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Typhoon H - How to Calibrate the Compass

Useful video to see as the illustration in the manual does not exactly convey the amount it need to be rotated on its axis, thanks for sharing.
 
Right, it's like they mashed up two parts together. Much easier to understand than how it's explained in the manual.

View attachment 505
Haha that document is nuts! The video is much clearer. I saw one review though that said that it came calibrated right out of the box (Simon Newton I think?). Will be interesting to see how often people actually have to calibrate. Doing each side twice is going to make getting up in the air much slower...
 
I have my pre-order in but I'm uncomfortable with this in Yuneec's FAQ. Does this mean that if I get realsense later or if they provide a downward facing VPS-like sensor that I'll need to send my unit in?

Is the Typhoon H modular?
The Typhoon H is a modular design that allows for accessories to be added onto the housing. Some additional accessories may require a factory install and calibration to allow for a seamless integration.
Hopefully that's just to stop people who have no practical skills or knowledge doing the mods. Otherwise you'll see countless claims on social media that these cool new add on's don't function correctly and are a "total sham" etc, etc.
From Yuneec's point of view they may well want to control all aspects of the add on's to stop any unwanted variables ruining the show.
 
Yuneec has stated that Real Sense is a Plug and Play, meaning you can just attach and do a firmware update and fly. We will have to see to confirm
 
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Haha that document is nuts! The video is much clearer. I saw one review though that said that it came calibrated right out of the box (Simon Newton I think?). Will be interesting to see how often people actually have to calibrate. Doing each side twice is going to make getting up in the air much slower...
I am sure it has been calibrated prior to you receiving, as they pre-test all units at factory, but even the manual and videos state to do a compass calibration when ever you fly in a new location, and China is definitely a ways from USA, OZ or UK or anywhere but China!
 
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Yuneec has stated that Real Sense is a Plug and Play, meaning you can just attach and do a firmware update and fly. We will have to see to confirm
That would be awesome and makes sense. After all this is what customers expect.
 
As someone that has spent many years working with compass directions, I would only worry about doing a compass calibration if you go over 200-300 miles, even though it's most likely not needed for closer to 500+ or more. You could probably get away with twice the 200-300, as you will only change the compass direction by small digits over every couple hundred miles, and since they don't mention whether it's magnetic north, grid north, or true north, it won't be that accurate anyways, even if you were facing one of the north's very well.
To give you an idea of the difference, if I do a downhole gyro survey where I live in central Colorado, I need to add about 8.4 degrees to it, to correct to true north from magnetic. If I do a job in eastern Pennsylvania I end up Subtracting about 8 degrees to correct back to true north from the other side of the north pole. That means that approx. 1700 miles only changed the compass by 16 degrees, and that simply will not confuse a basic electronic/silicone compass. Obviously the further north you are the bigger the change over distance, but most of us don't fly that far north.
The tools I use, (north seeking gyro and compass reliant) help to steer directional drillers within, sometimes 6 inches of an existing well under ground and human error can change direction of that by 4-5 degrees alone. My point...The compass can still feel north, even while factoring in the earth's magnetic dip angle, which is different all over the world anyway, based on how far from the poles, or how close to the equator you are.


Being a compass, it works on magnetic pull, but the magnetic energy field travels around the pole in a large area and can drift up to 26 miles per year, so accuracy is not going to be a problem with a calibration not facing north. And if you are using a cell phone to get your magnetic north reference, you could be off as much as 30-40 degrees anyway....(they suck at consistancy). A gyro compass will find north even if you calibrate it in a different direction, as it has an affinity for north no matter where it's facing, short of interference, like radio towers, or any magnetic field, magnetic dip included. Time alone could throw your compass off from it's original north reference as much as direction, but it doesn't by a noticeable amount in something this basic, where inches don't matter in accuracy. Even in my filed where inches can be a multi million dollar mistake, we only update our magnetic reference once every 5 years for drift.
My point...I think they are putting far too much credence in how much accuracy a compass needs, based on location changes. It needs a compass and the compass does need to be calibrated to get it's bearing, but I fail to see how facing the H north is a factor in calibrating a compass. They are so heavily GPS reliant that the compass is only one part of it's bearing, and only if it goes out calibration will it's ability to seek north be affected.
The fine people at Yuneec may disagree with me, but in my work, I've done about 2,000+ pretty serious, compass relying jobs and I've never had a collision with another well. No humans were hurt in the making of my surveys.
Disclaimer: I have never flown my Typhoon H 12,000 ft underground in an oil well so this information may not be accurate. ;)
 
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As someone that has spent many years working with compass directions, I would only worry about doing a compass calibration if you go over 200-300 miles, even though it's most likely not needed for closer to 500+ or more. You could probably get away with twice the 200-300, as you will only change the compass direction by small digits over every couple hundred miles, and since they don't mention whether it's magnetic north, grid north, or true north, it won't be that accurate anyways, even if you were facing one of the north's very well.
To give you an idea of the difference, if I do a downhole gyro survey where I live in central Colorado, I need to add about 8.4 degrees to it, to correct to true north from magnetic. If I do a job in eastern Pennsylvania I end up Subtracting about 8 degrees to correct back to true north from the other side of the north pole. That means that approx. 1700 miles only changed the compass by 16 degrees, and that simply will not confuse a basic electronic/silicone compass. Obviously the further north you are the bigger the change over distance, but most of us don't fly that far north.
The tools I use, (north seeking gyro and compass reliant) help to steer directional drillers within, sometimes 6 inches of an existing well under ground and human error can change direction of that by 4-5 degrees alone. My point...The compass can still feel north, even while factoring in the earth's magnetic dip angle, which is different all over the world anyway, based on how far from the poles, or how close to the equator you are.


Being a compass, it works on magnetic pull, but the magnetic energy field travels around the pole in a large area and can drift up to 26 miles per year, so accuracy is not going to be a problem with a calibration not facing north. And if you are using a cell phone to get your magnetic north reference, you could be off as much as 30-40 degrees anyway....(they suck at consistancy). A gyro compass will find north even if you calibrate it in a different direction, as it has an affinity for north no matter where it's facing, short of interference, like radio towers, or any magnetic field, magnetic dip included. Time alone could throw your compass off from it's original north reference as much as direction, but it doesn't by a noticeable amount in something this basic, where inches don't matter in accuracy. Even in my filed where inches can be a multi million dollar mistake, we only update our magnetic reference once every 5 years for drift.
My point...I think they are putting far too much credence in how much accuracy a compass needs, based on location changes. It needs a compass and the compass does need to be calibrated to get it's bearing, but I fail to see how facing the H north is a factor in calibrating a compass. They are so heavily GPS reliant that the compass is only one part of it's bearing, and only if it goes out calibration will it's ability to seek north be affected.
The fine people at Yuneec may disagree with me, but in my work, I've done about 2,000+ pretty serious, compass relying jobs and I've never had a collision with another well. No humans were hurt in the making of my surveys.
Disclaimer: I have never flown my Typhoon H 12,000 ft underground in an oil well so this information may not be accurate. ;)

I guess what I'm really saying is, put a lot of credence in making sure it is calibrated because that really matters. It's the distance, and facing magnetic north that I disagree with.
 

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