How often should I calibrate?

[Wenjie64]

Hi everyone, simple question here.

I'm wondering if it is best practice to calibrate the drone without propellers Everytime before I fly? I noticed today I was losing signal very easily and ended up flying with my RC without visual aid yet there are no signs of the app telling me to calibrate as such.

Should I also fly only in airplane mode and with WiFi off?

 

[Anthony Viscomi]

Hi everyone, simple question here.

I'm wondering if it is best practice to calibrate the drone without propellers Everytime before I fly? I noticed today I was losing signal very easily and ended up flying with my RC without visual aid yet there are no signs of the app telling me to calibrate as such.

Should I also fly only in airplane mode and with WiFi off?

Calibrating will have no affect on your signal loss. You really need to figure out what is causing that issue.

 

[Wenjie64]

Calibrating will have no affect on your signal loss. You really need to figure out what is causing that issue.

Thanks for your advice, I think the reason the app was telling me I lost signal was because I was flying with WiFi on and also NOT on airplane mode. I shall switch both off next time

 

[Rhyph]

Interesting. So the video shows and agrees with what the app shows as a picture/diagram for the first half of the compass calibration on the MP. However, the video and Mavic Help article do not agree with the picture/diagram that the app shows in that it shows you hold the MP on it's side for step two and not nose down? Why would that be? I'm mostly curious, as everything else I see points to nose down for step 2 as well so that's how I've been doing it and so far every time I've flown my MP it requires me to calibrate first it it won't even let me fly.

 

[DarrickEast]

Calibrating will have no affect on your signal loss. You really need to figure out what is causing that issue.

Um...That is what he is trying to do?!?

 

[Anthony Viscomi]

Um...That is what he is trying to do?!?

Huh?

 

[amanakoinum]

I fly the Mavic Pro since November 2016 and have never calibrated anyting, not IMU, not compass.
No problem.

 

[amanakoinum]

Um...That is what he is trying to do?!?

He should look for strong wifi interference in the flight area.
Probably some dude bingewatching netflix over wifi or something.

 

[msinger]

the video and Mavic Help article do not agree with the picture/diagram that the app shows in that it shows you hold the MP on it's side for step two and not nose down?

On step 2, most people do nose down. Nose to the side is just fine too though.

every time I've flown my MP it requires me to calibrate first it it won't even let me fly

What makes you think it's requiring you to calibrate the compass? What exactly do you see in DJI GO?

 

[Rhyph]

What makes you think it's requiring you to calibrate the compass? What exactly do you see in DJI GO?

So far, each time I've flown, my startup process is, turn on MP, turn on RC, hookup phone to RC, start app. As soon as I start the app, (a little fuzzy on this because its been a couple days) it dumps me right into the "aircraft status" screen with the button to calibrate the compass and it has a little yellow warning triangle next to it, or it's right after I hit go fly (can't remember). Either way, I'm put right into that screen. So I've done as its asked each time, then I proceed as normal, and so far and it's been rock solid otherwise.

My assumption had been, the places I've flow so far have been off concrete surfaces (I'm now learning that's not a good idea), and also near a metal roofed cabana structure in our back yard. So I figured it was getting different amounts of interference that it needed to compensate for every time I've moved take off points. My next experiment this weekend was to get out in the grassy area of our yard away from everything, calibrate and see if it comes back on returning to that area for some repeat flights.

 

[mmoguls]

You cannot calibrate yourself out of signal loss. Are you losing RC signal or video signal? What is the terrain like that you are flying? What are you using as a video monitor screen? At what distance are you losing signal? Are you flying alone or with other

 

[Rhyph]

You cannot calibrate yourself out of signal loss. Are you losing RC signal or video signal? What is the terrain like that you are flying? What are you using as a video monitor screen? At what distance are you losing signal? Are you flying alone or with other

Who are you replying to? If me, I have zero signal loss. Never once have I experienced it, nor did I mention it.

 

[msinger]

My assumption had been, the places I've flow so far have been off concrete surfaces (I'm now learning that's not a good idea), and also near a metal roofed cabana structure in our back yard. So I figured it was getting different amounts of interference that it needed to compensate for every time I've moved take off points.

If that's the case, then it's a warning that you should move your Mavic away from the magnetic metal objects (rather than a prompt to calibrate the compass).

 

[FatherXmas]

So far, each time I've flown, my startup process is, turn on MP, turn on RC, hookup phone to RC, start app. As soon as I start the app, (a little fuzzy on this because its been a couple days) it dumps me right into the "aircraft status" screen with the button to calibrate the compass and it has a little yellow warning triangle next to it, or it's right after I hit go fly (can't remember). Either way, I'm put right into that screen. So I've done as its asked each time, then I proceed as normal, and so far and it's been rock solid otherwise.

My assumption had been, the places I've flow so far have been off concrete surfaces (I'm now learning that's not a good idea), and also near a metal roofed cabana structure in our back yard. So I figured it was getting different amounts of interference that it needed to compensate for every time I've moved take off points. My next experiment this weekend was to get out in the grassy area of our yard away from everything, calibrate and see if it comes back on returning to that area for some repeat flights.

You may be doing a bad calibration. Make sure you are far away from anything that can interfere with the compass like metal objects, power lines, etc. Remove everything from your body that could interfere, watch, cell phone, large belt buckle, etc. I do it in the middle of an open field and get someone to help me so they can hold the RC and tablet at least 20 feet away from me and tell me what the app is saying as I do it.