dji mini 2 se uk restricted to 120m help

[joshp1996]

hi everyone i have been advised to post here i have a issue with my dji mini 2 se not flying above 120m dispite me been able to select 500m on the flight protection menu.
I am aware that the legal limit is 120m in the uk but im looking at doing some mountain walking and the 500m limit would come in handy in that senario.

would anyone be able to shine light on weather my drone is infact effected by the eu restriction or is it a fault with the drone itself i have included what firmware everything is on below im also useing it with the rcn1 controller useing an iphone 13 pro max if that helps.

Aircraft Firmware Updates	01.00.0410
RC Firmware	04.11.0400
App Version	1.12.8
FlySafe Data
App Static Safety Data	01.00.01.33
Aircraft Static Safety Data	01.00.01.33

all help much appreciated thank you

 

[MJ224]

120 metres or 400 ft is the altitude limit by law.

You can change it in the setup, but you would be endangering real aircraft if you do so......

 

[archoptical]

https://register-drones.caa.co.uk/drone-code/less-common-types-of-flying

 

[joshp1996]

120 metres or 400 ft is the altitude limit by law.

You can change it in the setup, but you would be endangering real aircraft if you do so......

hi yes i know this but my question is if i set it above 120m in the app say to 150m the drone itself will stop when it reaches 120m dispite me setting the max altitude to 150m if that makes sence i just want to jnow why the drone physically wont go past 120m even tho its set to go more

 

[MJ224]

Wow, I have to admit going higher than 120 metres just to test it, all I did was to set the max ht in the settings...

That was with my Mini 2 maybe a year ago. ...

Sorry, thats all I can tell you...

 

[joshp1996]

Wow, I have to admit going higher than 120 metres just to test it, all I did was to set the max ht in the settings...

That was with my Mini 2 maybe a year ago. ...

Sorry, thats all I can tell you...

thats ok thank you for trying but yes i have done the same but the drone just stops flying upwards at 120m but thank you for trying to help mate apreciate it

 

[Meta4]

hi everyone i have been advised to post here i have a issue with my dji mini 2 se not flying above 120m dispite me been able to select 500m on the flight protection menu.

Have you actually set the Max Altitude Limit to something >120 metres or just tried to?
Because the limit must be set in the drone, you cannot set it unless the drone is connected when you change it.

 

[joshp1996]

Have you actually set the Max Altitude Limit to something >120 metres or just tried to?
Because the limit must be set in the drone, you cannot set it unless the drone is connected when you change it.

hi mate yes i set it when the drone was all
on and connected and whenever i put it above 120m it comes up with a message saying the maximum legal limit is 120m do you take full reposibility for flighing past this point witch i have to agree to then it lets me set it past 120m but drone gets to 120m and says max limit reached and wont go further

 

[archoptical]

I would ask DJI about this. I can see that the EU rules are supposed to prevent C0 (small) drones going above 120m, Which seems like a stupid rule to me, given what I posted above. Looks like Mini 4 Pro is restricted unless the sticker is removed and DJI are contacted. And then there are more restrictions in using it. Larger drones appear to be able to go above 120m, but some additional buttons to press. Aside from stuff about small drones being harder to spot, it really does look like the eu have decided small drones are not likely to be used for jobs where the height limit can be disregarded. I can't see how any of this would affect an older drone or one registered in the UK. But a bit of a worry to think I wouldn't be able to take pictures of the top of a building that is 120m+ because of some arbitrary restriction.

 

[joshp1996]

I would ask DJI about this. I can see that the EU rules are supposed to prevent C0 (small) drones going above 120m, Which seems like a stupid rule to me, given what I posted above. Looks like Mini 4 Pro is restricted unless the sticker is removed and DJI are contacted. And then there are more restrictions in using it. Larger drones appear to be able to go above 120m, but some additional buttons to press. Aside from stuff about small drones being harder to spot, it really does look like the eu have decided small drones are not likely to be used for jobs where the height limit can be disregarded. I can't see how any of this would affect an older drone or one registered in the UK. But a bit of a worry to think I wouldn't be able to take pictures of the top of a building that is 120m+ because of some arbitrary restriction.

hi mate yes i have spoke to dji got back to me today said that all the minu series is restricted and that there will be a update later this month aparently to fix the issue its good that they are aware of the problem just hope they follow throught and fix it with an update but thank you for your reply it but i would like to set it to 500m to walk up mountains drone physically wont be further away from me than 20/30 meters if that but be nice to not need to contantly land and update home point just to go uo anouther 120 m be nice to just set it at 500m and only land when need battery change but thanks for your reply much appreciated mate

 

[archoptical]

So I may find out mine has been restricted too...

Can't see it bothering me atm, but can imagine being asked to take pictures of the top of a 120m building and suddenly discovering I've been limited and it all being really frustrating.

And I'd never know unless I tried to break the limit. So with no comms from DJI (who seem able to keep sending me sales spam) and no reason or legal standing to test it out, I'd only find out 'in the moment'.

 

[joshp1996]

So I may find out mine has been restricted too...

Can't see it bothering me atm, but can imagine being asked to take pictures of the top of a 120m building and suddenly discovering I've been limited and it all being really frustrating.

And I'd never know unless I tried to break the limit. So with no comms from DJI (who seem able to keep sending me sales spam) and no reason or legal standing to test it out, I'd only find out 'in the moment'.

yes possibly mate my friend dose however have the mini 3 pro witch is not restricted so i dont know how but seems it can be hit and miss your either restrcicted or not but yes totally agree 120m is more than enought for every day use nothing in my area thats is close to 120m just slightly furstrating knowing if i needed to pass the 120m mark for whatever reason i wouldent be able to but hopefully as mentiond dji pull throught with there update this minth that fixes the issue i have attached the reply i got earlyer today also had a phone call off them today stateing the same advice so fingures crossed it gets sorted

 

[Droning on and on...]

So I may find out mine has been restricted too...

Can't see it bothering me atm, but can imagine being asked to take pictures of the top of a 120m building and suddenly discovering I've been limited and it all being really frustrating.

And I'd never know unless I tried to break the limit. So with no comms from DJI (who seem able to keep sending me sales spam) and no reason or legal standing to test it out, I'd only find out 'in the moment'.

We all need to decide for ourselves what risks we are willing to take.

That said, if it were me, I'd take it to a rural area far from any airport, like cattle grazing acres. Then, keeping it well in sight, I'd give it a try, briefly, only to determine if the hard limit was active or not.

In my opinion, this is akin to going a few mph over the speed limit in your car on a straight, flat road out in the middle of nowhere to test acceleration in 5th gear.

 

[joshp1996]

We all need to decide for ourselves what risks we are willing to take.

That said, if it were me, I'd take it to a rural area far from any airport, like cattle grazing acres. Then, keeping it well in sight, I'd give it a try, briefly, only to determine if the hard limit was active or not.

In my opinion, this is akin to going a few mph over the speed limit in your car on a straight, flat road out in the middle of nowhere to test acceleration in 5th gear.

exacly this mate like you say given the right condisions and location i dont see harm in it to just test but obveasly setting out to go over the 120m limit everday in build up areas would just be asking for trouble there are genuin reasons for needing to go over the 120m and hopefully dji reconize this and fix it

 

[Gazwas]

You do realise that the 120m height restriction is from take off point and not sea level.

In a mountainous area you have to follow the contours of the mountain to maintain max 120m from the surface but if the mountain peak is 350m, you can fly you drone 120m above this point so 470m above sea level.

 

[Droning on and on...]

You do realise that the 120m height restriction is from take off point and not sea level.

In a mountainous area you have to follow the contours of the mountain to maintain max 120m from the surface but if the mountain peak is 350m, you can fly you drone 120m above this point so 470m above sea level.

From the OP:

I am aware that the legal limit is 120m in the uk but im looking at doing some mountain walking and the 500m limit would come in handy in that senario.

What he's referring to is ascending up the side of a mountain while maintaining <120m AGL – perfectly legal – but requires the ability to go more than 120m higher than the launch (home) point.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

hi everyone i have been advised to post here i have a issue with my dji mini 2 se not flying above 120m dispite me been able to select 500m on the flight protection menu.
I am aware that the legal limit is 120m in the uk but im looking at doing some mountain walking and the 500m limit would come in handy in that senario.

would anyone be able to shine light on weather my drone is infact effected by the eu restriction or is it a fault with the drone itself i have included what firmware everything is on below im also useing it with the rcn1 controller useing an iphone 13 pro max if that helps.

Aircraft Firmware Updates	01.00.0410
RC Firmware	04.11.0400
App Version	1.12.8
FlySafe Data
App Static Safety Data	01.00.01.33
Aircraft Static Safety Data	01.00.01.33

all help much appreciated thank you

Whilst I believe that the hard ceiling of 120m relative to the take off point is not applicable to the UK ?????? One thing that does occur to me is, unless you are ridge walking, could you not launch from the high point and shoot as you come down the mountain ?
If it is just scenery you want to capture then I don't see that it would make a difference whether or not you shoot on the descent rather than the climb.
Of course if you want to capture your climb then things are different.

There's an American in here that posts video of many climbs and at a guess they are shot I stages with quite a bit of up and downing to place cameras etc and then 're' climb past them and then presumably descend to retrieve them .....unless he is climbing with a buddy lol.

 

[Gazwas]

Whilst I believe that the hard ceiling of 120m relative to the take off point is not applicable to the UK ?????? One thing that does occur to me is, unless you are ridge walking, could you not launch from the high point and shoot as you come down the mountain ?
If it is just scenery you want to capture then I don't see that it would make a difference whether or not you shoot on the descent rather than the climb.
Of course if you want to capture your climb then things are different.

There's an American in here that posts video of many climbs and at a guess they are shot I stages with quite a bit of up and downing to place cameras etc and then 're' climb past them and then presumably descend to retrieve them .....unless he is climbing with a buddy lol.

Height wise, that's completely legal also.

I should have worded it different. The 120m height restriction is from the ground surface and you contour your height limit with the ground surface, So, if you fly up a hill you can increase the height or if the hill suddenly drops into a valley you must reduce that height to the 120m ceiling. Likewise if you launch at the top of the hill you still have 120m to fly your drone in.

If the OP wants to take off at the bottom of the hill and fly all the way up the mountain and back down the other side, as long as he is never more than 120m from the grounds surface and in VLOS with the drone that this is perfectly legal.

However, VLOS would be lost (and probably signal) long before you broke any height restriction rules.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Height wise, that's completely legal also.

I should have worded it different. The 120m height restriction is from the ground surface and you contour your height limit with the ground surface, So, if you fly up a hill you can increase the height or if the hill suddenly drops into a valley you must reduce that height to the 120m ceiling. Likewise if you launch at the top of the hill you still have 120m to fly your drone in.

If the OP wants to take off at the bottom of the hill and fly all the way up the mountain and back down the other side, as long as he is never more than 120m from the grounds surface and in VLOS with the drone that this is perfectly legal.

However, VLOS would be lost (and probably signal) long before you broke any height restriction rules.

One minor point, I think the 'height' limit in the UK need not be a "height", I believe the limit is " to the closest ground", meaning it could be horizontal distance from a vertical cliff or the perpendicular distance to a slope.
I think that is a much more sensible limit than the pure vertical distance that is applicable in the likes of the USA.

 

[Gazwas]

One minor point, I think the 'height' limit in the UK need not be a "height", I believe the limit is " to the closest ground", meaning it could be horizontal distance from a vertical cliff or the perpendicular distance to a slope.
I think that is a much more sensible limit than the pure vertical distance that is applicable in the likes of the USA.

The vertical face of a cliff does not count.

If the cliff face plunges into a valley or to the sea you must be a 120m maximum from the ground ie. What is below you and not to the sides.