Newbie re Drone Purchase and Flight Range Restricted in South Africa or not?

[NewbieNewbie]

Greetings to all the experienced members

I am totally new and was hoping to ask for some advice please?

Is it true that all drones in South Africa are automatically restricted to 500 metres of flight range, irrespective of the actual range on paper of the drone? In other words, does the drone automatically pick up via GPS that one is in South Africa, and then it automatically reduces the actual flight range/distance to 500 metres OR does this only apply to DJI drones?

I have heard that DJI is very strict compared to other drones. Not sure if true.

In other words, is there any point in spending money on a drone for example that has a flight range on paper of 1200 metres, if it is in any case automatically electronically limited to 500 metres when in South Africa? OR is it only DJI who implements this automatic restriction?

If I may ask a last question please? Bear in mind my farm is massive and vast, and there are lots of killings on farms in South Africa.

Am I correct that the automatic restriction is implemented when it detects one's location via GPS at the beginning when switching on the drone for the very first time when taking it out of the box for the first time?

In other words if one switches to the other mode (non GPS) for flying, then does this mean that the restriction is lifted temporarily because the GPS is switched off?

Is there a way to over ride this automatic flight range restriction for my farm?

Has anyone brought in a drone to South Africa from another country where they already opened it(in the other country) and discovered (by chance on a farm/private property) in South Africa that the range is more than 500 metres OR perhaps that there are other drone brands that are not so rigid to automatically implement this range restriction (I have heard that with DJI it is not possible to over ride it).

Thank you to everyone for all your advice and sorry for the long post (I hope I can get advice from those inside and outside the country).

Thank you again

Best wishes

Justin

 

[DanMan32]

I haven't heard DJI drones imposing horizontal distance restrictions based on location, other than geozones/NFZs.

There's no native mode to turn off GPS. P3 had ATTI, and you can hack ATTI on Mavics but that only applies to stability. GPS is still there for restrictions such as NFZs.

There is beginners mode that restricts altitude and distance. Be sure that's not on. Also flying without a mobile device and app will apply restrictions much like beginners mode.

 

[NewbieNewbie]

Hi DanMan32

Thank you for being the first one to kindly give me some highly appreciated input.

Would you mind if I show you this link to this website of which the wording is almost at the bottom of the site, but I am also copying and pasting their words here below:

• Unobstructed, free of interference, with remote controller when FCC compliant.Maximum flight distance in SA 500 meters. The FCC compliant range only applies in America while in most of the world the drones are forced to be CE (Central European) compliant, this means that when a drone automatically detects its location, it will adjust its transmitter power accordingly.

The above is at this website with the link below:

DJI Spark Refurbished Accessory Combo, incl full 12 month DJI-SA Warranty | Droneworld

Propeller guards are recommended when using these functions. Remote controller not included. Unobstructed, free of interference, with remote controller when FCC compliant.Maximum flight distance in SA 500 meters. The FCC compliant range only applies in America while in most of the world the...

www.droneworld.co.za

It would appear that the USA has different rules to the rest of the world.

Therefore I asked the above questions on my original post:
Is there any point in buying a long range drone, when (if indeed) the range is restricted to 500 metres in South africa?

Is it only DJI ? In other words are there other brands that do not control the range?

With regarding to other brands, if one switches off the GPS, and use optical mode, can it be bypassed? Therefore no range restriction?

Thank you kindly to you DanMan32 and everyone else who kindly provides advice.
I highly appreciate it.
Best wishes
Justin

 

[Kilrah]

There is no hardcoded limitation. But you're looking at a Spark which has a pretty crappy wifi based RC link that won't achieve much more than 500m distance wth the RF power levels that are allowed outside of the USA.

That doesn't mean other models with better transmission won't do better, they will.

 

[Gagey52]

That's an interesting proposition, does a government compel a manufacturer in their jurisdiction to restrict the capabilities of a drone. We have legislated restrictions i.e. operational heights and restrictions around airports etc., i would like to think that our drones can fly to their maximum design limits when required without foreign code in their systems holding them back. Naïve eh.

 

[Meta4]

Is it true that all drones in South Africa are automatically restricted to 500 metres of flight range, irrespective of the actual range on paper of the drone?

No, it's not true

 

[Meta4]

Would you mind if I show you this link to this website of which the wording is almost at the bottom of the site, but I am also copying and pasting their words here below:

• Unobstructed, free of interference, with remote controller when FCC compliant.Maximum flight distance in SA 500 meters. The FCC compliant range only applies in America while in most of the world the drones are forced to be CE (Central European) compliant, this means that when a drone automatically detects its location, it will adjust its transmitter power accordingly.

You are looking at an ad for the DJI Spark.
If you look at DJI's published specs for the Spark you find this:

Max Transmission Distance:​

2.412 - 2.462 GHz (unobstructed, free of interference)​

FCC: 1.2 mi (2 km); CE: 0.3 mi (500 m)​

The Spark was a cheap entry-level drone with crummy wifi transmission.
Look at the specs for other DJI models and check their Max Transmission Distance (in CE) to get an idea of how they perform in South Africa.

 

[Meta4]

That's an interesting proposition, does a government compel a manufacturer in their jurisdiction to restrict the capabilities of a drone

Your DJI drone performs exactly as other DJI drones in any other CE country will.

 

[Duds]

Hi. Welcome to the forum. I live down in Cape Town and have both a Mini and an Air. There are no restrictions on either drones. The limit may be imposed until the drone is registered with dji and obviously if the settings are in beginner mode if I remember correctly otherwise you are free to fly to the max of the drones abilities. Enjoy and stay safe on your farm.

 

[WJBMavic]

Hi, according to my limited knowledge there is no restriction from DJI (I am flying a Mavic Air) - HOWEVER you need to be aware of the following (Also from Hobby Regulations | Droneworld) regarding

Regulations for South Africa (Hobby Drone Pilots)​

Drones were made legal for the first time in South Africa from 1 July 2015 and it is actually a big win for hobby drone users!

• Can fly up to 500m away from the pilot, while maintaining direct line of sight (RVLOS).

 

[NewbieNewbie]

Hi to all the highly experienced members here

(DanMan32, DUDS, Kilrah,​

Gagey52 and of course Meta4)​

I wanted to thank you all for all your brilliant advice.​

If I may ask a last question please?

What is your view of a 4x zoom of the Mavic Mini (which I understand is a digital zoom) versus a x50 digital zoom of a cheaper drone in terms of being able to see on the ground from a high altitude whilst flying in the farm? In other words do you think the 50 x digital zoom will be more beneficial than the 4 x digital zoom of the Mavic mini (both of them having 4k)?

I have spent lots of man hours on the internet on the above and it seems if I want 50 x zoom, then the range is maximum 2km on paper, which can't compare to the CE range of 6km of the Mavic Mini 2, but I just have not concept a 4 x digital zoom from an altitude of 120 metres, and uncertain if it is adequate (I cant spend money on high powered optical zoom drones costing a couple of thousand dollars)

A final question if I may. Do you think the FIMI X8 SE 2020 would be a better choice than the Mavic Mini 2 in terms of its wind resistance, albeit only 3 x zoom, compared to the 4 x zoom of the Mavic Mini?

Thank you again to everyone here
Best wishes
Justin

 

[SpitFire]

Justin, Welcome from Chicago the Windy City.
Sent you a snap shot how to get info from around the world
regulations.

 

[DanMan32]

I can't see a cheap drone being capable of 50x digital zoom. Digital zoom is accomplished by cropping how much of the sensor is used to achieve the zoom. It would have to have a high pixel count sensor to have the cropped image be of any use.

 

[Meta4]

What is your view of a 4x zoom of the Mavic Mini (which I understand is a digital zoom) versus a x50 digital zoom of a cheaper drone in terms of being able to see on the ground from a high altitude whilst flying in the farm? In other words do you think the 50 x digital zoom will be more beneficial than the 4 x digital zoom of the Mavic mini (both of them having 4k)?

Digital zoom is a marketing gimmick.
Digital zoom with a big number is a bigger gimmick, ignore it.
You can't fly at high altitude and look at fine detail on the ground, like an eagle scanning for roadkill.
Fly at an appropriate level for what you are wanting to see.
This is what the view looks like from 100 metres above the ground with the wideangle lens that most drones have:

This is the view you get from down around 30 metres above ground:

 

[NewbieNewbie]

Hi Spitfire, DanMan32 and Meta4

Thank you kindly for all your excellent advice.

Of course for my purposes on the farm, the quality of the image is not important. As long as from a high altitude or vast distance I can make out there is an intruder on the ground, even if the image is of a poor quality.

I have seen all these 50x zoom drones on banggood with a range anything from 500meters to 1200 meters, but as you are saying the quality of the 4x zoom of the Mavic Mini 2 will be superior.

Does anyone perhaps know of another drone equivalent in size and close to the performance of the Mavic Mini 2 because I am thinking perhaps a DJI drone has too many restrictions built into it (compared to other brands), based on what I have read. I have seen articles where people could only reach an altitude of 50 meters because of all the restrictions built into it, with resultant errors. As you can see I am in the process of searching for a small, light weight drone with a zoom capacity and range of a few kilometres. It looks like sadly DJI has no competition?

Thank you again to all the most helpful and welcoming people here.

 

[Meta4]

I am thinking perhaps a DJI drone has too many restrictions built into it (compared to other brands), based on what I have read. I have seen articles where people could only reach an altitude of 50 meters because of all the restrictions built into it, with resultant errors. As you can see

You will always find people that say all kinds of things that are incorrect, usually because their limited knowledge of the subject.
If you are flying out in the open with normal GPS reception,. you won't run into a situation where it can only reach an altitude of 50 meters because of all the restrictions built into it.
There are no such restrictions.

 

[Kilrah]

If you want a good view of the ground get a mavic 2 zoom, in 1080p you get a 4x zoom (2x optical plus crop) that is still real 1080p output i.e. not upscaled, that you can see with full detail if you use a good large screen device, and of course analyze the recording later.
Those things with digital zoom will likely just give you a blurry mess you can't recognise anything on.

 

[maelstrom]

in 1080p you get a 4x zoom (2x optical plus crop)

Isn’t the “crop” the same as 2x digital zoom?

 

[cgmaxed]

I can't see a cheap drone being capable of 50x digital zoom. Digital zoom is accomplished by cropping how much of the sensor is used to achieve the zoom. It would have to have a high pixel count sensor to have the cropped image be of any use.

I love the firmware upgrade to allow digital zoom on the Mavic air 2. I wish they could or would do it to the Mavic 2 Pro and or Zoom. I wonder if they can or are just not doing it purposefully. Digital zoom is better than nothing. With the Pro's 1 inch sensor, you would think a digital zoom option would be possible.

 

[DanMan32]

I love the firmware upgrade to allow digital zoom on the Mavic air 2. I wish they could or would do it to the Mavic 2 Pro and or Zoom. I wonder if they can or are just not doing it purposefully. Digital zoom is better than nothing. With the Pro's 1 inch sensor, you would think a digital zoom option would be possible.

The M2Z has digital zoom.
2x optical, and an additional 2x lossless digital zoom
The digital zoom can only be used in 1080p@30 so it can be lossless. The sensor is only 4k
The reason the MA2 can do lossless digital zoom at 4k is because the sensor is 8k.