Always Test DJI Geofence unlocking before a commercial job!

[vindibona1]

As I said folks, always TEST the DJI unlocks if you can. I went to test once again for filming starting on Wednesday and there was no improvement. I swear, I could not fly over the entire property including the front of the building which is only 200' from the launch point, yet I have 1/2 kilometer clearance in all directions.

So now, once again I'm going to beg Uncle DJI to do what they said they did TWICE but didn't. This time I'll send them screen shots of the FAA waiver, my Part 107 certificate, aerial shots of the area with coordinates and an illustrated map to show how far from the Class D airport I am.

THIS IS RIDICULOUS.

 

[vindibona1]

How's this for ya... Went out to test again, and same thing. Here's a map illustrating the problem.

 

[sar104]

How's this for ya... Went out to test again, and same thing. Here's a map illustrating the problem.

View attachment 129233

So as I suspected, this makes no sense at all. Overlaying the circle that you show on the DJI Geo map shows the following:



It partly overlaps a DJI self-authorization zone (blue), and that's it. All you need to unlock flight there is use the self-unlock function on the DJI FlySafe website, which unlocks the entire zone. You need to be logged into your DJI account and it will ask you for the zone, your FC serial number, the dates, and to confirm that you have authorization to fly - that's all there is to it, and aside from requiring a code verification that it sends to your cell phone, the process is instantaneous:



I ran that exact zone as a test and it self-unlocked seamlessly. Did you self-unlock, or do something else?

 

[vindibona1]

@sar104

You make my point differently and indirectly, but let me enunciate it. If it were so easy to figure out I would have done it. I was not successful with the method you propose and had to go with the custom unlocking. I'm not uneducated and not afraid of techology. Dale D who is smart enough to hold an M.D. degree couldn't figure it out. What is simple for you is not simple for others... and I suspect most.

Secondly, DJI ON TWO OCCASSIONS FOR THE SAME UNLOCKING AREA indicated that the areas was unlocked as specified AND IT WAS NOT. You saw the email from Flysafe support indicating that they increased the area by 500 meters when in fact it hadn't been expanded at all.

You see it as a minor inconvenience. I see it, for those who fly commercially, as a major waste of time especially when you cannot recover the time that would have been billable hours somewhere and it takes multiple tries and tests just to be able to fly in an area that was in fact authorized by FAA waiver and ATC authorization. Frankly, I'm waiting to see what Autel comes up with in the near future, hopefully trying to catch up with DJI's Occusync transmission. But if Autel succeeds in improving that area I would say it's more than likely my next drone will be an Autel rather than a DJI M3 or similar upgrade from the M2P.

 

[sar104]

@sar104

You make my point differently and indirectly, but let me enunciate it. If it were so easy to figure out I would have done it. I was not successful with the method you propose and had to go with the custom unlocking. I'm not uneducated and not afraid of techology. Dale D who is smart enough to hold an M.D. degree couldn't figure it out. What is simple for you is not simple for others... and I suspect most.

Secondly, DJI ON TWO OCCASSIONS FOR THE SAME UNLOCKING AREA indicated that the areas was unlocked as specified AND IT WAS NOT. You saw the email from Flysafe support indicating that they increased the area by 500 meters when in fact it hadn't been expanded at all.

You see it as a minor inconvenience. I see it, for those who fly commercially, as a major waste of time especially when you cannot recover the time that would have been billable hours somewhere and it takes multiple tries and tests just to be able to fly in an area that was in fact authorized by FAA waiver and ATC authorization. Frankly, I'm waiting to see what Autel comes up with in the near future, hopefully trying to catch up with DJI's Occusync transmission. But if Autel succeeds in improving that area I would say it's more than likely my next drone will be an Autel rather than a DJI M3 or similar upgrade from the M2P.

I just don't buy that argument. In all the time I've watched this forum I've seen very few people complain that they cannot manage self-unlocking. It's explained in detail on the DJI website, and you can watch endless YouTube videos demonstrating how to do it, both in advance and on site. And if this were getting in the way of important work I would absolutely take the trouble to figure it out.

Trying to do custom unlocks in an authorization zone is going to be clunky and slow by comparison, and rely on human intervention to make it work properly, with all the associated room for error that you experienced. In contrast, it took me just a few minutes to unlock that entire zone for the next 3 days.

Autel should already work just fine for you, since their aircraft already have far more transmission range than you can legally use.

 

[vindibona1]

I just don't buy that argument. In all the time I've watched this forum I've seen very few people complain that they cannot manage self-unlocking. It's explained in detail on the DJI website, and you can watch endless YouTube videos demonstrating how to do it, both in advance and on site. And if this were getting in the way of important work I would absolutely take the trouble to figure it out.

Trying to do custom unlocks in an authorization zone is going to be clunky and slow by comparison, and rely on human intervention to make it work properly, with all the associated room for error that you experienced. In contrast, it took me just a few minutes to unlock that entire zone for the next 3 days.

Autel should already work just fine for you, since their aircraft already have far more transmission range than you can legally use.

Ok dude... I tried your method and got all the way to the point where it said "click on a pin". I did that an no response on screen. I thought perhaps with the pin in the location it was self selected, but no. I looked all over the screen to see if there was a tool I needed to be able to click on the pin. And again, no. You think it is so simple. I tried doing this before and ran into similar problems. If you can tell me what I'm missing you're a better man than I Gunga Din, but it aint' happening before or now.

 

[sar104]

Ok dude... I tried your method and got all the way to the point where it said "click on a pin". I did that an no response on screen. I thought perhaps with the pin in the location it was self selected, but no. I looked all over the screen to see if there was a tool I needed to be able to click on the pin. And again, no. You think it is so simple. I tried doing this before and ran into similar problems. If you can tell me what I'm missing you're a better man than I Gunga Din, but it aint' happening before or now.

View attachment 129256

It's the zone pin, which is for the airport, not the search pin. You need to look a the airport:

 

[vindibona1]

It's the zone pin, which is for the airport, not the search pin. You need to look a the airport:

View attachment 129258

Well now I know that, but it says "click on the pin for the location to unlock". For those who need clarity in instructions, to me, I wanted to unlock the location I was flying in that was restricted. It seems illogical to have to click an area 3 miles away when there is a clear and large pin right where I wanted to fly. So I got that finally straighened out. And you'd think that would be the end of the issues... NOOO!!!!

It wants you to input your cell number so they can send you a verification number. I think I know my own number. But DJI kept giving me a "not a valid phone number" when I requested SMS verification. I even contacted DJI to see what the problem was and they said to check back later. Hours later, no joy. Still no recognition of my phone number. About 11 PM, just before bed, the window, still open I thought I'd give it one more try. No luck.... However had one other option for "voice message". I'd tried everything else.... and finally I got a voice call with the verification code.

You make it sound so freakin simple and easy. Sure... If you know what you're doing, if the instructions are clear and if everything on DJI's end works. But none of that went smoothly. And you now what else?? I had to second guess what came next, which most who haven't done an unlock before would miss... I had to turn my drones on at home to load the the unlocks in to their systems. I now run two old iPhones, one on each drone that do not have cell/internet service in the field. Had I gotten out there first before downloading the unlock codes I'd once again have been screwed.

I gotta fly that mission for real tomorrow with people and a limited time schedule and pray that it all works becaus i don't have time to retest DJI's idiocracy. You think it's simple. I think it's bullspit.

 

[sar104]

Well now I know that, but it says "click on the pin for the location to unlock". For those who need clarity in instructions, to me, I wanted to unlock the location I was flying in that was restricted. It seems illogical to have to click an area 3 miles away when there is a clear and large pin right where I wanted to fly. So I got that finally straighened out. And you'd think that would be the end of the issues... NOOO!!!!

It wants you to input your cell number so they can send you a verification number. I think I know my own number. But DJI kept giving me a "not a valid phone number" when I requested SMS verification. I even contacted DJI to see what the problem was and they said to check back later. Hours later, no joy. Still no recognition of my phone number. About 11 PM, just before bed, the window, still open I thought I'd give it one more try. No luck.... However had one other option for "voice message". I'd tried everything else.... and finally I got a voice call with the verification code.

You make it sound so freakin simple and easy. Sure... If you know what you're doing, if the instructions are clear and if everything on DJI's end works. But none of that went smoothly. And you now what else?? I had to second guess what came next, which most who haven't done an unlock before would miss... I had to turn my drones on at home to load the the unlocks in to their systems. I now run two old iPhones, one on each drone that do not have cell/internet service in the field. Had I gotten out there first before downloading the unlock codes I'd once again have been screwed.

I gotta fly that mission for real tomorrow with people and a limited time schedule and pray that it all works becaus i don't have time to retest DJI's idiocracy. You think it's simple. I think it's bullspit.

Well I'm glad to hear that you got it to work finally. But, as I said before, you could have watched any number of YouTube videos to walk you through the process. I'll bet that you didn't apply the same kind of "tried it once and then abandoned it because it didn't seem obvious" approach when you first started flying.

 

[vindibona1]

Well I'm glad to hear that you got it to work finally. But, as I said before, you could have watched any number of YouTube videos to walk you through the process. I'll bet that you didn't apply the same kind of "tried it once and then abandoned it because it didn't seem obvious" approach when you first started flying.

For me, the self unlocking process wasn't evident and after numerous attempts I simply went to custom unlocking. And while there are a few more hoops with custom unlocking you can unlock more than a day or two. I've got a project that could span a week depending on the weather and perhaps another problem, similar current custom and self-unlocks in the same area, having been gravely disappointed by the distance granted by custom unlocking in spite of them telling me that they have now expanded the area to 1000 meters. All I wanted to do was be able to fly a few feet beyond the permimeter of the property at low altitude so I could have a "reveal" shot with the front of the building and make sure that if the project was moved from one location on the field to another I wouldn't have an issue. As of the last test I was short of the farther areas by 50-100 feet.

Maybe I'm odd, living in a time gone by, but I am a strong believer in individual freedom, liberty but also individual responsibility and accountability. What does society become when you chip away at individual liberties and corresponding responsibility piece by piece? Have the actions of Twitter or Facebook made America a better nation? I say it has done the opposite. Has DJI geofencing saved us from a single incident. I suspect if it did the prevention would be miniscule. Are there any statistics from Autel which has no geofencing? Have we become safer or happier with government or corporations trying to manage every portion of our lives? I think not.

 

[sar104]

For me, the self unlocking process wasn't evident and after numerous attempts I simply went to custom unlocking. And while there are a few more hoops with custom unlocking you can unlock more than a day or two. I've got a project that could span a week depending on the weather and perhaps another problem, similar current custom and self-unlocks in the same area, having been gravely disappointed by the distance granted by custom unlocking in spite of them telling me that they have now expanded the area to 1000 meters. All I wanted to do was be able to fly a few feet beyond the permimeter of the property at low altitude so I could have a "reveal" shot with the front of the building and make sure that if the project was moved from one location on the field to another I wouldn't have an issue. As of the last test I was short of the farther areas by 50-100 feet.

That's one reason never to use custom unlocking when the system is already in place to unlock the entire zone. It just makes the whole thing more unreliable. I've never seen a self-unlock fail or give unpredictable results.

Maybe I'm odd, living in a time gone by, but I am a strong believer in individual freedom, liberty but also individual responsibility and accountability. What does society become when you chip away at individual liberties and corresponding responsibility piece by piece? Have the actions of Twitter or Facebook made America a better nation? I say it has done the opposite. Has DJI geofencing saved us from a single incident. I suspect if it did the prevention would be miniscule. Are there any statistics from Autel which has no geofencing? Have we become safer or happier with government or corporations trying to manage every portion of our lives? I think not.

Having spent a number of years now watching idiots self-report their exploits on these forums, YT and elsewhere, I can tell you that DJI geofencing has prevented many flights in controlled airspace around airports which, presumably, must have reduced the probability of near-misses and collisions. Statistics from Autel aircraft would be in the noise given their tiny market share.

And by the way - this has nothing to do with individual liberties, which don't involve you telling private companies how you want them to design and program their products. Your "liberties" permit you to choose a different manufacturer, nothing more.