Magnetic interference

[Timothy Reece]

So I'm flying my H today and I get a magnetic interference warning. The warning then disappeared and it then said perform compass calibration. Well I go to land and about 4 foot off the ground it starts to funnel at this point I had no control of the H. So I hit the kill switch. At this point I was skimming the ground and the motors stopped. Thankfully there was no damage to the H. I don't know what went wrong. I was in angle mode the whole time. I removed the battery and then put it back and fired it back up. It seams OK tho I did not fly it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Murray Martz]

So I'm flying my H today and I get a magnetic interference warning. The warning then disappeared and it then said perform compass calibration. Well I go to land and about 4 foot off the ground it starts to funnel at this point I had no control of the H. So I hit the kill switch. At this point I was skimming the ground and the motors stopped. Thankfully there was no damage to the H. I don't know what went wrong. I was in angle mode the whole time. I removed the battery and then put it back and fired it back up. It seams OK tho I did not fly it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Post a copy of your telemetry data file. At some point someone will see the file and take a look at it for you. They may be able to shed some light on what happened. In the mean time, do calibrations for everything, than do a test flight. Describe the area you were flying in, what you could see, buildings, towers, power lines ( high voltage ), structures, concrete etc.

 

[Timothy Reece]

Post a copy of your telemetry data file. At some point someone will see the file and take a look at it for you. They may be able to shed some light on what happened. In the mean time, do calibrations for everything, than do a test flight. Describe the area you were flying in, what you could see, buildings, towers, power lines ( high voltage ), structures, concrete etc.

Have all read backed up flight data and reinstalled every thing. To hot to fly as I live in Arizona so I'm waiting till morning when cooler. Going to do recalibration on everything. Then wait and let transmitter and H get satellites for 20 minutes then fly. And that's going to be really slow and low till I'm satisfied it's going to be OK.

 

[Rayray]

So I'm flying my H today and I get a magnetic interference warning. The warning then disappeared and it then said perform compass calibration. Well I go to land and about 4 foot off the ground it starts to funnel at this point I had no control of the H. So I hit the kill switch. At this point I was skimming the ground and the motors stopped. Thankfully there was no damage to the H. I don't know what went wrong. I was in angle mode the whole time. I removed the battery and then put it back and fired it back up. It seams OK tho I did not fly it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

All I want to say is that Mr. Reece has made an excellent post. He describes the problem well and honestly, no attempt to spin. Thank you, Mr. Reece. Your example is one we can only wish others would follow.

Do post the telemetry, if you will go to the trouble. Did the first warning say "Magnetic Interference"? I personally have not seen that.

Again, KUDOS.

 

[Timothy Reece]

All I want to say is that Mr. Reece has made an excellent post. He describes the problem well and honestly, no attempt to spin. Thank you, Mr. Reece. Your example is one we can only wish others would follow.

Do post the telemetry, if you will go to the trouble. Did the first warning say "Magnetic Interference"? I personally have not seen that.

Again, KUDOS.

Thanks for kudos. As far as the flight data I don't have a computer. My R/C Shop has the data on their computer. I will see that it is sent to the proper people if I have any more trouble. Some one els has had the same problem and had the GPS replaced. My GPS was replaced in April. It was really strange how my H actually acted. I'm hoping I don't have to send it in. Love my H and don't want to loose it due to flyaway or crash. Will post how things go in the morning.

 

[Rayray]

And the warning said ...?

OK, bear in mind that GPS has noting to do with magnetic interference. By the way (yes, I don't like acronyms), if this repeats, gain altitude at once rather than hitting the red button, then try to regain control. If still hard, turn off the GPS, unless in gale force wind. Stay in Angle Mode.

I have 3 THs, produced at different times, never an actual hardware problem, although I have thought that before.

 

[Steve Carr]

The magnetic interference warning generally comes up when you get to close to a magnetic field like a power line, either during or before the flight. The compass always needs to be recal-ed after that. Take a close look at the area where you launched from. Any concrete, metal structures or any sign of underground wires, transformers or water mains? Any of those can affect the compass.

And Rayray is correct. If the H gets unstable while landing, take it back up again and try to land in a different spot. As a last measure, turn off the GPS in angle mode with the camera facing away from you.

BTW, flight data and flight logs are not the same thing.

 

[Murray Martz]

The magnetic interference warning generally comes up when you get to close to a magnetic field like a power line, either during or before the flight. The compass always needs to be recal-ed after that. Take a close look at the area where you launched from. Any concrete, metal structures or any sign of underground wires, transformers or water mains? Any of those can affect the compass.

And Rayray is correct. If the H gets unstable while landing, take it back up again and try to land in a different spot. As a last measure, turn off the GPS in angle mode with the camera facing away from you.

BTW, flight data and flight logs are not the same thing.

I think even for my own understanding a new thread explaining the difference between the two and their relevance might be in order.

 

[Timothy Reece]

Well I took the H out and did all calibrations. It Flys like normal. The only thing I see wrong is altimeter is off. On startup it says that it is 01 feet up in the air. On take off it reads correctly. On landing it state's that it is 13 feet under ground. I have sent it in to yuneec 2 times for repairs and they replaced the GPS. Once before for this very issue. I would like to seen it in for repairs but customer service is a nightmare anymore. I have tried to call them only to be hung up on or not have my calls returned. I'm going to try again Monday to talk with someone.

 

[Murray Martz]

Well I took the H out and did all calibrations. It Flys like normal. The only thing I see wrong is altimeter is off. On startup it says that it is 01 feet up in the air. On take off it reads correctly. On landing it state's that it is 13 feet under ground. I have sent it in to yuneec 2 times for repairs and they replaced the GPS. Once before for this very issue. I would like to seen it in for repairs but customer service is a nightmare anymore. I have tried to call them only to be hung up on or not have my calls returned. I'm going to try again Monday to talk with someone.

I can understand the up 01 feet when on the ground as the GPS sits on the H at about that height. Only thing I can say about a landing that shows minus 10 feet would be if you land in an area that was lower than where you took off from, especially if you calibrate from your takeoff point that is higher.

That's all I have

 

[Timothy Reece]

I can understand the up 01 feet when on the ground as the GPS sits on the H at about that height. Only thing I can say about a landing that shows minus 10 feet would be if you land in an area that was lower than where you took off from, especially if you calibrate from your takeoff point that is higher.

That's all I have

Oh I get that but I landed with in 3 foot of my take off spot. Now I have some people who say the GPS has nothing to do with the altitude. I know that when the GPS was replaced the issue was resolved. Now I live in Arizona and it gets hot here so I don't fly when it's 90 degrees or hotter. When I flew this morning it was 78 or so.

 

[PatR]

People want to think the GPS position data is 100% accurate. It is not, it is only relatively accurate. The circular error of precision is such that if it is showing within 30'-50' of the actual altitude it would be well within spec. If you keep returning your H to correct what is normal you'll never stop sending it back.

 

[Rayray]

The only thing I see wrong is altimeter is off. On startup it says that it is 01 feet up in the air. On take off it reads correctly. On landing it state's that it is 13 feet under ground. I have sent it in to yuneec 2 times for repairs and they replaced the GPS. Once before for this very issue

Timothy, the Altitude reading causes much understandable confusion. The Barometric sensor (and nothing else) is responsible for that reading.

When you spin up the props at takeoff, the reading zeros, but after that, depending on small variations in air pressure, the reading may come to be incorrect by 15 or 20 feet. Ignore that. The only real craft use is for setting the max altitude, like 400' or whatever, when 20' or so make little difference. GPS has nothing to do with the height reading.

Happy flying...

 

[PatR]

It's unfortunate but none of the systems available at the consumer level use anything that is "certified" in an manner that I am aware of. Lacking certification standards (there are none) it is not reasonable to assume info provided is accurate. Altimeters are affected by quite a few different things; temperature, humidity, wind, lapse rate, and others. What we have are pretty basic, and lacking a means to adjust for local altitude and conditions they can't be terribly accurate. Our instrumentation is good for general referencing but since these are LOS aircraft our eyes are pretty much what is responsible for establishing comparative heights and positions.

 

[Rubik]

With altitude data being so inaccurate, how can the thing land itself without crashing in RTH mode? I've always taken back control when it gets close to the ground.

 

[PatR]

Ever notice how hard it sets down in RTH? Contact with the ground is established by accelerometer feed back, and why the descent rate is pretty slow using RTH.

 

[Sir Richard]

So I'm flying my H today and I get a magnetic interference warning. The warning then disappeared and it then said perform compass calibration. Well I go to land and about 4 foot off the ground it starts to funnel at this point I had no control of the H. So I hit the kill switch. At this point I was skimming the ground and the motors stopped. Thankfully there was no damage to the H. I don't know what went wrong. I was in angle mode the whole time. I removed the battery and then put it back and fired it back up. It seams OK tho I did not fly it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

have not had that problem but just for general the h will mess up the video on racing drone if within 15 feet of it, so be careful about this so as not to piss them off. did not get any flack but it did surprise me.

 

[Busa]

I got the magnetic interference error on my brand new H. Also did the toilet bowl dance. When I checked the telemetry logs they showed numerous compass errors. Sent the logs to Yuneec and they opened up a RMA and had me send it in for repair. Ken-A-Vison was the repair facility. One month later and many phone calls, finally got it back. They replaced the GPS/compass module. Been flying it for the last 3 days and it's perfect.

 

[Timothy Reece]

I got the magnetic interference error on my H. Also did the toilet bowl dance. When I checked the telemetry logs they showed numerous compass errors. Sent the logs to Yuneec and they opened up a RMA and had me send it in for repair. One month later and many phone calls, finally got it back. They replaced the GPS/compass module. Been flying it for the last 3 days and it's perfect.

Thanks for the information Sir. I think I will call and see what I can do. Maybe I can get them to send me a maybe new GPS board.

 

[Timothy Reece]

Have all read backed up flight data and reinstalled every thing. To hot to fly as I live in Arizona so I'm waiting till morning when cooler. Going to do recalibration on everything. Then wait and let transmitter and H get satellites for 20 minutes then fly. And that's going to be really slow and low till I'm satisfied it's going to be OK.

Well I called customer service and now I have to send in flight logs. When they get that they will make the call as to send me a GPS module so I can replace it myself. Keep my fingers crossed.

 

[bclarkified]

This is interesting to see because we have two Typhoon H kits, and one of them has a highly inaccurate altimeter reading whereas the second unit is pretty spot on. We spot checked the RTH feature and it slam danced to the ground - seeing that it thinks it is 12 ft higher than it is. Looks like we'll have to call the customer service as well.
BC