4 ms·

It needs it to make sure it follows any local flight restrictions, like no-fly zones.

FpUser 3y ago
My drone stayed without connection for more than a year already. Sure it politely says at startup that said zones need an update but other than that keeps functioning without a hitch.
Ancapistani 3y ago
1) Other manufacturers don't have restrictive geofencing like DJI - it's not a regulatory issue, but liability. 2) DJI's flight restrictions are determined by DJI, not the FAA. They don't align with each other, so you end up having to keep track of and comply with two airspace systems. That's why I abandoned DJI for my business use. I wasn't able to take off to cover an event at an airport for which I had FAA approval. DJI gave their approval... but the code didn't work, and it required that I have Internet access on the phone I was using to fly to boot.
- atourgates 3y ago
  This has been incredibly frustrating for me. DJI arguably makes the best consumer drones - and as a platform I love my Mini Pro 3. It's small and light enough to easily put in a pack, easy to fly, and just works well apart from DJI's geofencing system. HOWEVER - I'm heavily restricted from using it at my own property, not because of the FAA or any other government restrictions, but because of DJI. I live about 10-miles from an airport. Per the FAA's on "B4UFLY" app - my rural property is clear of any restrictions, outside of the altitude restricted zone of the airport. However, DJI draws their own "FlySafe Geo" map differently, and places me in an altitude zone where I'm limited to 150-meters. This wouldn't be so bad, except that I live next to a large hill/small mountain, that's a great place to fly over and take photographs. If I were to go to the top of the mountain (also in DJI's altitude restricted area) and take off, I could fly out 150m from the top of the mountain, no issues. But since DJI takes no note of the ground height changing as you fly, if I take off from my property and try to fly my drone to the top of the mountain, I'd crash into its side long before I got there. There's really no solution to this issue, besides hoping that someone creates a hacked firmware for my drone that ignores DJI's restrictions, like they have for other DJI models. If another manufacturer developed a comparable drone that didn't suffer from DJI's restrictions, I'd buy it in a second.
  - Ancapistani 3y ago
    > If another manufacturer developed a comparable drone that didn't suffer from DJI's restrictions, I'd buy it in a second. Check out the Autel EVO Lite+. It uses the same camera+gimbal as my EVO 2 Pro, in a smaller and lighter package. https://autel-robotics.myshopify.com/products/drones-evo-lite-plus https://autel-robotics.myshopify.com/products/drones-evo-lit... Autel's app will pop up a warning - a small warning that's easily dismissed and doesn't get in the way - if it thinks you're in restricted airspace, but won't prevent you from flying. There's one Asian country - Japan? - where the Autel app does restrict based on geofences, but otherwise it's up to the operator to ensure regulatory compliance.
- e12e 3y ago
  AFAIK in Norway (all of EU?) you need Internet in order to fly close (regulated, not closed, airspace) to an airport - the drone self-reports position and id to air traffic control, so they don't show up as unidentified blip on their radar. In my home town basically the entire air space is regulated due to the location of the airport/flight paths.

My drone stayed without connection for more than a year already. Sure it politely says at startup that said zones need an update but other than that keeps functioning without a hitch.

Ancapistani 3y ago

1) Other manufacturers don't have restrictive geofencing like DJI - it's not a regulatory issue, but liability. 2) DJI's flight restrictions are determined by DJI, not the FAA. They don't align with each other, so you end up having to keep track of and comply with two airspace systems. That's why I abandoned DJI for my business use. I wasn't able to take off to cover an event at an airport for which I had FAA approval. DJI gave their approval... but the code didn't work, and it required that I have Internet access on the phone I was using to fly to boot.

atourgates 3y ago
This has been incredibly frustrating for me. DJI arguably makes the best consumer drones - and as a platform I love my Mini Pro 3. It's small and light enough to easily put in a pack, easy to fly, and just works well apart from DJI's geofencing system. HOWEVER - I'm heavily restricted from using it at my own property, not because of the FAA or any other government restrictions, but because of DJI. I live about 10-miles from an airport. Per the FAA's on "B4UFLY" app - my rural property is clear of any restrictions, outside of the altitude restricted zone of the airport. However, DJI draws their own "FlySafe Geo" map differently, and places me in an altitude zone where I'm limited to 150-meters. This wouldn't be so bad, except that I live next to a large hill/small mountain, that's a great place to fly over and take photographs. If I were to go to the top of the mountain (also in DJI's altitude restricted area) and take off, I could fly out 150m from the top of the mountain, no issues. But since DJI takes no note of the ground height changing as you fly, if I take off from my property and try to fly my drone to the top of the mountain, I'd crash into its side long before I got there. There's really no solution to this issue, besides hoping that someone creates a hacked firmware for my drone that ignores DJI's restrictions, like they have for other DJI models. If another manufacturer developed a comparable drone that didn't suffer from DJI's restrictions, I'd buy it in a second.
- Ancapistani 3y ago
  > If another manufacturer developed a comparable drone that didn't suffer from DJI's restrictions, I'd buy it in a second. Check out the Autel EVO Lite+. It uses the same camera+gimbal as my EVO 2 Pro, in a smaller and lighter package. https://autel-robotics.myshopify.com/products/drones-evo-lite-plus https://autel-robotics.myshopify.com/products/drones-evo-lit... Autel's app will pop up a warning - a small warning that's easily dismissed and doesn't get in the way - if it thinks you're in restricted airspace, but won't prevent you from flying. There's one Asian country - Japan? - where the Autel app does restrict based on geofences, but otherwise it's up to the operator to ensure regulatory compliance.
e12e 3y ago
AFAIK in Norway (all of EU?) you need Internet in order to fly close (regulated, not closed, airspace) to an airport - the drone self-reports position and id to air traffic control, so they don't show up as unidentified blip on their radar. In my home town basically the entire air space is regulated due to the location of the airport/flight paths.