height limit

[Trollistika]

I don't see the problem with DJI having my flight data. What are they going to do with it that could cause me any harm?

It's not DJI I am worried about. It's who gets a hold of the logs and uses them against the pilots for financial gains. Over here in the states, regulations are up the you know where. And where there is enough people as a group, they will always find a way to make money. Imagine a FAA system flagging users due to rules being broken, all due to flight logs being monitored. Awful if this materialized....

 

[deleted member 877]

Imagine a FAA system flagging users due to rules being broken, all due to flight logs being monitored. Awful if this materialized....

Don't just imagine that scenario - it's going to happen sooner or later. As someone who doesn't break the rules, I am all for it. Why should irresponsible drone pilots who break the rules be allowed to get off scott free?

 

[Trollistika]

Don't just imagine that scenario - it's going to happen sooner or later. As someone who doesn't break the rules, I am all for it. Why should irresponsible drone pilots who break the rules be allowed to get off scott free?

I see that coming. Writing is on the wall. Problem is rules being broken accidentally and then having to defend oneself and prove otherwise. Or just pay a fine and forget about it. Kinda like getting a driving ticket but bailing out with a fine. Most people don't want to fight it in court so they pay. This industry is ripe for that system. And it all boils down to flight logs. To some this might seem outlandish..... But it's very possible I'm the states.

 

[Trollistika]

Look even further and deeper. Imagine flight logs being monitored by law and you must he insured just like a a car. No ways around it. You want to fly? Licence and insurance please. Want to go above 10 feet? All flight paths are monitored and enforced strictly of face heavy Penalties. Drone gets into a updraft and goes to 401 ft? Tough..... Penalties coming in the mail. Flew on a NFZ by 1 meter? Penalties coming in! Oh.. You flew over a building and it was too far or too close..... Penalty. Of course these scenarios might seem ridiculous........ But here we are... Forced to register. It's how it begins.

 

[Afremont]

If someone NEVER connects the device with GO4 to the Internet, how is DJI retrieving the data?
(keyword here is 'NEVER')

Exactly what percentage, do you think, of dji drones fall into that category? I seem to recall, that when my drone was new, it had serious limits until I logged into their site.

 

[Afremont]

Do you have any source for that information?
I can't find any and all the reports I do find are like this one: Police identify juvenile who flew drone at Fenway Park during Red Sox game
No hint there that DJI have any data, which is what you'd expect since the drone and controller can only transmit for a short distance.

Redirect Notice

www.google.com

I think it's pretty clear in that article exactly where DJI is on all this, pushing aeroscope so they can make money and not be bothered to have to do the grunt work. They obviously are the ones that identified the kid flying the drone. They are playing both ends against the middle.

IMO, they're working towards being the only drone company allowed to sell drones in the US since they can remotely limit your behavior and monitor what you're doing with it. They already have non-downgradable firmware and mandatory updates before you fly. The drone in this incident bypassed geofencing and a TFR, yet somehow, hacking the firmware didn't help the kids hide.

Call me paranoid, but nobody really, fully knows what the chips in these things are capable of. For all anyone knows, they send SMS messages through the cellular network when you fly, regardless of any attempts to keep them from accessing the internet. Going to great lengths to keep the drone off the internet, could very well make that drone of enough interest to keep a special eye on it.

 

[Trollistika]

Redirect Notice

www.google.com

I think it's pretty clear in that article exactly where DJI is on all this, pushing aeroscope so they can make money and not be bothered to have to do the grunt work. They obviously are the ones that identified the kid flying the drone. They are playing both ends against the middle.

IMO, they're working towards being the only drone company allowed to sell drones in the US since they can remotely limit your behavior and monitor what you're doing with it. They already have non-downgradable firmware and mandatory updates before you fly. The drone in this incident bypassed geofencing and a TFR, yet somehow, hacking the firmware didn't help the kids hide.

Call me paranoid, but nobody really, fully knows what the chips in these things are capable of. For all anyone knows, they send SMS messages through the cellular network when you fly, regardless of any attempts to keep them from accessing the internet. Going to great lengths to keep the drone off the internet, could very well make that drone of enough interest to keep a special eye on it.

Well you are informed greatly! It's people like you that I admire for questioning and thinking logically out the box. NO ONE knows the extent of the knowledge dji is collecting. You are not paranoid, you are a thinker. Denial will eat us all.

 

[Afremont]

It's unreasonable to believe, without actual evidence, that a $1200 drone doesn't have a $2 SMS module in it. There are few places in the US that a cheap cellular module couldn't hit a cell site (SNS/GSM) from 300' up in the air. Any device that can send hd video several miles is not exactly a "limited range" communicator.

There are some folks in serious denial in this thread. I think people should ask themselves if the kid with the phantom thought he'd be tracked down that quickly. He appears to have hacked it to avoid multiple restrictions, yet now he's facing potential charges.

 

[Trollistika]

It's unreasonable to believe, without actual evidence, that a $1200 drone doesn't have a $2 SMS module in it. There are few places in the US that a cheap cellular module couldn't hit a cell site (SNS/GSM) from 300' up in the air. Any device that can send hd video several miles is not exactly a "limited range" communicator.

There are some folks in serious denial in this thread. I think people should ask themselves if the kid with the phantom thought he'd be tracked down that quickly. He appears to have hacked it to avoid multiple restrictions, yet now he's facing potential charges.

Yep, they were fast in finding him. There must be a system in place that ID all dji drones. Dumb move he did. But this gives us clues on the system. Fly cautiously.......... Real time flight log monitoring is on the horizon.

 

[Meta4]

I don't see the problem with DJI having my flight data. What are they going to do with it that could cause me any harm?

The whole discussion is wasted effort since DJI doesn't have your data and none of those pushing the conspiracy theory have shown how the data might find it's way to DJI.
As conspiracy theories go, this one is very weak.

Redirect Notice

www.google.com

Another article saying exactly what all the others say.
There's nothing to suggest DJI have any data at all.

They obviously are the ones that identified the kid flying the drone. They are playing both ends against the middle.

Obviously? You're joining dots that don't even exist.
All DJI have done is confirmed what anyone looking at the video saw for themselves. It was a Phantom.

The drone in this incident bypassed geofencing and a TFR, yet somehow, hacking the firmware didn't help the kids hide.

You are convinced that DJI data is involved despite no hint of any evidence to support this?

Call me paranoid, but nobody really, fully knows what the chips in these things are capable of.

Yes.. that's paranoid and you're making more guesses with nothing more than an active imagination to support them.

Going to great lengths to keep the drone off the internet, could very well make that drone of enough interest to keep a special eye on it.

Really paranoid.
So now you'd have DJI somehow tracking you down when there's nothing for them to track?
I guess your DJI would be extra suspicious of anyone's lost drone or any that just sit in a cupboard?

Here's a little reading for anyone interested to give an idea of the actual regulatory environment and enforcement actions that do happen.
It shows a huge contrast to the silly paranoia that some are scared of.

Basically No One In The US Is Getting Fined For Flying Drones Without A Licence

If you want to operate a drone commercially in the US, you need to get a licence. And yet, since the Federal Aviation Administration began requiring licenses in 2016, only one person has gotten in trouble for operating a commercial drone without one. And he was just given a slap on the wrist...

www.gizmodo.com.au

Rogue Drones: What Does the FAA Do to Enforce Drone Laws? New Report from GAO Offers Insight

News and Commentary. Recent publicity over drone “incidents” – and the related threats of more regulations – have led some commercial operators to call for better enforcement

dronelife.com

“Lack of Reliable Data”: GAO Says FAA Needs to Improve Management of Safety Risks for Drones

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report suggesting that the FAA needs to improve its management of safety risks for drones. The 92-page document, published in response to grow

dronelife.com

The FAA Gave Us a List of Every Drone Pilot Who Has Ever Been Fined

The FAA fined the guy who crashed a drone at the White House, people who flew over sporting events, and two pilots who crashed their drones into the ocean in Puerto Rico.

motherboard.vice.com

NO ONE knows the extent of the knowledge dji is collecting. You are not paranoid, you are a thinker. Denial will eat us all.

Just like no-one knows what causes yaw errors?
All you have to do is think about how your data might possibly get to DJI.

 

[Trollistika]

The whole discussion is wasted effort since DJI doesn't have your data and none of those pushing the conspiracy theory have shown how the data might find it's way to DJI.
As conspiracy theories go, this one is very weak.

Another article saying exactly what all the others say.
There's nothing to suggest DJI have any data at all.

Obviously? You're joining dots that don't even exist.
All DJI have done is confirmed what anyone looking at the video saw for themselves. It was a Phantom.

You are convinced that DJI data is involved despite no hint of any evidence to support this?

Again... You are entitled to a opinion. It's yours and only yours. Denial is hard to break from but I think it can be accomplished by being logical. Think outside the box, don't stay inside. And yeah, when a drone mysteriously yaws away onto oblivion... Sometimes you have to accept you can't explain them even with data logs. Electronics do odd things sometimes, only way to diagnose thm is to study them relentlessly to find the culprit. Again.... Thank you for staying civil and not loosing your mind.

 

[Meta4]

nd yeah, when a drone mysteriously yaws away onto oblivion... Sometimes you have to accept you can't explain them even with data logs.

Kindly show evidence of one of these claimed mysterious incidents?

 

[Trollistika]

Google " Drone flies to the sunset never to return while screaming "yeee haaaa! " There are countless of reports of drones just zipping off into nothing. Some get lucky and find them and others are left with only the sad logs. And by reading the logs, it just shows either a compass failure or a sudden command to scaadoddle! No joke..... Thousands have been lost with no explanation. I personally think it's just a hardware anomaly that presents itself at the right time to just ruin someone's beautiful day.

 

[Meta4]

Google " Drone flies to the sunset never to return while screaming "yeee haaaa! " There are countless of reports of drones just zipping off into nothing. Some get lucky and find them and others are left with only the sad logs. And by reading the logs, it just shows either a compass failure or a sudden command to scaadoddle! No joke..... Thousands have been lost with no explanation. I personally think it's just a hardware anomaly that presents itself at the right time to just ruin someone's beautiful day.

As someone that has examined hundreds of such incidents and found lost drones all over the world or identified the causes of many incidents, I can only say that contrary to your unsupported assertion, the causes of most incidents are identified when the data is examined.
And the causes are shown overwhelmingly to be operator errors.

Some of the most common causes of lost Phantoms are:
Flying close to obstacles like trees and buildings - (probably the #1 cause of crashes)
Poor understanding of how the Phantom is programmed and how to use it, particularly RTH.
Flying off downwind in a wind that is too strong for the Phantom to RTH against it.
Not understanding how winds are stronger at high levels.
Flying behind a building, terrain etc, losing signal and having an RTH height too low to clear any obstacles in the RTH path
Launching from steel surfaces or reinforced concrete (it messes up the compass)
Flying into an area where GPS signal is blocked (a canyon, close to a building etc) and not being familiar with atti mode.
Flying with a partially discharged battery that has been sitting for a week or more.

Since DJI brought in recorded flight data in April 2015, we know the old drone-just-flew-away stories aren't what you are suggesting.

 

[Trollistika]

As someone that has examined hundreds of such incidents and found lost drones all over the world or identified the causes of many incidents, I can only say that contrary to your unsupported assertion, the causes of most incidents are identified when the data is examined.
And the causes are shown overwhelmingly to be operator errors.

Some of the most common causes of lost Phantoms are:
Flying close to obstacles like trees and buildings - (probably the #1 cause of crashes)
Poor understanding of how the Phantom is programmed and how to use it, particularly RTH.
Flying off downwind in a wind that is too strong for the Phantom to RTH against it.
Not understanding how winds are stronger at high levels.
Flying behind a building, terrain etc, losing signal and having an RTH height too low to clear any obstacles in the RTH path
Launching from steel surfaces or reinforced concrete (it messes up the compass)
Flying into an area where GPS signal is blocked (a canyon, close to a building etc) and not being familiar with atti mode.
Flying with a partially discharged battery that has been sitting for a week or more.

Since DJI brought in recorded flight data in April 2015, we know the old drone-just-flew-away stories aren't what you are suggesting.

I'm 100% sure you are correct about most drones. But there IS a small percentage that cannot he explained due to it being a gremlin. Electronics have them. I know it might be hard to grasp that info since maybe you have had success.... But that doesn't take away the fact that they do exist. Look inside this forum, some people still don't know what happened and possibly will never know. That's just reality. No need to argue who is right and who is wrong. I hope the kinks get fixed my self since I am about to do my first maiden flight. And with my luck , I'll probably get attacked my a mountain Lion while a hawk takes down my shiny new toy that falls on a wasp nest that send thousands my way. ????????????

 

[Afremont]

Nobody doubted your ability to read logs and help people find their drones, but that doesn't prove any of your assertions. Unless you have full schematics and source code, you are in no position to conclusively state what information DJI does or does not have available.

I explained multiple technical ways that are well withing reason when it comes to technical ways that data could be collected without anyone's knowledge. Go ahead and call me some more names now, if that makes you feel better. I'm done arguing with you about it. You expect everyone to believe that you somehow know things that you couldn't possibly know for sure, but anyone that disagrees with you is paranoid and deluded. HAND

 

[Trollistika]

Nobody doubted your ability to read logs and help people find their drones, but that doesn't prove any of your assertions. Unless you have full schematics and source code, you are in no position to conclusively state what information DJI does or does not have available.

I explained multiple technical ways that are well withing reason when it comes to technical ways that data could be collected without anyone's knowledge. Go ahead and call me some more names now, if that makes you feel better. I'm done arguing with you about it. You expect everyone to believe that you somehow know things that you couldn't possibly know for sure, but anyone that disagrees with you is paranoid and deluded. HAND

It's best to reason with people that are mannered that way. Im sure he tries hard like we try ourselves. We all wish we could know the extent of the data but we will never know. Best thing we can do is to bring awareness so when the next round of regulations center, we are well armed with good info from ALL viewpoints.

 

[Meta4]

since I am about to do my first maiden flight

Amazing ... you've never flown one and yet you're the expert, authoritatively declaring "no-one knows" and disputing what people that actually know tell you.
That's just incredible.
No need to waste any more time on this nonsense.
Have fun with your imagination because that's all it is.

 

[Trollistika]

Amazing ... you've never flow one and yet you're the expert, authoritatively declaring "no-one knows" and dispute what people that actually know tell you.
No need to waste any more time on this nonsense.
Have fun with your imagination because that's all it is.

Well it's my opinion.And your opinion is taken into consideration as well. Just like everyone else's. And do know a fair amount in the subject of electronics. And from my limited knowledge I try to help with fair advice. But I always tell people not to follow 1 persons opinion. It's best to gather many thoughts and consider all angles. But sad I wasn't able to get you to climb out from the box, but it's ok my dude. No hard feelings and enjoy droning! ?