"NFZ limit" warning in recent versions of the app

[kona]

As of a recent update (I don't recall the number) I've been consistently seeing "NFZ limit" messages as I am starting up the RC and aircraft. This warning eventually goes away but is there for a while until the RC and app give me the OK to fly. Note that this happens even in areas far away from any no fly zones. What could be going on?

I recall that with this update I was asked to download a database containing information about no fly zones after the update. I had to interrupt that download because I was in a hurry, and thought I'd continue it later. I was never promoted again to download the rest. Could this be part of the problem?

Thanks in advance for any advice you might have.

 

[Andrew F]

As of a recent update (I don't recall the number) I've been consistently seeing "NFZ limit" messages as I am starting up the RC and aircraft. This warning eventually goes away but is there for a while until the RC and app give me the OK to fly. Note that this happens even in areas far away from any no fly zones. What could be going on?

I recall that with this update I was asked to download a database containing information about no fly zones after the update. I had to interrupt that download because I was in a hurry, and thought I'd continue it later. I was never promoted again to download the rest. Could this be part of the problem?

Thanks in advance for any advice you might have.

What's happening is that the latest firmware now defaults with the assumption you are in an NFZ until your GPS location proves otherwise. Downgrade to .4 firmware if you don't want to wait. If you can't get a good GPS lock, you may not be able to fly. It's a joke.

 

[tictag]

It's not a joke. Technical glitches aside, safe flying should be part of the drone culture. And DJI are helping the end. I use the NATS app in the UK to make sure there are no restricted flying zones around me... and I have no problems at all with my drone being prevented from taking off in one. Work around this and suffer Canada's new drone laws.

 

[quick_dry]

It's not a joke. Technical glitches aside, safe flying should be part of the drone culture. And DJI are helping the end. I use the NATS app in the UK to make sure there are no restricted flying zones around me... and I have no problems at all with my drone being prevented from taking off in one. Work around this and suffer Canada's new drone laws.

Nobody reasonably claims that safe flying should not be part of the culture/practice of drone flying/operation.

The issue is the implementation here - NFZ should always be a defeatable setting because the system cannot always know the context of operation.

For the thought experiment - if you're inside a greenhouse at the end of a runway, you're not in an NFZ, you're indoors - but GPS would say "dammit, you're at the end of LAX international, no way you're taking off". I'm not in "airspace" until I venture out the door.

DJI's implementation seems terrible, it seems it presumes you're in an NFZ until you prove otherwise. If I'm in a canyon in uncontrolled airspace with no TFRs or anything, but it can't get GPS and prove it - it says no.

Authority should rest with the operator, just as legally, the operator is the one on the hook for the flight.

 

[Andrew F]

It's not a joke. Technical glitches aside, safe flying should be part of the drone culture. And DJI are helping the end. I use the NATS app in the UK to make sure there are no restricted flying zones around me... and I have no problems at all with my drone being prevented from taking off in one. Work around this and suffer Canada's new drone laws.

And if I'm flying in a safe area but the GPS signal is weak I can't fly. That's not a joke why?

 

[tictag]

OK, I've just tried to fly without a GPS lock (silver foil trick) and she does. She only stops you flying if she knows you're in a restricted flying area ... and that fine with me, expected and a welcome feature.

 

[Andrew F]

OK, I've just tried to fly without a GPS lock (silver foil trick) and she does. She only stops you flying if she knows you're in a restricted flying area ... and that fine with me, expected and a welcome feature.

That's fine with me as well. Not what many people have been reporting, however. Something clearly is amiss.