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Mini 2 Crash Please Help!

bradvanblerck

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Today I got my mini 2 in the mail. I flew it without updating it 3 times during the day and no problems. Then at night I decided to put it up and when I got outside, decided to finish the update. For some reason I got error code #30096 which is compass calibration and low signal. Then I bypassed the low light warning and flew it. Not 10 seconds later, the drone got stuck flying in one direction and hit a wall. So disappointed and honestly scared to buy another. Can someone help me figure out why it did this?
 
Can someone help me figure out why it did this?
Sure ... post your flight data and it might help to find what the issue was.

Go to DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help
Follow the instructions there to upload your flight record from your phone or tablet.
That will give you a detailed report of the flight.
Come back and post a link to the report it gives you.
Or .. just post the txt file here.
 
How so? Thats why I made this post!
I don't know if this would have made any difference, but I fly 3 Mini-2s, and I do every update immediately, as soon as it's available. I never bypass any warnings.

I've never had anything like the problems that you describe.

Just sayin'....

TCS
 
Sounds like pilot error to me.
But we can't be sure without you posting the log on DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help and sharing the link here.

For some reason I got error code #30096 which is compass calibration and low signal.
You needed to calibrate the compass and get away from any metal objects or electrical interferance. Low signal isn't a good sign either when you're standing close to the drone. Your actions should have been: Get away from any potential compass and electrical interferance, restart the drone, wait for GPS, calibrate the compass, dismiss the low light warning, make sure there are no other warnings, and then takeoff, hover for about 20 seconds to make sure everything is good.
 
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Sounds like pilot error to me.
But we can't be sure without you posting the log
Without seeing the flight data, there's no information to suggest it was pilot error.
You needed to calibrate the compass ... Get away from any potential compass and electrical interferance, restart the drone, wait for GPS, calibrate the compass ....
We'd need to see the flight data and get more information to tell anything.
Except that it's almost certain that there was no need to recalibrate the compass.
There's never any need to recalibrate the compass unless the drone has been modified.

The OP hasn't been back for two days.
Unless he comes back with flight data there's nothing anyone can tell about this incident.
 
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There's never any need to recalibrate the compass unless the drone has been modified.
If he/she didn't calibrate the compass before flying the first time, it might be the compass, actually.

And in the new firmwares you can't takeoff at night without calibrating compass, seems very annoying and unnecessary, but that's the case for my Air 2, and probably for the mini 2 as well
 
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If he/she didn't calibrate the compass before flying the first time, it might be the compass, actually.
No .. it sounds like you don't understand what compass calibration does and when it might be needed.
And in the new firmwares you can't takeoff at night without calibrating compass
Really ?? That' doesn't sound right.
 
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Sounds like pilot error to me.
But we can't be sure without you posting the log on DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help and sharing the link here.


You needed to calibrate the compass and get away from any metal objects or electrical interferance. Low signal isn't a good sign either when you're standing close to the drone. Your actions should have been: Get away from any potential compass and electrical interferance, restart the drone, wait for GPS, calibrate the compass, dismiss the low light warning, make sure there are no other warnings, and then takeoff, hover for about 20 seconds to make sure everything is good.
All three of my Mini-2s required a gimbal calibration recently, one right after the other as soon as I fired them up. Must have been a requirement from some update.

I never calibrate the compass unless Fly tells me that I need to, which it's done on a couple of occasions. It's a simple process.

Once it warms up a fair amount more here, I'll try some night flying, which I haven't done yet. I'll have to beef-up my house exterior lighting a bit to do that. This canyon gets seriously dark on moonless nights, and there are no street lights anywhere. Which is a feature, not a bug!

I have zero concern about seeing the drone in the form of it's flashy little butt, but I'd also like to be able to see the landing area *from* the drone. The last thing I'd want to do is fly into a tree that I can't see while bringing the drone home.

Should be interesting!

Thx,

TCS
 
I am one of those who at every exit before taking off, I always do a compass calibration .. never had any problems.
 
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I am one of those who at every exit before taking off, I always do a compass calibration .. never had any problems.
That procedure is totally unnecessary ...

The compass in your drone is subjected to 2 main magnetic fields ... the earth & the drone's own mag. field. In order to be able to measure the earth mag. field alone the drone's needs to be deducted from the total mag. field affecting the compass.

During a compass calibration the drone's own mag. field is measured ... once done you don't have to repeat the calibration every time you take-off, this as the drone's mag. field most probably haven't changed a bit since you took off the last time.

The only valid reason for a compass calibration is if you have taken off or attached some extra equipment from/to your drone.
 
I am one of those who at every exit before taking off, I always do a compass calibration .. never had any problems.
But ifg you understood what compass calibration actually does, you'd understand why you are wasting your efforts.
If the drone is flying normally, recalibrating the compass won't make anything any better.

The first post in this thread explains what compass calibration is all about and why there's no need to keep recalibrating the compass.
 
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The only valid reason for a compass calibration is if you have taken off or attached some extra equipment from/to your drone.
I also thought the same, but I stopped believing in that when I took off with my S500 DIY drone near a metal structure and it almost flew away spinning, I recovered switching to Atti mode, if it would be a Mavic, I don't know what I would do, if it wouldn't automatically switch to Atti...

We can argue forever if compass calibration is necessary or not, but it doesn't hurt to calibrate it, it doesn't make the situation worse anyway!

I am one of those who at every exit before taking off, I always do a compass calibration .. never had any problems.
I was also like that before, never had problems either, then one time had the flyaway because I took off near a big metal structure. Now I only calibrate when I change location.
 
I also thought the same, but I stopped believing in that when I took off with my S500 DIY drone near a metal structure and it almost flew away spinning, I recovered switching to Atti mode, if it would be a Mavic, I don't know what I would do, if it wouldn't automatically switch to Atti...
Calibrating the compass wouldn't have helped in that situation, because there was nothing wrong with the compass.
Your problem was that the steel object deflected the compass and the IMU took its initial directional values from the compass (which wasn't reading correctly because of where you placed the drone).
When the drone moved away from the influence of the steel, the compass would have returned to reading correctly, but now the IMU and Compass are showing different data.
When you turned the drone, it senses movement in the wrong direction and tries to correct, but because the IMU gyro is reading incorrectly, every correction puts it further off course.
It's called a yaw error and it's well known.
We can argue forever if compass calibration is necessary or not, but it doesn't hurt to calibrate it, it doesn't make the situation worse anyway!
It's pointless arguing about the compass without understand how it works.
You really need to read the 1st post in the thread I linked in post #14.
I was also like that before, never had problems either, then one time had the flyaway because I took off near a big metal structure. Now I only calibrate when I change location.

Changing location makes no difference at all to the compass ... none, zip, zilch.
Read that post.
 
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I also thought the same, but I stopped believing in that when I took off with my S500 DIY drone near a metal structure and it almost flew away spinning...
What happened there had nothing to do with calibrating the compass or not ... you plainly mixed in a third big mag. field in the equation besides earth & the drones mag. field ... that caused a "yaw error" & calibrating the compass hadn't helped a bit.

We can argue forever if compass calibration is necessary...
Before we do that ... go here & read up first --> A short explanation of compass function, calibration and errors otherwise it's pointless.

...it doesn't hurt to calibrate it, it doesn't make the situation worse anyway!
It indeed can ... if you trick yourself believing that a start up of the drone in a magnetically disturbed area which cause the compass to deflect can be done without generating a yaw error just because you calibrate the compass you will be utterly disappointed. The correct action in a situation like you describe happened with your S500 is always to move away from the magnetically disturbed area.
 
But ifg you understood what compass calibration actually does, you'd understand why you are wasting your efforts.
If the drone is flying normally, recalibrating the compass won't make anything any better.

The first post in this thread explains what compass calibration is all about and why there's no need to keep recalibrating the compass.
Honestly for the time it takes I don't see it as an effort! I only do this out of habit and as I fly infrequently and often in different flying fields also in terms of distance, I feel safer to do a calibration before taking off. then God forbid, each of us sees her in her own way.;)Thumbswayup
 
Honestly for the time it takes I don't see it as an effort! I only do this out of habit and as I fly infrequently and often in different flying fields also in terms of distance, I feel safer to do a calibration before taking off. then God forbid, each of us sees her in her own way.;)Thumbswayup
Then for you, compass calibration is a superstitious ritual rather than something based on fact.
Actually understanding how your drone works is a lot more helpful for safe flying than relying of superstition and saying it doesn't hurt.

And as I already mentioned, how far you are from your last flight is completely irrelevant.
That has zero influence on the compass.
Just read that post that I linked above.
 
I've been practicing modeling for 30 years now: (school of airplanes, helicopters, cars and drones) I'm a semi-professional and I know very well how our drones work.
This is not to say that I am wrong to do this calibration, but it has always been on my CHECK LIST.
Of course, all this is almost spontaneous to do.

MAKE SURE YOU ARE IN AN AREA WITHOUT
FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS AND POSSIBLY RESPECT
THE REGULATIONS BY CHECKING THE D FLIGHT PORTAL
BATTERIES, REMOTE CONTROL AND MOBILE PHONE LOADS
CHECK THE INTEGRITY OF THE PROPELLERS
CHECK THAT YOU HAVE NO INFLATED BATTERIES
CHECK FOR ANY DAMAGE TO THE DRONE
REMOVE THE COVER GIMBAL
FORMAT THE SD CARD
CALIBRATE THE COMPASS
SET AN RTH HIGHER OF THE OBSTACLES THAN YES
HAVE IN FRONT
CHECK THAT YOU HAVE AT LEAST 12/13 SATELLITES
BEFORE YOU TAKE OFF
TAKE OFF ONLY IF WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE
OPTIMAL
PROCEED TO FLY ONLY AFTER HAVING HEARD THAT
THE HOME POINT HAS BEEN REGISTERED PROPERLY
 
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