Calibration duration
- Thread starter paolo negroni
- Start date
Til they need calibration again! Seriously there's no straight answer. Lots of travelling, hundreds of miles may cause compass calibration warnings, knocks or rough handling, installing new parts, and I'm sure there's others too. If your copter is doing what's you think it should then there's no need to keep recalibrating, you may do more harm than good.
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2017
- Messages
- 2,997
- Reaction score
- 3,185
- Location
- Central Florida
- Website
- copperdawg.com
What he said ^, I had a Typhoon H for 2.5 years - did one calibration; and my Plus 1 year and 3 months and you guessed it - exactly one calibration. Though I have never traveled more than fifty miles.
Hi there Dear Pilots,
How would you comment then Yuneec's demanding recalibrating H520 every time it is relocated by 5 miles/8 km? This is what manual says.
My reasoning tells me it is a bit crazy but I do not want to challenge Yuneec in case of warranty issues. Have flown other drones (ebee, Phantom) and was never asked to calibrate compasses every time I change location by said distance.
Funny thing is that the UK Yuneec official site says it is not needed to perform calibration too often.
Curious your comments.
Pawel
How would you comment then Yuneec's demanding recalibrating H520 every time it is relocated by 5 miles/8 km? This is what manual says.
My reasoning tells me it is a bit crazy but I do not want to challenge Yuneec in case of warranty issues. Have flown other drones (ebee, Phantom) and was never asked to calibrate compasses every time I change location by said distance.
Funny thing is that the UK Yuneec official site says it is not needed to perform calibration too often.
Curious your comments.
Pawel
arruntus
Premium Pilot
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2017
- Messages
- 1,851
- Reaction score
- 730
The manual speaks of 5 miles in North America, in Europe it speaks of 50 km which is a quantity with more common sense. In different revisions, they have maintained the 5 miles for North America, probably will have a reason, although to me it still seems very short distance for there to be substantial changes in the position of satellites, the zone, and need to make a calibration
arruntus
Premium Pilot
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2017
- Messages
- 1,851
- Reaction score
- 730
I agree that five miles is a short distance. Hundreds of miles since the last calibration.... yes you need a calibration and even more when we have in dron in warranty. It is better not to risk it and whatever it is detect and refuse to apply the warranty for misuse
My heart is torn apart every time I see camera & gimbal shake, toss and twist during calibration. Well as long as the warranty lasts I rather keep doing it. But when it is gone I will quit unless I change continents
How often do I have to calibrate my H520?
Basically, whenever the copter is not flying stable in the air despite having GPS signal available or if the remote control in the DataPilot shows a red status code under "summary" or "sensors". Calibration after changing the location is not necessary.
This is taken from the yuneec site
Just learning myself. Could you elaborate on "doing more harm than good"? Thank you.
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2017
- Messages
- 2,997
- Reaction score
- 3,185
- Location
- Central Florida
- Website
- copperdawg.com
One of our first Typhoon Plus owners got his Plus a few days before he had to leave for a trip to another country. He calibrated here in the states and flew many flights- thousands of miles away without indecent. I am not condoning or negating this practice just putting it out there.
What I think @Mrgs1 meant when he said "If your copter is doing what's you think it should then there's no need to keep recalibrating, you may do more harm than good" . . . is that; experience has shown that many operators spend too much time micro-focusing on specific procedure's, and this can lead to the neglecting of some that are vastly more important. And I totally agree with him.
Those who have been flying a Typhoon for some time know that there are times when we can get a 'Compass calibration warning' that is due to the operational environment. We expect them and when we see them, we know that we just need to move to a location or; in some cases that it can be ignored. Then there are other times however, that if we see one, we know that perhaps a calibration is necessary. But as I have mentioned, I have yet to see a warning that I did not expect and I yet to experience any ill effects.
The take away from all of this is: with experience you will get to know the little quirks and anomalies of your aircraft - over time. If your new to the Typhoon and you would prefer to do a calibration when you travel more than a specific distance, then do so if it gives you piece of mind, but don't let that specific procedure be the only one focus on during preflight.
What I think @Mrgs1 meant when he said "If your copter is doing what's you think it should then there's no need to keep recalibrating, you may do more harm than good" . . . is that; experience has shown that many operators spend too much time micro-focusing on specific procedure's, and this can lead to the neglecting of some that are vastly more important. And I totally agree with him.
Those who have been flying a Typhoon for some time know that there are times when we can get a 'Compass calibration warning' that is due to the operational environment. We expect them and when we see them, we know that we just need to move to a location or; in some cases that it can be ignored. Then there are other times however, that if we see one, we know that perhaps a calibration is necessary. But as I have mentioned, I have yet to see a warning that I did not expect and I yet to experience any ill effects.
The take away from all of this is: with experience you will get to know the little quirks and anomalies of your aircraft - over time. If your new to the Typhoon and you would prefer to do a calibration when you travel more than a specific distance, then do so if it gives you piece of mind, but don't let that specific procedure be the only one focus on during preflight.
There's a possibility or permature wear on components when performing a compass calibration, other calibrations performed satisfactorily could be undone by unlevel surfaces and metal or other interference in the vicinity, as others have said usually it's not a frequent occurrence. I've read some calibrate the compass every flight, that's overdoing it, general consensus on here is don't over do it.
Fair comments, it's about enjoying the copter, not totally obsessed with thinking "Can I tweak it a bit more" there's been plenty of posts on here where people obsession has ended in disaster.One of our first Typhoon Plus owners got his Plus a few days before he had to leave for a trip to another country. He calibrated here in the states and flew many flights- thousands of miles away without indecent. I am not condoning or negating this practice just putting it out there.
What I think @Mrgs1 meant when he said "If your copter is doing what's you think it should then there's no need to keep recalibrating, you may do more harm than good" . . . is that; experience has shown that many operators spend too much time micro-focusing on specific procedure's, and this can lead to the neglecting of some that are vastly more important. And I totally agree with him.
Those who have been flying a Typhoon for some time know that there are times when we can get a 'Compass calibration warning' that is due to the operational environment. We expect them and when we see them, we know that we just need to move to a location or; in some cases that it can be ignored. Then there are other times however, that if we see one, we know that perhaps a calibration is necessary. But as I have mentioned, I have yet to see a warning that I did not expect and I yet to experience any ill effects.
The take away from all of this is: with experience you will get to know the little quirks and anomalies of your aircraft - over time. If your new to the Typhoon and you would prefer to do a calibration when you travel more than a specific distance, then do so if it gives you piece of mind, but don't let that specific procedure be the only one focus on during preflight.
arruntus
Premium Pilot
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2017
- Messages
- 1,851
- Reaction score
- 730
I've read this and I've been perplexed. I have looked it up and effectively in the FAQ of the H520 it says what you say. It can't be a more confusing and false message since it implies that it's not necessary to calibrate the compass when you change location without specifying anything else and contradicting the user's manual itself
(which we should all read before flying ).It is one thing to discuss at what distance it is good to do it or not, but it is another thing to say that it is not necessary to do it when you change location. So we have to see an erratic flight to calibrate? Do we have to see on screen an error to do it? I think it's a bulge error who put that. To calibrate the compass is necessary in any device that uses it and depending on the precision that we want to obtain, it becomes more necessary to do it more habitually. In the Yuneec drones and in any other drone.
I'm just going to say one more thing, one of the main causes of flyaways, apart from not waiting to have enough satellite coverage, is not to calibrate the compass because the drone believes it's in other zone instead of the one it's actually in.
Drone compassI've read this and I've been perplexed. I have looked it up and effectively in the FAQ of the H520 it says what you say. It can't be a more confusing and false message since it implies that it's not necessary to calibrate the compass when you change location without specifying anything else and contradicting the user's manual itself
It is one thing to discuss at what distance it is good to do it or not, but it is another thing to say that it is not necessary to do it when you change location. So we have to see an erratic flight to calibrate? Do we have to see on screen an error to do it? I think it's a bulge error who put that. To calibrate the compass is necessary in any device that uses it and depending on the precision that we want to obtain, it becomes more necessary to do it more habitually. In the Yuneec drones and in any other drone.
I'm just going to say one more thing, one of the main causes of flyaways, apart from not waiting to have enough satellite coverage, is not to calibrate the compass because the drone believes it's in other zone instead of the one it's actually in.
Compass which is also known as magnetometer, gives the sense of direction to the drone. The data of magnetic field in the area is processed in the microcontroller to give heading angle with respect to magnetic north.
The compass, guides the drone between cardinal directions as it flies over a field. Since the earth’s magnetic field changes depending on where you are, if you move your drone a large distance (several hundred miles) this may cause the drone to misread its heading and fly a few degrees off its true centre, which will decrease flight efficiency.
Bear in mind that compass gives direction, where your drone is facing with respect to magnetic north and GPS gives location of the drone. Proper functioning of both is crucial to a safe flight. But as mentioned a lot of pilots travel great distances and have not experienced any problems, I think personally it's more to do with it's direction in most cases.
Last edited:
arruntus
Premium Pilot
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2017
- Messages
- 1,851
- Reaction score
- 730
I know mate, what I mean is that in the FAQ put that it is not necessary to calibrate
Phaedrus
Premium Pilot
I last calibrated my Typhoon H+ compass 8 months ago. I regularly travel/fly in both Northern California and Southern California, 800 miles apart.
