Mini 4 Pro Plus battery and RID ?

[reedyjt]

Ok, maybe I don't understand what you mean by "built in." Obviously you've read the entire thread because it's only a bit more than a dozen posts so you know we all agree that the Mini 4 Pro activates RID to ON when you insert the extended battery. That's hardly what I would call "built in" but if that's what you are referring to....ok, fine. However, there is some [personal] doubt (from myself and a few others) as to whether RID is turned OFF when you remove the extended battery. Is that your thinking....when you switch back to the standard (sub-250g) battery? Is there some sort of indicator on the drone or the remote when RID is ON/OFF?

So when I flew the mini 4 pro without registering it with the normal battery, it flew just fine, no warnings. When I went to fly the first time with the battery+ I was grounded. It said something to the effect on the controller that I needed remote ID and to have therefore to have the drone registered. So I was forced to go home, get on FAA website and do the whole registration and all, then I could go out and fly it and see the remote ID properly working on the screen. Keep in mind this was adding NO additional hardware other than swapping normal battery for the battery+. I honestly haven't paid attention to what happens on the screen when you switch back to normal battery.

So I do stand corrected, the RID is not built into the battery itself, but is in the drone and automatically turned on when the battery+ is inserted. It is correspondingly turned off when a normal battery is inserted. My apologies for assuming it was part of the battery+, but for all intents and purposes it basically is. That is, if the battery+ is inserted it activate RID and when and normal battery is inserted it doesn't activate RID.

My apologies for adding to the confusion, it's good for everyone to have an understand of how this "edge" case RID functionality works!!

• Remote ID Activation:
  The DJI Mini 4 Pro, after a firmware update, only activates Remote ID when using the Intelligent Flight Battery Plus.
• Standard Battery:
  When using the standard Intelligent Flight Battery, the Mini 4 Pro will not broadcast Remote ID.

 

[reedyjt]

So when I flew the mini 4 pro without registering it with the normal battery, it flew just fine, no warnings. When I went to fly the first time with the battery+ I was grounded. It said something to the effect on the controller that I needed remote ID and to have therefore to have the drone registered. So I was forced to go home, get on FAA website and do the whole registration and all, then I could go out and fly it and see the remote ID properly working on the screen. Keep in mind this was adding NO additional hardware other than swapping normal battery for the battery+. I honestly haven't paid attention to what happens on the screen when you switch back to normal battery.

So I do stand corrected, the RID is not built into the battery itself, but is in the drone and automatically turned on when the battery+ is inserted. It is correspondingly turned off when a normal battery is inserted. My apologies for assuming it was part of the battery+, but for all intents and purposes it basically is. That is, if the battery+ is inserted it activate RID and when and normal battery is inserted it doesn't activate RID.

My apologies for adding to the confusion, it's good for everyone to have an understand of how this "edge" case RID functionality works!!

• Remote ID Activation:
  The DJI Mini 4 Pro, after a firmware update, only activates Remote ID when using the Intelligent Flight Battery Plus.
• Standard Battery:
  When using the standard Intelligent Flight Battery, the Mini 4 Pro will not broadcast Remote ID.

I actually found a very good explanation of how all this works that covers both part 107 and recreational users. It's somewhat relieving to know that even the professional are a bit confused on how all this works with the DJI mini series drones.

Remote ID Update for DJI Mini 3 and 4 Explained - Pilot Institute

DJI Mini 3 and 4 Remote ID update explained. This article covers battery size issues, recreational vs. commercial flying, and avoiding airspace violations.

pilotinstitute.com

 

[MS Coast]

I'm confused. I'm not sure if anyone on this thread has actually used the mini 4 pro with the extended life battery.

You can be certain that there are many of us flying Mini 4 Pro drones with the plus batteries.

The remote ID hardware is built into the bigger battery itself- there is no need to buy an extra RID kit.

The RID transmitter is in the drone, not in the battery. RID is switched on when the drone detects the plus battery and not switched on when it detects the standard battery.

Although the Mini 4 Pro has built-in RID, it is not enabled when the standard battery is used. If you're flying commercially or have registered the drone, it is necessary to add an RID module to be compliant.

 

[Dogpilot]

It is a very confusing and somewhat seemingly random system. Lousy weather here today, I needed something to distract me from a project that is stalled. Yes, if you put a BIX140 battery, the Mini 4 lightweight, it does not send out remote ID. You kind of need to let it fly or hover for around 5 minutes to confirm this. Change to the Plus battery. It does not immediately switch to RID transmission. You must have a GPS lock and be in flight, hovering at least. It takes around 3-5 minutes to switch on. If you continue with another Plus battery, it comes on quickly then. Went back to the lightweight Mini 4 battery. Took it a flight and a shutdown to make it stop transmitting. Put a Mini 3 lightweight battery BIX160 in. It to will switch on the RID transmission, again after a GPS lock and a few minutes in the air.

I checked this with both a laptop and an iPhone. Dronescanner is utterly worthless on an iPhone. It never saw anything. The Mini 4 Pro never seemed to transmit a bluetooth signal, but it does show up on WiFi, either as a WiFi starting in RID... Sometimes it comes up as a WiFi called Mini 4 Pro.... Occasionally it will show on the iPhone's WiFi, but no consistency was found, if it transmits it does show up on the laptop's WiFi. It never showed on the laptops Bluetooth.

For a cross check, My Mavic 3 Cine shows up if I start the propellers, both on WiFi and bluetooth and even on the iPhone. Now in all this, both the laptop and the phone where around 2-3m for the hovering aircraft. Dronescanner never saw either model, bluetooth or not. Even if I connected to the Mavic 3's bluetooth (not sure what that accomplished).

I could not get any response by simply adding weight, a strobe, that put it over 250.

Both systems transmit, once they start transmitting, until you switch off the drone completely. Confusing, yes, does it make sense or work consistently when you test it, no it does not react the same all the time. If you're bored, go try it yourself.

 

[scottjo2152]

This discussion got me to thinking that I should test my Mini 4 Pro to see how the RID functioned with both batteries. First I used the plus battery which made the drone over 249 grams. With the drone and RC2 controller both on but the motors not turning, I selected the note on the RC2 screen, upper left, "Takeoff Permitted". It showed "Remote ID functionally normal (code 1B08003). Then I took the drone up a few feet and used the Android "Drone Scanner" app on my phone to search for the RID signal. It showed "1 drone around" with my drone serial number and the map location of the drone.

Next I turned everything off, including the phone, changed to the standard battery, (under 249 grams) and repeated the test. Again the Takeoff Permitted, showed Remote ID functionally normal and the Drone Scanner showed the signal with my serial number.

I repeated the tests several times in various order over a few hours and got the same results. I will not try to understand how or why I got these results, just reporting my testing.

Scott
Mini 3 Pro, Mini 4 Pro, Air 3S.

 

[mavic3usa]

^ and ^^ Ok so confirming your experience and then concluding the following:

If your Mini drone is FAA registered and you are transmitting standard RID because you use the extended battery, if for some reason, your drone not longer transmits RID (likely because you switched to the standard lightweight battery) then you have to attach a broadcast RID module to your Mini in order to legally fly a registered drone. Correct?

Your drone cannot be FAA registered yet not transmit some sort of RID, yeah?

Cancel the registration.....then you can legally fly a recreational drone less than 250g.

 

[Dogpilot]

That is what it would seem to indicate. Of course, you could switch to using the Mini 3's lightweight battery the BW160. It is 2 grams heavier putting the drone at 250 and turns on RID. Or you can use the regular BW140 battery and add it to the list of un-indicted offenses you may have done that day. Then again, if you use a Plus battery and get it to turn on the RID, it will, so it seemed for me, to persist for at least one flight when switching back to the lightweight BW140 battery. The one advantage of the lightweight battery, at least what I have found, the drone copes better with wind on the return. Especially since I am at 7000' (2130m) and the drone really does have to try harder up here.