Flying anonymously

[yawnalot29]

I am curious about those people that are skeptical about their drone hating neighbors.

What makes you think your drone hating neighbors won't secretly register you so that the government can come confiscate your drone?

I mean if they were already going to go through all the hassle to stalk and harasse you, seems like register you is a low hanging fruit.

 

[mirrorimage]

Not worry about that. I take off in my backyard in secret and fly miles away. No one is none the wiser.

Sorry but the NRO satellites pick up heat signature the size of 10 inches. They can also read the "In God We Trust" off a dime laying flat in a parking lot. It's just like DVR, they can literally rewind and fast forward all the video of the day. Can see exactly the takeoff point of your drone ;-)

 

[mirrorimage]

Not the SD card in the gimble, there's another card inside the battery compartment. The file is not hidden.

You're referring to the flight logs that are stored onto your drone for diagnostics? Yes somebody could get them. That's how black boxes work. I doubt your neighbor is going to figure that out. You can erase those files by plugging your drone into your computer.

Better yet, don't fly your drone close over people's houses. Or serial killers houses.

Don't live in fear my friend. Life is short. You shouldn't worry so much. Happy flying.

 

[gunslinger]

Impartial moderators, I demand a ruling on this. A moderator took my avatar of Obummer down citing political content. I want this picture taken down immediately.

I'm sorry... You "demand?" That's exactly the wrong attitude to get the job done...

 

[WetDog]

Where is the invisible flight data stored on my MicroSD card? There is nothing, no hidden files that I see.

Well, it's hidden. Of course you can't see it. Sheesh.

 

[WetDog]

Not worry about that. I take off in my backyard in secret and fly miles away. No one is none the wiser.

And I thought the 1970's were long gone.

 

[F6Rider]

Man, that dude just landed on earth, that was the strangest post I have ever read. I sure hope that was all tongue in cheek, otherwise if he wants to meet the serial killer he just has to look in the mirror.

 

[Rodger]

As some of you know, my fear of flying drones is that it will land in a backyard of a drone-hating serial killer who will find out where I live and come kill me and my family. That's the reason I don't put any contact info (name, email, phone #, etc.) on my drone. I'm also not going to register with the FAA (which is completely optional btw) or put any registration # on the drones. That's because the serial killer will be able to find out where I live from that registration # since it will be completely searchable, name, address and all. Also the serial killer could have friends in the FAA, who knows?

So, you would think that would be safe enough, but you would be wrong! Dead wrong. That's because inside the Phantom is a secret, hidden micro SD card that acts like a black box, recording everything that you do. I am very alarmed that DJI has now made it very hard to delete the data on micro SD. Since the update from GO 2.4 to 2.4.1, DJI has remove the option to "format data recorder" from the app. Why, you wonder? Read on.

You may not realize this, but the micro SD can hold 100s of all your flights. Anybody with access to the micro SD can view all your flights and see how high you flew (over 400ft?) or how many times you flew over a serial killer's house, spying on him. But it's just not the flight. The moment you turn your bird on, the GPS data is recorded. So, if you turn your bird on at home, the serial killer will able to pinpoint your exact location and come kill you and your family.

So what you have to do to protect you and your family is:
1. don't put any contact info on your bird
2. don't register with the FAA
3. do something about the micro SD card

I can help you with #3. It's hidden in the battery compartment and is glued in so it will be complicated to remove and you'll probably have to remove the shell. But there's an easier way. All you have to do is enter the flight data mode and erase everything there. Then, fill the card with a dummy file. Make sure it's completely filled so that NO data can be written. You will get MC Data error, but don't worry, it doesn't affect anything, just no data can be written on the card and you're safe from the serial killer and fly wherever you wish with no consequences whatsoever. No serial will ever be able to track you if you crashed into his yard or car.

*disclaimer*
please fly responsibly and take responsibility for your actions

Are you really serious? Or is this for humor effect?

 

[pe9999]

If you are so afraid, then better stay away any quad with gps. Btw, what is the odd winning the powerball. I bet the chance winning the powerball is better than a serial killer come looking for you.

In us, the number of people winning the lottery is much higher than number of people killed by serial killer. in fact number of people killed by quad hater is a big 0.

As some of you know, my fear of flying drones is that it will land in a backyard of a drone-hating serial killer who will find out where I live and come kill me and my family. That's the reason I don't put any contact info (name, email, phone #, etc.) on my drone. I'm also not going to register with the FAA (which is completely optional btw) or put any registration # on the drones. That's because the serial killer will be able to find out where I live from that registration # since it will be completely searchable, name, address and all. Also the serial killer could have friends in the FAA, who knows?

So, you would think that would be safe enough, but you would be wrong! Dead wrong. That's because inside the Phantom is a secret, hidden micro SD card that acts like a black box, recording everything that you do. I am very alarmed that DJI has now made it very hard to delete the data on micro SD. Since the update from GO 2.4 to 2.4.1, DJI has remove the option to "format data recorder" from the app. Why, you wonder? Read on.

You may not realize this, but the micro SD can hold 100s of all your flights. Anybody with access to the micro SD can view all your flights and see how high you flew (over 400ft?) or how many times you flew over a serial killer's house, spying on him. But it's just not the flight. The moment you turn your bird on, the GPS data is recorded. So, if you turn your bird on at home, the serial killer will able to pinpoint your exact location and come kill you and your family.

So what you have to do to protect you and your family is:
1. don't put any contact info on your bird
2. don't register with the FAA
3. do something about the micro SD card

I can help you with #3. It's hidden in the battery compartment and is glued in so it will be complicated to remove and you'll probably have to remove the shell. But there's an easier way. All you have to do is enter the flight data mode and erase everything there. Then, fill the card with a dummy file. Make sure it's completely filled so that NO data can be written. You will get MC Data error, but don't worry, it doesn't affect anything, just no data can be written on the card and you're safe from the serial killer and fly wherever you wish with no consequences whatsoever. No serial will ever be able to track you if you crashed into his yard or car.

*disclaimer*
please fly responsibly and take responsibility for your actions

 

[buford]

This is yet again another hot topic on the Forums... We need to all keep a clear head and NOT bash fellow members or make personal attacks. There has been a lot of this type of activity since the FAA published their registration plan... We understand that two camps have formed regarding compliance with this edict... and that's fine. We expect to see lucid arguments coming from both camps, which is a healthy and expected development. Just be aware that our cumulative fingers are already on the trigger regarding bashing, so please think before you type. This forum is not going to turn into a free for all brawl...

Thanks...
-slinger

It's real simple. Register if you're comfortable with it, don't register if you're not. All this arguing, siting laws, claiming to know inside stuff about the FAA, calling each other names, it bs and gets us nowhere. Not one of us on here will change anybody's mind, so you might as well quit posturing. I would like to say "I am a member of dronepilots.com". Right now, I'd just as soon nobody knows it.

 

[GadgetGuy]

You're referring to the flight logs that are stored onto your drone for diagnostics? Yes somebody could get them. That's how black boxes work. I doubt your neighbor is going to figure that out. You can erase those files by plugging your drone into your computer.

Better yet, don't fly your drone close over people's houses. Or serial killers houses.

Don't live in fear my friend. Life is short. You shouldn't worry so much. Happy flying.

That's a good point. If you can access the folder to access, copy, and replace the .DAT files stored there, you can still delete them, even though the ability to format the internal black box from the DJI GO app has now been removed. The poster's point was to prevent a new .DAT file from being recorded of your last flight that results in a nefarious crash, that would allow the flight to be tracked back to your launch location. Filling the internal black box card with a file large enough to prevent any new .DAT files from being recorded is a good solution to anonymous flying. Be sure and still put your reg# inside the battery compartment if you want to recover your crashed bird, though! NOT!

 

[TC Malker]

That's a good point. If you can access the folder to access, copy, and replace the .DAT files stored there, you can still delete them, even though the ability to format the internal black box from the DJI GO app has now been removed. The poster's point was to prevent a new .DAT file from being recorded of your last flight that results in a nefarious crash, that would allow the flight to be tracked back to your launch location. Filling the internal black box card with a file large enough to prevent any new .DAT files from being recorded is a good solution to anonymous flying. Be sure and still put your reg# inside the battery compartment if you want to recover your crashed bird, though! NOT!

Glad to see someone finally see behind the purpose. Very important thing though: make sure you clear everything in the secret, hidden SD card. I believe the .DAT files are overwritten in case the card become full. So if you have any .DAT files, new data WILL be written. Erase everything, then put in dummy file.

For windows you can follow instruction here:
How to create large dummy file

FYI, transferring files take a long, long time. About an hour or so, make sure battery is at least 50%.

Why did DJI making it hard for you to format data recorder? Think about it. Now you need access to a computer to do it, where as before in GO 2.4, you just press the “format data recorder button“. The FAA inspectors want to see these files to fine, confiscate or arrest. That's why.

I think DJI will soon make it impossible to delete the .DAT files. So, do this now and never ever update ever again.

 

[DAP-UAV]

It is optional until at least February 19, 2016, depending upon what happens between now and then, assuming you have already flown your bird before now!

Its not OPTIONAL. For those who buy/bought a UAV before December 21ST have until February 19, 2016 to register their UAV's. Purchased after December 21ST MUST BE REGISTERED BEFORE the FIRST FLIGHT. Lets be clear here. I see a lot of fuzzy interpretations gong on here.

 

[DAP-UAV]

If you are so paranoid about your government why bother flying UAV's at all. Maybe WE should worry about YOU. What are you trying to hide? If you are going to fly your UAV in the NAS then you have to follow the rules like everyone else that uses it. If you do not understand why, that is the reason you should not be there. You cannot drive a car down the public road without a Drivers license and Registration. So they can track you when you break the law, HELLO. And guess what, the GPS common to cars today's tracks everywhere you go. I guess you don't register your car either? WTH!

 

[GadgetGuy]

Glad to see someone finally see behind the purpose. Very important thing though: make sure you clear everything in the secret, hidden SD card. I believe the .DAT files are overwritten in case the card become full. So if you have any .DAT files, new data WILL be written. Erase everything, then put in dummy file.

For windows you can follow instruction here:
How to create large dummy file

FYI, transferring files take a long, long time. About an hour or so, make sure battery is at least 50%.

Why did DJI making it hard for you to format data recorder? Think about it. Now you need access to a computer to do it, where as before in GO 2.4, you just press the “format data recorder button“. The FAA inspectors want to see these files to fine, confiscate or arrest. That's why.

I think DJI will soon make it impossible to delete the .DAT files. So, do this now and never ever update ever again.

I completely agree. Their intent is obvious. The black box shall not be tampered with! Thanks for the link to creating the necessary replacement file. I also suspect a future firmware update to the aircraft will further limit user access to the .DAT files, originally used solely by DJI for warranty purposes if the aircraft is recoverable. The FAA obviously now wants access to that data too.

What exact byte size did you come up with for the file size of the big file needed to completely fill the hidden card?

The .DAT files are rather quickly overwritten. There is only room for the last 10-20 flights, and the oldest are deleted to make room for the newest, just like a DVR. I used to try and copy all mine off before they were overwritten, but I was having to do it every two weeks and it took an hour each time, frying the camera, unless I put an external fan in front of it. For FAA purposes, they only need the last flight, if they recover the aircraft. Same with DJI, for warranty purposes. More is better, but the last .DAT file is all they need. Keep up the good work.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Its not OPTIONAL. For those who buy/bought a UAV before December 21ST have until February 19, 2016 to register their UAV's. Purchased after December 21ST MUST BE REGISTERED BEFORE the FIRST FLIGHT. Lets be clear here. I see a lot of fuzzy interpretations gong on here.

Not unless they fly it after Feb 19, and no changes are made between now and then. Lots can happen in 60 days. Look what a pointless system they came up with in just 30 days!

 

[GadgetGuy]

If you are so paranoid about your government why bother flying UAV's at all. Maybe WE should worry about YOU. What are you trying to hide? If you are going to fly your UAV in the NAS then you have to follow the rules like everyone else that uses it. If you do not understand why, that is the reason you should not be there. You cannot drive a car down the public road without a Drivers license and Registration. So they can track you when you break the law, HELLO. And guess what, the GPS common to cars today's tracks everywhere you go. I guess you don't register your car either? WTH!

Just because you are paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you...

 

[mirrorimage]

I completely agree. Their intent is obvious. The black box shall not be tampered with! Thanks for the link to creating the necessary replacement file. I also suspect a future firmware update to the aircraft will further limit user access to the .DAT files, originally used solely by DJI for warranty purposes if the aircraft is recoverable. The FAA obviously now wants access to that data too.

The .DAT files are rather quickly overwritten. There is only room for the last 10-20 flights, and the oldest are deleted to make room for the newest, just like a DVR. I used to try and copy all mine off before they were overwritten, but I was having to do it every two weeks and it took an hour each time, frying the camera, unless I put an external fan in front of it. For FAA purposes, they only need the last flight, if they recover the aircraft. Same with DJI, for warranty purposes. More is better, but the last .DAT file is all they need. Keep up the good work.

It's just the onboard storage. The cheapest way to do onboard storage needed for a drone, is to have an SD card. It's not secret. It's also used to store data for processing by the flight controller when needed, like a hard drive for your computer. Providing an interface for you to delete this could cause usability problems. It's not a secret conspiracy to hide data about your flights from you. If you are paranoid then build a drone yourself from scratch. You'll also need to compile OpenFlight by yourself, and audit the code so you can make sure that nobody snuck in some secret commands. Nothing you are flying is important enough to do this.

Overwriting your data on an SD card is idiotic. I can almost always recover your data, and if not I'll take it next door to the office with the scanning electron microscope and get your data off.

Do I want the government out of our business? Yes. Do I think you should worry about your government? Yes. Do I think your fears are unreasonable. YES. You're being ridiculous. Responsible drone use won't cause you any problems. You're operating an unmanned flying vehicle. It has the potential to fly completely on it's own without you being present. Registration sounds like a reasonable idea. Why? Because there's lots of idiots and somebody is going to make a mess.

 

[GadgetGuy]

It's just the onboard storage. The cheapest way to do onboard storage needed for a drone, is to have an SD card. It's not secret. It's also used to store data for processing by the flight controller when needed, like a hard drive for your computer. Providing an interface for you to delete this could cause usability problems. It's not a secret conspiracy to hide data about your flights from you. If you are paranoid then build a drone yourself from scratch. You'll also need to compile OpenFlight by yourself, and audit the code so you can make sure that nobody snuck in some secret commands. Nothing you are flying is important enough to do this.

Overwriting your data on an SD card is idiotic. I can almost always recover your data, and if not I'll take it next door to the office with the scanning electron microscope and get your data off.

Do I want the government out of our business? Yes. Do I think you should worry about your government? Yes. Do I think your fears are unreasonable. YES. You're being ridiculous. Responsible drone use won't cause you any problems. You're operating an unmanned flying vehicle. It has the potential to fly completely on it's own without you being present. Registration sounds like a reasonable idea. Why? Because there's lots of idiots and somebody is going to make a mess.

The only problem with your analysis is that the DJI GO app and the DJI Pilot app before it have always had the ability to format the flight recorder, until the most recent version of the app, which removed that easy ability. I therefore believe the sole purpose of it is to store the .DAT files, but if it has a secondary purpose, that would be good to know. I would assume that any data to be processed by the flight controller would be stored elsewhere in RAM, to speed up access to it.

If you really believe that registration will accomplish anything other than creating another unnecessary layer of bureaucracy in the name of feel good policies, you are kidding yourself. Not one part of the registration process will help identify the rogue drone flyers who are causing all the problems, who will simply never register and will still never be caught or held accountable.

 

[mirrorimage]

I completely agree. Their intent is obvious. The black box shall not be tampered with! Thanks for the link to creating the necessary replacement file. I also suspect a future firmware update to the aircraft will further limit user access to the .DAT files, originally used solely by DJI for warranty purposes if the aircraft is recoverable. The FAA obviously now wants access to that data too.

The .DAT files are rather quickly overwritten. There is only room for the last 10-20 flights, and the oldest are deleted to make room for the newest, just like a DVR. I used to try and copy all mine off before they were overwritten, but I was having to do it every two weeks and it took an hour each time, frying the camera, unless I put an external fan in front of it. For FAA purposes, they only need the last flight, if they recover the aircraft. Same with DJI, for warranty purposes. More is better, but the last .DAT file is all they need. Keep up the good work.

It's just the onboard storage. The cheapest way to do onboard storage needed for a drone, is to have an SD card. It's not secret. It's also used to store data for processing by the flight controller when needed. Providing an interface for you to delete this could cause usability problems. It's not a secret conspiracy to hide data about your flights from you. If you are paranoid then build a drone yourself from scratch. You'll also need to compile OpenFlight by yourself, and audit the code so you can make sure that nobody snuck in some secret commands. Nothing you are flying is important enough to do this.

Overwriting your data on an SD card is idiotic. I can almost always recover your data, and if not I'll take it next door to the office with the scanning electron microscope and get your data off.

Do I want the government out of our business? Yes. Do I think you should worry about your government? Yes. Do I think your fears are unreasonable. YES. You're being ridiculous. Responsible drone use won't cause you any problems. You're operating an unmanned flying vehicle. It has the potential to fly completely on it's own without you being present. Registration sounds like a reasonable idea. Why? Because there's lots of idiots and somebody is going to make a mess.

Registration # data aren't available to any smuck off the street. It will be a database that won't be available to regular law enforcement at first. I'm sure over time police will be able to look up the number if you wreck or something.

The only problem with your analysis is that the DJI GO app and the DJI Pilot app before it have always had the ability to format the flight recorder, until the most recent version of the app, which removed that easy ability. I therefore believe the sole purpose of it is to store the .DAT files, but if it has a secondary purpose, that would be good to know. I would assume that any data to be processed by the flight controller would be stored elsewhere in RAM, to speed up access to it.

If you really believe that registration will accomplish anything other than creating another unnecessary layer of bureaucracy in the name of feel good policies, you are kidding yourself. Not one part of the registration process will help identify the rogue drone flyers who are causing all the problems, who will simply never register and will still never be caught or held accountable.

I never said it would accomplish anything, In fact I said the opposite. But being a jerk, and complaining about how your freedoms are being destroyed, and a serial killer is going to find and kill you because of drone registration is not rational. I highly suggest you sell your Phantom and build your own drone so people can't track you.

Just make sure you pay for all your parts in cash, and wear disguises. You'll probably need to steal a car as well so they can't get footage and tie you to your anonymous drone *Sarcasm*

stop whining. If you don't like things, change them.