It does work without mesh compensation. Increased the thickness of the first layer a bit to smooth out any imperfections, and that seems to work alright. On the origional predator I only used to level the bed when it goes to far of again, and the probe has to be installed seperately, so I also do not zero the bed, only the endstops on top. This usually works fine for a week and up to a month sometimes.
I will try to use the duet without mesh and see how it goes. If anybody has an idea why the mesh does not work I am still interessted.