How Do You Turn Off GPS on the RC Pro?

[GadgetGuy]

How Do You Turn Off GPS on the RC Pro?​

Paul Aitken of Drone U recommends turning off GPS on the RC Pro for pilot safety under RID.

How to legally avoid Remote Id

Pilots may deviate from any FAA regulation in the event of an emergency, legally avoid broadcasting pilot position with remote id.

www.thedroneu.com

Whether you agree with him or not, he never specifies exactly how to do so on the RC Pro. I can't find any setting on my RC Pro to do so. So, how exactly do you turn off GPS on the RC Pro, should you ever want or need to?

 

[Meta4]

So, how exactly do you turn off GPS on the RC Pro, should you ever want or need to?

​

If it's like ordinary tablets, in the Settings .. Security & Privacy .. Location
Turn off Access to my location

 

[Vic Moss]

How Do You Turn Off GPS on the RC Pro?​

Paul Aitken of Drone U recommends turning off GPS on the RC Pro for pilot safety under RID.

How to legally avoid Remote Id

Pilots may deviate from any FAA regulation in the event of an emergency, legally avoid broadcasting pilot position with remote id.

www.thedroneu.com

Whether you agree with him or not, he never specifies exactly how to do so on the RC Pro. I can't find any setting on my RC Pro to do so. So, how exactly do you turn off GPS on the RC Pro, should you ever want or need to?

FAA has called Paul and Drone U out on this. What he is suggesting is NOT a legal method. Anyone who does this is not flying legally under the RID rules.

 

[3rdof5]

I don't believe any DJI RC of any type has GPS. That's onboard the aircraft. Any RC equipped with an external device (phone or tablet) might be tracked using the GPS in that external device (if it has it).

 

[Meta4]

I don't believe any DJI RC of any type has GPS. That's onboard the aircraft. Any RC equipped with an external device (phone or tablet) might be tracked using the GPS in that external device (if it has it).

The specs for the RC and RC-pro both include this:
GNSS GPS + BeiDou + Galileo

As both are Android tablets (with a radio controller attached) and most Android tablets have GPS, it wouldn't be unusual for the RC controllers to also have GPS.

 

[3rdof5]

The specs for the RC and RC-pro both include this:
GNSS GPS + BeiDou + Galileo

As both are Android tablets (with a radio controller attached) and most Android tablets have GPS, it wouldn't be unusual for the RC controllers to also have GPS.

I just checked my RC-PRO and you are correct. Under device settings/ Location Services you have the option to set app permissions so clearly it has GPS.
Unfortunately you cannot disable it for DJI fly, it's greyed out and says required for operation.

 

[GadgetGuy]

FAA has called Paul and Drone U out on this. What he is suggesting is NOT a legal method. Anyone who does this is not flying legally under the RID rules.

I never suggested that it was a legal method of circumventing parts of RID.
However, it is certainly legal for the next 4 months, until September 16th.
So, how can one turn GPS off on the RC Pro, as he states?
Or is he also wrong about that capability on the RC Pro, as well?

He never goes into any detail on how to do so, and it appears that Meta4's helpful suggestion isn't available on the RC Pro. See the screenshot below.
I don't think it is possible to disable GPS on the RC Pro anymore.
Maybe on the RC Plus, but certainly not the RC Pro.
So, Paul's controversial suggestion for the RC Pro is much ado about nothing.
It doesn't work anyway, because DJI has already disabled turning off GPS!

 

[GadgetGuy]

I don't believe any DJI RC of any type has GPS. That's onboard the aircraft. Any RC equipped with an external device (phone or tablet) might be tracked using the GPS in that external device (if it has it).

Actually, in order to comply with RID, every DJI controller now sold has to have GNSS capability, so the connected drone can also continuously broadcast the location of the pilot controlling the drone, which is the controversial RID requirement that many pilots feel jeopardizes their safety, and the one which Paul is trying to circumvent. Interestingly, no aftermarket RID device is required to continuously broadcast the pilot's location!

Both the RC Pro and the DJI RC controllers have built-in GNSS because no external display device is needed. The RC-N1 has no GNSS, so it must be used with an attached display device that does have GNSS, like a smart phone with location services turned on, or another GNSS capable device like a tablet. Otherwise, the RID test protocol will fail and you cannot take off!

https://crm-robot.djicdn.com/56250368a6214028b9b7a401e7e63f7c.png

 

[GadgetGuy]

More info here:

FAA Remote ID Compliance User Guide-FAQ

https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=attachment&aid=MjEyODk2fGY5ZjVmMWZjfDE2ODQzMTI4NjR8MzE3Mjd8Mjc3NTQ4

 

[GadgetGuy]

The specs for the RC and RC-pro both include this:
GNSS GPS + BeiDou + Galileo

As both are Android tablets (with a radio controller attached) and most Android tablets have GPS, it wouldn't be unusual for the RC controllers to also have GPS.

Correct, both the DJI RC and RC Pro already have built-in GNSS.
Only the RC-N1 lacks GNSS, and therefore requires an attached GNSS device to continuously provide its location for full RID compliance.

 

[Vic Moss]

So, Paul's controversial suggestion for the RC Pro is much ado about nothing.
It doesn't work anyway, because DJI has already disabled turning off GPS!

Much of what Paul does these days is much ado about nothing. Look at his view count on that video vs. the view count on other videos.