On Screen Warning: "Radar near by. Watch out for signal interference"

ISEEu · Mar 3, 2021

I received this warning message today. You can see it in this screen capture below - small white letters scrolling. I found no reference to it by Googling and this is this first I've seen it. I've flown this area many times before. Anyone else ever see this? I'm near a private airstrip but not flying in unauthorized airspace. I will add, I'm not near any large body of water therefore marine radar would not be a factor.

Phantomrain.org · Mar 3, 2021

Adding this one to my collection of Warning messages , thats awesome letting you know you might be compromised.
I have been wondering if 5G towers are going to Emit such a signal. so now it seems possible.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the Rain and Land on Water.

ReDave · Mar 4, 2021

ISEEu said:
I received this warning message today. You can see it in this screen capture below - small white letters scrolling. I found no reference to it by Googling and this is this first I've seen it. I've flown this area many times before. Anyone else ever see this? I'm near a private airstrip but not flying in unauthorized airspace.
View attachment 125022

This happened to me also. I've very new, and it happened when i was just starting out. Several pairs of F-15 and F-35 fighter jets were flying in the greater area in a week long training mission. I kinda wondered if they caused this? Is that possible? It surely freaked me out. It did not last very long at all.

Meta4 · Mar 4, 2021

ISEEu said:
I received this warning message today. You can see it in this screen capture below - small white letters scrolling. I found no reference to it by Googling and this is this first I've seen it. I've flown this area many times before. Anyone else ever see this?

It must be a new warning, this is only the 2nd report I've seen of it.
No-one really knows what it means as DJI haven't given any explanation.
Plenty of flyers have been flying around marine radar for years without any ill effects.
The second part of the message (watch out for signal interference) gives a clue as to how it might be relevant.
And having flown around hundreds of active marine radars without ever experiencing any signal interference, I expect the message is essentially meaningless.
You get signal interference to varying degrees any time you fly in an urban area without it being a problem.

If the wording of the warning is accurate, it won't have anything to do with cell towers.
And if it was related to cell towers, hundreds of fliers would have seen the warning by now.

boblui · Mar 4, 2021

ReDave said:
This happened to me also. I've very new, and it happened when i was just starting out. Several pairs of F-15 and F-35 fighter jets were flying in the greater area in a week long training mission....

The drone was locked by fire control radar ? Gosh .... who know what technologies DJI has put into these machines .....

icecoldgin · Mar 4, 2021

Interesting. Will also monitor this warning and check what could be causing it.

Thanks for the heads up on this. Definitely adds to the knowledge base of this forum.

Stealth01 · Mar 4, 2021

ISEEu said:
I received this warning message today. You can see it in this screen capture below - small white letters scrolling. I found no reference to it by Googling and this is this first I've seen it. I've flown this area many times before. Anyone else ever see this? I'm near a private airstrip but not flying in unauthorized airspace. I will add, I'm not near any large body of water therefore marine radar would not be a factor.
View attachment 125022

Thank God someone else has seen this warning!! I had it pop up a few weeks ago... I was passing abeam of a Cell Tower, about 1/3 of a mile away. I asked DJI about the warning and they said probably interference from a cell tower!!

Meta4 · Mar 4, 2021

Stealth01 said:
Thank God someone else has seen this warning!! I had it pop up a few weeks ago... I was passing abeam of a Cell Tower, about 1/3 of a mile away. I asked DJI about the warning and they said probably interference from a cell tower!!

Unfortunately some of DJI's "help" people have little knowledge and are likely to say anything.
You cannot rely on them for accurate information.
If you flew back there a few times and got the same warning each time, that would be good confirmation.

spamgnome · Mar 4, 2021

I find it unacceptable that DJI would design in not just a warning as specific as this and not document it fully. Shame on them.

Meta4 · Mar 4, 2021

spamgnome said:
I find it unacceptable that DJI would design in not just a warning as specific as this and not document it fully. Shame on them.

It's not surprising.
DJI has plenty of poorly documented features and even misleading and contradictory information .

Howard70 · Mar 4, 2021

I think it might be one of the “Tips” that the newer versions of the Fly App scroll across our screens at certain times (such as Auto Return to Home). I think there may be a means of turning the “Tips” off so they don’t display, but I‘m not sure.

Howard

Josiah S · Mar 4, 2021

Hello. I have also got this many times. I am pretty sure I know what it is. When you do a return to home or a hyper lapse, the drone puts tips at the bottom of the screen for you to look at while you are waiting for the hyperlapse or the rth to complete. I believe it means that if there is a radar thing nearby you need to be careful, not there IS one nearby. I have noticed that it gives you those tips in order also. I do not believe it is an actual “live” warning.

ISEEu · Mar 4, 2021

Josiah S said:
Hello. I have also got this many times. I am pretty sure I know what it is. When you do a return to home or a hyper lapse, the drone puts tips at the bottom of the screen for you to look at while you are waiting for the hyperlapse or the rth to complete. I believe it means that if there is a radar thing nearby you need to be careful, not there IS one nearby. I have noticed that it gives you those tips in order also. I do not believe it is an actual “live” warning.

ISEEu · Mar 4, 2021

You know that makes perfect sense. It's a tip rather than a warning I'm now sure of it. Whoever wrote that tip probably isn't a native English speaker. It's a terrible tip anyway because it's so vague. In reality, what radar is a typical drone flier likely to encounter that is going to interfere with their flight?

Meta4 · Mar 4, 2021

ISEEu said:
In reality, what radar is a typical drone flier likely to encounter that is going to interfere with their flight?

On land, you might encounter radar close to airports (not a lot of drones flying there though).
Otherwise if you fly near ships at sea as I do, you could have radar around a lot.
But of hundreds of flights close to vessels using radar, I still haven't ever observed any issues or interference due to it.

SkyeHigh · Mar 5, 2021

If it was a real warning, wouldn’t the message be in red text rather than white?

kidroc · Mar 5, 2021

looks like you were in RTH i see that while its coming home. and all the other little tips that scroll down were yours was.

Dawnvt · Mar 6, 2021

ISEEu said:
I received this warning message today. You can see it in this screen capture below - small white letters scrolling. I found no reference to it by Googling and this is this first I've seen it. I've flown this area many times before. Anyone else ever see this? I'm near a private airstrip but not flying in unauthorized airspace. I will add, I'm not near any large body of water therefore marine radar would not be a factor.
View attachment 125022

I have never seen a warning like this. I wonder if maybe the police are using x,k band speed measuring radar in the 10.5 and 24 GHz range? (I know the drones work in the 2.4-5.0 ghz regions)

Stealth01 · Mar 6, 2021

Dawnvt said:
I have never seen a warning like this. I wonder if maybe the police are using x,k band speed measuring radar in the 10.5 and 24 GHz range? (I know the drones work in the 2.4-5.0 ghz regions)

I can promise you, they’re were no police anywhere near me when I received the message!! I was abeam of a cell tower!