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DJI GO4 M2P incorrectly identifying me in No Fly Zone

CNYdronepilot

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Finger Lakes Region NY
Hello all, this afternoon I attempted first flight out in my front yard. I know I'm within 5 miles of an airport, so thought I did my research. I checked DJI's maps, and I am located in light blue/ gray Authorization zones. I verified myself, and got my 3 day authorization from DJI. I can see it in my Me settings in GO4. Out in the yard, top left reads "Cannot take off". Error is "Aircraft is in a No-Fly Zone", yet I bring up the map and it shows me - guessing - at least a mile away from the red zone that protects runway path. When I click on myself on the map, popup says 'GEO Zone Info - the target area is in an Altitude Zone. Flight altitude is restricted to 60m.'

Please advise - what am I missing? I should be able to fly, shouldn't I? Thanks in advance.
 
Hello all, this afternoon I attempted first flight out in my front yard. I know I'm within 5 miles of an airport, so thought I did my research. I checked DJI's maps, and I am located in light blue/ gray Authorization zones. I verified myself, and got my 3 day authorization from DJI. I can see it in my Me settings in GO4. Out in the yard, top left reads "Cannot take off". Error is "Aircraft is in a No-Fly Zone", yet I bring up the map and it shows me - guessing - at least a mile away from the red zone that protects runway path. When I click on myself on the map, popup says 'GEO Zone Info - the target area is in an Altitude Zone. Flight altitude is restricted to 60m.'

Please advise - what am I missing? I should be able to fly, shouldn't I? Thanks in advance.

Yea you should. Do you have internet on your device connected to the remote? Can you turn the auth off and see what happens?
 
Yea you should. Do you have internet on your device connected to the remote? Can you turn the auth off and see what happens?
Sorry brett8883 - I didn't get an email flag to your reply. I was using a Crystalsky so no to Internet unless it happened to still be in WiFi range - I guess I'd have to say not sure. I can connect my iPhone tomorrow and give it another shot, and I can see if I can figure out how to turn the authorization off. Otherwise the authorization expires 11:59pm Sunday night.
 
I did a little more testing - with aircraft on only - not attempting to fly. I think the issue is with the authorization somehow not functioning correctly. You won't believe my luck/ misfortune: when I study a map - I appear to the right on the edge of an authorization zone. And sure enough - if I set the mavic 2 in the front yard, I get the No-Fly Zone errors I report above. I carry it through the house and put it out on the back deck - voila - error goes away and I just have a yellow coded warning that I'm in an Altitude zone (which is correct). I must be RIGHT on the edge. Hang on - checking DJI Geo-map again - I wonder if they have a mistake/ gap in their maps. I'm in a really goofy area that has two restricted zones overlapping - airport next to a prison. I visually see overlapping red zones AND overlapping authorization zones, but the map only displays a blue tag over the airport to select for authorization request. The prison only displays a red tag (restricted) to select, but appears to have an authorization zone drawn around it as well. Grrr. Anybody know where to go besides general Support at DJI to look into this? Snippet of map section attached.
 

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  • Fly-safe map 2019 0316.PNG
    Fly-safe map 2019 0316.PNG
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Sorry brett8883 - I didn't get an email flag to your reply. I was using a Crystalsky so no to Internet unless it happened to still be in WiFi range - I guess I'd have to say not sure. I can connect my iPhone tomorrow and give it another shot, and I can see if I can figure out how to turn the authorization off. Otherwise the authorization expires 11:59pm Sunday night.

It really sounds like you did everything you were suppose to the T. I’m sorry it’s not co-operating.

What it might be is that the auth isn’t working but when you walk through your house you get wi-fi back and when you have internet in a blue zone you can get immediate auth by agreeing to the warning. I dunno just a thought
 
I did a little more testing - with aircraft on only - not attempting to fly. I think the issue is with the authorization somehow not functioning correctly. You won't believe my luck/ misfortune: when I study a map - I appear to the right on the edge of an authorization zone. And sure enough - if I set the mavic 2 in the front yard, I get the No-Fly Zone errors I report above. I carry it through the house and put it out on the back deck - voila - error goes away and I just have a yellow coded warning that I'm in an Altitude zone (which is correct). I must be RIGHT on the edge. Hang on - checking DJI Geo-map again - I wonder if they have a mistake/ gap in their maps. I'm in a really goofy area that has two restricted zones overlapping - airport next to a prison. I visually see overlapping red zones AND overlapping authorization zones, but the map only displays a blue tag over the airport to select for authorization request. The prison only displays a red tag (restricted) to select, but appears to have an authorization zone drawn around it as well. Grrr. Anybody know where to go besides general Support at DJI to look into this? Snippet of map section attached.

Ok wait can you put something to show where you are on this map cause you’ve got a lot going on here
 
Ok wait can you put something to show where you are on this map cause you’ve got a lot going on here
Thanks @brett8883 . New map attached with red circle at left of "outer" northwest authorization zone. The Blue "tag" is the airport, and has a red tag under it. The red tag is the prison. I BELIEVE the blue authorization zone shifted to SE covers the airport, and the authorization zone shifted to NW is being drawn around prison, but there is no blue tag to capture an authorization request for the prison's zone. If I'm in the red circle I drew on the left side of map, I think I'm on the very fringe of being on a zone I can't currently request an authorization for, and thus when I step in backyard I clear the zone and am okay (house faces east). Note: I left the RC/ CS sitting in the kitchen and only moved the aircraft from front yard to back yard. Only thing that changed should be GPS location of aircraft I believe. Thanks for your input!
 

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    Fly-safe map 2019 0316 marked.PNG
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Thanks @brett8883 . New map attached with red circle at left of "outer" northwest authorization zone. The Blue "tag" is the airport, and has a red tag under it. The red tag is the prison. I BELIEVE the blue authorization zone shifted to SE covers the airport, and the authorization zone shifted to NW is being drawn around prison, but there is no blue tag to capture an authorization request for the prison's zone. If I'm in the red circle I drew on the left side of map, I think I'm on the very fringe of being on a zone I can't currently request an authorization for, and thus when I step in backyard I clear the zone and am okay (house faces east). Note: I left the RC/ CS sitting in the kitchen and only moved the aircraft from front yard to back yard. Only thing that changed should be GPS location of aircraft I believe. Thanks for your input!

Np. I was actually looking at Lansing, MI on my map thinking to myself, “why does his map look so much different from mine?” Haha. Around Capital Region international in Lansing, MI there’s a prison in like the exact same orientation as your airport haha.

After looking at these geozone maps a lot lately it’s become clear that almost every airport has a prison within its airspace, I wonder if that’s on purpose, I digress.

The only geo zone that is relevant to you is Ithaca Tompkins international blue zone. The overlapping blue circles are just an extension of the same auth zone. They must not have a tool to make and ellipse in their geo program hah. The prison geozone is only directly over the prison. If you zoom in real far you can see the red outline and is way off of range of you. So hopefully that at least clears that up.

Try turning the crystal sky and mavic on in your house or within Wi-Fi, once the drone gets enough GPS to register a homepoint then, while both are still on, go outside and try to fly. If DJI GO 4 asks you to agree that you have permission for that area just click yes obviously.

I think your auth isn’t working or you chose to unlock the wrong one maybe. You don’t actually need to do a computer auth (the 3 day one) in this zone you just need to have internet to do a 24 hour auth within DJI Go 4. See if that gets it up and flying and then you can worry about what is easier, going on your computer to do every three days or just being close enough to your house to get WiFi during startup.

Once you have the 24 hour auth you not longer need WiFi
 
I think the reason that it worked when you took the drone outside was that it was able to get GPS while at the same time your crystal sky inside was getting WiFi. That’s my hypothesis and what I think is the magic combo for you.
 
Np. I was actually looking at Lansing, MI on my map thinking to myself, “why does his map look so much different from mine?” Haha. Around Capital Region international in Lansing, MI there’s a prison in like the exact same orientation as your airport haha.

After looking at these geozone maps a lot lately it’s become clear that almost every airport has a prison within its airspace, I wonder if that’s on purpose, I digress.

The only geo zone that is relevant to you is Ithaca Tompkins international blue zone. The overlapping blue circles are just an extension of the same auth zone. They must not have a tool to make and ellipse in their geo program hah. The prison geozone is only directly over the prison. If you zoom in real far you can see the red outline and is way off of range of you. So hopefully that at least clears that up.

Try turning the crystal sky and mavic on in your house or within Wi-Fi, once the drone gets enough GPS to register a homepoint then, while both are still on, go outside and try to fly. If DJI GO 4 asks you to agree that you have permission for that area just click yes obviously.

I think your auth isn’t working or you chose to unlock the wrong one maybe. You don’t actually need to do a computer auth (the 3 day one) in this zone you just need to have internet to do a 24 hour auth within DJI Go 4. See if that gets it up and flying and then you can worry about what is easier, going on your computer to do every three days or just being close enough to your house to get WiFi during startup.

Once you have the 24 hour auth you not longer need WiFi
Thanks @brett8883 . I'll give it a shot tomorrow. Bummer. I'm certain I unlocked the correct zone - I have verified it multip[le times in GO4, so hopefully maybe it's not working. Yes I read I could do it within GO4 on WiFi but hadn't investigated how yet - I did the online one for 3 days so I wouldn't have to worry about it for my first weekend (hah that worked out, huh?!). Thanks for your engagement - I will try as you've suggested. In my current state, looks like I can also try and fly as long as I'm in the backyard only. Let's hope the winds are down and I can give it a shot.
 
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Update (and question): today I did manage to fly in the backyard, but as soon as I lifted off, got edge of authorization zone warnings so basically could only hover and/ or fly in one direction and then put it down. Still, glad to have gotten it airborne for the first time. I will try to get a new authorization once this one expires at 11:59pm tonight. Clarifying question: should I be entering the SN of the RC, or of the aircraft, or of the CS? DJI website asks to enter SN of "flight controller" so I entered RC, but when I check authorizations in the GO4 app, the field is identified as "aircraft" SN. I wonder if that might be part of my issue. Thanks!
 
Update (and question): today I did manage to fly in the backyard, but as soon as I lifted off, got edge of authorization zone warnings so basically could only hover and/ or fly in one direction and then put it down. Still, glad to have gotten it airborne for the first time. I will try to get a new authorization once this one expires at 11:59pm tonight. Clarifying question: should I be entering the SN of the RC, or of the aircraft, or of the CS? DJI website asks to enter SN of "flight controller" so I entered RC, but when I check authorizations in the GO4 app, the field is identified as "aircraft" SN. I wonder if that might be part of my issue. Thanks!

There’s your problem!

The Flight Controller or FC is the computer in the Mavic which controls Flight. You can find the FC # inside the battery bay or in the DJI Go 4 app when connected to the drone in the “about menu” in the main settings page.
 
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There’s your problem!

The Flight Controller or FC is the computer in the Mavic which controls Flight. You can find the FC # inside the battery bay or in the DJI Go 4 app when connected to the drone in the “about menu” in the main settings page.

I'm glad I read the whole thread, I was just about to say this! Hahahaha!
 
There’s your problem!

The Flight Controller or FC is the computer in the Mavic which controls Flight. You can find the FC # inside the battery bay or in the DJI Go 4 app when connected to the drone in the “about menu” in the main settings page.
Awesome - thanks @brett8883 and @Lon Denard - much appreciated on the troubleshooting!
 
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Update/ confirmation especially for anyone who comes across this in the future searching for a solution: this evening with a new authorization to SN of aircraft, my issues were solved - but only after one more education point. It's not enough to get the DJI authorization on the website (good for 3 days) which can be confirmed in the Me/ More/GEO Zone Unlocking Applications/ tab of DJI GO4. You have to go into Fly mode, click settings (…) in upper RH corner, and (only available while aircraft is connected) transfer that unlock license into aircraft. Now I'm fully functional.
 
I have also found that I most often need to:

1) As you said, go to settings and Sync the Unlock Authorizations.

2) Most often I also have to initiate an auto-takeoff, which won’t actually take off but brings up the dialogues for operating in the authorization zone. Once that’s done, usually is good for the day.
 
I have also found that I most often need to:

1) As you said, go to settings and Sync the Unlock Authorizations.

2) Most often I also have to initiate an auto-takeoff, which won’t actually take off but brings up the dialogues for operating in the authorization zone. Once that’s done, usually is good for the day.
Interesting second point, @Neilw . I have only done manual launches to date so will have to experiment. I had a strange one last night - Go4 warned of a potential firmware mismatch and wanted to update firmware in aircraft again. I did that, and then couldn't fly, so had to re-sync my Unlock Authorizations.
 
Interesting second point, @Neilw . I have only done manual launches to date so will have to experiment. I had a strange one last night - Go4 warned of a potential firmware mismatch and wanted to update firmware in aircraft again. I did that, and then couldn't fly, so had to re-sync my Unlock Authorizations.
Now that you have the steps for what it takes could you post an algorithm that sums it up.

Thanks to you I was able to fly today from my yard.
I live in an area to a very small airport with NO tower where I am actually out of the warning area and yet I get a NFZ and can’t fly.

When I first got my Pro and there was no NFZ I did the right things trying to contact that small airport and eventually got someone who turned me over to the BIG International airport and eventually I get to someone to inform and he said, are you going to call every time you go up, because we don’t have time for this, it’s not necessary, it won’t be logged and just fly safe and obey your rules.
 
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Now that you have the steps for what it takes could you post an algorithm that sums it up.

Thanks to you I was able to fly today from my yard.
I live in an area to a very small airport with NO tower where I am actually out of the warning area and yet I get a NFZ and can’t fly.

When I first got my Pro and there was no NFZ I did the right things trying to contact that small airport and eventually got someone who turned me over to the BIG International airport and eventually I get to someone to inform and he said, are you going to call every time you go up, because we don’t have time for this, it’s not necessary, it won’t be logged and just fly safe and obey your rules.
Glad to hear it helped, @Sky-Scraper. I call my local tower every time. They have been asking for less and less info each time I call, but are still appreciating it and still asking to me call back when I'm done flying for the day if I can. I comply as requested.

I am near the border of an Authorization Zone and have developed the impression that the lines are flaky. Even with an Unlock enabled, I will randomly fly around the yard and suddenly an error pops up that I will have to pass through a no fly zone to be able to return to home. I settle for some number of seconds and then the error clears itself. Annoying.
 
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