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GEO-FENCING NEEDS TO CHANGE

Cookedinlh

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Location
Sarnia ON Canada
It sounds so easy but it's not. I just spent more than a week getting DJI authorization with update issues and strange behaviours like the GO4 app flicking back and forth between fly/no-fly and I could start (GREEN Go-fly) and fly within the requested NO-FLY zone but it constantly filled the screen with messages about "land immediately, you are in a no-fly zone, or "This aircraft will land in 20sec" although it never did . . in addition when DJI does not recognize W82.332892 is actually -82.332892 not +82 then I am locked out of a paying photo shoot . . . unless I'm somewhere in EASTERN INDIA!

I was authorized to fly at an airport and have independently been authorized by
1. Transport Canada SFOC
2. The airport Manager
3. Flying service Huron Aviation where the filming ramp is
4. The local fire and police services
5. And the B-17 crew who own the aircraft

Why should DJI be in the middle of all that?

Now today, one day later when I went to start the Mavic in this location . . it told me it required an UPGRADE of firmware. When it completed "successfully" the Mavic would not allow starting saying "you are in a no-fly zone" . . . this is not true as you can see from the official Canadian Government UAV no-fly website screenshot I took.


Why can't DJI get out of the way of Canadian aviation authority (Transport Canada) and restrict use of their drones by password to qualified and authorized pilots. Pre-qualify me with documentation, SFOC, licenses what ever you want but let me simply enter a password to unlock the system completely. . . even a "phone back" password verification number like any password reset does . . that would be a lot more useful than the mess I've gone through for the past week . . .We don't make qualified pilots ask foreign governments . . . for companies permission to fly in our own country. If they are worried about some guy who's not following the rules then lock-out his password till it's sorted out.

DJI SYSTEM AND PROCESS IS INTRUSIVE AND UNNECESSARILY COMPLICATED! . . . overkill to say the least. . . and it's killing my business.
 
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I am a commercial UAV pilot here in the US. Luckily I've only encountered this on some recreational flights and it has not yet affected my paying jobs.

I've been preaching this for months now, but the "Everything is OKAY, because it is for our own good" crowd have us outnumbered.

I'm all for safety but surely a warning (accurate) without them taking control of your aircraft would suffice to alleviate their need to appease the authorities, or public opinion, or whoever it is they are trying to appease.

After all it is NOT the role of a third party country to inaccurately enforce regulations, which in some cases do not even exist. Everyone who thinks this is a good idea has their heads up their....

My solution is this: If you are a certified commercial operator, you should get this system immediately disabled, by showing credentials, period. After all, being certified means we should know where we can fly and our certificate is on the line if we screw up.

I'm already preparing a letter to them to that effect, as I finish this.
 
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Nasty - yes DJI is being rather heavy handed. It may have to do with drones being forbidden in the city of Beijing, and they are extending that using a slightly error prone database to other countries. I would back off to the older firmware, were I in your situation.
 
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I am a commercial UAV pilot here in the US. Luckily I've only encountered this on some recreational flights and it has not yet affected my paying jobs.

I've been preaching this for months now, but the "Everything is OKAY, because it is for our own good" crowd have us outnumbered.

I'm all for safety but surely a warning (accurate) without them taking control of your aircraft would suffice to alleviate their need to appease the authorities, or public opinion, or whoever it is they are trying to appease.

After all it is NOT the role of a third party country to inaccurately enforce regulations, which in some cases do not even exist. Everyone who thinks this is a good idea has their heads up their....

My solution is this: If you are a certified commercial operator, you should get this system immediately disabled, by showing credentials, period. After all, being certified means we should know where we can fly and our certificate is on the line if we screw up.

I'm already preparing a letter to them to that effect, as I finish this.

Totally agree Robert . . . lets talk about your letter . .I'm preparing one for Transport Canada. It's not even another nation that's interfering . . . it's a just a foreign company. Try me on [email protected]
 
if Beijing doesn't want drones, ban them. Stop making it difficult for pilots from other locations that need to jump through hoops, rolling back, or hacking firmware to make their drones fly legally.
 
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I had to laugh when I saw this in a promotion for the new Vantage Robotics' Snap drone. DJI needs some healthy competition...
  • No “Big Brother” Controls: Unlike a notable competitor, we let you control how and where you use Snap. We trust you and don't limit what you can do with Snap.
 
I had to laugh when I saw this in a promotion for the new Vantage Robotics' Snap drone. DJI needs some healthy competition...
  • No “Big Brother” Controls: Unlike a notable competitor, we let you control how and where you use Snap. We trust you and don't limit what you can do with Snap.
Great!
It sounds so easy but it's not. I just spent more than a week getting DJI authorization with update issues and strange behaviours like the GO4 app flicking back and forth between fly/no-fly and I could start (GREEN Go-fly) and fly within the requested NO-FLY zone but it constantly filled the screen with messages about "land immediately, you are in a no-fly zone, or "This aircraft will land in 20sec" although it never did . . in addition when DJI does not recognize W82.332892 is actually -82.332892 not +82 then I am locked out of a paying photo shoot . . . unless I'm somewhere in EASTERN INDIA!

I was authorized to fly at an airport and have independently been authorized by
1. Transport Canada SFOC
2. The airport Manager
3. Flying service Huron Aviation where the filming ramp is
4. The local fire and police services
5. And the B-17 crew who own the aircraft

Why should DJI be in the middle of all that?

Now today, one day later when I went to start the Mavic in this location . . it told me it required an UPGRADE of firmware. When it completed "successfully" the Mavic would not allow starting saying "you are in a no-fly zone" . . . this is not true as you can see from the official Canadian Government UAV no-fly website screenshot I took.


Why can't DJI get out of the way of Canadian aviation authority (Transport Canada) and restrict use of their drones by password to qualified and authorized pilots. Pre-qualify me with documentation, SFOC, licenses what ever you want but let me simply enter a password to unlock the system completely. . . even a "phone back" password verification number like any password reset does . . that would be a lot more useful than the mess I've gone through for the past week . . .We don't make qualified pilots ask foreign governments . . . for companies permission to fly in our own country. If they are worried about some guy who's not following the rules then lock-out his password till it's sorted out.

DJI SYSTEM AND PROCESS IS INTRUSIVE AND UNNECESSARILY COMPLICATED! . . . overkill to say the least. . . and it's killing my business.
It sounds so easy but it's not. I just spent more than a week getting DJI authorization with update issues and strange behaviours like the GO4 app flicking back and forth between fly/no-fly and I could start (GREEN Go-fly) and fly within the requested NO-FLY zone but it constantly filled the screen with messages about "land immediately, you are in a no-fly zone, or "This aircraft will land in 20sec" although it never did . . in addition when DJI does not recognize W82.332892 is actually -82.332892 not +82 then I am locked out of a paying photo shoot . . . unless I'm somewhere in EASTERN INDIA!

I was authorized to fly at an airport and have independently been authorized by
1. Transport Canada SFOC
2. The airport Manager
3. Flying service Huron Aviation where the filming ramp is
4. The local fire and police services
5. And the B-17 crew who own the aircraft

Why should DJI be in the middle of all that?

Now today, one day later when I went to start the Mavic in this location . . it told me it required an UPGRADE of firmware. When it completed "successfully" the Mavic would not allow starting saying "you are in a no-fly zone" . . . this is not true as you can see from the official Canadian Government UAV no-fly website screenshot I took.


Why can't DJI get out of the way of Canadian aviation authority (Transport Canada) and restrict use of their drones by password to qualified and authorized pilots. Pre-qualify me with documentation, SFOC, licenses what ever you want but let me simply enter a password to unlock the system completely. . . even a "phone back" password verification number like any password reset does . . that would be a lot more useful than the mess I've gone through for the past week . . .We don't make qualified pilots ask foreign governments . . . for companies permission to fly in our own country. If they are worried about some guy who's not following the rules then lock-out his password till it's sorted out.

DJI SYSTEM AND PROCESS IS INTRUSIVE AND UNNECESSARILY COMPLICATED! . . . overkill to say the least. . . and it's killing my business.
I am a commercial UAV pilot here in the US. Luckily I've only encountered this on some recreational flights and it has not yet affected my paying jobs.

I've been preaching this for months now, but the "Everything is OKAY, because it is for our own good" crowd have us outnumbered.

I'm all for safety but surely a warning (accurate) without them taking control of your aircraft would suffice to alleviate their need to appease the authorities, or public opinion, or whoever it is they are trying to appease.

After all it is NOT the role of a third party country to inaccurately enforce regulations, which in some cases do not even exist. Everyone who thinks this is a good idea has their heads up their....

My solution is this: If you are a certified commercial operator, you should get this system immediately disabled, by showing credentials, period. After all, being certified means we should know where we can fly and our certificate is on the line if we screw up.

I'm already preparing a letter to them to that effect, as I finish this.

The only way somebody should be able to disable NFZ is if they possess a REAL pilot certificate (sport, recreational, private, commercial or ATP) issued by the US FAA or other ICAO-compliant country.
 
DJI's heavy handedness with this is what has put my own drone business on the back burner. I'm certified in the US and ready to go but Im reluctant to invest more into DJI equipment because of their current business practices.
 
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Great!




The only way somebody should be able to disable NFZ is if they possess a REAL pilot certificate (sport, recreational, private, commercial or ATP) issued by the US FAA or other ICAO-compliant country.

So, are you suggesting that my Remote Pilot Airmen Certificate, issued by the FAA, after seven months of study, TSA background check, and passing the same rigorous test issued to all pilots, be they manned or not, isn't real?

Because if so, you might want to look into that a little closer, and educate yourself.
 
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This has all gotten totally out of control. I am 107 certified which seems to mean absolutely nothing about where I can fly just that I can be monetized. The restrictions by DJI are starting to go too far in my opinion. The larger issue I have at this point in time is the fact that people seem to be losing drones over the fact that the system has some issues and others are having issues in perfectly legal ares. DJI has, as usual, screwed up communication with the community so badly. We are the community flying these things and we can't figure out how the drone is supposed to act with an NFZ because of that.
It is all compounded by the fact that the US (and other places) cannot get their act together to form sensible safe guidelines, laws whatever you want to call them that allow the hobby to thrive. Here in the US the FAA is fighting to be able to regulate anything in the air and local government is passing laws like its the wild west. Meanwhile we sit here and pay the price. I have been flying RC for about 30 years and drones have changed the game completely. No longer are the days of going to a sanctioned field by the AMA to fly, that type of flying is not what makes drones so appealing, in fact quite the opposite. Couple that with the fact that before drones learning to fly was a process, took time and usually involved people reaching out to knowledgeable people before engaging in flight. Now anyone can pull a drone out of a box and be in the air as fast as a battery can be charged. People fly these things anywhere with an ill informed pilots, public and to that matter law makers. Then throw in the idiots and here we are. The only company that has the resources and market share to make a difference has swung far to the left of this issue for some valid reasons, and some that are not. You have the other side who wants to use their product without restrictions and then no one in this country that has the will and resources to get peoples feet back on the ground on both sides and come up with a regulated industry with defined rules and regulations. We all know these things are going to be regulated at some level but there is no one on the right who is tryings to get things done through the system to fix it not because of the will to get it done but because not a single person, including law makers can agree who should have the authority. If I choose to fly by the faa regulations then these local yahoos should not be able to regulate me, on the other hand if they pass the ball to local government the this hobby will never get anywhere. Is it reasonable to expect someone with a drone to know all local and state laws everywhere they go in regard to drones?
In any case I believe it is not the job of a Chinese drone manufacturer to be the people that choose and maintain this system around the world especially when it is at such a granular issue to regulate.
Until there is someone with financial resources and the will to get this resolved this ship will continue to be ran by the mutiny each locality chooses to do. Unfortunately for this to happen and if you follow the dollar here there is still no reason for anyone to fight from the right side due to the fact that the financial impact for them is simply not going to give a return, period. Follow the dollar and you will always be able to tell where the outcome of things will be.
 
The only way somebody should be able to disable NFZ is if they possess a REAL pilot certificate (sport, recreational, private, commercial or ATP) issued by the US FAA or other ICAO-compliant country.
The USA is not the center of the world.
Here there are absolutely no such legal requirements.

I also agree that given a waiver DJI should allow disabling all restrictions entirely and permanently.
 
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It would be nice if recreational pilots can use something like this FAA UAS chart to fly near Airports. I know this is for Part 107 pilots and they still have to contact the Airport in question for a waiver to fly. It is a start and maybe, just maybe this kind of thing will evolve into something that we can use to fly without having to contact the airport in question if we follow the Chart.
FAA UAS chart.png
 
The USA is not the center of the world.
Here there are absolutely no such legal requirements.

I also agree that given a waiver DJI should allow disabling all restrictions entirely and permanently.

Do you have any type of NFZ where you are? What country are you in? That is a perfect example. Most of what I said had to do with the US. DJI can't even get that right and it is only one country.
 
I was responding to @danman999 's riduculously overkill position that nobody should be able to unlock a zone without a license that I quoted, not your post.
That isn't a legal requirement, so no reason it should get to that point.

Here we do have DJI NFZs, but there are no actual "legal" NFZs, only places where you must contact either the operator of the field or ATC and get their authorization prior to flying.
 
waiti a minute? I thought DJI couldn't ENFORCE you to upgrade firmware? They can only notify you that its available right?
 
Great!




The only way somebody should be able to disable NFZ is if they possess a REAL pilot certificate (sport, recreational, private, commercial or ATP) issued by the US FAA or other ICAO-compliant country.

Danman, I don't agree with your philosophy. I fly full size yet know a few pilots that are idiots so I would not let that be the basis for authorizing. To support the thread, DJI is out of control with this. They take weeks of wasted time to get the unlocks in place and have taken most of the fun out of flying that little beast away. ONLY consumers speaking with their wallets will fix this. I have no doubt that DJI was forced to do this to mitigate wide spread crack downs by governments by showing they are controlling to some degree via geofencing.

We have a local airfield that is also a sanctioned model aircraft field. The idiots at DJI first of all have zero concept of general aviation and airfields and I absolutely cannot get an unlock that is right on top of our model aircraft flying field that is a full size airfield (small rural and a spotter with VHF radio on task when models are up) so one of my favourite flying spots is out.

Tossers, the whole lot of em......
 
SO, can you go back to the 0400 firmware? That's what I would do. No NFZ's no problem.
 
It sounds so easy but it's not. I just spent more than a week getting DJI authorization with update issues and strange behaviours like the GO4 app flicking back and forth between fly/no-fly and I could start (GREEN Go-fly) and fly within the requested NO-FLY zone but it constantly filled the screen with messages about "land immediately, you are in a no-fly zone, or "This aircraft will land in 20sec" although it never did . . in addition when DJI does not recognize W82.332892 is actually -82.332892 not +82 then I am locked out of a paying photo shoot . . . unless I'm somewhere in EASTERN INDIA!

I was authorized to fly at an airport and have independently been authorized by
1. Transport Canada SFOC
2. The airport Manager
3. Flying service Huron Aviation where the filming ramp is
4. The local fire and police services
5. And the B-17 crew who own the aircraft

Why should DJI be in the middle of all that?

Now today, one day later when I went to start the Mavic in this location . . it told me it required an UPGRADE of firmware. When it completed "successfully" the Mavic would not allow starting saying "you are in a no-fly zone" . . . this is not true as you can see from the official Canadian Government UAV no-fly website screenshot I took.


Why can't DJI get out of the way of Canadian aviation authority (Transport Canada) and restrict use of their drones by password to qualified and authorized pilots. Pre-qualify me with documentation, SFOC, licenses what ever you want but let me simply enter a password to unlock the system completely. . . even a "phone back" password verification number like any password reset does . . that would be a lot more useful than the mess I've gone through for the past week . . .We don't make qualified pilots ask foreign governments . . . for companies permission to fly in our own country. If they are worried about some guy who's not following the rules then lock-out his password till it's sorted out.

DJI SYSTEM AND PROCESS IS INTRUSIVE AND UNNECESSARILY COMPLICATED! . . . overkill to say the least. . . and it's killing my business.
NFZ removal – CopterSafe – Remove No Fly Zone limitation for Phantom and Inpire Try this
 
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