Mavic 4 Pro height limit

[Bill Lazar]

I am in the US. Could this have something to do with it?

 

[Riptide]

Mavic firmware 01.00.0300
RC Pro 2 firmware 01.00.0400
Not sure about DJI Fly. Is this it? 1.18.0. I did not downgrade this. Don't know how.

It looks like the latest DJI FLy is 1.19.0, if this is DJI Fly.

When you checked to see what your altitude limit was, did the drone have a GPS lock and know where it was?

 

[Deep South Drones]

I have a Mavic 4 Pro and a Mavic 4 Pro Creator. On both, I am able to set the altitude limit to 1000 meters. I crashed my Creator and got a replacement. The slider limit on this drone is 500 meters. Any idea why there is a difference and if I can somehow bypass it? I use it when flying in very remote areas. One difference is that I bought my first two (M4P and M4P Creator) from Adorama early last summer. This replacement was bought just now from Infinity Drones in Florida, so may be a Korean version.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Probably not the best idea to ask this in a public forum since federal law, which is enforced by the FAA, in the US limits drone operations to a maximum altitude of 400 feet.

 

[YorksPhotos]

Probably not the best idea to ask this in a public forum since federal law, which is enforced by the FAA, in the US limits drone operations to a maximum altitude of 500 feet.

Just to clarify the height limit in the US is 400 ft agl.

 

[Deep South Drones]

Just to clarify the height limit in the US is 400 ft agl.

Yes sir, you are correct. Not sure why I typed 500 feet in my reply to the O.P.

Thanks for catching that and correcting me.

 

[Riptide]

Yes sir, you are correct. Not sure why I typed 500 feet in my reply to the O.P.

Thanks for catching that and correcting me.

And if you’re flying up a mountain you can be below the legal limit for above ground level but hit DJIs altitude limit which is based off of your takeoff point. There are legal reasons to raise that slider above 400 feet.

 

[Deep South Drones]

And if you’re flying up a mountain you can be below the legal limit for above ground level but hit DJIs altitude limit which is based off of your takeoff point. There are legal reasons to raise that slider above 400 feet.

Understood. Covered all the little quirks of dealing with how changes in terrain and flying around structures interact with AGL and MSL as far as the FAA is concerned when operating a UAS while studying for my part 107 a few years ago and I even remember some of the calculation shortcuts used when compensating for pressure altitude and density altitude (although not much call for that when dealing with little drones) from my aircrew days in the Navy.

 

[Deep South Drones]

I can legally fly above 500 m from my takeoff point if I'm flying up the ridge of a mountain, for instance. Will this height limit be in effect in the Andes of Argentina and Bolivia? Does anyone know?

Thanks.

I am pretty sure it will not matter where you are since all of the DJI drones and controllers reference the barometric pressure of your home point at takeoff as 0.00' AGL. Having said that, I can see your concern since being limited to 500m of altitude change could definitely make the fantastic video you could get by having the drone film the entire rise or drop of a cliff face somewhat difficult to capture.

The newer firmware now automatically updates the location of your controller to keep the home point current, which solved the issue of people forgetting to manually update their home point when flying with the controller in motion (e.g. being on a moving boat or car while flying the drone) which resulted in the drone wanting to return to where the controller used to be vs. where it is when the pilot wanted to land.