Geo Fencing, here we go again.

[R.Perry]

I don't do many flights in restricted airspace but when I need to I play by the rules, and I'm sick of it.
I get authorization to fly close to Modesto, Ca airport (MOD). Needed to map two miles of road where a pipeline is going.
Did an unlock with DJI the night before, all is good, right.
Arrive on site, and you guessed it, would not launch, attempted a self unlock, not happening.
I'm sick of some foreign country telling me where I can and can't fly. Geo Fencing is coming off all my drones.
I fly legally, so I don't need a baby sitter.

Well enough of my ranting.

 

[Kristina Fowler]

Was flying near an approach to a Class B airport, somewhat near the end of an active runway. LAANC clearly showed the area was approved at or below 100 feet AGL. Got my LAANC clearance before takeoff. **Not so fast, my friend.**

DJI's own in-house fence ran right through my LAANC approved area and literally would not permit me to cross their lines. I could not physically pierce their virtual iron curtain. Wasted an hour on the phone with support and finally waved the white flag. After salvaging the shoot as best I could, I got on the phone with DJI and told them how illogical, counterintuitive, and high-handed it was to overrule the accepted gold-standard of airspace approval in the U.S. (FAA/LAANC approval). They quickly resorted to a non-sensical, circular argument that made absolutely no sense. I used the analogy of buying a car from them that limited you to 55MPH on the interstate when the feds had approved 70MPH. It just bounced right off of them. I then sat down and emailed them a more detailed version (with maps/exhibits/screenshots) and thought surely it would set off lightbulbs. Crickets....

Can you imagine Cessna and Beechcraft taking the same approach??

 

[R.Perry]

I'm disabling geofence on my drones. DJI, I know communist want to control everything, I'm an American, we believe in freedom, something you don't understand.

 

[Arnold LeVine]

How do you disable/remove geofencing

 

[Kristina Fowler]

we believe in freedom, something you don't understand.

Precisely the way I feel. It's more of a cultural/political phenomenon by which loyal subjects are instructed to simply shrug their shoulders and say "oh well".

 

[R.Perry]

How do you disable/remove geofencing

How do you disable/remove geofencing

Here is a good place to start. This software will allow you to change any and all parameters on your drone. WARNING, if you start changing parameters without knowing what your changing you can open a can of worms. Stick with removing geofence only. I'm not endorsing it or recommending it.
( Mod Removed link, guideline # 16 )

 

[R.Perry]

Precisely the way I feel. It's more of a cultural/political phenomenon by which loyal subjects are instructed to simply shrug their shoulders and say "oh well".

We have way too many people that take the "oh well" attitude.

 

[Dave Pitman]

I'm disabling geofence on my drones. DJI, I know communist want to control everything, I'm an American, we believe in freedom, something you don't understand.

Precisely the way I feel. It's more of a cultural/political phenomenon by which loyal subjects are instructed to simply shrug their shoulders and say "oh well".

I feel ya. No change will be coming from DJI until sales suffer. That is coming from the top. Other manufactures understand and are actually using "no non-official geofencing" when promoting their product so someday DJI may have a change of "heart".

I have to chuckle a little bit. The owner of this family of forums used to not allow anyone to even talk about setting up your own parameters on DJI craft. They would immediately remove threads like this. "If it came from DJI, it must be right". They've come around now I think.

 

[william strong]

I don't do many flights in restricted airspace but when I need to I play by the rules, and I'm sick of it.
I get authorization to fly close to Modesto, Ca airport (MOD). Needed to map two miles of road where a pipeline is going.
Did an unlock with DJI the night before, all is good, right.
Arrive on site, and you guessed it, would not launch, attempted a self unlock, not happening.
I'm sick of some foreign country telling me where I can and can't fly. Geo Fencing is coming off all my drones.
I fly legally, so I don't need a baby sitter.

Well enough of my ranting.

I hear ya. I fly in restricted airspace up here in the Las Vegas area all the time. I have been caught so many times showing up for a project with FAA approval and the ( Mod Removed Langage)drone will not take off. Pisses me off that a foreign country can control my drone. I felt like breaking the drone right on the spot. Thank goodness I switched over to the Autel Evo 2 pro, no more GEO issues, fly wherever I want with FAA approval.

 

[dronecyclops]

I'm disabling geofence on my drones. DJI, I know communist want to control everything, I'm an American, we believe in freedom, something you don't understand.

Have you disabled geofence on any of your drones yet? Any pro's or cons if you already have changed them easy or hard to do? Thanks

 

[R.Perry]

With the software it is very easy, yes I have and flight tested both drones this afternoon. Went out next to (MOD) launched both up to about 10 feet and then landed. I went to the general aviation side, told them what I was wanted to do, no problem, but I know these folks very well. Watch the video if you don't mind the British accent.

 

[Fred Garvin]

Sure wish it worked with my M2P.....

Luckily I have not yet had any issues. The times I’ve needed to fly in a DJI zone, I’ve logged in, unlocked it and sent the unlock to my SmartController, then sync’d with the bird. Good for 3 days. Hasn’t stopped me yet, but it is a pain and you have to carefully do it right. Miss a step and headache.

It would be nice for DJI to have a program for licensed professional pilots...provide your info for verification, sign a waiver and get unlocked. (Like with Yuneec) I’d be okay with Red Zones staying locked and having to go through the normal process. Even annual renewal would be okay.

 

[Dave Pitman]

Brendan Schulman is the man you want to speak with. Be warned he's heard it over and over for years and doesn't care. But, hey, maybe if he hears it one more time...

https://twitter.com/dronelaws/

 

[Recoveryone]

Sure wish it worked with my M2P.....

Luckily I have not yet had any issues. The times I’ve needed to fly in a DJI zone, I’ve logged in, unlocked it and sent the unlock to my SmartController, then sync’d with the bird. Good for 3 days. Hasn’t stopped me yet, but it is a pain and you have to carefully do it right. Miss a step and headache.

It would be nice for DJI to have a program for licensed professional pilots...provide your info for verification, sign a waiver and get unlocked. (Like with Yuneec) I’d be okay with Red Zones staying locked and having to go through the normal process. Even annual renewal would be okay.

I did a video just about what you are talking about "Construction tip #4". Even using LAANC can hinder a pilot if He/She has more than one flight in any class airspace, I work for a city and the majority of the city is covered under class D airspace. I make around 8-10 stops a day checking on various construction sites. If I had to use LAANC for each location I would never be able to get my inspection in a day. I'm lucky to have an airport that is non-LAANC, so I have an Authorization COA. The best way I have found to make sure your LAANC clearance goes through to DJI is to make a copy/photo of the email and submit it with your request to DJI "UNLOCKING". When I have done it this way I never get any issues.

 

[Fred Garvin]

I’m not sure what you’re saying. Are you saying I can give DJI my CoA’s and they’ll issue an unlock for my M2P? It will be permanent and I won’t have to get the 3-Day razz anymore?

 

[Recoveryone]

I’m not sure what you’re saying. Are you saying I can give DJI my CoA’s and they’ll issue an unlock for my M2P? It will be permanent and I won’t have to get the 3-Day razz anymore?

Yes, if you have a COA or even LAANC approval, when you apply for a DJI unlock make sure you send a copy of the authorization. By doing this you can add as many drones in your fleet (Controller #s) and the approval will be added on each controller that you listed, you then import the info to your drone. I use a Mavic Pro, Mavic 2 Pro, Phantom 3 Pro and Phantom 4 Pro on my sites and they all have my COA in the unlocking info in the software (DJI Go/Go 4). If your LAANC approval is only 3 day window (Standard time) the info will be active just for those 3 days.

 

[TreeLineView]

Sure wish it worked with my M2P.....

Luckily I have not yet had any issues. The times I’ve needed to fly in a DJI zone, I’ve logged in, unlocked it and sent the unlock to my SmartController, then sync’d with the bird. Good for 3 days. Hasn’t stopped me yet, but it is a pain and you have to carefully do it right. Miss a step and headache.

It would be nice for DJI to have a program for licensed professional pilots...provide your info for verification, sign a waiver and get unlocked. (Like with Yuneec) I’d be okay with Red Zones staying locked and having to go through the normal process. Even annual renewal would be okay.

Well they do have the ability to remove all Geo fencing. Unfortunately, you have to be a public COA and provide written documentation. I helped my local FD with it. It gets overwritten every time you upgrade though. 107 should be able to apply for this. I to have been bitten by this geo bug

 

[R.Perry]

It is just a lot simpler to remove it, only takes a few minutes, and yes you will need to remove it again after updates.

 

[TreeLineView]

But I assume you are then open to liability in the unlikely event there were an incident? Also, FAA.....??

 

[R.Perry]

But I assume you are then open to liability in the unlikely event there were an incident? Also, FAA.....??

As long as I have authorization to fly in the airspace there are no US laws requiring the use of geo fences. Let's face it there are now professional grade drones on the US market that have no flight restrictions incorporated in their software.
I'm looking forward to Drone Deploy and Litchi and other app producers to start supporting some of the US drones.