How many times do you have to calibrate the compass?

[Slowcaptain]

Am I the only one who has to calibrate compass almost every 3rd flight? I have been noticing compass calibration is a very frequent activity on MA as compared to Spark. I was in Yakima county over the weekend and lost count how many times I did the calibration :/

 

[Travisimo]

I have over three dozens flights with my Mavic Air and have never been prompted to calibrate my compass, aside from the initial calibration. I did manually calibrate when I traveled 1000 miles from my home for a trip, but it never prompts me to calibrate when flying in my metro area.

 

[ddesens]

It asks me to calibrate almost everytime I fly too

 

[Slowcaptain]

It asks me to calibrate almost everytime I fly too

Right? I heaved a sigh of relief when I switched to my last battery today and it did NOT ask for calibration! But usually, it just keeps asking.

 

[Slowcaptain]

I have over three dozens flights with my Mavic Air and have never been promoted to calibrate my compass, aside from the initial calibration. I did manually calibrate when I traveled 1000 miles from my home for a trip, but it never prompts me to calibrate when flying in my metro area.

I did travel, but only about 250 miles or so. And it kept asking for calibration at the new location too. Something wrong.

 

[dbyantis]

Make sure that you are not wearing a smart watch, it may throw off the sensor.

 

[Travisimo]

Only two possibilities, right? 1) Variance in compass between aircraft units or 2) variance in geomagnetic interference around the aircraft. Seems like some pilots report frequent compass requests while others don’t. Could be something on your person or nearby. Or it could just be the hardware/software variance, but eliminating the former would be the first step in determining cause.

 

[Slowcaptain]

Make sure that you are not wearing a smart watch, it may throw off the sensor.

I dont have a smart watch, but I do have a 3 sensor Casio watch which I wear all the time (pro trek 3000). Not sure if that can cause the same problem as a smart watch. It does have its own sensors including compass.

 

[Slowcaptain]

Only two possibilities, right? 1) Variance in compass between aircraft units or 2) variance in geomagnetic interference around the aircraft. Seems like some pilots report frequent compass requests while others don’t. Could be something on your person or nearby. Or it could just be the hardware/software variance, but eliminating the former would be the first step in determining cause.

I will try next time by not wearing any electronic device on person.

 

[Kevjones777]

Try this, power everything on in the same place as you last set it and see if it requests again. I know if I power on inside for example everytime I take the craft outside it requests a compass calibration but if I power on outside it does not. (stuff inside is interfering - know that)

 

[turbodronepilot]

Hey guys ...
If your mavic air is continually asking for a compass calibration on start up you probably have a defective mavic air..
I sent mine in for this issue and received a new mavic air and remote control form dji within a week..
Also be careful if you have the compass issue because it effected my rth and the mavic air got confused and just hovered while trying to figure out where home point was.
Luckily the video feed came back or I probably would have lost it..Another thing the range is significantly better than my first mavic air.
Dji support is improving daily at a high rate and
I'm very pleased with the support I've been given.
My mavic air is a joy to fly and im glad I sent it in to support..

 

[MavicMo]

Interesting. You remind me that mine "used" to ask very frequently. Almost every other time I fly even if from the same location (my deck). But I've noticed its not asked in the past several flights... Not sure if the last updates fixed something....

 

[Kevjones777]

Ok I did some observations with mine. Yes mine requests a compass calibration all the time as well. Here is another strange thing. I place the MA outside and move away. The controller requests a compass calibration. I leave it for about 5 min and the max satellites it will see is 8/9 coming and going. I calibrate it and place it back down on the same spot and within a few seconds it see's 12 or more. It is doing something strange thats for sure.

 

[Slowcaptain]

Hey guys ...
If your mavic air is continually asking for a compass calibration on start up you probably have a defective mavic air..
I sent mine in for this issue and received a new mavic air and remote control form dji within a week..
Also be careful if you have the compass issue because it effected my rth and the mavic air got confused and just hovered while trying to figure out where home point was.
Luckily the video feed came back or I probably would have lost it..Another thing the range is significantly better than my first mavic air.
Dji support is improving daily at a high rate and
I'm very pleased with the support I've been given.
My mavic air is a joy to fly and im glad I sent it in to support..

I'm really wary of DJI support but looks like I do have to raise a ticket. Thanks for replying.

 

[Slowcaptain]

Ok I did some observations with mine. Yes mine requests a compass calibration all the time as well. Here is another strange thing. I place the MA outside and move away. The controller requests a compass calibration. I leave it for about 5 min and the max satellites it will see is 8/9 coming and going. I calibrate it and place it back down on the same spot and within a few seconds it see's 12 or more. It is doing something strange thats for sure.

Yup. I just started my drone and it asked for calibration, again. No smart watch or any other device on person. Sat count was 12.

 

[Slowcaptain]

Interesting. You remind me that mine "used" to ask very frequently. Almost every other time I fly even if from the same location (my deck). But I've noticed its not asked in the past several flights... Not sure if the last updates fixed something....

I got the latest f/w. The problem has persisted from previous f/w, no change.

 

[wjkrysak]

I frequently travel distance of greater than 50 miles for family visits, always receive need for compass calibration when visiting. Calibration remains stable while at new location. It has just become a step in my preflight. Also learned that calibration with hand wearing my smart watch is problematic. I just switch to my other hand and do the calibration dance, and off we go. Enjoy your flying

 

[Datadogie]

Sorry but you will have to remove your pacemaker.
I sometimes wonder if it is just traveling in the car that offsets it.

 

[Cbslagle]

I've flown over 130 miles and the only time I calibrated was when I first got the Mavic last May.

 

[Slowcaptain]

Sorry but you will have to remove your pacemaker.
I sometimes wonder if it is just traveling in the car that offsets it.

Lol
I guess so too.
I am told if you fly it at different locations, bird will ask to calibrate. In my case it keeps asking regardless I travel or not. As soon as I switch batteries, it needs calibration - 90% of the times.