So today i crashed my DJI drone.. I was flying it in a open building for a few shots when i got a sudden compass interference warning then it shot off the left uncontrollably and hit a wall. So I walked around with a compass and found in one spot of the building the north and south completely flip. I don't know much about all that stuff so i was wondering if anyone here knows what could've caused it. As far as the steel made there, they made non magnetic stainless steel alloys and there isn't any machinery in the building i was flying in. Sad because i just bought the drone yesterday ;(

damn.

Could it have been a strong electrical current of some kind, or something buried underground? That's the only explanation I can think of.

I was thinking about buying a drone soon too for some birds-eye view shots.
This actually heightens my fear for getting one now

One word: cinewhoop.

Posted by MysteriousExpedition I was thinking about buying a drone soon too for some birds-eye view shots. This actually heightens my fear for getting one now

Yeah and since the drone landed in a “puddle” dji repair people won’t fix it because they can’t grantee it’ll ever work right. So now I have to either buy another one or just not buy one.

+1 to the electrical current, I don't know of any reason stainless alloy manufacturing would require strong magnets, but it most definitely requires plenty of angry pixies. If there is still power to that facility, there may still be active transformers around that would fuck with any sensitive magnets like those in your drone. I'd use extreme caution if there are any cables/circuits laying around...

Posted by GARR1S0N So today i crashed my DJI drone.. I was flying it in a open building for a few shots when i got a sudden compass interference warning then it shot off the left uncontrollably and hit a wall. So I walked around with a compass and found in one spot of the building the north and south completely flip. I don't know much about all that stuff so i was wondering if anyone here knows what could've caused it. As far as the steel made there, they made non magnetic stainless steel alloys and there isn't any machinery in the building i was flying in. Sad because i just bought the drone yesterday ;(

I dig this - the anomaly.

But I am very sorry about your drone

I've seen natural magnetic anomalies in the earth interfere with compasses while working in the field before. But I would be surprised if it would be powerful enough to mess with a drone. That's really unfortunate whatever it was.

There is many things that will throw off the compass and give you that message. Mostly just metal being in the vicinity. I've launched mine too close to the stainless steel grill before and that was enough to throw it off. The rebar supports in concrete parking structures have done it too, as well as launching it off the top of my car. What model drone do you have? Some are way more susceptible than others.

Posted by Dan Lee There is many things that will throw off the compass and give you that message. Mostly just metal being in the vicinity. I've launched mine too close to the stainless steel grill before and that was enough to throw it off. The rebar supports in concrete parking structures have done it too, as well as launching it off the top of my car. What model drone do you have? Some are way more susceptible than others.

I got really good at holding my phantom 3 above my head and launching it with the two joysticks with my other hand because of this.

Posted by uLiveAndYouBurn I got really good at holding my phantom 3 above my head and launching it with the two joysticks with my other hand because of this.

Yep, Phantom 3 seemed to be the most problematic. Any older DJI where you had to do the "drone dance" to manually calibrate the compass, seemed to have this issue, which makes sense. My newest drone, the Mavic 2 pro, I haven't had any issues with interference.

There's a type of cable called "cam=lok" or feeder cable that carries enough amperage to kill you a thousand times over. They're coiled in the shape of the number 8 to cancel that magnetism out, but if you coil them in the shape of an O, you'll create a really strong magnetic current. I really have no idea if it could've pulled a drone into a building but I also don't think that building had an actual giant magnet in it. Do you think there might've been a whole lot of electrical equipment in there?

Posted by "ghost" +1 to the electrical current, I don't know of any reason stainless alloy manufacturing would require strong magnets, but it most definitely requires plenty of angry pixies. If there is still power to that facility, there may still be active transformers around that would fuck with any sensitive magnets like those in your drone. I'd use extreme caution if there are any cables/circuits laying around...

Building does not have power anymore. Lot of old transformer coils in there though

Almost crashed my new one yesterday, it lost RC signal thank god it returned home. I guess I flew over a building and it blocked the signal. 00F

Posted by UrbanDK There's a type of cable called "cam=lok" or feeder cable that carries enough amperage to kill you a thousand times over. They're coiled in the shape of the number 8 to cancel that magnetism out, but if you coil them in the shape of an O, you'll create a really strong magnetic current. I really have no idea if it could've pulled a drone into a building but I also don't think that building had an actual giant magnet in it. Do you think there might've been a whole lot of electrical equipment in there?

Alot of the electrical equipment and copper was stripped. There is some high power fans in the buildings. Maybe that was it. Still don't get why my compass flipped poles.

Posted by GARR1S0N Yeah and since the drone landed in a “puddle” dji repair people won’t fix it because they can’t grantee it’ll ever work right. So now I have to either buy another one or just not buy one.

Did you get DJI care?