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

[DanMan32]

If you fly into an airport no-fly zone, it's like the drone has hit a soft, invisible wall.
You can fly along it but you cannot fly through it.

It's probably only the USA that has such things.
I've never heard of any other country having official temporary no-fly zones for sports matches.
The usual "horror story" is about people who launch inside a NFZ and are impatient.
What happens is that they launch before their drone gets good GPS location data (which would advise them of the NFZ and prevent launching).
They launch without GPS and soon after, when the drone acquires GPS, it starts to autoland.
It's easily prevented by waiting for GPS before launching (which is normal safe practice anyway.

I live under an authorization zone. I need to try taking off with VPS before GPS locks. Under controlled conditions of course, low and close by.

 

[DanMan32]

The app shows a message that this zone needs unlocking, you click the button with an active internet / cell connection and it unlocks.

Its a bit more involved than that, but a good summary.
The prompt to begin unlock starts when you attempt to take off or CSC within an authorization zone.

 

[NewbieNewbie]

Hi

Robert Prior​

Thank you for your words of wisdom.

Can I clarify that you are saying there isn't really a geofence if you stray into a resticted no fly zone air space by accident (eg wind), but that in reality the drone will automatically land? This is extremely important if near water as you stated.

Then can I confirm that the BLUE authorization zones are as easy as Kilrah said: simply click the button with an internet connection, and the blue authorization zone unlocks and one is free to fly in it?

I also noted (as a newbie) another zone that states maximum of 50 metres altitude.

Thank you Robert Prior and to everyone else.

Best wishes

 

[Meta4]

Can I clarify that you are saying there isn't really a geofence if you stray into a resticted no fly zone air space by accident (eg wind), but that in reality the drone will automatically land? This is extremely important if near water as you stated.

If you have GPS (and you will unless you are flying in a narrow canyon or under dense tree cover), you cannot fly into a NFZ because there is a geofence and it's like flying into a soft, invisible wall.

All the horror stories that keep you awake at night come from the USA where there are airports and NFZ's all over the place.
You live in South Africa which is a very, very different environment with plenty of wide open space for flying.

The post you are replying to is from someone that launched early inside an NFZ, from a location where terrain and/or tree cover prevented good GPS reception.
As he climbed and acquired good GPS location data, the drone did as it was programmed to and descended.

This is very unlikely to happen to you (and almost all flyers) because you're probably not going to be launching from bad-GPS sites and your country has very few NFZs.

 

[Meta4]

if one flies the Mini 2 in circles for lets say a total distance of 10km and it loses battery power, and then lands by your friend's house 1 kilometre away. If he inserts a new battery, then can I take off from his house with my RC which is 1 kilometre away?

That would only work if you had a clear, unobstructed line of sight between you and the the controller and the drone launch site, and if you coordinated with your friend.
So in practice, probably not.

btw, I now see that you've asked this in a separate post as well.
It's good practice to keep things together and not ask the same question in multiple posts.

 

[NewbieNewbie]

Hi Meta4 I think you are giving me some good practical advice here in both respects (I am also near water), including also about the separate posts because at another forum they told me I would probably get a better response if I open a separate new thread, but you say here its better not to do so.
Many thanks
Best wishes

 

[DanMan32]

Hi

Robert Prior​

Then can I confirm that the BLUE authorization zones are as easy as Kilrah said: simply click the button with an internet connection, and the blue authorization zone unlocks and one is free to fly in it?

Its a bit more involved than that.
The prompt to begin unlock starts when you attempt to take off or CSC within an authorization zone.

 

[DanMan32]

Hi

Robert Prior​

I also noted (as a newbie) another zone that states maximum of 50 metres altitude.

Can you provide a screenshot of your source about that?

EDIT: I think you're referring to an altitude zone. I didn't recognize the 50m reference, forgetting to convert to feet. Is it grey and near a runway approach?

FAA here in the USA has variouz altitude restrictions in controlled airspace. A distance from a runway FAA may have a height limit of 100 ft or so. DJI incorporates that in their geofence as altitude zones.

See Flysafe.dji.com for details about their geofencing, including details in unlocking blue authorization zones.

 

[Robert Prior]

Can I clarify that you are saying there isn't really a geofence if you stray into a resticted no fly zone air space by accident (eg wind), but that in reality the drone will automatically land? This is extremely important if near water as you stated.

I have no idea what happens if your drone is carried into a geofenced area by wind. I would assume it tries to avoid it, and if it can't it will land. Although if the wind is so strong that the drone can't hover you probably shouldn't be flying in that weather!

What I was trying to point out is that just because you have a GPS lock and you get the all-clear to take off, this doesn't mean that you are in the clear. I had what looked like a solid GPS lock with home point established and clear for takeoff. I'm assuming that what happened is that the GPS position was suddenly updated by quite a bit, because I was a few dozen metres inside the NFZ when I checked the map (after landing).

Also, a DJI geofenced no fly zone is not the same thing as a legal no fly zone. You might be prevented from flying somewhere you can legally fly, or allowed to fly somewhere you are legally prohibited from flying. Legally the area I was in is "Aerodrome. Drone operations are permitted within the zone indicated. Caution is advised, however, due to potential aircraft traffic." DJI decided it was a no fly zone, though.

So check your country's laws for the legallities, and check the DJI app for geofences. You can check the DJI app without actually having a drone attached, and that is now part of my flight planning checklist. In Canada I use this tool for verifying that I am following the law— no idea if South Africa has something similar:

Drone site selection tool - National Research Council Canada

nrc.canada.ca

 

[Meta4]

I'm assuming that what happened is that the GPS position was suddenly updated by quite a bit, because I was a few dozen metres inside the NFZ when I checked the map (after landing).

Rather than guessing, if you post your flight data for the incident we can find out what actually happened.

 

[Robert Prior]

Rather than guessing, if you post your flight data for the incident we can find out what actually happened.

Would the flight data still be there after a couple of years and several resets? Is it easy to recover?

 

[Meta4]

Would the flight data still be there after a couple of years and several resets? Is it easy to recover?

Unless you've deleted it, the flight data would still be on your phone/tablet.
It takes about two minutes to find it if you know the date of the incident.
Go to DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help
Follow the instructions there to upload your flight record from your phone or tablet.
That will give you a detailed report of the flight.
Come back and post a link to the report it gives you.
Or .. just post the txt file here.

 

[Robert Prior]

Unless you've deleted it, the flight data would still be on your phone/tablet.

I've deleted and reinstalled the app a couple of times. I keep getting this bug where sometimes after the app crashes the little 'radar screen' stops rotating to show where north is and becomes stuck as if I'm facing west. My repair shop discovered that deleting the app and then reinstalling eliminates the problem, so that's what I've done two or three times.

I'll see if I can find the record, but I'm uncertain of success.

 

[Meta4]

I keep getting this bug where sometimes after the app crashes the little 'radar screen' stops rotating to show where north is and becomes stuck as if I'm facing west. My repair shop discovered that deleting the app and then reinstalling eliminates the problem, so that's what I've done two or three times.

Your repair shop guy should be smarter.
That issue is caused by the magnetic sensor in your phone or tablet giving a false indication of direction because it's too close to the magnetic field that is part of your controller.
There are threads about this common issue all over the forum.

 

[Robert Prior]

Your repair shop guy should be smarter.
That issue is caused by the magnetic sensor in your phone or tablet giving a false indication of direction because it's too close to the magnetic field that is part of your controller.
There are threads about this common issue all over the forum.

I couldn't find any threads when I looked — which I did for a few days before making the three hour trip to the repair shop.

I'm not certain that interference is the cause. Once the radar thingy stopped rotating I tried rebooting everything. I turned off all electronics and left them off for a couple of days. I ran the controller with the iPad at the end of a 3' cable rather than up against it. Nothing helped.

And when I deleted and reinstalled the app at least one time the iPad was still in the controller, and the reinstall fixed the stuck radar thingie.

 

[Meta4]

I couldn't find any threads when I looked — which I did for a few days before making the three hour trip to the repair shop.

Many of these threads are about the issue

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