I love the Inspire One and with 11 hours of flight time on it i'm not considdered a begginer. Knowing more DJI Pilot app options will become availiable with time (ie: ground staion, POI, ect) but to limit the Inspire to 500m (1640 feet) when we paid for the extra range is insulting. I got that range with my Phantom 2 V+.

Does anybody know when if ever, we will be able to fly the max height?

The Inspire can go up to 2KM, some have gone further.

If you don't like the distance limit just turn the limit switch off.

i think he mean the height

my app in ios says "Set Maximum Flight Altitude and the options are 10-500 meters... so he is right the maximum altitude is set for 500m because in north america (canada and usa) it is illegal to fly over 400 meters

Just put 0, and you do not have any-more height limitation.
But soon or later you will have to pay a huge fine and spend probably some time in jail!

Just remember, when you go beyond the prescribed limits, both height and distance, you run the risk of something untoward happening. Please, don't give the powers that be, no matter where you live, the reason to ban these wonderful devices.

FLY SAFE. FLY SMART. FLY LONGER.

Chato1974.gmail Posted at 2015-2-25 16:21
I'm not trying to sound stupid but "how do you turn off the limits"? My pilot app need a number fro ...

Are you in beginner mode?

Why would anyone want to fly a UAV in commercial air space???  it's ILLEGAL, STUPID and DANGEROUS !!!!!!!!!

Yes, really there is no point to be flying that high, unless you working for the weather channel

Fred Posted at 2015-2-25 22:49
Why would anyone want to fly a UAV in commercial air space???  it's ILLEGAL, STUPID and DANGEROUS !! ...

Fred, every time I see your avatar of that dog I can't help but chuckle. Thanks!

If I were you I'd be very glad that it's not permantly set at 120 meters or less ...And this could happen .
A 500 meter limit Is huge .. that's 1600 feet plus , and if you look at some of the past three years of foolishness guys with no experience with any rc flying , planes helis or quads .... plenty of YouTube video showing quads obtaining extreme altitude and some losing tx or simply running out of battery and sailing back to earth from 2500 or more feet up and moving at a good clip when it hits .... .??? Hurt some one seriously with a quad I'm guessing it could be the worst thing youll ever experienced let alone a whole commercial flight full of people .. ya think ?
I don't really like to be restricted either  but then 1600 feet is four times the max accepted safe limit .
Pretty good if you think about it .

UAV's in the US are supposed to stay below 400 feet AGL NOT 400 or 500 meters.  Having said that, it would be nice if we didn't have a set height limit in the software.  In Hawaii we have some very tall and very steep Mountains that rise directly from sea level.  So if launching near sea level/0 ft, it is very possible to fly just a few hundred feet away horizontially and need to fly several thousand feet vertically while still only being less than 100 feet AGL, but unfortunately the software bases height limits from Take off location and doesn't account for extreme topography.  

Boy if you want some excitement fly up a waterfall 300 feet up a few feet from the rock wall  , fly out over water to some distance at two hundred feet altitude the go atti and dive forward towards the water fast and level off at fifteen feet above and skim the , lake , ocean or favorite river .. Fly through some forest trails .. Technical flying experience is very satisfying and keeps Yer brain twitching , flying up to Max altitude for kicks just to look down is pretty boring really , and just a stunt for wise guys mostly ...

Its the few whom spoil it for the many.

Fred Posted at 2015-2-25 22:49
Why would anyone want to fly a UAV in commercial air space???  it's ILLEGAL, STUPID and DANGEROUS !! ...

Irresponsible, unnecessary, out of the hobby concept , if some body need pictures over 400 , easy way "rent a helicopter"

The two limits are being confused. There is an altitude limit and a distance limit. In the US 400 feet altitude and maintaining visual contact are the expected limits. I don"t think that I could do very well visually past 500 m distance or roughly 1600 ft away.  Apparently you can turn the limits off, but for what reasonable purpose I would ask?

400 feet AGL, yes, but what if I wanted to track a ski lift going up a mountain or fly to the top of a canyon that's over 1600 feet tall.  I'm legally allowed to, but the app won't let me do that.

rossching.gmail Posted at 2015-2-26 14:15
400 feet AGL, yes, but what if I wanted to track a ski lift going up a mountain or fly to the top of ...

Is that true??? I often wondered that? what happens when im up in the mountains? BUT i think i read somewhere that its 400 from where you take off from, or else it would be really crap!

I flew over about 1,000 acres of commercial property today at the request of the owner and was not able to even get to 400' in elevation.  I am assuming that the latest firmware has restricted me and everyone else of even getting to 400' above the ground.

This really hurts as I made sure that I was not in a flight path, over a residential area or people for that matter.  Taking still shots of a tract that size from 400' is like taking shots of the Empire State building from across the street.

I now miss the 1,640' limit that seemed restrictive.

scott.h.billing Posted at 2015-8-15 06:53
I flew over about 1,000 acres of commercial property today at the request of the owner and was not a ...

Hey Scott,  

You were not able to exceed 400 feet?  Is the new firmware not giving you any further options for height?

Dan

The 400 foot legend came from FAA recommendations for flying near airports.  Even the AMA's  original response to such recommendations decried the idea of such an altitude restriction universally imposed on hobbyists as impractical.  In many applications, it is.   But most experienced RC people who are used to being left alone are happy enough to let the myth maintain itself; now that their hobby could be destroyed by doofus heads who want to disrupt airspace anywhere and everywhere -- including areas near airports -- thereby ending what has been a very healthy and safe pursuit at altitudes above 400 feet for a half century.  As we now see, the newest FAA proposals for commercial UAS capitalize further on the original airport specific ideal. One of executive agency code's greatest characteristics has always been its inherent ambiguity and any agency will rely on it as long as it can.  Now, everyone and their dog is flying a drone and the FAA will feel forced to clear up such ambiguities as only federal regulatory agencies can...at our further expense.

As for the original post, not sure DJI would ever raise the height limit.   I'm more worried about DJI docking altitude limits even further. It becomes clearer every day that humans will abuse anything they can get their hands on.  DJI is trying to maintain a balance.  They want to serve the interest of people who need a bit more altitude in certain remote situations and countries while dealing with the practical realities of high production and distribution to people who have the money to buy their products but not enough sense to fly them safely.

daninperth Posted at 2015-8-15 10:49
The 400 foot legend came from FAA recommendations for flying near airports.  Even the AMA's  origina ...

Well said!

DJI-Dave Posted at 2015-8-15 13:03
Well said!

Thank you Dave!

A hight limit is completely nonsense because the 0 height is your starting point so if there is a limit of 400 feet you will likely crash into the next hill where this @400 feet@ magically become 0 feet or at least you fly in a tree in case of rth after it.

I hope this is a misunderstanding I will test it if there is or ever will come a 400ft firmware limit (while i am allowed to fly 1000ft in germany) I immediately return it for a full cash refund at the EU dealer I bought it from. No wonder DJI makes massive propaganda for their own China shop to circumvent EU consumer legislation. I would NEVER buy such a thing from a dealer residing outside EU.

I had heard that DJI had put in height limits and no fly zones into the software.  

I am assuming that because the place I was flying was either in or near the limits of a major metropolitan area that the limit was imposed.  It is ridiculous since radio towers over 1000' were on and nearby my flight area.  No regular flight path either.

It really made my job harder.

I am going to go out into the country and see if the limit is there also.

daninperth Posted at 2015-8-15 10:39
Hey Scott,  

You were not able to exceed 400 feet?  Is the new firmware not giving you any furthe ...

The screen said 500 meters but 393 feet was the ceiling.  Distance was not limited but the lower height took away from the signal.

daninperth Posted at 2015-8-15 10:39
Hey Scott,  

You were not able to exceed 400 feet?  Is the new firmware not giving you any furthe ...

The menu says 10-500m and I filled in 500m (1640').

The actual height was 393'.

The distance away was not affected but limited due to signal strength and the lower height.

daninperth Posted at 2015-8-15 10:49
The 400 foot legend came from FAA recommendations for flying near airports.  Even the AMA's  origina ...

I certainly agree.  

A lot of idiots are flying recklessly and DJI is a big target for litigation.  With that in mind, firmware updates that restrict larger than necessary airspace is most likely what has happened.

It is a shame as the video and still shots from 1500'+ of ranches are really nice.  

So, the project I started yesterday will take 3-5 sessions instead of 1.

alexmarnas Posted at 2015-2-25 18:32
Just put 0, and you do not have any-more height limitation.
But soon or later you will have to pay a ...

This is not true with the newest firmware. I tested it today.... I put 0 in, and then hit enter, it automatically replaced the 0 with 500.

scott.h.billing Posted at 2015-8-16 04:01
The menu says 10-500m and I filled in 500m (1640').

The actual height was 393'.

It was probably just the area you were in. I do not think it is now 400 feet height limit everywhere. I can test this out next time I fly.

If you were in a position to get permission to film or photograph the world's tallest man made structures, you'd need to go over 500m

scott.h.billing Posted at 2015-8-16 04:01
The menu says 10-500m and I filled in 500m (1640').

The actual height was 393'.

That distance/line of sight issue is definitely one of the problems with altitude restriction when in high wooded or hilly areas.  And of course we are ending up at a different above ground altitude if you are flying up the hill.

Sorry to hear you didn't get to do the job you wanted because of that.   

Dan

So we are restricted to going over small hills?  from what I can recall their is a alternative piece of software not dji that you can use instead of the dji software

arunmehta Posted at 2015-2-25 18:11
my app in ios says "Set Maximum Flight Altitude and the options are 10-500 meters... so he is right  ...

Um, that's 400 feet, not 400 meters.

Taking it high is dangerous especially with all the commercial flights and helicopters running around all the time. I would not recommend it.

daninperth Posted at 2015-8-16 19:05
That distance/line of sight issue is definitely one of the problems with altitude restriction when ...

Okay, so I studied the "new" manual from July 2015.  I also studied the website and "fly safe" and basically put in hours of study.

This drone has functions and features that I have yet to utilize.

I believe that the fact that I had just updated the firmware on everything and it took a whole lot longer, made new sounds, lit up the LEDs, etc.  With that I had not noticed that I or something had changed a setting from P to A.  Never again will that happen.

Why would anyone switch the master remote to the center function?  That explains why the drone seemed to drift and it has a 120 meter height limit.

With that information I am going back out to the job and see if I can go high.  There still may be a height limit as military aircraft do fly over this property on rare occasions.  

One other thing learned on the fly safe part of the site is that the number of no fly zones is much fewer than I thought and less restrictive than I would have thought.  Military bases are not even labeled (but they may still be no fly or low fly zones that don't show up on the map).

Thank you for you input.

It was greatly appreciated.

Skinnertron Posted at 2015-8-16 18:55
If you were in a position to get permission to film or photograph the world's tallest man made struc ...

You are correct and you need to remember that the 500 meter limit is from the point of takeoff and not an altitude thing.  The manual says to not fly over 14,000' + above sea level so the world's tallest structures are no problem except that the drone is limited to winds of just under 25 mph which are not in line with being at high altitudes.

daninperth Posted at 2015-8-15 10:39
Hey Scott,  

You were not able to exceed 400 feet?  Is the new firmware not giving you any furthe ...

I don't know if I have answered this yet or not.

The new firmware and software both allowed a 500 meter maximum height and distance.

I now believe that the function switch had been moved to the center position and that position limits height to 120 meters which just might be around 393'.

wow i was getting ready to send my inspire back im in alaska and fly up mountains and glaciers all the time 400 feet would kill my business......