Unlocking fly zones coming real soon?

[oknevor]

Just sent Brendan an email about my objection as well. I am all about spontaneity flying and picture taking. I live on outskirts of yellow zone which is bogus anyway.

 

[Davphys]

You know what would be nice? NOT having to authorize yourself to fly every time you want to fly when it's only good for a couple of days. Imagine:
No more spontaneous sunset photos. No more vacation videos. If you don't have cell access to "request" authorization: forget about it. If for whatever reason, the DJI servers go down, grounded.

 

[Davphys]

Here is the sneaky way DJI tried to fool everyone:
They tried to sell GEO as a way to fly in more locations than currently allowed.
But that is only half the story. They neglected to say that they are turning so many places into "yellow zones" where you have to pre-authorize and pre plan to fly in areas that previously were not a problem at all. And this process lasts for 3 days. And requires Internet. And requires giving DJI your personal information like a credit card so they can "verify" you.

The full story is a lot different from the public relations ******** they are trying to fart around publicly.

Tell them you won't stand for a world of yellow zones, a requirement to pre authorize every flight for a hobby!
[email protected]

 

[kennedye]

I actually did an unlock for Paine Field on Friday just to see how the system works - I don't have the 1.7 firmware because I'm on iOS and they haven't released it yet, so it didn't actually have any impact on flying, but I wanted to see how the setup worked. Seemed fine.

Since I live less than 5 miles from the airport I'm eventually going to "establish a mutually agreed upon operating procedure with the airport operator and the airport air traffic control tower (when an air traffic facility is located at the airport)" - a direct quote from AC 91-57A. If there's a way the GEO system can eventually do the same thing it'll eliminate my only real concern.

edit: AFAIK DJI doesn't actually get your credit card number, they get a token from the card company. I believe you can also use your phone rather than a credit card?

 

[Davphys]

Kennedye: that may work for you. But there are thousands upon thousands of ******** yellow zones everywhere else in the country and world.

This isn't about you- not one person. It is about the thousands elsewhere- the people in Germany, Italy, or in the US who face the consequences of DJI implementing a seemingly arbitrary way to diminish the joy of a hobby that the company made billions of dollars promoting.

I actually did an unlock for Paine Field on Friday just to see how the system works - I don't have the 1.7 firmware because I'm on iOS and they haven't released it yet, so it didn't actually have any impact on flying, but I wanted to see how the setup worked. Seemed fine.

Since I live less than 5 miles from the airport I'm eventually going to "establish a mutually agreed upon operating procedure with the airport operator and the airport air traffic control tower (when an air traffic facility is located at the airport)" - a direct quote from AC 91-57A. If there's a way the GEO system can eventually do the same thing it'll eliminate my only real concern.

edit: AFAIK DJI doesn't actually get your credit card number, they get a token from the card company. I believe you can also use your phone rather than a credit card?

 

[Davphys]

Or it will be immediate but you will need to do it every 3 days and make sure you have an Internet connection to do so - no spontaneity. Write Brendan, if you haven't.

Edit: and if their servers ever go down, be prepared to be grounded.

How is this going to work ... I can't fly my $5,000 FLIR drone because I'm waiting for someone in China to unlock a zone.

 

[Davphys]

Imagine the poor people who spent thousands and discover they live in an arbitrary "yellow zone". They can't even take off in their own backyard without "authorization" from DJI.

Imagine the person on vacation and wants to take beautiful footage of a forest or water and is in a "yellow zone". Too bad because he/she isn't pre authorized and doesn't have a cellular equipped tablet or is not in a cellular reception area.

What a half-cocked half-assed way to implement something. This should never have even been a beta.

 

[m0j0]

Absolutely ridiculous maps. The state I live in is entirely yellow. I can't disagree with you Davphy it looks really bad. I still don't see it as a huge problem though. An inconvenience to some.. Absolutely... A deal breaker for others maybe. It just isn't a huge deal for me yet. As bad as the maps are... I can still authorize a flight with a button press. I'm really curious how many people in this thread would not be able to access the Internet from the field. Maybe I'm way off on this...


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[m0j0]

Even before I had the tablet I had a smartphone that I used to get the maps when I was in the field. It just doesn't follow that a person who has a $1300.00 quad that requires a smart device to fly would not have a phone with a data plan that would enable them to request authorization to fly.


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[Davphys]

From a different forum discussion with Brendan:


"I think the argument here Brendan is that most place we fly don't have Internet. most folks engage in this hobby Well away from the cell towers of the cities... Most of us are wondering what purpose this feature is going to serve..."

Brendan:
This is comment I have received most often, and we are very engaged in responding to it. One interesting side note is that others in the industry (not primarily DJI) have been talking about unmanned traffic management premised on having drones and/or operators connected to a traffic management system. Seeing how many responses we are getting from people who say they fly in places without connectivity is pretty interesting, and I'm going to take that as feedback to the larger industry.

 

[4wd]

From a different forum discussion with Brendan:


"I think the argument here Brendan is that most place we fly don't have Internet. most folks engage in this hobby Well away from the cell towers of the cities... Most of us are wondering what purpose this feature is going to serve..."

Brendan:
This is comment I have received most often, and we are very engaged in responding to it. One interesting side note is that others in the industry (not primarily DJI) have been talking about unmanned traffic management premised on having drones and/or operators connected to a traffic management system. Seeing how many responses we are getting from people who say they fly in places without connectivity is pretty interesting, and I'm going to take that as feedback to the larger industry.

He has responded to me with similar comment - not copy paste, he is reading and answering individually.
He also stated that the large yellow blocks which have become authorisation zones "will be taken out".
I find it rather hard to believe they have published maps and caused uproar but it's a mistake.
I'm reluctant to mention he wrote that, as I suspect actually removing the areas one by one will be too difficult without on the ground knowledge of what each one is supposed to be about.

It is important to note that user reactionis at least being acknowledged - it is worth contacting them.

 

[TheTrickster]

I understand why DJI are going down this route - and fair play to them, its better to be leading and defining it, rather than some Senator / Law Maker imposing something even more draconian on us. I've seen some videos on youtube that are truly terrifying...i'm surprised we can still buy them!

It appears to be that you are not gaining permission, nor seeking authorisation when you use the GEO thing, its merely an electronic record of you saying you will be flying in a designated area and it checking to make sure there is no alerts or NFZ changes for that zone. No checks against you, no approval - just a record.

What needs to happen, if this is the case, is to allow the App (if you have no net access) is to cache your self-authorisations and then the next time you connect your device to the net it uploads your history (saying that - it does this anyway with your flight logs..)

 

[stuartbp]

I understand why DJI are going down this route - and fair play to them, its better to be leading and defining it, rather than some Senator / Law Maker imposing something even more draconian on us. I've seen some videos on youtube that are truly terrifying...i'm surprised we can still buy them!

It appears to be that you are not gaining permission, nor seeking authorisation when you use the GEO thing, its merely an electronic record of you saying you will be flying in a designated area and it checking to make sure there is no alerts or NFZ changes for that zone. No checks against you, no approval - just a record.

What needs to happen, if this is the case, is to allow the App (if you have no net access) is to cache your self-authorisations and then the next time you connect your device to the net it uploads your history (saying that - it does this anyway with your flight logs..)

If DJI decides that they want to rent or lease drones, then they can decide what people do with them. For them to require me to sign into a web site to use a drone that I own is complete B.S.

Harshly punish those that break laws and do stupid stuff with drones, but thats up to the law enforcement agencies and courts. DJI are not the drone police and should not be telling me how or where to fly my drone. GM does not tell me how or where to drive my car now do they.

 

[bighi]

The coast of France.

 

[TheTrickster]

The problem with the car analogy is that with a car you are in full direct control of it. With a quadcopter you are not.

GM does not tell me how or where to drive my car now do they.

 

[sydneymark]

Well, like others I have sent an email.

For me, like others, I can see a need for some kind of greater control or guidelines, but to have it arbitrarily decided by a chinese based company and governed by their servers gives me the biggest concerns, when, not if, their servers go down we presumably will all be screwed, unless the settings will just get lifted, - that would be nice, wouldn't it?

 

[bighi]

DJI sold us a product that works in a way we accepted and liked. They could have implemented an absolute 120 meter or 400 foot absolute altitude limit with reductions as one nears airports and other sensitive areas. This includimg the previous phantom 2 no fly zones. This wouldn't affect model airfields, your own back yard, things of this nature. We would have swallowed that. Instead they plan on implementation of parameters which would completely change the nature of products that were bought and paid for based on previous and accepted parameters. The new parameters would subsequently require sharing information with a private company on a weekly basis. This changes the nature of the product on one's shelf into something that to many of us would have an unacceptable mode of operation. Maybe most of us. I sold a used phantom 3 of mine to this old man who I have been teaching to operate. Including understanding the tablet side of the equation which to some of advanced age can be a challenge. If this geofencing goes on as it is now in beta form he will get out of the hobby altogether. I'm leaning in that direction as well. I'll go back to other interests that don't put me at risk of having my personal details and habits being only a click away from being shared with the corrupt governments of which most of us live under.

Folks, save whatever old firmwares you can find. Be wary that 1.6 only allows for a 1.5 backdate. And do scope out and download the current DJI go apk because right now DJI redirects to Apple's or Google's web stores. So get the apk. I still have two new in box phantom 3 advanced sitting on the shelf with 1.3 firmware. That gives me some peace of mind.

 

[WetDog]

Eh, I can live with that. What would be really nice is a way to automatically warn about TFRs or NOTAMs for a given area within the app.

Nah, that would be USEFUL.

 

[bighi]

Three people died at the ski resort near my house since November. Usual numbers. That's just one mountain. There are a lot of those with ski pistes on them. Who knows, maybe there are a lot more people dying from drone use that we don't know about. Must be because there are a hell of a lot more restrictions regarding drone use when compared to the alcohol fueled skiing I witness on a daily basis.

 

[Davphys]

Best one yet.

The coast of France.

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