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Is the 500m overall height limit enforced by the app or by the firmware?
- Thread starter Trumple
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N017RW
Premium Pilot
Why does 500m matter if you are in the mountains?
It's 500m form take off [pressure] altitude.
It's the same limit for everyone.
It's in the firmware as in there's a place in the firmware that stores the value set within the application. The real underlying question is has there been a maximum value that the value can be set to at s firmware level. OR is it an open value with the only limiting factor being the actual app.
Because you can (in some countries) legally fly over the mountains without breaking the legal 400ft limit
Here is why for me:
In this video I could not clear the ridge line because I hit the 500m limit. If I could have gone over, my altitude above ground would have been like 50 feet, but like 1800 feet above where I took off. I had the battery power, I had the signal strength but I was stopped by an arbitrary setting in the DJI software.
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Not following you. In all countries you can legally fly over a mountain without breaking the legal 400ft limit. Legal limits are based on Above Ground Level...not above sea level.
N017RW
Premium Pilot
In theory. I haven't done it yet in the real world. I need to have a lot of confidence in the software before I take my P3 out that far and high. Because it is still Alpha software, I'll probably wait.
Not in the UK - you need to maintain VLOS, it's not simply a matter of distances but yes, that's what I was trying to say
I have found it a problem as well - flying from down in a valley to the top of a mountain I can still see the moving Phantom white against the green but there is very little height to spare when you get to the top of the mountain.
The whole line of sight thing is so annoying. The rules were brought in many years ago for RC planes long before they had cameras fitted.
I find it much safer watching the screen than trying to watch the Phantom. The law says unassisted line of sight - ie no binoculars either - I think there would be a valid challenge in that being discriminatory against the visually impaired!
Stu[id old laws!
Then again in the USA you can fly in the middle of San Fransisco but not in a million acre National park!!!
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Still not following you. Yes, even in the UK you can fly over mountains without regard to their height. VLOS is a completely independent criteria and has nothing to do with altitude.Not in the UK - you need to maintain VLOS, it's not simply a matter of distances but yes, that's what I was trying to say
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Lol. I agree with you. Either 500m is beyond the legal height limit in most cases unless you're climbing up a mountain, AND/OR it's beyond LO unaided S depending on your eyes. Looking back, the poster I was responding to was justifying a questioned need as to why he's wanting more than 500M based on some arbitrary mountain height. I just wasn't following why he needed more than 500M taking into account both VLOS and mountain height.
Interesting fact: if at 500m you hit the return to home button you can climb as high as your battery will take you.
Yep sorry, I explained poorly. I was trying to say that here in the UK, going above 400ft might be illegal, even if it's not 400ft AGL, due to VLOS regulations.
I saw a video on here of that, but surely it will also move back towards home point and you'll have no control at that point? What happens if you cancel RTH >500m? Does it descend to 500m? Does it just prevent you going higher?
I might give this a go soon. I'll set the limit to 80m or something and see if I can fool it with RTH.
I also find the 500m limit crippling at times. There are now lots of interesting flights I'd like to do that would require 600-1000m above takeoff, of course staying only a couple hundred feet above ground.
According to the developer, the Litchi app for P3 can go to 6000m above takeoff but I am not going to try it until the real version is out. I have flown my P3 with one non-DJI app but since it doesn't set the max and previously I flew with DJI Pilot, I was still limited to 500m above takeoff.
Yes you can go higher using RTH and I was able to get to 700m that way once flying next to a mountain but it is such a pain, doesn't give you full control, is slower etc. I had to fight RTH as well and ended up too far from the mountain - and I needed another 100-150m anyway so just gave up. This method doesn't really work for getting the shots you would want in real life.
Yes we are basically beta testers and although I don't mind that, I sure am looking forward to the version of DJI firmware that allows Litchi and others to release their apps.
According to the developer, the Litchi app for P3 can go to 6000m above takeoff but I am not going to try it until the real version is out. I have flown my P3 with one non-DJI app but since it doesn't set the max and previously I flew with DJI Pilot, I was still limited to 500m above takeoff.
Yes you can go higher using RTH and I was able to get to 700m that way once flying next to a mountain but it is such a pain, doesn't give you full control, is slower etc. I had to fight RTH as well and ended up too far from the mountain - and I needed another 100-150m anyway so just gave up. This method doesn't really work for getting the shots you would want in real life.
Yes we are basically beta testers and although I don't mind that, I sure am looking forward to the version of DJI firmware that allows Litchi and others to release their apps.
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