SUDDEN appearance of Geofence in the middle of Class G airspace! M2P only!!!!!

[vindibona1]

I'm frustrated, a little mad and have to vent, while I'm asking if anyone here knows how/why this could happen...

I felt that I needed to be more intimate with the settings on my Mavic 2 Pro. So I set up everything in my office and just going through menus, trying to become more intuive with them while not flying, with everything just turned on. In my last two outings I fumbled a bit looking to change camera settings, and ended up not properly unlocking altitude max when I was flying between 40 story buildings downtown. Everything was fine... until I got a red message "restricted zone", go to settings to apply for unlock, it said.

I've flown from this very building for the last 5 months with this very drone, plus a Mavic Mini and two different Mini 2's. No issues. No issues until 30 minutes into playing with my settings. I did delete and reinstall the Go 4 app and updated the firmware. But no joy. Still stuck in a NFZ that should be one.

A call do DJI support did no good as they referred me to the dji flysafe department via email, where they suggested I apply for a "custom unlock". I don't understand. I am at least 8nm from the nearest airport and class B space starts at 2500 MSL where I live. The crazy thing is that my Mini 2 operates fine, just as it should.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? Had I been in a NFZ all along with all the drones I might be able to understand.

Sorry for the rant.

 

[dawgpilot]

Did you check the FAA's TFR map to see if there was a TFR in your area? (or, if not that site, something like AirMap or Kittyhawk that also displays nearby flight restrictions)

TFR's can suddenly pop-up in your area for many reasons, such as presidential visits, fire fighting operations, local sporting events, etc.

 

[vindibona1]

Update: The problem was so simple- but I never would have figured it out on my own.

Last summer I was trying to fly at my friend's house who I visit regularly (masked and distanced and outdoors, of course) and found myself locked out, so applied for a custom unlock after I got home to learn about geofencing. Today, while digging through and checking setting I inavertantly and unwittingly turned on the unlock to his house in my settings.

WHAT I CAME TO LEARN FROM EMAIL FROM DJI FLYSAFE WAS IF YOU HAVE AN UNLOCK CODE FROM ANOTHER AREA TURNED ON, YOU WILL GET NFZ ERRORS AND LOCKOUT EVERYWHERE ELSE!

This geofencing nonsense is one of the unfortunate trick-traps with DJI. I'm sure it must be documented SOMEWHERE, but even months after flying DJI drones and even dealing with geofencing unlocks twice I wouldn't have known that turning one unlocked authorization on locks up everything else. As a side note, I would have thought that the DJI front line customer support agent, having my account, my address where I was having problems woucl be able to help diagnose the issue as quickly as the guy at the flysafe division did.

Sorry for griping. I just wasted so much time for such stupid and simple thing.

 

[Tony McDrone]

Thanks for posting.

This will likely be relevant to others.

 

[eaglesurfing]

We learn from other people error and now you will be in the search results if someone else has the same problem.

 

[vindibona1]

Personally I don't like the idea of DJI being in the business of geofencing, period.

If I might editorialize for a moment, I think one of the great downfalls of society is that we have given up on PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY and now expect to put the responsibility on others, and too often the blame as well. The list of shifting responsibility is endless. I think back to earlier times. And so while I think there is little else to discuss on the opening topic, I think I'll close with a video. If you grew up in another era as I did, you might relate...

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[DanMan32]

Well there are a huge number of people out there that are clueless, and some areas you just shouldn't be clueless. Geofencing helps people get a clue.

Only allowing one unlock code active sounds weird. What if you're in an area with overlaping zones, or flight crosses multiple zones that are close by?

It's rare though one would fly in a red restricted zone. Blue authorization zone sure, but not restricted. Also when I unlock a blue authorization zone, the zone disappears from the map for that time.

 

[Repaid1]

Well there are a huge number of people out there that are clueless, and some areas you just shouldn't be clueless. Geofencing helps people get a clue.

Only allowing one unlock code active sounds weird. What if you're in an area with overlaping zones, or flight crosses multiple zones that are close by?

It's rare though one would fly in a red restricted zone. Blue authorization zone sure, but not restricted. Also when I unlock a blue authorization zone, the zone disappears from the map for that time.

There are a couple of ways to unlock a zone(s) one is the live self unlocking, which allows a single zone however there is also Scheduled Self-Unlocking. Users planning to fly in an Authorization Zone without an Internet connection can use the Online Flight Planner to schedule up to 30 simultaneous unlocking plans. Each unlocked zone will remain unlocked for three days. There is also a custom unlocking plan for commercial operations which requires documentation, so I will forgo that option Self Unlocking - Fly Safe - DJI

 

[Jet skier]

I'm frustrated, a little mad and have to vent, while I'm asking if anyone here knows how/why this could happen...

I felt that I needed to be more intimate with the settings on my Mavic 2 Pro. So I set up everything in my office and just going through menus, trying to become more intuive with them while not flying, with everything just turned on. In my last two outings I fumbled a bit looking to change camera settings, and ended up not properly unlocking altitude max when I was flying between 40 story buildings downtown. Everything was fine... until I got a red message "restricted zone", go to settings to apply for unlock, it said.

I've flown from this very building for the last 5 months with this very drone, plus a Mavic Mini and two different Mini 2's. No issues. No issues until 30 minutes into playing with my settings. I did delete and reinstall the Go 4 app and updated the firmware. But no joy. Still stuck in a NFZ that should be one.

A call do DJI support did no good as they referred me to the dji flysafe department via email, where they suggested I apply for a "custom unlock". I don't understand. I am at least 8nm from the nearest airport and class B space starts at 2500 MSL where I live. The crazy thing is that my Mini 2 operates fine, just as it should.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? Had I been in a NFZ all along with all the drones I might be able to understand.

Sorry for the rant.

I get the same thing happening with my M 2P in my local park and I looked on the app map and it showed a runway extension from our class B airport which is about 4 miles away

 

[Marty Markoe]

If I might editorialize for a moment, I think one of the great downfalls of society is that we have given up on PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY and now expect to put the responsibility on others, and too often the blame as well.

I grew up on the streets and schoolyards of The Bronx, NY in the 50s and 60s. We played all kinds of street games. Some like hit the penny were one on one. Others like stick ball, softball and touch football were made up of teams. The teams were often democratically selected by each captain alternately taking turns picking teammates. We learned to work together and play hard. When we LOST we didn't belly ache or cry foul or fraud. Anyone who complained repeatedly they were cheated was ostracized for the most part. If the loser continued complaining a little but kicking might be in store. Looking at some of today's leaders one can only surmise their daddy didn't allow them out to learn sportsmanship and cooperative give and take.

 

[Jet skier]

I think this thread took a wild turn

 

[Dale D]

Personally I don't like the idea of DJI being in the business of geofencing, period.

If I might editorialize for a moment, I think one of the great downfalls of society is that we have given up on PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY and now expect to put the responsibility on others, and too often the blame as well. The list of shifting responsibility is endless. I think back to earlier times. And so while I think there is little else to discuss on the opening topic, I think I'll close with a video. If you grew up in another era as I did, you might relate...

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Yes I definitely relate! -Born and raised in Chicago 1938, I grew up in Chicago (Clarendon and Montrose Avenues). My father owned a drug store on Sheridan and Broadway, as well as one near Cubs Park. I got to deliver drugstore supplies to the Cubs dugout! I well know all about that video. We rode our bikes to Bahai Temple in Winettka and back. There is NO going back now. The lawyers and corporations and social media have taken over. And oh my gosh, flying drones among those tall buildings in the loop! I'd be scared crapless to do that.

The video quality was only 360 and poorly visible. I tried to tweak the cog to higher resolution but to no avail.

Dale
Miami

 

[jimlips]

I use the "Self Unlock" feature all the time to fly in Class D airspace, and never delete the old Authorization Zones that I import to my aircraft via the controller. They even continue to work for up to three days, and even work within Litchi, as long as you run DJIGo4 first and import the authorization first. I've never had a problem with an "old" auth messing up any new fights. But if that works for you, I'm glad you found a fix.

 

[DanMan32]

Yes, but you're not doing an offline unlock for one area, installing the unlock to the app and AC, then moving to another authorization zone of which you don't have a prearranged unlock.

 

[vindibona1]

The DJI c/s person know how to read the freakin' map. He saw the runway vectors and interpreted them as restricted space. I don't know the DJI map even shows them. They're not helpful in any way that I can see. In fact, I'm surprised that for ORD there are only that many as there are so many flights coming into and out of O'Hare 24/7. DJI even has vectors from Chicago Executive, which is a rinky-dink private airport that accommodates private aircraft only.