Aircraft Orientation

[Wilbur]

I'm having issues with this feature. Page 33 item 12 of the manual. It will notify me that I'm behind the AC when I'm in front of it. And the opposite when I'm in front. Also, the Orientation graphic does not show proper orientation to me. Its roughly 180° off. Usually this means I'm experiencing magnetic interference at place of take off. However, IMU and Compass calibrations change nothing. In flight, I get 7 or so rapid green, and then two longer red flashes. As far as the AC it is flying fine. Return to home (RTH) has been hit or miss. 1/3. I just got it, so I haven't had many flights. Anyone else experience this?

 

[Meta4]

I'm having issues with this feature. Page 33 item 12 of the manual. It will notify me that I'm behind the AC when I'm in front of it. And the opposite when I'm in front. Also, the Orientation graphic does not show proper orientation to me. Its roughly 180° off. Usually this means I'm experiencing magnetic interference at place of take off. However, IMU and Compass calibrations change nothing.

IMU is unrelated and won't have any effect on this.
The compass in the aircraft is also fine and not the problem.
The issue will be the compass in your phone or tablet.
If calibrating the compass in your viewing device (Google will find instructions for you) doesn't help, you should still be able to use the indicator.
You are in the centre of the circle .. rotate the drone icon (arrow) to point into the centre of the circle and fly straight ahead .. it should now be coming towards you.

Return to home (RTH) has been hit or miss. 1/3.

What's it doing/not doing?

The LED blink codes are on page 12 of the manual.

 

[Wilbur]

I was hoping you would reply. Thank you! I will do as you suggest. Now, the flashing light 7 short green, and 2 long red are not in the manual. What I've understood is that any red flashes requires attention. RTH issues are that the AC was off once by 20' and the other 10'. Being a new drone I don't/won't rely on it. When it did hit the mark it was off by 2'. Acceptable to me. I don't rely on RTH, but with no distance information on the remote I'm forced to be more diligent.

 

[Meta4]

RTH issues are that the AC was off once by 20' and the other 10'. Being a new drone I don't/won't rely on it. When it did hit the mark it was off by 2'. Acceptable to me.

The Mini doesn't have the optical technology Precision Landing feature of the larger Mavics so it only has GPS to find the home point on an RTH autolanding.
GPS accuracy is usually within 10 feet (but can occasionally be a little more).
Mostly it should be within 6 feet.
I'd suggest trying a few more times to see if what you've observed was abnormal.
It's always a good idea to have a clear area around your launch point rather than having obstacles like trees and buildings close by.
And as long as you have control signal you can always cancel RTH and resume control to land wherever you want.

with no distance information on the remote I'm forced to be more diligent.

Distance?
The big numbers in the lower left of the screen - D=Distance H=Height

Now, the flashing light 7 short green, and 2 long red are not in the manual. What I've understood is that any red flashes requires attention.

I don't have a Mini to check so can only go by the manual.
I wonder if it was a combination of different flash codes?
When does it flash like this?
Just once or regularly?
What's happening when this happens?

 

[Wilbur]

Just calibrated compass (Huawei M5), and flight tested. Same issue. Says in front when I'm in back, and vis versa. Also the AC shows 180° off. I'll live with it for now as I don't notice any ill affects. The 6 sometimes 7 rapid green followed by 2 longer red is still there. When hovering 6' or 30'. It repeated the pattern up to when I lost sight of the lights. This is in an urban environment.
I could have been more clear, but with wifi the video feed gets interrupted and I lose all information on the display. With the Mavic Pro the RC would still let me know how far I am from the AC. I could manage to get back without having to go into RTH. Which I'm not against, but just one less tool for me as the operator. Anyway, I hope that makes sense. Thank you for all your help.

 

[DanMan32]

That's the trade-off for the cost of the MM. MA also does not have a display on the RC.
Neither do the Phantoms despite their cost.

It still sounds like your phone has a compass issue, or might not have one at all. I was surprised to find the Samsung Galaxy Tab E doesn't have one.
It could also be a bug in the app. Get a compass app and check your phone compass to know for certain.

 

[Wilbur]

Before and after calibration it was pointing N when facing N. Although, magnetic north is about 5° to the west. I chalked this varience to true N vs. Magnetic north? and don't see a major problem with the discrepancy. Thank you for your help.

 

[raymacke]

While at the flight location have you checked the M5's GPS accuracy on google maps or something similar? That is sort of the way mine behaved when using an IPad Mini with no GPS. According to this review, the M5 may not have a real accurate GPS so maybe that is part of the problem - Huawei MediaPad M5 8.4 Tablet Review