Today I got my first compass error, and of course it was during my first flight over water. Does anyone know how important the compass calibration on the phone is? You know when the compass comes up on the phone and you have to turn it around a few times? It came up and but it seemed to just stop it and went to the camera screen, so i didn't think anything of it. Took of with my controller low to the ground and got compass erros when i went over the water, then i brought my controller on top of the picnic bench and it switched back to p-gps. Was a bit scary as it began to drift away over the lake, but was ready to switch to atti mode if it didn't switch back. Any thoughts on how the phone compass calibration affects the flight?

"Any thoughts on how the phone compass calibration affects the flight? "

The Phantom has its own compass and this is what it uses to fly straight.
The compass in the phone only affects the accuracy of the radar display but should have zero impact on your Phantom's flight.
With a badly calibrated phone compass, your radar display won't show the angle to your Phantom properly.

labroides@yahoo Posted at 2016-5-13 18:34
"Any thoughts on how the phone compass calibration affects the flight? "

The Phantom has its own co ...

Thanks for the reply. So since compass error came up on my screen and my phantom began to drift, does that mean it had something to do with the drones compass rather than my phone? Was weird though i had the controller in an awkward spot low to the ground, and when i brought it back up onto the picnic bench i was sitting on, it switched back to p-gps.

If you get a compass error, I would switch to ATTI mode very quickly and manually fly your quadcopter back home....land it, and then re-do your compass dance before flying again.   A compass error can cause your quadcopter to completely go bizerk and you could have a very tough time recovering if not in ATTI mode.

TJ10 Posted at 2016-5-14 09:35
Thanks for the reply. So since compass error came up on my screen and my phantom began to drift, d ...

If the message about compass error came up on the Go App screen, then it is referring to the compass in the aircraft. You need to calibrate the compass in the aircraft again. Often this message means the aircraft's compass did not get a good calibration the last time you did it.

"Today I got my first compass error, and of course it was during my first flight over water.  ... got compass errors when i went over the water, then i brought my controller on top of the picnic bench and it switched back to p-gps."

As you now know, the compass error refers to the compass in your Phantom.
That you got a compass error showing up when you flew away from land to water strongly suggests that you calibrated in a bad area where the earth's normal magnetic field was distorted by some steel.
The mention of a picnic bench is suspect bit it might have been that you calibrated close to a car or reinforced concrete etc.

When you flew away from the magnetic influence and becah to the earth's normal field, your compass which has been corrected for the extra magnetic effect, now is reading wrong.
That's when your Phantom alerts you that the compass is reporting that something's wrong.

If you have to calibrate your compass (and you shouldn't have to very often) never do it anywhere near cars, structural steel, buried pipes, reinforced concrete etc.

labroides@yahoo Posted at 2016-5-14 02:14
"Today I got my first compass error, and of course it was during my first flight over water.  ... go ...

I calibrated it in an open field about 30 km away from the lake i was at. I've flown it all over my town with no problems at all, but as soon as i went over that water, i got the compass error.

With these last couple firmware updates is being harder and harder to get sucessful compass calibration..any explanation for that?
Thnks

jsemedo Posted at 2016-5-26 13:33
With these last couple firmware updates is being harder and harder to get sucessful compass calibrat ...

Location by any chance? Go to a field of some sort, as far as possible form metal structures, concrete, power lines....

jsemedo Posted at 2016-5-27 03:33
With these last couple firmware updates is being harder and harder to get sucessful compass calibrat ...

It's being harder and harder to get successful compass calibration, any explanation for that?
Do you think that coul be related with last couple of firmware updates?

jsemedo Posted at 2016-5-27 05:37
It's being harder and harder to get successful compass calibration, any explanation for that?
Do y ...

It's unlikely.
If it was a factor, there would be many people complainiing about that.
The most likely cause is magnetic contamination in the location where you are trying to calibrate your compass.

Also once you get a "Clean" calibration, i.e. The quad flies without a problem, I would be tempted NOT to re-calibrate unless required again. (Note: You DO NOT need to calibrate on every flight) This has been a point of discussion on many threads. And although there is no right or wrong answer, the consensus seems to be that re-calibration of an already Good compass calibration, is not going to make things any better, in fact quite the opposite because it may introduce a bad calibration.

Thnks , I'm used to compass recalibrate every flight I do.
I definitely  will change my procedure.
Once I got o good calibration,I will keep as is.

I also experienced it , but until now there is no solution , this happened since my first unseal cardboard Dji phantom 4

user5b6373d773 Posted at 2016-7-1 11:37
I also experienced it , but until now there is no solution , this happened since my first unseal car ...

If your firmware is up to date and power cycling the unit along with an IMU calibration did not resolve the issue, I would recommend going back to your dealer for a return/exchange if you are within their time frame. If you are not, you can always contact support@dji.com in order to get started with a RMA.

DJI-Jamie Posted at 2016-7-1 13:00
If your firmware is up to date and power cycling the unit along with an IMU calibration did not re ...

sorry .. if the RMA ?

Balqis Posted at 2016-7-1 16:21
sorry .. if the RMA ?

RMA = return merchandise authorization
The problem you have is a hardware error that needs to ne fixed.
See if you can get the dealer to swap for another unit, otherwise RMA to DJI for repair.

labroides@yahoo Posted at 2016-7-1 16:04
RMA = return merchandise authorization
The problem you have is a hardware error that needs to ne f ...

There is no hardware error here as far as I'm concerned
My phantom sometimes says "compass error" for brief periods of time while in flight
However this does not seem to effect the autopilot for waypoints
You probably calibrated the compass too close to metal (e.g. your car)
Try again calibrating your compass in different places
Once you get a good calibration, there is no need to calibrate it again
Hope this helps

DroneToTheMAX Posted at 2016-7-1 18:32
There is no hardware error here as far as I'm concerned
My phantom sometimes says "compass error" ...

Look at the last image in post #14 and read the text.
Your Phantom sometimes indicates compass error if you are close to steel objects - just like everyone's does.
His can't be calibrated at all because one of the two compasses is disconnected.
This isn't something that can be fixed by recalibrating in the right location.