400' AGL

[Sitka78]

How does one launch and then want to climb up a mountain side that goes to 2000' in elevation when we are limited to 400' AGL?

 

[Saladshooter]

How does one launch and then want to climb up a mountain side that goes to 2000' in elevation when we are limited to 400' AGL?

You have to follow the terrain. As long as you stay under 400' from ground by following the treetops, you can go as far up the mountain as you care.....The height on your controller screen won't be accurate but it has no bearing on what is legal.

 

[Sitka78]

You have to follow the terrain. As long as you stay under 400' from ground by following the treetops, you can go as far up the mountain as you care.....The height on your controller screen won't be accurate but it has no bearing on what is legal.

Thank you. I thought that was the way it worked, I was just troubled with running into the trees even though the proximity sensors were on.

 

[MS Coast]

Thank you. I thought that was the way it worked, I was just troubled with running into the trees even though the proximity sensors were on.

Don't rely on the sensors to keep the drone from hitting something. They don't do a good job of picking up thin bare branches, vines, and such.

 

[MA2 317]

Thank you. I thought that was the way it worked, I was just troubled with running into the trees even though the proximity sensors were on.

Bump your max height up in the app.

You may be 1000' above your launch point but the app will hold you at 400' unless you change it.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

AFAIK all DJI drones have the 500m (1640’) limit you can open up to if flying up terrain, keeping within approx 400’ alt.
You are really going to be relying on your device screen to avoid terrain/ trees etc though.
If interested in following most country’s VLOS rule, you’d be pretty limited to how far you can fly up (and away) regardless.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Also note that where there is a 400ft AGL rule and you fly up such a mountain, you must command the drone to descend as you bring it home, to remain within the 400ft AGL layer.
Aside from keeping you legal it probably is more energy efficient than a horizontal flight from the mountain to above the home point followed by a vertical descent.
It can take a llllllooooonnnnnggggg time to get down from height, especially when you are battery watching.

 

[Wild Drone Pilot]

How does one launch and then want to climb up a mountain side that goes to 2000' in elevation when we are limited to 400' AGL?

Found out yesterday that my Air 2 is not adjusting for real ground change in elevation
I was looking at hitting trees that were on the approaching mountainside I was 400' up from takeoff
that never changed so I could not continue over the mountain range

 

[Crashdummytest]

You have to follow the terrain. As long as you stay under 400' from ground by following the treetops, you can go as far up the mountain as you care.....The height on your controller screen won't be accurate but it has no bearing on what is legal.

And here we get into trouble with the 500m ceiling limit. My biggest problem, common to all my drones, here in mountainous Norway. Exactly why am I not allowed to climb above 500M from take-off point? This limitation means a lot of unnecessary terrain traversal.

 

[Eagle Eye 62]

Don't forget, you need to stay within a 400 ft. radius of the object you are climbing.

 

[Chaosrider]

How does one launch and then want to climb up a mountain side that goes to 2000' in elevation when we are limited to 400' AGL?

As long as you follow the terrain up the mountainside, always staying within 400 ft AGL, you're good from that standpoint. I do that almost every day!

However, you'll be limited by the DJI-Nanny 1640 ft maximum ATL limit, so you wouldn't be able to get to the top of a mountain that rises 2000 ft above your launch point.

 

[MA2 317]

Found out yesterday that my Air 2 is not adjusting for real ground change in elevation
I was looking at hitting trees that were on the approaching mountainside I was 400' up from takeoff
that never changed so I could not continue over the mountain range

As stated above, the hard ceiling is set for 500 meters / 1640 feet.

If you set your maximum limit in the app, you should be able to clear those trees with room to spare.

Just remain 400 feet above the ground surface when doing so.

 

[KB9Radio]

Stay within 400' of the mountain side. You'll also have to land and reset at around 1500' or so.

 

[MS Coast]

Found out yesterday that my Air 2 is not adjusting for real ground change in elevation
I was looking at hitting trees that were on the approaching mountainside I was 400' up from takeoff
that never changed so I could not continue over the mountain range

The altitude shown is the height above the point of takeoff. It's not the height above ground level below the drone. There is no adjustment of the indicated altitude to account for changes in terrain elevation below the drone.

The barometric altimeters in manned airplanes work the same way. Radar altimeters can show actual altitude above the ground, but they're far too heavy and expensive to incorporate into the drones discussed on this forum.

 

[Chaosrider]

Thank you. I thought that was the way it worked, I was just troubled with running into the trees even though the proximity sensors were on.

If you keep track of what's on the screen in addition to just watching the drone, the chances of this are small.

 

[Chaosrider]

As stated above, the hard ceiling is set for 500 meters / 1640 feet.

If you set your maximum limit in the app, you should be able to clear those trees with room to spare.

Just remain 400 feet above the ground surface when doing so.

Discovering the 1640 ft ATL max ceiling was a revelation for me. If that's in the Mini-2 manual, I saw it, because I read the manual cover-to-cover before my first flight. But if it's there, it didn't register.

I have three Mini-2s, and when I started to get serious about scaling the opposite wall of the canyon, they kept topping out at inconsistent altitudes, all around 1000 ft ATL, and all when I was within 400 ft ATL. It was a frustrating restriction.

At this point I don't remember how I discovered the SW setting for max ATL, but once I did, I set it to 1640 ft, and that's where it's stayed ever since! That turns out to be sufficient for me to top the canyon rim along the entire range that's within VLOS/control range, while still staying 400 ft ATL.

Life is good!

 

[Transition]

As long as you follow the terrain up the mountainside, always staying within 400 ft AGL, you're good from that standpoint. I do that almost every day!

However, you'll be limited by the DJI-Nanny 1640 ft maximum ATL limit, so you wouldn't be able to get to the top of a mountain that rises 2000 ft above your launch point.

Forgive my ignorance, but what is ATL? Thanks!

 

[Sitka78]

I would like to thank all the folks that helped me with my issue. I believe my problem has now been solved. Thanks again for ALL the input, very grateful for the help.

 

[Chaosrider]

Forgive my ignorance, but what is ATL? Thanks!

Above Takeoff Level.

I was looking for a TLA to describe the altitude you actually see on the screen. I originally just invented ATO...Above Take Off...but an OP here suggested that ATL will be more consistent with MSL and AGL, so I shifted to using ATL.

If there's a more commonly used TLA for that altitude value that shows on the screen, I'd be happy to use it, but I haven't seen one. So I invented one.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Stay within 400' of the mountain side. You'll also have to land and reset at around 1500' or so.

Signal loss would likely happen, unless you have very barren terrain and really good signal LOS to that very exposed landing spot.
A lot of thought to go into resetting home point, mostly about being capable of retrieving a lost or crashed drone.