics, and making sure I stayed in one spot while doing the calibration. After doing a take off and hovering, the Inspire was as solid as a rock.

Anyways, it's not a huge thing, but I thought this might be useful for those people who may be experiencing drift in their birds and not know why. I'm sure others have more dramatic stories to share regarding compass calibration lol.

The real message is that a solid compass calibration done in another location is much better than a poor one done each time. I always check the values after I do a calibration but I calibrate as little as possible (I am in the Uk today and will be in Denver tomorrow so will do one for first flight in each location).

I agree about a solid compass calibration... I did the same with a crappy calibration being in a rush... thank god I didn't use auto take off and was able to land her fast once she started drifting badly.
I only calibrate when its tell me too or if I fly in a area that 100+ miles from the last place. I haven't calibrated my last 6 flights. 3 different locations with in a 3 mile radius and fly tight and lock in

As the saying goes, if it aint broken...

fullyestablishe Posted at 2015-5-23 17:40
The real message is that a solid compass calibration done in another location is much better than a  ...

Could you specify the correct  values the compass should have?