Max altitude in DJI GO 4 App.. FT vs Meters..

[geardaddys]

Few questions about this, as I'm wondering if I'm missing something.. New mavic user here, but not new to FAA rules/regulations/guidelines.. After switching my Mavic to "Imperial" units, I've noticed that most measurements/rates are expressed in MPH and Feet.. Interestingly, the Max Altitude field on the DJI go app, is coded as "Meters".. Ok, no problem.. The odd thing though, is that when I change from 400 (M) to 500 (M) I get the warning box that says the max according the FAA is 400 feet.. Firstly, it's not a regulation for a hobbyist.. it's a recommendation.. Just like eating your wheaties.. In any event, after switching my Mavic to max alt of 500 (meters) I did an experiment today to see what shows up in the DJI app for altitude on an actual flight.. Obviously, it's labeled in feet.. which makes sense.. and according to my measurements, it's largely accurate in terms of the mavic's height above ground and the displayed "Height".. Which also makes sense.. What is not however making sense to me, is the amount of folks on forums that seem to think that the mavic is limited to 500 meters.. ? Mine stopped climbing (in a safe area, away from anything) at 500 feet.. Am I missing something here?

 

[nickmavic]

What is not however making sense to me, is the amount of folks on forums that seem to think that the mavic is limited to 500 meters.. ? Mine stopped climbing (in a safe area, away from anything) at 500 feet.. Am I missing something here?

Yep....

500m is the limit. The RTH and altitude limits are always expressed in meters, regardless of your other on-screen figures.

500m=1640ft up. Your Mavic by default is set to something like 120m. If you wanna get exact to follow FAA guidelines, set your limit to 122m.

 

[geardaddys]

Thanks Nick..

Let me be more clear.. I set my mavic up for max altitude of 500 (Units).. Took off and stopped climbing at 15 "Feet" as expressed on the DJI GO app.. The drone was confirmed at that point to be at 15 feet above ground level.. The software is reading FEET at that point, not meters.. I continued to climb until I got the max altitude warning at 500 feet (expressed in the app) .. My point is this.. The altitude was confirmed at 15 feet as accurate.. At what altitude does the Mavic transition from reporting FEET in the DJI GO app, to limiting you to 500 meters.. If the Limit was 500 meters, then I shouldn't have gotten the "max altitude" warning until reaching 1640 feet.. I got the warning at 500.. which makes me believe that the "Max Altitude" field in the DJI GO setup box is mislabeled.. It should be 500 feet, not meters..

 

[nickmavic]

Thanks Nick..

Let me be more clear.. I set my mavic up for max altitude of 500 (Units).. Took off and stopped climbing at 15 "Feet" as expressed on the DJI GO app.. The drone was confirmed at that point to be at 15 feet above ground level.. The software is reading FEET at that point, not meters.. I continued to climb until I got the max altitude warning at 500 feet (expressed in the app) .. My point is this.. The altitude was confirmed at 15 feet as accurate.. At what altitude does the Mavic transition from reporting FEET in the DJI GO app, to limiting you to 500 meters.. If the Limit was 500 meters, then I shouldn't have gotten the "max altitude" warning until reaching 1640 feet.. I got the warning at 500.. which makes me believe that the "Max Altitude" field in the DJI GO setup box is mislabeled.. It should be 500 feet, not meters..

Sounds like something is awry with your settings . What's your Distance Limit set to?

There's no "transition" from feet to meters. The limits you impose are automatically calculated for the any usage of imperial units of measurement. It's kinda weird trying to remember the conversions, but I usually just set my cap to 500m and can keep an eye on altitude while flying.

 

[geardaddys]

Distance limit was left as factory default, which I think was 5000 feet?

 

[tcope]

It always measures altitude in feet. Are you saying that you actually flew up 1640' or 500'? If you could not fly higher than 500' then something is wrong with your settings or flying. Please feel free to upload your log to healthydrones.com and post the link.

 

[msinger]

@geardaddys, please upload your TXT flight log here and post a link back here. It should explain what happened.