Tough-Tilt FT Tricopter APM 2.8 Flight Controller help?

[rmwac]

Hi All. My very first post. I just recently built my first Tricopter with FT's kit, and used the KK2.1 board, Sunny Sky 2212 980 KV motors, swinging 9x4.5's, on a 3S 2800 mah lipo. What a kick-@ss flying machine! Getting about 10 minutes flying time. It makes quad flying almost boring and obsolete, as the fluid yaw character is totally different (smooth!) from the quad's robotic handling. I have an APM 2.8 gps unit that I would like to use to make an aerial cam platform for my next build, but I cannot for the life of me work my way beyond the BAD COMPASS HEALTH issue plaguing many APM owners. I have both a genuine 3DR 2.8 and an Ebay knock off. I can get neither to work. I have scoured every You Tube video, every forum thread I can get my hands on, and have tried all the advice....... still I cannot get the Compass to calibrate properly. I realize I can remove the compass from the prearming checklist to use the unit without consideration of "COMPASS HEALTH," but I wish I could just get it right!!! Any advice? Is anybody happily using an alternative GPS driven FC that will work well with a Tricopter?? I have been using upgraded Naza Lites on my Quads, but they do not support Tricopters. Too bad... they have been faithful FC's. THNX!