Hi. I purchased a DJI Mini Pro 4 this week. It is limited to 120m flight height. I am in the UK. If I were to take this drone overseas, not in the EU where these regulations do not apply, would I be able to fly to 500m? Thanks
Are you sure?Hi. I purchased a DJI Mini Pro 4 this week. It is limited to 120m flight height.
When the controller and drone have just started up I can select 500m. I think that once the drone connects to the satellites and determines it's location the maximum that can be set is 120m. That's in the UK. While flying I could not go past this level. Maybe 125m, but that was it.Are you sure?
DJI drones have two height limits.
There is a hard-wired 500 metre limit and a user-configurable Max Altitude limit.
That has a default setting of 120 metres, but can be set to anything up to 500 metres.
Thanks. Wink winkOnce you are out of the jurisdiction of the CAA and FAA Bob's yer uncle and hacking utilities such as No Limit Drones are your friends. San no more. Nudge nudge, wink wink.
Yes, it's definitely the case, it's all detailed here. Even though it specifies the EU, I believe this is still enforced in the UK. Basically if you bought a Mini 4 before the end of 2023, the 120m limit can be removed but not if it was bought on or after 1st January 2024Are you sure?
DJI drones have two height limits.
There is a hard-wired 500 metre limit and a user-configurable Max Altitude limit.
That has a default setting of 120 metres, but can be set to anything up to 500 metres.
Yes, it's definitely the case, it's all detailed here. Even though it specifies the EU, I believe this is still enforced in the UK. Basically if you bought a Mini 4 before the end of 2023, the 120m limit can be removed but not if it was bought on or after 1st January 2024
The DJI Mini Series And The 120m Altitude Limit In The EU
The DJI Mini Series And The 120m Altitude Limit In The EUviewpoints.dji.com
No idea but if it had, surely there would be a lot of people complaining about it.Is the EU requirement to connect to the internet before the motors will start active now too?
I'd expect to have heard a lot of complaints from the UK users if they were unable to set their Max Alt limit higher than 400 ft too, but haven't noticed it.No idea but if it had, surely there would be a lot of people complaining about it.
If I am in my house and the controller/drone have not connected to satellites I can set it to 500m but can't obviously fly. Once I go outside where a satellite signal can be received, I cannot set it to above 120m (400 ft.) using the slider. If I fly to 120m a message appears saying I have hit the limit and I can't go any further... maybe to 125m...I'd expect to have heard a lot of complaints from the UK users if they were unable to set their Max Alt limit higher than 400 ft too, but haven't noticed it.
Have you tried changing the setting?
You would have to have the drone and controller connected to do this.
DJI consumer drones have no sensor that can detect the height above ground.This really needs to get sorted so it's aware of ground elevation, that should be available via the mapping tool.
No. They run without the Internet connection. You just get a warning if there is no satellite GPS connection.Is the EU requirement to connect to the internet before the motors will start active now too?
I wasn't suggesting the drone has its own altimeter but the drone knows where on the map it is, the map should know what the elevation is and by proxy, the drone should know this as well.DJI consumer drones have no sensor that can detect the height above ground.
Only when true AI becomes a thing. Only then will a drone become smart enough to know where it is located in the world *and* figure out how high above the ground it is flying. Even if this is a rough estimate, it should help resolve the issue as long as it doesn't enforce unreasonable limitations on the rest of us. By then, we should be well underway with various forms of shielded operations.
The map doesn't have elevation data.The controller has a map, the controller knows which part of the map the drone is above, the map (hopefully) has elevation details.
Most general aviation aircraft don't have this technology.All that needs to happen is that as part of the protocol, the controller tells the drone what the ground altitude is, the drone works out what it's actual altitude is AGL because it can calculate that using its take off point as a reference. Or the controller does the calculation and tells the drone.
This doesn't seem like rocket science to me.
It uses google maps on the controller, doesn’t it? That has elevation data.The map doesn't have elevation data.
When we’re after elevation above ground, the height of buildings and trees isn’t important for the AGL calculation.Even if it did, map data won't have elevations for trees and buidings, so that wou'd make this impractical for a lot of drone flying.
To be fair, they don’t need it. They have an altimeterMost general aviation aircraft don't have this technology.
It's unrealistic to expect it in a pocket-sized drone any time soon.
I hear you and as I mentioned, AI can accomplish this.The controller has a map, the controller knows which part of the map the drone is above, the map (hopefully) has elevation details. All that needs to happen is that as part of the protocol, the controller tells the drone what the ground altitude is, the drone works out what it's actual altitude is AGL because it can calculate that using its take off point as a reference. Or the controller does the calculation and tells the drone.
This doesn't seem like rocket science to me.
So does your drone ... not much different from what any Cessna has.To be fair, they don’t need it. They have an altimeter