God these DJI drones

[Meta4]

Fair enough. But I never had that issue with my A2s and I've used the truck as a launch pad since I first started flying. I'll have to check but I'm pretty sure when it happened before, the drone was sitting in the driveway. Memory could be failing though. I'll see for next time. Thanks.

Next time you see it .. check the message closely.
It used to say Calibrate compass or move aircraft .. but no-one notices the second part.
If you switch off and move away and have no problem there, that shows that there was nothing wrong with the compass and the issue was the spot you put the drone down.

 

[Dusty DJI]

Your tonneau cover may be aluminium, but the truck isn't.
There would have been plenty of steel nearby and changing position by an inch or two could be the difference between seeing the warning and not seeing it.

It's most likely that there was nothing at all wrong with the drone's compass.
It was working normally and warning you of magnetic interference very close.
DJI's warning is very badly worded and recalibrating the compass cannot possibly fix the issue of being close to a source of magnetic interference.
Almost any time you see that warning, the proper action is to switch off, move away from the magnetic interference and start again.

My tonneau cover is fabric. My truck IS aluminum. 20-20 ford f150 . Every time I have had a compass recalibration issue come up, I have ignored it. Usually a reposition of the drone is all that is needed.

 

[Meta4]

My tonneau cover is fabric. My truck IS aluminum.

Perhaps the bodywork is ... but what about the chassis and engine block?

 

[Dusty DJI]

Perhaps the bodywork is ... but what about the chassis and engine block?

Possibly, but I haven't had that issue Normally, if I have a compass issue, it's due to a larger area of concern, ie environmental issues, ie rebar in concrete or high concentration of iron in soil. I havent had the recalibrate issue since the air 2

 

[Cafguy]

NO JOY from Huba Bubba.... so I suppose they gave up in frustration. Its a shame really I would have given him my number and I could have had them flying in no time . I hate seeing someone give up on the Hobby over something that is confusing them or when something won't work because you simply miss a step.
Hey HUBA.... PM me and the offer is still on the Table. I will give you a number to call and together we can get your Drone flying.

 

[barrybcar]

NO JOY from Huba Bubba.... so I suppose they gave up in frustration. Its a shame really I would have given him my number and I could have had them flying in no time . I hate seeing someone give up on the Hobby over something that is confusing them or when something won't work because you simply miss a step.
Hey HUBA.... PM me and the offer is still on the Table. I will give you a number to call and together we can get your Drone flying.

Likewise. I’m here in Boise and can help hands on

 

[BlueHeeler]

Good People Here

 

[AZDave]

NO JOY from Huba Bubba.... so I suppose they gave up in frustration. Its a shame really I would have given him my number and I could have had them flying in no time . I hate seeing someone give up on the Hobby over something that is confusing them or when something won't work because you simply miss a step.
Hey HUBA.... PM me and the offer is still on the Table. I will give you a number to call and together we can get your Drone flying.

Pretty sure he only came here to rant.

 

[Cafguy]

His post is a good lesson
We have chosen a hobby that can tax anyones computer abilities at times not to mention all the confusing rules. Those moving on farther to say FPV Bando have a huge learning curve ahead of them! Building the thing,then of course BetaFlight, Emuflight, Its exhausting, Maddening, but fun. That's just the Drone part.
The camera part can be even more complex and confusing. I have myself almost given up on that part. My videos look like bigfoots wedding lol. I just use the cam for eyes anyway.
I think we have all been infuriated with our Drones only to find out we did or didn't do something we should have or simply overlooked.
I have been doing this a few years now, I think I 'm a semi educated beginner still..getting better tho
DON'T GIVE UP. The Drone is not junk. Sit back, relax, have a bit of Makers Mark TM and watch some videos or reference the web.
I have seen many throw up there hands and walk away for some simple stuff.

 

[LandWaterSky]

A few words of appreciation for the generosity and goodwill that countless members showed in this thread. You are a fantastic group of people.

 

[wjkrysak]

Welcome to the forum. We look forward to your participation and your view of the world.

 

[JonesB17]

I realize that I'm new here and this is a closed thread but I have one question. Why did nobody suggest updating the M4P's firmware? DJI pushes firmware updates out all the time. I had to update mine on unboxing and now it's part of my pre-flight checklist. Just saying; it could have been part of the problem.

 

[Meta4]

I realize that I'm new here and this is a closed thread but I have one question. Why did nobody suggest updating the M4P's firmware? DJI pushes firmware updates out all the time. I had to update mine on unboxing and now it's part of my pre-flight checklist. Just saying; it could have been part of the problem.

Probably because updating firmware is about the least likely thing to make any difference to how the drone behaves.

 

[rawman001]

Next time you see it .. check the message closely.
It used to say Calibrate compass or move aircraft .. but no-one notices the second part.
If you switch off and move away and have no problem there, that shows that there was nothing wrong with the compass and the issue was the spot you put the drone down.

Still seeing the error periodically (seems like 1 out of every 3 or 4 flights now that I'm paying attention.) Screen shots attached showing the error. The drone was on the ground not near any metal that I could see. I tried turning it off and moving a few feet and turning it back on. Nothing worked. Each time I had to re-calibrate the drone compass (first rotate 360 degrees horizontally and 360 vertically when the controller says to). It would not let me take off until I calibrated. I did fly in between after calibrating.
Somehow I don't think this is normal.

 

[Meta4]

Still seeing the error periodically (seems like 1 out of every 3 or 4 flights now that I'm paying attention.) Screen shots attached showing the error. The drone was on the ground not near any metal that I could see. I tried turning it off and moving a few feet and turning it back on. Nothing worked. Each time I had to re-calibrate the drone compass (first rotate 360 degrees horizontally and 360 vertically when the controller says to). It would not let me take off until I calibrated. I did fly in between after calibrating.
Somehow I don't think this is normal.

It's shouldn't be normal, but poor programming by DJI caused your issue.
You didn't have a compass error at all.
There was no problem with the compass and it didn't need recalibrating.

I've run into this several times and the clue is in the words: Compass error. Unable to take off in low light environment.
The compass isn't affected by low light at all.
I've had it happen where there is 100% no magnetic interference.
No amount of moving the drone or even unnecessarily recalibrating the compass worked.

Eventually I found the solution.
Illuminating the area around the drone with a bright LED flashlight made the problem go away.
Or when I didn't have a torch, using car's headlights and launching in front of the car also worked.

 

[rawman001]

It's shouldn't be normal, but poor programming by DJI caused your issue.
You didn't have a compass error at all.
There was no problem with the compass and it didn't need recalibrating.

I've run into this several times and the clue is in the words: Compass error. Unable to take off in low light environment.
The compass isn't affected by low light at all.
I've had it happen where there is 100% no magnetic interference.
No amount of moving the drone or even unnecessarily recalibrating the compass worked.

Eventually I found the solution.
Illuminating the area around the drone with a bright LED flashlight made the problem go away.
Or when I didn't have a torch, using car's headlights and launching in front of the car also worked

Thanks for the reply! I'm pretty sure it happens during the day as well but memory may be playing tricks on me so I'll keep an eye on it. If I see the issue again I'll also try using some extra lighting and see if that clears it..
If it was an issue with low light, why would the error clear only after re calibrating, then it works fine for a few more flights. Immediately after I got this error, after turning the Air 3 off and back on a few times and relocating it on the ground a few times, I did the recalibration and the drone launched without an error. Same location, same amount of light. The only thing that changed was that I did the compass recalibration. Even when I was launching off the tonneau cover on the back of the truck it would work fine after the recalibration. I have not launched it from the truck since you mentioned that was the issue, and I'm still seeing the error.

 

[Meta4]

I'm pretty sure it happens during the day as well but memory may be playing tricks on me so I'll keep an eye on it.

If you see a similar message in daytime, tap the red message and the more detailed one that shows won't show the note about a low light environment.
That would be a genuine compass warning and the proper action would be to switch off the drone and move away from the source of magnetic interference and start again.

If it was an issue with low light, why would the error clear only after re calibrating, then it works fine for a few more flights.

It has nothing at all to do with the compass and is just a result of DJI's idiot programming.
I never encountered it with earlier drones that used DJI Go 4 and it doesn't happen every time I've launched in the dark, I only tried recalibrating the compass once to solve the issue and it failed to.
Since I know the compass isn't affected by dark, once I saw the message about low light, I didn't try that again.

It's all very inconsistent and unnecessary.