Make a link between drones and gun control, to gain support of the Republicans.

Just be like.., If a drone can kill, then limit its range.
Therefore, if a gun can kill, limit its firepower/rate.
Apply the same logic.

So instead of fully automatic rifles (2km waypoints)
Guns are restricted to single shot, bolt/lever action rifles (500m waypoints)

its interesting to read all these diverse perspectives!   the human condition raises its head yet again!   its another philosophical simmering
cauldron of perspectives !!
Do we want Onions or not ?

Kit Walker Posted at 2015-9-18 04:04
Make a link between drones and gun control, to gain support of the Republicans.

Just be like..,  ...

do we limit the gun down to where it can't kill then ?  which begs the question, what is a gun for ? First rule regards guns, Auto, or semi auto, or bolt action, single action, double action,  (1) bullet is enough to KILL.  isn't that also dangerous ?

If my drone flies over a house, 50 meters away and it pisses people off, should they restrict it down to 40 meters then?  If the camera can see something 90 meteres away, and people become paranoid and unset, should it be made to go out of focus after 30 meters then ?

This is the problem with a kind of open door appoach where every eventuality has to be considered and acted upon, its goes on, and on, and on, till we just end up, taking a huge hammer and smash them to bits, whalla NO more drone problem. No more restictions, no problem on hight limits, or range, no pervs over swimming pools, or anything else. if they don't exist for us, there is no drone problem, everyones happy  (except those who like them of course) !

option (B)  we have rules!  OK, sounds good,  ( WHO makes them rules?)  what hidden agenda do they have if any and why should 1, 2,5 or 20 people, with THEIR own perspectives dictate to others what they should do. They are not me, I am not them, where is my choice ? someone else ends up telling me or you how to react and behave, based upon their perspectives not my perspectives, is that fair ?

I know that the topis is about IOC but 500m  height limitation is a non sense except if there is an hardware limitation that DJI cannot properly solve by going higher. A simple warning to the user should suffice. So those limitation should be all removable!

rayrokni Posted at 2015-9-14 03:49
i feel for you man, but i believe 1/2km for ioc is good, dont forget this is supposed to be a video  ...

Ray, I agree with you that flying within a 500 meter "radius" during waypoints or POI are fine but (yes there is a but) for waypoints this really is not the case because I have had many of my waypoint missions not work because they use the total of all incremental distances to to calculate not the distance from your home point.  So if I want to film something going 300 meters west down the rural road from me then I want two go 200 meter North then 300 meters east trying to  fly a rectangle where no side is even close to 500 meter,  I cannot do it because I have used up the 500 meters total on the first to legs  and I never flew out of the 500 meter radius.    If the limit for this was from the home point I would be fine 80% of the time and for the other 20% of the time I will use Pix4DMapper when that time comes.  See an example in the following image.
Edit:  I just tried a 1200' waypoint mission which is 365 Meters and I could not do it because it said the Mission was too long.  Well if that is the case, then that means that they count the distance from the  home point to the first way point within that 500 meters you are alotted.  I was positioning my home point (me with controller) this time midway between the ends of a set of way points placed along a slightly curved road.  I used 6 points to fit the curve fairly well and I was setting it up in advance to film my friends bicycling along the road in a couple days.    It started to rain so I could not redo the mission.  But when I get the chance I will have to position myself (the home point) very near point 1 in order to make this work.  In this case it would be a lot safer If I could position myself midway between each end but this 500 Meter limitation is forcing me to one end.   (Please change the limit of the waypoints to all points must be within 500 meters of homepoint and not the current 500 meters total of all legs of the mission).

Sir Edward K Posted at 2015-9-18 09:26
Ray, I agree with you that flying within a 500 meter "radius" during waypoints or POI are fine but  ...

well that sucks, what program is that i see, it is not dji go. if not 500m radius then as u said i cant see it being of much use at all.

rayrokni Posted at 2015-9-18 15:00
well that sucks, what program is that i see, it is not dji go. if not 500m radius then as u said i ...

I just drew the exhibit USING A GIS program called ArcMap.   But I tried to do that waypoint mission and I could only set those 2 points before it told me I had too much distance total.

The limit must go, just as the way of program the waypoints in mid air? this makes it for me not practical at all and i am not using these options annymore, its just for playing it has no practical use of so ever..

The limit must go at once, this is of no practical use just as the way to program waypoints in mid air?
i am not using these funtions annymore the are just for playing and have no practical use of what so ever?!

It would seem to me that the real issue here is reliability. If these things were rock-solid reliable, then limits would make little sense. Until we get to that point, I am in favor of the limits.

gpotter@carolin Posted at 2015-9-24 00:08
It would seem to me that the real issue here is reliability. If these things were rock-solid reliabl ...

Professional are supposed to be...professional
when i purchased my P3 professional, i didnt know about 500m distance limitation for Intelligent flight modes, as Scenario S2 permit 1 km radius in France and its necessary for mapping
I didnt know neither about 10m high minimum altitude to set a waypoint, neither the 3,5m minimum altitude when you decrease altitude during a mission (POI, Waypoints), neither the 5 m minimum radius using POI
Thats a lot of limitation for a professional flying camera, i agree to sign a disclaimer and override them all

Professional are supposed to be...professional
when i purchased my P3 professional, i didnt know about 500m distance limitation for Intelligent flight modes, as Scenario S2 permit 1 km radius in France and its necessary for mapping
I didnt know neither about 10m high minimum altitude to set a waypoint, neither the 3,5m minimum altitude when you decrease altitude during a mission (POI, Waypoints), neither the 5 m minimum radius using POI
Thats a lot of limitation for a professional flying camera, i agree to sign a disclaimer and override them all

So, a petition for professional pilots?

kleake1@gmail.c Posted at 2015-9-15 11:45
I'm not a fan of anyone setting limitations to "force" me to follow their rules.  Cars and speed lim ...

amen Brother.  Sign a statement or something to unlock the limits.  Hell, Amazon can do it with their home delivery service via drone, why not us?

I can build a model Rocket that will go higher than this limit, so what the big deal?

Brandon00151 Posted at 2015-9-14 17:08
Since you have to set your waypoints by flying to them first you pretty much drain your battery if y ...

get Litchi app. you can plan your flight at night in your living room, save it and tomorrow morning you load it and off it goes with full battery and complete autonomous flight plan

rayrokni Posted at 2015-9-14 04:49
i feel for you man, but i believe 1/2km for ioc is good, dont forget this is supposed to be a video  ...

I agree Ray

rayrokni Posted at 2015-9-15 00:22
i am normally, as you maybe able to tell from some threads and replies, very anti "oh lets make a  ...

In another year or two this whole drone fad (which is exactly what it is) will be over, people will lose interest and then real pilots can relax and enjoy.  By then the technology for a super hi-res video camera will have been developed and then real photographers will be able to do their work as they should.  At the moment the Phantoms and other drones are all the rage, so was the hula hoop, mood rings, pet rocks, chia pets, and on and on.  Everybody had to have one.  Right now drones are all the rage, in a year or two, the phenomenon will have been replaced by the new next best thing.

This is just a ( new toy ) it will soon be a thing of the past a yesterdays newspaper.
Iv read a article somewhere from a big aviation investigator, where he stated if an passenger plane was struck  by a drone ( even through the engine ) the damage would be very limited and it would very hard to bring it down,  But then he stated ( this don't mean it couldn't happen ) but its very unlike.
As most people i started with a nano and learned with this, better to be a be to fly a manual first then progress on to a better drone.   I feel experience is a must  but then this would be hard put in place,
so a way round this in my opinion If i was DJI this is the way i would put a limitation on the height and distance until you have some experience then gradually have this increased with the amount of experience you get.
Way this could be done is in the flight time.
Battery charges. and also distance flown.  as its all logged from the flight records.  
i know would be hard to do but its something they could look at
Also even if they put a restriction in place with all the safe fly zones and features and with the  500m and 120m restrictions accidents  will still happen.
what about low flying aircraft and copters.
I fly my P3 a lot on my friends farm at least 20 miles from any airport and any built up areas, quite offtern they get flow flying planes and coppters im talking less than 100m .
so what would the case be if i was flying within all the laws and aviation regulations and a plane fit the drone.
No matter what this is always going to be a very fine line and one thats not going to easy to bypass.
Dji have all the measures in place what they should do is if they can  record flight records with all the other things iv mentioned.
if you go over the limited thee is a message you have to agree with regarding aviation laws if you was to click yes  then this should also be recorded then if any accidents do happen you have agreed to have your arse kicked.

I purchased the Phantom 3 advanced for 2 reasons
1. I wanted to use the Phantom 3 in semi commercial operations. I am a Captain/ fire fighter in Queensland  Australia  and I decided to purchase a Phantom 3 Advanced out of my own money in a bid to get my fire service to see the benefits of UAV’s  as a tool for fighting wild fires and for fire investigation purposes ( needing an over view of structural fire damage post incident).
2. I could then use it for my own filming this is why I didn’t need a camera with an especially high resolution.
I did some investigating prior to purchase for cost, ease of use and range. I came across the DJI web site https://www.dji.com/product/phantom-3/feature and it gave me the following as per the range and I quote “Giving you full control at nearly triple the range of previous Phantom models – up to 3.1 miles (5 km)*. Perfect for wild fires I thought and the price was reasonable and with the available carry case etc.  so I went ahead with my purchase now after 2 flights and some more investigation  I have discovered  that I can’t fly it beyond 500mtrs as there is a restriction placed on the distance . So now I would look a fool if I tried to promote this UAV within my Fire service as its performance is no substantial. I believe I have been defrauded due to the advertising blurb by DJI "Giving you full control at nearly triple the range of previous Phantom models – up to 3.1 miles (5 km)*".  

EYE SKY Posted at 2015-11-13 10:16
I purchased the Phantom 3 advanced for 2 reasons
1. I wanted to use the Phantom 3 in semi commercia ...

Also in Australia, and while I have a 500 Metres height limit, there is no limit on my horizontal range other than the battery and radio communication range. Rocket_aus, who posts here, is also setting greater record flight distances using additional batteries.

Geebax Posted at 2015-11-13 11:48
Also in Australia, and while I have a 500 Metres height limit, there is no limit on my horizontal  ...

So I am a little confused here, this 500m limit, in Australia, only refers to height above ground where you fly from? I have flown out to 3.5km in an  open area with a spotter who has binnoculars but currently havent needed to fly higher than 350m.
However I need to fly up to a waterfall that is 600m above the ground where I will fly from. I cannot fly from any area closer to the height of the waterfall because of line of sight issues.
Does this mean I cannot do this currently? Also using third party apps like Litchi will this get over this height limit?

jennings93@gmai Posted at 2015-11-13 13:31
So I am a little confused here, this 500m limit, in Australia, only refers to height above ground  ...

I think you might be in trouble here, as I don't think any of the alternative apps let you get around the maximum height issue. And yes, you are right, it is the height above the starting or home point.

EYE SKY Posted at 2015-11-13 10:16
I purchased the Phantom 3 advanced for 2 reasons
1. I wanted to use the Phantom 3 in semi commercia ...

I will be interested to see your firefighting video in the future.

Also the 500m limit is referring to height limit, not horizontal distance limit. There is no horizontal distance limit for P3, that's why there have been owners (with simple windsurfer mod) can fly out to 10km+ distance.

Geebax Posted at 2015-11-12 22:30
I think you might be in trouble here, as I don't think any of the alternative apps let you get aro ...

cant you reset home point manually once in the air?
if you set at 100m altitude that would allow you what you need?

ed.weibe Posted at 2015-9-24 05:46
I can build a model Rocket that will go higher than this limit, so what the big deal?

Well, for one thing the FAA wants you to be in visual contact with the bird.  That kinda limits you.

I can't see the thing at 500 m without a pair of binoculars.

rogergolub Posted at 2015-12-15 11:49
Well, for one thing the FAA wants you to be in visual contact with the bird.  That kinda limits yo ...

Not all places that Phantoms/Inspires fly are governed by the FAA

rayrokni Posted at 2015-9-15 21:01
DJI Has seen that too many novices  purchasing the p3 and without any knowledge of flying or all t ...

Out of the many "P3 Dropping out of the sky"  topics I've seen including my own I cant remember a single one 500+ meters away.
If you want an example where long range waypoint paths would be freaking Awesome have a look at THIS topic.

Sir Edward K Posted at 2015-9-18 14:26
Ray, I agree with you that flying within a 500 meter "radius" during waypoints or POI are fine but  ...

Not sure what youre referring to, is it a new limit from a recent fw update?
Here's one flight in two parts. First I flew a lap recording waypoints.
Then without landing for a battery swap I excecuted the recorded mission:
Flytrex data:


And here you can see it in 3D using Google Earth.
Look at how smooth the graphs get when the P3P starts the waypoint mission!

Anyway, this waypoint mission was rougly 3.1km/2 = 1550 meters (3x500 if we pull 50m from smoother wp path)

[RCG]Balthazar Posted at 2015-12-27 23:06
Not sure what youre referring to, is it a new limit from a recent fw update?
Here's one flight in  ...

Yeah I've flown for over 8km in a single flight (a pattern, not in a single direction) fully autonomously without issue. I think the 500m is a radius rather than a flight path I think the flight path limit was something like 5kn IIRC,

As a matter of interest Balthazar what firmware are you on?

I'm on 1.4.10 still as it's been relatively robust for me.

mike.wildlight Posted at 2015-12-27 20:46
Yeah I've flown for over 8km in a single flight (a pattern, not in a single direction) fully auton ...

I have no idea as i lost my drone to (probably) the dreaded battery or sensor issue.


Can we find out from The Log?

[RCG]Balthazar Posted at 2015-12-28 06:37
I have no idea as i lost my drone to (probably) the dreaded battery or sensor issue.

Well that sux

[RCG]Balthazar Posted at 2015-12-27 08:06
Not sure what youre referring to, is it a new limit from a recent fw update?
Here's one flight in  ...

RADIUS,  not TOTAL DISTANCE. I said you cannot use waypoints outside a 500 Meter RADIUS of you while you are flying.  You were only a maximum of 434 Meters away.  So you were bound exactly by what I had stated.     I want  to fly and video my farm field and I cannot.  The end of the road is more than the 500' away.

Sir Edward K Posted at 2015-12-29 15:42
RADIUS,  not TOTAL DISTANCE. I said you cannot use waypoints outside a 500 Meter RADIUS of you whil ...

Sorry Sir I didnt understand this:"I cannot do it because I have used up the 500 meters total on the first to legs  and I never flew out of the 500 meter radius."



What's up with all these RED LETTERS btw?
My bad I guess Cyberfight!!

May be some dynamic IOC distance: start with 200....after x flight hours go to 500 and as a "real" pro unlimited?

Please remove that restriction , there is some places where you need to go higher like mountains , Volcanoes stuff like that , there is not point to fly at 500 meters in a 3KM mountain  

I'm  trying to do some research before purchasing my first quad. My main intended use would be for shooting video of my kids motocross races either using the "follow me" or waypoints intelligent flight modes. A few questions: if using follow me, what does the copter follow? Would I need to strap something on my kid or his dirt bike? Also, if I understand this thread correctly, the intelligent flight modes are currently limited to 500m away from the controller? If so, that makes it almost useless for my needs. Most of the motocross tracks that I can think of are larger then that... thanks

ottermn Posted at 2016-1-14 11:53
I'm  trying to do some research before purchasing my first quad. My main intended use would be for s ...

You are unable to use Follow Me for your purposes.
The Follow Me follows the remote controller and unless you strap the radio to your kids back, you cannot use follow me for his races.
Why not just follow behind him (with the track officials approval).

ottermn Posted at 2016-1-14 04:53
I'm  trying to do some research before purchasing my first quad. My main intended use would be for s ...

I think you'll need something way quicker than a Phantom.
Depending on the bikes and track ofcourse.

I tried with a super quick Phantom 1 without gimbal and here's the results
(All kinds of classes from 80cc to 500cc I think)

[RCG]Balthazar Posted at 2016-1-20 02:13
I think you'll need something way quicker than a Phantom.
Depending on the bikes and track ofcours ...

Yes, I forgot to mention that the top speed of a Phantom is 35mph. Depending on the age of the kids and size of bikes, a Phantom may not keep up even if you were following them around the track.
BUT to make a nice video you don't need to follow him around the track 100% of the time. You can follow them some, then go to different areas of the track and hover and get them passing by.