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Can I use my Mavic Pro as a steady cam without RID registration?

This is a bit of an old thread, but I'm going to chime in for the benefit (amusement?) of others who may come across the thread.

My biggest concern with using the drone as a hand-held gimbal would be that it may still be detected as a drone by drone scanning tools that could be used by, for example, law enforcement or medivac flights. Even when not in flight, handheld use of the drone relies on it being in communication with the controller in order to start recording the video and monitoring it, and that means its radio signals could be picked up by such tools. So it could conceivably interfere with the ability for such flights to save lives.

This may be overthinking it, nevertheless I'd exercise caution and avoid using the drone this way if I was aware of any such nearby activity.

Good call, you're over thinking it. 😁

The radio transmissions from a consumer drone present absolutely no interference risk to other aircraft in flight. None at all.

The concern about drones and First Responder flights is physical interference, distraction, and collision.
 
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This is a bit of an old thread, but I'm going to chime in for the benefit (amusement?) of others who may come across the thread.

My biggest concern with using the drone as a hand-held gimbal would be that it may still be detected as a drone by drone scanning tools that could be used by, for example, law enforcement or medivac flights. Even when not in flight, handheld use of the drone relies on it being in communication with the controller in order to start recording the video and monitoring it, and that means its radio signals could be picked up by such tools. So it could conceivably interfere with the ability for such flights to save lives.

This may be overthinking it, nevertheless I'd exercise caution and avoid using the drone this way if I was aware of any such nearby activity.
DJI says that RID begins broadcasting only after the motors begin to spin.


See item 2.13.
 
The radio transmissions from a consumer drone present absolutely no interference risk to other aircraft in flight. None at all.
I'm not talking about interference of the kind that once caused the airlines to insist that you place your smart phone in "airplane mode".

I'm talking about drone detection technology that may be looking for drone to controller radio communications in order to advise the pilot that there is an active drone in the vicinity. See the "RF Frequency Analyzers" section of this web page.

DJI says that RID begins broadcasting only after the motors begin to spin.
I'm not talking about RID either. If the drone is in radio communication with the controller, it's possible to see those signals whether they include RID information or not. Drone detection technology has been around for a while now and isn't dependent on RID to be aware that a drone is in use.

Again, this may well be a nothingburger in practice, but it's certainly a technological possibility and I personally would err on the side of caution. That means avoiding it if I'm aware of circumstances that might create public safety issues if the use of my drone had the potential to ground flights.
 

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