- Joined
- Jan 13, 2025
- Messages
- 53
- Reaction score
- 43
I have been using disposable hand warmers for years and recently got some rechargeable ones. They have magnets to attach the pair to make one so that it heats all around. The magnets don't appear to be that strong as the warmers slide around when attached but they are strong enough to cause a yaw error and fly away if the drone is powered on too close to them.
Yesterday, I had my rechargeable hand warmers in my coat pocket and powered on my NEO in my hand while holding my RC-N3 in the other hand. In my haste to get the drone airborne and my hands warmed up, I failed to check the drones orientation on the map display. It immediately flew backward at high speed and crashed resulting in a broken propeller. Luckily the NEO was fine.
With a drone like the Flip and NEO, with multiple ways to control many people will likely use their phone or just the drone control panel. In these cases there is no way to check if the drones compass has been deflected since you cannot check the orientation on a map or radar display.
Disposable hand warmers are also a potential problem since they have iron powder in them that reacts with other ingredients to generate heat. I did an experiment earlier this week to see if I could use a disposable hand warmer attached via an elastic to help heat the battery of the NEO to prevent IMU errors that occur in temperatures lower than -10ºC and it caused the compass to go all wonky.
So, if you are going to fly your Flip especially using your phone or the control panel and are using hand warmers, be careful to make sure to power on the drone away from the hand warmers to prevent possible yaw errors and a crash.
For me, I rely on hand warmers in winter but I will be making sure that the warmer is not in my coat pocket during power on or is in my mits and away from the drone until I get it in the air.
Chris
Yesterday, I had my rechargeable hand warmers in my coat pocket and powered on my NEO in my hand while holding my RC-N3 in the other hand. In my haste to get the drone airborne and my hands warmed up, I failed to check the drones orientation on the map display. It immediately flew backward at high speed and crashed resulting in a broken propeller. Luckily the NEO was fine.
With a drone like the Flip and NEO, with multiple ways to control many people will likely use their phone or just the drone control panel. In these cases there is no way to check if the drones compass has been deflected since you cannot check the orientation on a map or radar display.
Disposable hand warmers are also a potential problem since they have iron powder in them that reacts with other ingredients to generate heat. I did an experiment earlier this week to see if I could use a disposable hand warmer attached via an elastic to help heat the battery of the NEO to prevent IMU errors that occur in temperatures lower than -10ºC and it caused the compass to go all wonky.
So, if you are going to fly your Flip especially using your phone or the control panel and are using hand warmers, be careful to make sure to power on the drone away from the hand warmers to prevent possible yaw errors and a crash.
For me, I rely on hand warmers in winter but I will be making sure that the warmer is not in my coat pocket during power on or is in my mits and away from the drone until I get it in the air.
Chris
Last edited:
