How many of you do compass calibration before take off?

[Flawless]

Compass calibrations should only be done when prompted, or if your drone is not behaving as expected in flight.

It should not be a regular process - if it is, there is either a fault with your drone, an issue with your flying location, or a problem with the pilot (generally located between the pilot's ears).

 

[mavic6611]

Compass calibrations should only be done when prompted, or if your drone is not behaving as expected in flight.

It should not be a regular process - if it is, there is either a fault with your drone, an issue with your flying location, or a problem with the pilot (generally located between the pilot's ears).

Unfortunately alot of people are flying with little or no experience which is dangerous

 

[Baltorep]

I say there is a need. I almost had a complete fly away because of magnetic interference from a previous flight. I had to crash into a bush to keep it from flying into a river. After I did the compass calibration all was well again. Needless to say I’m a big fan of calibrations. It could not hurt in my book. YMMV.

 

[ksmusa]

I'm interested to know if you do compass calibration before every take off or not.

Pro's/Cons?

What's your take on it?!

I only use compass calibration if I get an error message from the drone. No problems thus far.

 

[mavic6611]

I say there is a need. I almost had a complete fly away because of magnetic interference from a previous flight. I had to crash into a bush to keep it from flying into a river. After I did the compass calibration all was well again. Needless to say I’m a big fan of calibrations. It could not hurt in my book. YMMV.

Did you check the compass status before take off? As long as they're all I'm the low end of green you should be good to fly

 

[wayy510]

Every time I fly at a site that is not a repeat of the last location. No problem as it only takes 30 seconds or less time .

Same here. The Mavic asks me to every time.

 

[Arik]

calibrating only when I see the warning.

 

[mark_t]

Same here. The Mavic asks me to every time.

How exactly is it 'asking you' to do it?

If it really is asking every time then you have a faulty Mavic or you are launching from inappropriate locations (like the back of a truck).

If you are just seeing the calibration button on screen then it is not asking you at all, it is just showing you the option...

 

[mark_t]

Needless to say I’m a big fan of calibrations. It could not hurt in my book.

Unfortunately it can hurt, someone lost an Inspire 2 recently due to calibrating when they should have relocated their take-off point instead.

Every time to recalibrate you run the risk of getting it wrong by, for example. recalibrating to take account of a local magnetic distortion close to the take-off point. As you fly away from the distortion your calibration becomes incorrect.

 

[KRH]

I'm interested to know if you do compass calibration before every take off or not.

Pro's/Cons?

What's your take on it?!

I do so before nearly every flight. I am prompted by the software to do it, even in circumstances where I have flown from the same location on the previous flight. I guess the question is better asked: why wouldn't you?

 

[sabre414]

You shouldn't need to unless you relocate by as much as a 100 miles or so....for a holiday as an example.

 

[wayy510]

How exactly is it 'asking you' to do it?

If it really is asking every time then you have a faulty Mavic or you are launching from inappropriate locations (like the back of a truck).

If you are just seeing the calibration button on screen then it is not asking you at all, it is just showing you the option...

Doesn't matter where I launch from, the Mavic always ask that I calibrate via the black calibration screen.

It loads everything and then goes to the black calibration screen.

I have two Mavics and they both ask before every flight. Never had any kind of issues with them other than that.

 

[BudWalker]

View attachment 16944
Doesn't matter where I launch from, the Mavic always ask that I calibrate via the black calibration screen.

It loads everything and then goes to the black calibration screen.

I have two Mavics and they both ask before every flight. Never had any kind of issues with them other than that.

I believe that's saying the compass is Normal. But, if you want to calibrate push the "button" that's displayed as a box with the label "Calibrate". This isn't the only example of DJI making it confusing.

 

[jerryflah]

No, only do a compass calibration if you receive a warning in the app to do so.

sounds right

 

[wayy510]

I believe that's saying the compass is Normal. But, if you want to calibrate push the "button" that's displayed as a box with the label "Calibrate". This isn't the only example of DJI making it confusing.

Yeah, that makes sense. It just pops up after everything loads like it want you to do it before continuing. Once completed it displays the flight screen.

 

[Redline870]

I've been flying DJI aircrafts since the Inspire 1 came out. It was always recommended by DJI to calibrate the compass before every flight in a new location, and I have always done so, even with my fairly new Mavic Pro. Did they change their recommendations with the Mavic Pro? I always figured the extra 20-30 seconds was not an inconvenience to ensure a properly calibrated aircraft. Should I not be doing this anymore?

 

[Michael Ainsworth]

View attachment 16944
Doesn't matter where I launch from, the Mavic always ask that I calibrate via the black calibration screen.

It loads everything and then goes to the black calibration screen.

I have two Mavics and they both ask before every flight. Never had any kind of issues with them other than that.

That's not asking you to calibrate, just shows the option.
I have just travelled 2500 Klm fired up the MP a few times in different locations. No problems with Compass or GPS.
You just have to be patient when starting up to let everything lock on correctly. Too many errors come from impatience.

 

[Keiz]

Mine gets done regularly. It prompts me all the time, probably because I fly it in all sorts of environments and certain things screw up the compass.
Like metal in a roadway, then moving to grass fields, then launching from the back deck of the house.
Only takes a minute.
Better to be sure than sorry!

 

[Cut.Aussie]

I believe that's saying the compass is Normal. But, if you want to calibrate push the "button" that's displayed as a box with the label "Calibrate". This isn't the only example of DJI making it confusing.

That screen is not telling you to calibrate, jeez people's

 

[zoomie]

I'm interested to know if you do compass calibration before every take off or not.

Pro's/Cons?

What's your take on it?!

I always do the compass calibration. Particularly with a higher end/priced thing like the Mavic, I would just rather take the few seconds to be safe about it. Little paranoid about fly aways.