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Compass Error - Use Joysticks and Land Immediately

Had confirmation from GoPro that they are replacing my damaged Karma Drone. Returned damaged drone to GoPro. Should recieve my replacement early next week. I can't understand all the negative remarks regarding GoPro Customer Service. I dealt with a competent Lady called Rochelle who was very helpful and understanding. The whole experience was a positive one. I think I would still give them a positive even if they hadn't replaced the damaged drone.

The people I spoke with were very nice. The problem was that the week, turned into two...then three...then a month. The whole time the "nice" customer service people kept telling me the defective part they were replacing was in the mail. They finally admitted that the warehouse didn't have the part and it was on back-order. It was a $40 dollar part that I could easily have ordered via Amazon Prime at the time...and had delivered in two days. Had they just been honest with me, I might have just ordered the part myself...because I had a pending trip and ended up flying to my destination, not being able to use the Karma or Grip. Seriously...I wasn't all that mad that the part took so long... it was more an issue with them not being honest with me about the actual time-frame so that I could make other arrangements.

I hope you're experience works out better than mine...
 
I have had recently several karma flying with my 2 karma drones, the experience has been increased after each flight, among them concerning the "compass interfere" I have my (personal) conclusion as: when I launch successfully at a spot where there is less or weak radio interference, then the connection between controller and karma is locked, even I fly to the area where there were compass interfere happened, the karma won't lost connection (because it is locked).
But still wondering is this true in the residential area ( it should be true or......) where there are always strong radio signal surrounded or the radio signal strong enough to break the connection between the controller and karma.
 
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I think the massage of "Compass Error, Use Joysticks to Land Immediately" is not something wrong with the machine itself, I don't understand why GoPro do not reply the real situation and always asking customer to replace to a new one, it will not solve the problem because it is the compass interference issue, you should always launch the drone in an open area away from the residential or narrow space area, even you have done some successful flies before.
I just came back from a photography tour to the Faroe Islands (in some fishing villages there are sign plates stated "no drone flying") last month and did several karma drone flying , during the tour I also had several error message of "Compass Error, Use Joysticks to Land Immediately" when I took off closing to the residential area or high cliff rocks, or in front of my room, but it was always OK when I started from an open area spots.
I suggest do not fly karma drone in the residential area, you should always do the compass and accelerator calibration when you move to a new spots far away, or when controller asks to do, attached please see one of my footage made in the Faroe Islands.
/ camera: Hero 5 black / resolution: 2.7k/60fps / post: filmora 9.
Great footage, stunningly beautiful scenery
 
I am sorry to hear all of your stories.
I have had my karma since November 2018 and i have had to recalibrate the compass many times.
I have experienced lost GPS signal and compass calibration issues the whole time and i just assumed it was a normal frustration for drone pilots.
But as a result, I have crashed landed so many times that my friends finally started noticing and pointing out that this is NOT normal. I believe i am an extremely skilled pilot but i noticed that i rarely fly because of the nervous sensation i get every time i do; not knowing exactly when my drone might go crazy and crash.
It usually takes 3 to 5 compass recalibration attempts to finally achieve success and if you maintain a decent flight path back to your location; GPS will usually be found again. But by that point, i usually just want to land and recover my footage.
My last flight only lasted 3 minutes because i just got fed up and i haven't tried to fly since.
What should i do?
Any ideas?
Thanks.
 
I am sorry to hear all of your stories.
I have had my karma since November 2018 and i have had to recalibrate the compass many times.
I have experienced lost GPS signal and compass calibration issues the whole time and i just assumed it was a normal frustration for drone pilots.
But as a result, I have crashed landed so many times that my friends finally started noticing and pointing out that this is NOT normal. I believe i am an extremely skilled pilot but i noticed that i rarely fly because of the nervous sensation i get every time i do; not knowing exactly when my drone might go crazy and crash.
It usually takes 3 to 5 compass recalibration attempts to finally achieve success and if you maintain a decent flight path back to your location; GPS will usually be found again. But by that point, i usually just want to land and recover my footage.
My last flight only lasted 3 minutes because i just got fed up and i haven't tried to fly since.
What should i do?
Any ideas?
Thanks.
I would contact GoPro customer services via their website. They will ask you to upload your flight log from your Karma controller. Then they will decide wether to replace the drone. Mine is being replaced. But you have to send the faulty drone back first. They supply free return shipping via UPS. Had an email today confirming receipt of the items I was asked to return and that my replacement will be dispatched soon. Has to be worth a try.
 
I would contact GoPro customer services via their website. They will ask you to upload your flight log from your Karma controller. Then they will decide wether to replace the drone. Mine is being replaced. But you have to send the faulty drone back first. They supply free return shipping via UPS. Had an email today confirming receipt of the items I was asked to return and that my replacement will be dispatched soon. Has to be worth a try.
Thank you so much for your prompt response. Update. All of this talk of Karma made me try again and as i have become accustomed by now; i got the no GPS error message instructing me to land immediately; but the wind was calm and i decided to fly low as i followed it around my neighborhood as it flew between 3 to 6 feet off the ground a couple of yards in front of me. It continued to lose and regain GPS connectivity until all of a sudden; evwrything was normal until my battery died. That felt good. I'm still not comfortable flying it too high or far away from me but i am hoping that is the last time it did that. I will fly again tomorrow and report back.
How do i pull the flight log? I'm going to playbwith my remote to see if i can figure it out. Thanks again.
 
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Thank you so much for your prompt response. Update. All of this talk of Karma made me try again and as i have become accustomed by now; i got the no GPS error message instructing me to land immediately; but the wind was calm and i decided to fly low as i followed it around my neighborhood as it flew between 3 to 6 feet off the ground a couple of yards in front of me. It continued to lose and regain GPS connectivity until all of a sudden; evwrything was normal until my battery died. That felt good. I'm still not comfortable flying it too high or far away from me but i am hoping that is the last time it did that. I will fly again tomorrow and report back.
How do i pull the flight log? I'm going to playbwith my remote to see if i can figure it out. Thanks again.
Where are you flying your Karma? Residential or Urban area? It is well known that because Karma relies completely on GPS to fly, flying in built up residential is not recommended. Too much concrete, radio interference etc. Try flying in an open area and see if your still getting the same problem. I also use UAV forecast before each flight lets you know weather conditions and number of available satellites which makes for better less stressful flying. The UAV Forecast app is available free on Apple. Not sure about Android!
As for the flight logs. We as users can't download them. They are there to be uploaded to GoPro so they can analysis your problems and offer advice .

Hope this helps
 
Where are you flying your Karma? Residential or Urban area? It is well known that because Karma relies completely on GPS to fly, flying in built up residential is not recommended. Too much concrete, radio interference etc. Try flying in an open area and see if your still getting the same problem. I also use UAV forecast before each flight lets you know weather conditions and number of available satellites which makes for better less stressful flying. The UAV Forecast app is available free on Apple. Not sure about Android!
As for the flight logs. We as users can't download them. They are there to be uploaded to GoPro so they can analysis your problems and offer advice .

Hope this helps
yes; thank you Kevin.
i uploaded the flight logs on my controller; but isn't there something else i should be doing? don't i have to start a claim somehow? I'm not sure what to do at this point.
Yes; i flew it at a park following a group of disc golfers and unfortunately had the same issues as always. First; no camera. Then finally resolved that and had to recalibrate the compass and move it to new locations about 73 times and when I finally got it flying it would intermittently lose GPS signal and the remote would go crazy saying that i have to control drone manually - or something really scary.
After 3 or 5 scares though; the drone worked just fine.
So i still love my drone; but i am too scared to let it fly too high or too far from me in case of signal loss again.
 
Great footage, stunningly beautiful scenery
From my experience I believe the compass interference can be caused by either the drone or the controller being too close to metallic structures. I have no way of proving this but here is the model I'm using: Both the drone and the controller seem to be sensitive to the earth's magnetic lines of flux. If one or the other of them is too close to large metallic surfaces, those lines of flux will be distorted and the unit (drone or controller) which is closest will be trying to function relative to magnetic lines of flux that don't match those in the other unit. It seems to me that there is also a proximity factor. That is, a certain amount of variation in the lines of flux between units can be tolerated. But that tolerance seems to decrease with the distance between the two units. For example, I can get away with standing close to my vehicle and controlling the drone which I've launched from 30 or 40 feet away. But with any significant height or distance between units I can get a compass error message.

Recovery: It is much easier to recover if you are not in sport mode. In my experience the drone will still respond to commands from the joysticks even when the compass has failed. But any release of pressure on the joysticks will result in the drone taking off on its own. So: 1). Always fly with a clear understanding of the orientation of the drone. 2). Bring it down and land it by keeping at least slight pressure on the joysticks at all times. This can be a little tricky so give yourself plenty of room for a landing spot. And if it comes down to it, it is far better to crash it where it can be retrieved than out over a canyon or a body of water somewhere.

I hope this is helpful. If your experience has led to different conclusions about how the compass system works I'd love to hear it. Good luck!
 
yes; thank you Kevin.
i uploaded the flight logs on my controller; but isn't there something else i should be doing? don't i have to start a claim somehow? I'm not sure what to do at this point.
Yes; i flew it at a park following a group of disc golfers and unfortunately had the same issues as always. First; no camera. Then finally resolved that and had to recalibrate the compass and move it to new locations about 73 times and when I finally got it flying it would intermittently lose GPS signal and the remote would go crazy saying that i have to control drone manually - or something really scary.
After 3 or 5 scares though; the drone worked just fine.
So i still love my drone; but i am too scared to let it fly too high or too far from me in case of signal loss again.
Hi Columbo
You need to ring GoPro customer services. Their contact details are on the GoPro website under support. It will have a free phone number for the country you are in. Unless you have GoPro Plus they are only available Monday to Friday normal office hours. Ring, do not try chat. You will need the following information serial numbers for Karma core, stabiliser, controller and camera. They will also ask you to upload proof of purchase. They will ask you to explain the problem with as much detail as possible. They may ask you to upload flight log again but just explain you have already done this. The only issue I have is they can email you but you can’t reply to their emails. They send separate emails with links to upload information. If you need to communicate with them you have to ring them again quoting the case number they will give you.

Hope this helps
 
I have now received my replacement karma core, stabiliser and controller. But they didn’t send any replacement propellers which you would think the would considering the drone crashed. Contacted them again and they are sending replacement propellers. Because my drone crashed into water the battery which was on the drone will not charge. I am going to ask GoPro to replace it as it was brand new. First flight with this battery.
 
Yes. Tre
Hi Columbo
You need to ring GoPro customer services. Their contact details are on the GoPro website under support. It will have a free phone number for the country you are in. Unless you have GoPro Plus they are only available Monday to Friday normal office hours. Ring, do not try chat. You will need the following information serial numbers for Karma core, stabiliser, controller and camera. They will also ask you to upload proof of purchase. They will ask you to explain the problem with as much detail as possible. They may ask you to upload flight log again but just explain you have already done this. The only issue I have is they can email you but you can’t reply to their emails. They send separate emails with links to upload information. If you need to communicate with them you have to ring them again quoting the case number they will give you.

Hope this helps
Yes
Tremendously.
Again. Thank you.
 

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