I've never seen this big of a gap in compass numbers.  I generally get a rough 1500 in Z and MOD.  I recalibrated IMU and it still shows a big gap in compass numbers.  Can DJI confirm this is safe?

Hello GabeZ,  the normal range for compass value is 1000 to 2000.

Is everything flying well, or are you experiencing some unstable flight with these values?

The compass values went back to around 1500 when I actually got out to the field.  However, I did experience a compass failure and the aircraft went into ATTI mode.  I was able to fly it until it re-gained GPS, but this has me a little worried.

GabeZ Posted at 2016-12-28 16:12
The compass values went back to around 1500 when I actually got out to the field.  However, I did experience a compass failure and the aircraft went into ATTI mode.  I was able to fly it until it re-gained GPS, but this has me a little worried.

Hi GabeZ,

If you had checked the sensor values at home, you may have been near some metal object/s (you cannot always see them) as when you were out in the field the C value returned to 1500. All the other numbers look good.

Mod values should read

Gyro  0.00

Acc   between 0.99 - 0.01

Compass  between 1400 - 1500   

With all due respect to you Mindy, if my compass values were outside of this by the amount you suggest, I would be reluctant to fly. Since the Inspire 1 first came out DJI have told us, the compass value to look for was between 1400-1600. Since there is obviously some confusion here could you check with the tech guys for us.      

Mark G.

Mark Guille Posted at 2016-12-30 02:35
Hi GabeZ,

If you had checked the sensor values at home, you may have been near some metal object/s (you cannot always see them) as when you were out in the field the C value returned to 1500. All the other numbers look good.

Hi Mark,
     There's a chance some new interference came into play when it was not there previously.  I'm no longer worried about the values.  I am worried about the compass error and re-occurring motor overload messages.

GabeZ Posted at 2016-12-30 12:19
Hi Mark,
     There's a chance some new interference came into play when it was not there previously.  I'm no longer worried about the values.  I am worried about the compass error and re-occurring motor overload messages.

Hi GabeZ,

I get the motor overload message all the time, I believe it to be code added to the FW to prevent the battery from going into its self-preservation mode. It seems to occur when the battery is put under load, I would rather this than have the battery switch itself off. There seems to be many of us seeing this and recently I have made several gentle flights lately taking it easy on the sticks and guess what? No message.
I guess it's like any vehicle, if you drive it hard, something will end up breaking and the weakest link with the I1 would appear to be the battery.
As for the compass error, when are you getting it? Do you do a compass cal for every flight?

Mark G.

Mark Guille Posted at 2016-12-30 12:44
Hi GabeZ,

I get the motor overload message all the time, I believe it to be code added to the FW to prevent the battery from going into its self-preservation mode. It seems to occur when the battery is put under load, I would rather this than have the battery switch itself off. There seems to be many of us seeing this and recently I have made several gentle flights lately taking it easy on the sticks and guess what? No message.

Hi Mark,
     If the message popped as a safeguard, and it had nothing to do with actually decelerating against the pilots will, then I wouldn't have anything to worry about.  Also, what made DJI re-adjust the tolerances for this without proper explanation of why?  I appreciate everyone coming up with theories of why DJI did it and what they think it actually means.  But where is DJI when everyone is proposing such theories?  Have they ever really validated what anyone has said?   So far I've only seen them say that it occurs during aggressive flight.  That's like me saying "The aircraft is louder when you apply throttle."  Suppose I actually did have a motor binding.  How would I be able to tell the difference between one error condition and another if the same warning is used for both? I could do the obvious low flight tests, spin the motors by hand, etc.  However, there is no way to actually comfirm it without replacement of the motor (assuming I could actually determine which one with superior guesswork).  I would really like to see explanations for these warning adjustments when they weren't necessary before.  If I am to fly the Inspire less aggressively, then wouldn't it make more sense to degrade performance with firmware so as not allow it?  If I see a battery is cold message, wouldn't it make sense to not allow motor startup until the proper temperature is reached?  

I'm kind of old school and simple in my thinking, but if an aircraft pops warnings, then it shouldn't let you perform the action that causes it (within reason of course).  Warnings should be reserved for actual problems.  Lets say you were new to DJI, but yet you were an experienced pilot.  You still wouldn't understand why these messages are popping or what you did wrong.  Nowhere will you find these in their manuals and nowhere (other than forums), will you even begin to understand what could possibly be happening.  Also, although their phone support has come a long way, it is still sub par.  I had a couple of long discussions with some of the representatives and eventually came to the conclusion that most didn't even read their own manuals.  I was citing pages and explanations that even they didn't even know existed.  Try asking a representive for an explanation about why battery status doesn't quite match up with their low and critical battery settings that the go app lets you set..  You'll get several different answers.  For example, I can tell you that if you set your low battery setting to 15% or lower, regardless of how close you are to it or what your altitude is, the aircraft is going to land and not prompt you other than to say it's landing.  As I understand it, the aircraft should never do this unless it determines it doesn't have enough power to safely land or your critical battery setting is actually 15% or lower.  I've tested this at hover and I've tested it on a counter top without blades.   Anyway, it's neither here nor there......

Many forum members will simply say to just ease up on your sticks, keep your batteries warm, and monitor your battery levels (just that cut and dry).  But that still doesn't fix the problems with the aircraft.  It's simply a workaround.

Oh!  And to answer the other question, I calibrate the compass every flight.  I don't commonly fly in the same spots consistently, and this last flight was done 225 miles away from my last flight location.