Hello,

I have a constant and systematic double red long flash between all green satellite flashing sequence.

For example, while testing this problem outside, motor off, with my drone placed on a small plastic kinder table, I was receiving 15 to 16 satellites and was with green status, ready to start engines. In this configuration, I counted 6 green flash, followed by 2 red, then again 6x green, 2x red, etc...

When flying, my Phantom 4 Pro behave normally and I have not remarked any troubles, except this systematic double red long flash.

I have calibrated IMU, but this make no difference.

I cannot find in the documentation any explanation of this drone status led flashing sequence. Does anybody know what is happen here ?

To be complete, I am in a yellow autorization zone which I have unlocked for 3 days.

I have the exact same issue hadnt had trouble with it until this last weekend i have some failure where the drone drifted and of course hit the 1 possible thing in a big open feild... hit at about 40mph drone badly damaged if i were you dont use in sport mode till you figure out what is wrong.

@bluemarley, so you still don't know what is the meaning of this flashing sequence ?

@DJI guys, tell us what it mean and if it is something wrong, what should we do to correct this.

Thanks in forward.

Page 56 of the manual, you'll find it's because you're in the authorisation zone.

Dirty Bird Posted at 2017-8-16 16:02
Sounds like an NFZ Proximity Alert.  Basically it's a warning that you are flying near an NFZ or restricted flying area.  If you want to see this skip to around 3:50 In the video & you'll see it happen 4 times.  It's warning me of an NFZ for the two Baltimore stadiums a few blocks to the west.

https://youtu.be/26ztIk624cs

D Bird,  

Cool vid, like it!

Nice job keeping in trail too, you’d make an excellent wingman.  

However, the flashing I'm seeing does not seem to be what he is describing here?  Seeing a lot more flashes than the 2x, Although Aardvark seems to agree with you on this.

On another note, I’ve read horror stories where craft end up falling out of the sky when it flies in or near a NFZ and has not been “unlocked.”  What can you report on this, did you have any close calls filming this or did you do some advance work to avoid those problems?

Genghis9 Posted at 2017-8-16 16:24
D Bird,  Cool vid, like it!Nice job keeping in trail too, you’d make an excellent wingman.  However, the flashing I'm seeing does not seem to be what he is describing here?  Seeing a lot more flashes than the 2x, Although Aardvark seems to agree with you on this.On another note, I’ve read horror stories where craft end up falling out of the sky when it flies in or near a NFZ and has not been “unlocked.”  What can you report on this, did you have any close calls filming this or did you do some advance work to avoid those problems?

The manual description may not be wholly accurate, further mention in this post http://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=108365

Aardvark Posted at 2017-8-16 17:03
The manual description may not be wholly accurate, further mention in this post http://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=108365

  

Thank you, I read this thread before, and I acknowledge your point about it.  

  I can only say this, it is absolutely maddening to me that if they are going to put all these type bells & whistles in these system then for Pete sake fully inform us about it.  They need to keep this stuff standardized and consistent and above all else documented so we don’t end up chasing our tails trying to figure out what’s wrong when in reality nothing really is.  It generates unnecessary confusion and effort to figure this all out.

Dirty Bird Posted at 2017-8-16 18:07
I have not personally experienced an NFZ issue but know someone who did.  When the bird reached the NFZ (which was NOT identified on the map) the bird engaged a non-abortable auto-landing.   The pilot was a couple of miles away & it was by sheer luck it landed in the only vacant lot around.  He was able to retrieve the drone & we reported the incident to DJI.  At some point in the FW updates it was mentioned they modified NFZ behavior but I don't know what specific changes were made?  Because of the type of missions I fly, all of birds are running older FW & apps to avoid problems.

  

OK, understood

  But...the drone in your video was indicating a NFZ?  I guess what you are saying, in that case, is it was a constant warning that one was near but you were not actually in it, correct?  I guess the magic occurs when you enter a DJI established NFZ, and of course if they don't publish it then what the heck over!  Seems they have created an obstacle course that is harder to navigate then flying one of their drones.

The red light usually appeared near the NFZ. I would recommend you to contact Flysafe Team via flysafe@dji.com for further assistance.

@Dirty bird, thanks for the video ! Yes, it is exactly what happen in my case, except that the two red flash occur in between an other info sequence, which is a rapid burst of orange flashes (I don't remember yet the meaning). I my case, as mentionned before, it was a sequence of 6 slow green flashes.

@DJI Susan: OK, you also think this has something to do with NFZ. I had already had contact with flysafe@dji.com about other NFZ problems. So maybe, I will contact them again...

@All ...But before, I will go outside the authorization zone where I am for a test flight and see if these two red flashes disappear. I will report here the result, so this thread may be useful for other pilots in the future.

Hi Guys !

Everthing is clear now !

This morning, I went away from my home in the autorization zone (yellow) to a location in the middle of the next zone, the Enhanced warning zone (green) and do my test flight. I was happy to see that the two red flashes disappeared. My drone received about 15/16 GPS satellite and the drone status lights were blinking slowly only in green. For those who might be interested to see the locations with these three zones (green, yellow, red) on the DJI GEO System map, the airport near my home is "La Blecherette", in Lausanne town near Geneva Lake, in Switzerland.

What is interesting is that I had a warning window when I tried to start my motors. This was an "Enhanced warning zone message" which remind my to be cautious, to respect the rules and that I have to accept the full responsability of the flight. After pressing "OK", I was able to start my motors an fly without any problem. I didn't had a confirmation process, through credit card or phone code. Maybe it was because I have recently unlocked the authorisation zone or maybe confirmation is not required for Enhanced warning zone. I don't know. For your information, I was deconnected from Internet (I use a tablet without phone).

Thanks again to all who helped to understand this behavior of the drone status lights !

For the record, I have consulted the chapter of the english user manual 1.2 (page 56) and it is not clearly specified that you get 2 red blink when closing a NoFly zone or/and when flying inside an authorization zone you have unlocked. What is funny, is that the french version of this 1.2 user manual has more informations ! In this version, there is an additional table, where they speak about red blinking of the drone status lights, but they do not speak of this characteristic slow 2x red flashes. In fact, they just say "red blinking" and in an additional remark after the table, they speak about "a 3 seconds rapid red blinking" which is obviously not what happen in our case.

ACSoft Posted at 2017-8-18 01:35
Hi Guys !

Everthing is clear now !

Glad to hear that. Thanks for your feedback. Should you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us at any time, we're glad to help.

Genghis9 Posted at 2017-8-16 16:24
D Bird,  Cool vid, like it!Nice job keeping in trail too, you’d make an excellent wingman.  However, the flashing I'm seeing does not seem to be what he is describing here?  Seeing a lot more flashes than the 2x, Although Aardvark seems to agree with you on this.On another note, I’ve read horror stories where craft end up falling out of the sky when it flies in or near a NFZ and has not been “unlocked.”  What can you report on this, did you have any close calls filming this or did you do some advance work to avoid those problems?

From Dji.com flysafe.

DJI’s No Fly Zone (NFZ) feature can help you avoid inadvertent operation in locations that could raise safety or security concerns, such as near airports. NFZ will in many cases warn you about these areas if you fly towards them, or try to takeoff within them.  In certain locations, the device will automatically be prevented from takeoff, or if already in flight towards the location, will pause at the boundary and not enter. The NFZ system, which is an informational feature, does not include all areas that might raise concerns. Any map provided by DJI is for advisory purposes only. It is always the user’s responsibility to determine what laws or regulations apply to any operation, and to obtain any required government authorizations.

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-8-19 06:24
From Dji.com flysafe.

DJI’s No Fly Zone (NFZ) feature can help you avoid inadvertent operation in locations that could raise safety or security concerns, such as near airports. NFZ will in many cases warn you about these areas if you fly towards them, or try to takeoff within them.  In certain locations, the device will automatically be prevented from takeoff, or if already in flight towards the location, will pause at the boundary and not enter. The NFZ system, which is an informational feature, does not include all areas that might raise concerns. Any map provided by DJI is for advisory purposes only. It is always the user’s responsibility to determine what laws or regulations apply to any operation, and to obtain any required government authorizations.

All valid info and understood.  However, even more reason DJI should not be in the worldwide airspace police business with all of this.  Even the ICAO has challenges keeping up with all the various airspace rules.  Technically speaking the plotted circles here in the states that DJI has marked on their map is not only inaccurate from an FAA airspace definition standpoint but it leads to confusion as well.  I’m even amused that they flag and identify a small grass strip used seasonally by a crop-duster the same as an active airfield in use 24/7.  They have even flagged abandoned airfields the same.  Now that said, I appreciate what they are trying to do, and thankfully, their circles are conservative in design, which does help slightly.  Yet their effort only makes flying more complicated and burdensome.  At some point, you must let the owners be the responsible party, NOT the company that sold you the product.

As they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions!

Genghis9 Posted at 2017-8-19 06:50
All valid info and understood.  However, even more reason DJI should not be in the worldwide airspace police business with all of this.  Even the ICAO has challenges keeping up with all the various airspace rules.  Technically speaking the plotted circles here in the states that DJI has marked on their map is not only inaccurate from an FAA airspace definition standpoint but it leads to confusion as well.  I’m even amused that they flag and identify a small grass strip used seasonally by a crop-duster the same as an active airfield in use 24/7.  They have even flagged abandoned airfields the same.  Now that said, I appreciate what they are trying to do, and thankfully, their circles are conservative in design, which does help slightly.  Yet their effort only makes flying more complicated and burdensome.  At some point, you must let the owners be the responsible party, NOT the company that sold you the product.As they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions!

Funny you should mention ICAO , I attended a seminar in Europe held by EASA, there was a speaker from ICAO who spoke of engaging with drone manufacturers ( No specific ones) regarding the safety measures being taken by them regarding the air safety of their drones.
Specifics were not given or announced but I got the impression that talks with drone manufacturers are ongoing all the time.
I know particularly in US much of the NFZ are poorly constituted and how and where or with who these were put together doesn't seem to be privy to anyone , it seems strange that dji would be allowed to just impose all these NFZ without any permission or imposition by those responsible for NFZ zones.
If you forget about all the wrong NFZ zones set for dji drones for one minute. Imagine if dji could generate NFZ zones for all major airports that would guarantee that their drones should not breech these zones, is this really a bad thing I'm sure it is likely to save airports a huge amount of money which they may have to spend to secure themselves from illegal flying of drones breaching their security.
Remember just the sighting of a drone inside controlled airspace has the effect of shutting down airports until drone is killed. I fail to see the bad in this.

Yes I realise that much of the NFZ zones dji have got wrong and major work in correcting these would need to be done.
But with the exponential growth in those buying and flying drones then those interested parties looking to get their areas buildings i.e. Government historical sites parks cities etc protected by applying or imposing NFZ zones, who should bear the cost of this, surely if dji  where able to stop their drones flying into genuine NFZ zones, this would save everyone a huge load of money and take care of major headaches for those trying to police all of this.

I do realise much work needs to be done, but I'm sure we will see a growing number of bodies looking to secure their areas from intrusion of the ever growing drone market.

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-8-19 07:42
Funny you should mention ICAO , I attended a seminar in Europe held by EASA, there was a speaker from ICAO who spoke of engaging with drone manufacturers ( No specific ones) regarding the safety measures being taken by them regarding the air safety of their drones.
Specifics were not given or announced but I got the impression that talks with drone manufacturers are ongoing all the time.
I know particularly in US much of the NFZ are poorly constituted and how and where or with who these were put together doesn't seem to be privy to anyone , it seems strange that dji would be allowed to just impose all these NFZ without any permission or imposition by those responsible for NFZ zones.

As I have commented on this subject before, I recognize that no serious person in our hobby, sport, and/or profession (applied accordingly) has an issue with flight safety and exploring ways to ensure airspace deconfliction.  The problem comes down to reasonableness and practicality.  Even google has trouble keeping up with their maps and satellite imagery, the world is a dynamic place and especially in countries like the US where we are constantly building, rebuilding, and changing things.  I feel DJI has enough on their plate just to design, improve, and produce their equipment, look at the trouble they are having with firmware, and some of it is self-inflicted.  

I would be less opposed to permanent and precisely identified airspace definitions of “major” airfields and military installations, but even that could be a major headache keeping track of all the changes that occur with them.  The problem with military airspace is in itself dynamic, one day a chunk of airspace is wide open and the next it is blocked off, sure, you have the NOTAM system, but most droners can’t read the manual to their own craft.  However, even this presents problems for legitimate drone operators that have a valid and therefore right to operate their aircraft in some of these flagged airspace areas.  For example, many airshows invite model aircraft operators to their events, at airports.  Most all model aircraft do not have the onerous restrictions put on them by their designers/manufacturers that DJI does, and therefore can fly at such an event with no trouble.  At present, a US DJI drone owner, who has proper clearance and permission from the controlling FAA authority, still has to deal with a foreign company to get permission to operate their property.  Even more burdensome is that the FAA will grant a waiver for 72 hours or more, but DJI will only give you 24 hours on the Go App and 72 on their website, if you already have clearance for a week or so DJI should not be requiring you to keep “mother may I’ing” them every day or so.  That makes no sense to me whatsoever.  In the US the FAA is the controlling authority, not China’s DJI, sorry I refuse to see that aspect of this any other way, last I checked we did not cede sovereignty of our airspace and ipso facto our property to China’s DJI.

Genghis9 Posted at 2017-8-19 09:35
As I have commented on this subject before, I recognize that no serious person in our hobby, sport, and/or profession (applied accordingly) has an issue with flight safety and exploring ways to ensure airspace deconfliction.  The problem comes down to reasonableness and practicality.  Even google has trouble keeping up with their maps and satellite imagery, the world is a dynamic place and especially in countries like the US where we are constantly building, rebuilding, and changing things.  I feel DJI has enough on their plate just to design, improve, and produce their equipment, look at the trouble they are having with firmware, and some of it is self-inflicted.  I would be less opposed to permanent and precisely identified airspace definitions of “major” airfields and military installations, but even that could be a major headache keeping track of all the changes that occur with them.  The problem with military airspace is in itself dynamic, one day a chunk of airspace is wide open and the next it is blocked off, sure, you have the NOTAM system, but most droners can’t read the manual to their own craft.  However, even this presents problems for legitimate drone operators that have a valid and therefore right to operate their aircraft in some of these flagged airspace areas.  For example, many airshows invite model aircraft operators to their events, at airports.  Most all model aircraft do not have the onerous restrictions put on them by their designers/manufacturers that DJI does, and therefore can fly at such an event with no trouble.  At present, a US DJI drone owner, who has proper clearance and permission from the controlling FAA authority, still has to deal with a foreign company to get permission to operate their property.  Even more burdensome is that the FAA will grant a waiver for 72 hours or more, but DJI will only give you 24 hours on the Go App and 72 on their website, if you already have clearance for a week or so DJI should not be requiring you to keep “mother may I’ing” them every day or so.  That makes no sense to me whatsoever.  In the US the FAA is the controlling authority, not China’s DJI, sorry I refuse to see that aspect of this any other way, last I checked we did not cede sovereignty of our airspace and ipso facto our property to China’s DJI.

Sorry you may have missed my point, it's not about giving a Chinese company sovereignty over your airspace, you will also find American company go pro karma also operate NFZ in lots of countries including your own.
My point was the coming need to protect NFZ zones , with the massive growth in drone flying.

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-8-19 10:12
Sorry you may have missed my point, it's not about giving a Chinese company sovereignty over your airspace, you will also find American company go pro karma also operate NFZ in lots of countries including your own.
My point was the coming need to protect NFZ zones , with the massive growth in drone flying.

Yes, apparently I misunderstood your point…I agree, all craft operating in the air needs to be deconflicted to one extent or the other, and all airspace should be made as safe as possible.

With respect to GoPro (Karma) et al, I have the same critical concerns for any company attempting to usurp national control of airspace and/or just layer on additive and burdensome bureaucratic procedures to the process.  I guess I look at this way, the FAA is specifically tasked with keepig our airspace safe, and no other entity should be adding a redundant layer to that effort.  However, I think ALL companies of small aircraft, drones, or otherwise should be cooperating with the FAA, ICAO, and other nations to work out procedures to protect airspace.

When flying in No Fly zones, the aircraft's status indicator will blink red slowly and continue for 5 seconds, then switch to indicate the current flying status and continue for 12 seconds, at which point it will switch back to blinking red slowly.
This aircraft's status indicator blinking patterns in No Fly zones were changed with the new firmware, the manual will be updated then.

Aardvark Posted at 2017-8-16 14:00
Page 56 of the manual, you'll find it's because you're in the authorisation zone.

Thanks for this info, it is exactly what I am experiencing, yes, I am flying in a yellow zone, have a waiver from the FAA, and have a 129 ft. ceiling limit.  Now, I can rest my mind.

Thanks again...

Rick

Aardvark Posted at 2017-8-16 14:00
Page 56 of the manual, you'll find it's because you're in the authorisation zone.

Excellent find, thank you, my new mystery is solved, the bird is fine, I can relax once again.  I live two houses inside of the yellow zone, have a FAA waiver to fly, and a ceiling of 129ft.  

Thanks again,

Rick

Dirty Bird Posted at 2017-8-16 16:02
Sounds like an NFZ Proximity Alert.  Basically it's a warning that you are flying near an NFZ or restricted flying area.  If you want to see this skip to around 3:50 In the video & you'll see it happen 4 times.  It's warning me of an NFZ for the two Baltimore stadiums a few blocks to the west.

https://youtu.be/26ztIk624cs

One heck of an impressive video, found out what my lights are all about, different from your video, but it is a great learning experience for me to watch what happens to your drone once you got near a forbidden zone.  Thanks for the help.

Rick

Rescue 1 Posted at 8-27 09:01
Excellent find, thank you, my new mystery is solved, the bird is fine, I can relax once again.  I live two houses inside of the yellow zone, have a FAA waiver to fly, and a ceiling of 129ft.  

Thanks again,

Yes, sometimes things are not best laid out in the manual, but scattered about in notes, addendums etc.

Good to hear that all is working as should be