Mini 5 Pro controller compass calibration?

guzewski · 2025-09-23T19:34:04-0400

I just got my Mini 5 Pro and so far everything is works great, except for one thing.

I'm getting a message that I need to calibrate the compass on the controller. I'm not sure why the controller even needs a compass, but I'll play along.

When you go to calibration you see this. The thing is animated, showing you how to move the controller.

I touch START CALIBRATION and go through the motions, and no matter how long I do it the calibration never completes. I have to cancel out of the thing.

I've done this a few times, with the same results. Interestingly, this doesn't seem to affect the operation in any way. I've been flying around and recording and doing RTH, and everything works fine.

So I have no idea if this is important, but it kind of bugs me that the issue hangs around.

MS Coast · 2025-09-23T19:55:09-0400

guzewski said:
I just got my Mini 5 Pro and so far everything is works great, except for one thing.

I'm getting a message that I need to calibrate the compass on the controller. I'm not sure why the controller even needs a compass, but I'll play along.

View attachment 185415

When you go to calibration you see this. The thing is animated, showing you how to move the controller.

View attachment 185416

I touch START CALIBRATION and go through the motions, and no matter how long I do it the calibration never completes. I have to cancel out of the thing.

I've done this a few times, with the same results. Interestingly, this doesn't seem to affect the operation in any way. I've been flying around and recording and doing RTH, and everything works fine.

So I have no idea if this is important, but it kind of bugs me that the issue hangs around.

The orientation of the controller is displayed on the controller icon on the map screen. It's a good tool to help orient the controller toward the drone when you have connectivity issues.

Regarding the calibration process, are you rotating and inverting the controller at the ends of the arcs?

guzewski · 2025-09-23T20:15:44-0400

MS Coast said:
The orientation of the controller is displayed on the controller icon on the map screen. It's a good tool to help orient the controller toward the drone when you have connectivity issues.

Good to know.

MS Coast said:
Regarding the calibration process, are you rotating and inverting the controller at the ends of the arcs?

Yes. I'm doing the figure-8 like the animation shows. At the end of the arcs the drone is rotated 180 degrees.

guzewski · 2025-09-23T21:35:19-0400

Duh... problem solved. I was doing the motion in the horizontal plane. I finally found a YouTube video that showed the correct way to do it, which is in the vertical plane. The animation is not clear on this, and YouTube videos on this subject are actually pretty rare (lots of stuff showing how to calibrate the aircraft compass).

GadgetGuy · 2025-09-23T22:21:50-0400

guzewski said:
Duh... problem solved. I was doing the motion in the horizontal plane. I finally found a YouTube video that showed the correct way to do it, which is in the vertical plane. The animation is not clear on this, and YouTube videos on this subject are actually pretty rare (lots of stuff showing how to calibrate the aircraft compass).

Got a link to the YT video?

A video is worth a thousand pictures, (and a picture is worth a thousand words).
The RC Pro 2 has similar compass calibration errors that are very difficult to resolve, as the Start Calibration button never appears unless it is calibrated correctly, and then it doesn't do anything except confirm Done! The key for me was turning the RC Pro completely upside down during the process displayed. It's different than on the old RC's where you never had to turn it upside down.