Your most recent firmware has grounded me.   Not a happy camper here.   I'm out in rural area trying to take some pics of a property that I shot back in the winter.  Seller wanted current pics with green grass.   There is a small two-bit airfield within five miles and I am unable to launch and get shots from 200' up????
Seriously?

What is going on? You pulled this stunt a year or so ago and then undid it.

same happend to me. amazing experience! grounded on beautiful tropical island and motors locked for a freakin week!
be lucky you going for a camping tour. other idiots like me spend thousands of dollars for a planned drone holiday to get some amazing footage.
i am feeling with you buddy - DJI need to wake up

in situations like this i not get tired to post my favourite artwork i made because i was bored due grounded drone. again...

Well, it's not about control, it's rather about an attempt to eliminate irresponsible flying in potentially endangered or protected places. On other hand, latest geofencing system implemented within Go 4 app seems to be way overdone, making many new NFZ (called Enhanced Warning Zones) practically impossible to unlock without solid internet connection. It affected me as well in some remote places during this summer trip around South BC, Canada ... Definitely geofencing system for consumer class DJI drones need to be tuned up, sifting out zones of lesser importance.

Dobmatt Posted at 2017-7-19 14:33
Well, it's not about control, it's rather about an attempt to eliminate irresponsible flying in potentially endangered or protected places. On other hand, latest geofencing system implemented within Go 4 app seems to be way overdone, making many new NFZ (called Enhanced Warning Zones) practically impossible to unlock without solid internet connection. It affected me as well in some remote places during this summer trip around South BC, Canada ... Definitely geofencing system for consumer class DJI drones need to be tuned up, sifting out zones of lesser importance.

Exactly what parts of southern BC? I am heading there in 2 days..

epicjib Posted at 2017-7-19 14:51
Exactly what parts of southern BC? I am heading there in 2 days..

Hwy #3 (Crowsnest Hwy) along US border, Midway, Greenwood, Grand Forks, Christina Lake, Castlegar and Nelson ... so far. Many unpaved air strips and small airfields, wild habitat protected areas etc., aside obvious red or yellow flagged bigger airports. See geofencing map for your drone Fly Safe.

Dobmatt Posted at 2017-7-19 15:06
Hwy #3 (Crowsnest Hwy) along US border, Midway, Greenwood, Grand Forks, Christina Lake, Castlegar and Nelson ... so far. Many unpaved air strips and small airfields, wild habitat protected areas etc., aside obvious red or yellow flagged bigger airports. See geofencing map for your drone Fly Safe.

whats interesting is that i never see noflyzones when i just turn on my remote and check map. so its not easy to plan to go somewhere.

Did the app show that you are in no fly zone (NFZ)? Since you are near an airfield, the drone can not be taken off in the NFZ. If you need to take off the drone there, I suggest that you contact our flysafe department to unlock the drone in the certain area.  You can send your requirement Email to flysafe@dji.com. Thank you for your understanding.

Hi all, 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. 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.

PandaFlyingcat Posted at 2017-7-19 20:36
whats interesting is that i never see noflyzones when i just turn on my remote and check map. so its not easy to plan to go somewhere.

You can check the NFZ on our website previously before you want to go somewhere with the drone and not sure if it will be a no fly zone: http://www.dji.com/flysafe/no-fly

DJI Thor Posted at 2017-7-20 00:22
You can check the NFZ on our website previously before you want to go somewhere with the drone and not sure if it will be a no fly zone: http://www.dji.com/flysafe/no-fly

yes i got that idea before too. problem is i live near shenzhen and most time i cant even access the DJI webside. it need like 10 minutes to load and only work 20% of all times.

plus the fact that VIP events always come up without warning. how to plan holidays in the future thor? you book a travel to nice place 2 months later. when you arrive its suddenly a NFZ due to some random BS events from some filmstars or so. how to deal with these things?

#

PandaFlyingcat Posted at 2017-7-19 09:00
same happend to me. amazing experience! grounded on beautiful tropical island and motors locked for a freakin week!
be lucky you going for a camping tour. other idiots like me spend thousands of dollars for a planned drone holiday to get some amazing footage.
i am feeling with you buddy - DJI need to wake up

That's awesome! Could be a meem if flying AC was more mainstream.

This thread is making me worried. I was planning on photographing a state park that's illegal to fly in (with a permit of course!) later this summer. No I'm wondering if the drone will even allow me to take off. Does the app only block based on airspace or does it know which areas are just no-fly zones? I don't think the state park is anywhere near an airport it's more than likely illegal just because a lot of people visit there and they don't want drones flying around everywhere crashing into people.

Dobmatt Posted at 2017-7-19 15:06
Hwy #3 (Crowsnest Hwy) along US border, Midway, Greenwood, Grand Forks, Christina Lake, Castlegar and Nelson ... so far. Many unpaved air strips and small airfields, wild habitat protected areas etc., aside obvious red or yellow flagged bigger airports. See geofencing map for your drone Fly Safe.

So you could not fly in the green zones around the aerodrome locations? Nothing listed for Midway area at all, I have found errors in DJI's Geo Fence listing areas that should not give you any nagging questions local to where I am.

djiuser_1UukTMU Posted at 2017-7-20 09:21
This thread is making me worried. I was planning on photographing a state park that's illegal to fly in (with a permit of course!) later this summer. No I'm wondering if the drone will even allow me to take off. Does the app only block based on airspace or does it know which areas are just no-fly zones? I don't think the state park is anywhere near an airport it's more than likely illegal just because a lot of people visit there and they don't want drones flying around everywhere crashing into people.

problem for now is (at least in my country) that from 1. august on ALL DRONES are banned in main cities, parks, tourist areas, mountains, military zones, airports, lakes and not to forget the totally unforseeable random VIP NFZ events which will pop up without warning if some goverment people decide to have brunch in that area or some nonsense... *sigh*

that means my whole area 250km around me will be a giant red circle of death for my P4A+!
travel to another city is useless. visit a nice park? useless! everything will be banned from next month on.
that means i need to book flight ticket to leave the damn country if i want to play my toy? lol also useless because nobody can see what VIP event will appear somewhere on the DJI map. (best example trump on his golf course recently)
that means me and thousands of other customers will have a nice shiny doorstopper in the future.
well done...
p.s.: i forgot to tell you guys the best: you get 2 days jail time here if somebody see you fly in one of these areas. a friend of mine sitting in jail right now as we speak. i need check under what circumstances but this hobby is getting better and better. now i will be a prisoner if i want shoot some photos of a nice sunset in a park?! amazing!
if this madness continue i will throw my shiny P4A+ in the trash and bind a freakin gopro on a balloon with a long line attached! jesus...

djiuser_1UukTMU Posted at 2017-7-20 09:21
This thread is making me worried. I was planning on photographing a state park that's illegal to fly in (with a permit of course!) later this summer. No I'm wondering if the drone will even allow me to take off. Does the app only block based on airspace or does it know which areas are just no-fly zones? I don't think the state park is anywhere near an airport it's more than likely illegal just because a lot of people visit there and they don't want drones flying around everywhere crashing into people.

go to https://www.dji.com/flysafe/geo-map and look for the area you want to fly in. This is an example for Yellowstone National Park. be sure to read what is required to eventually unlock green and yellow marked areas. In the example the two green marked areas do not require unlocking...

PandaFlyingcat Posted at 2017-7-20 10:28
problem for now is (at least in my country) that from 1. august on ALL DRONES are banned in main cities, parks, tourist areas, mountains, military zones, airports, lakes and not to forget the totally unforseeable random VIP NFZ events which will pop up without warning if some goverment people decide to have brunch in that area or some nonsense... *sigh*

that means my whole area 250km around me will be a giant red circle of death for my P4A+!

where do you live???

fanse5c75c2f Posted at 2017-7-20 14:24
where do you live???

As he said earlier, near Shenzhen, DJI's headquarters.

epicjib Posted at 2017-7-20 09:55
So you could not fly in the green zones around the aerodrome locations? Nothing listed for Midway area at all, I have found errors in DJI's Geo Fence listing areas that should not give you any nagging questions local to where I am.

To my understanding Warning Zone will trigger just the display of warning with recommendations to fly cautiously, while Enhanced Warning Zone requires internet connection to declare full responsibility on pilot side and to unlock grounded drone in return. Naturally this approach - although logical - doesn't work if your device is not connected to internet ... Never chad a chance to check if the procedure of unlocking EWZ does work successfully with device connected. And yes, the GEO map has gaps and white spots as well ... I couldn't fly around Midway, actually nowhere near US border.

DJI Thor Posted at 2017-7-20 00:16
Hi all, 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. 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.

Thor, naturally DJI's NFZ feature is very helpful when attempting to fly in unknown, not previously explored areas. Nobody with common sense and traces of responsibility will question the necessity and value of geofencing system. However, the implementation of Enhanced Warning Zones and unlocking procedure raises most concerns posted here. For any pilot on the move, vacation trip to remote places or simply away from well known territory, new densely restricted geofencing for consumer class drones creates a lot of confusion, misunderstandings and bad vibes ...

Dobmatt Posted at 2017-7-20 16:47
Thor, naturally DJI's NFZ feature is very helpful when attempting to fly in unknown, not previously explored areas. Nobody with common sense and traces of responsibility will question the necessity and value of geofencing system. However, the implementation of Enhanced Warning Zones and unlocking procedure raises most concerns posted here. For any pilot on the move, vacation trip to remote places or simply away from well known territory, new densely restricted geofencing for consumer class drones creates a lot of confusion, misunderstandings and bad vibes ...

bad vibes!
these words i was looking for.
for now most guys i know around me (i am in a DJI groupchat with 300+ people) are very angry about the whole situation.
forced updates, locked motors, countless bugs in firmware, crashes in main GO app, bad connection and drone fly aways. there isnt one day in the last months i dont hear somebody complain that his drone crashed or shut off in midair, was grounded for no reason or have any other problem. my second spark remote died yesterday and my spark cant fly. my P4 battery i was sending to DJI 3 times while they try to magicaly make me believe its totally fine even the GO app said: BATTERY CELL DAMAGED! SEND BATTERY TO DJI FOR REPLACEMENT. DO NOT FLY! with screenshot and witness from my local DJI store that this battery is REALLY broken. but no. DJI refuse to give me a new one! all these things combined create bad vibes for the company and soon they will realize it when nobody want buy these nice white doorstoppers.

for me its basically the fact that i cant trust my P4A anymore. i dont want update. i cant be sure it will fly tomorrow or the next update will make all worse again like so many times before.
for now this shiny piece of technology is nothing more but a big pain in the a**

Dobmatt Posted at 2017-7-20 16:18
To my understanding Warning Zone will trigger just the display of warning with recommendations to fly cautiously, while Enhanced Warning Zone requires internet connection to declare full responsibility on pilot side and to unlock grounded drone in return. Naturally this approach - although logical - doesn't work if your device is not connected to internet ... Never chad a chance to check if the procedure of unlocking EWZ does work successfully with device connected. And yes, the GEO map has gaps and white spots as well ... I couldn't fly around Midway, actually nowhere near US border.

http://www.dji.com/flysafe/geo-system states that you do NOT need an internet connection "at the time of your flight"  The whole webpage is quite interesting to read, and I wonder how many actually did...

would using a third party app like autopilot or Litchi circumvent the issue?

Antonio76 Posted at 2017-7-21 02:16
http://www.dji.com/flysafe/geo-system states that you do NOT need an internet connection "at the time of your flight"  The whole webpage is quite interesting to read, and I wonder how many actually did...

Not true, at least in my case. The warning message pops up as soon as I spin the motors, and - since I'm in the middle of nowhere - there's no way to proceed with unlocking procedure. The warning can't be ignored and is blocking all vital Go 4 app functions, therefore all I can do is shut off, pack the stuff and go somewhere else ...

Laws vary in different areas

Dobmatt Posted at 2017-7-21 12:52
Not true, at least in my case. The warning message pops up as soon as I spin the motors, and - since I'm in the middle of nowhere - there's no way to proceed with unlocking procedure. The warning can't be ignored and is blocking all vital Go 4 app functions, therefore all I can do is shut off, pack the stuff and go somewhere else ...

I wonder if using what they call "Flight planner" would work -that is, authorise flights- in advance and for up to 72 hours  for Enhanced warning zones... That would explain the sentence i quoted. If it is so, it certainly is not explained very clearly...

I've decided to lock out Wifi on my drone tablet and refuse any further software updates on the drone or the app and keep it that way until and unless DJI change their current approach, as the largest and most sophisticated drone manufacturer I believe they should be advocating for us, their customers, in the current climate, to maintain the maximum possible freedoms to fly and operate our drones safely, and  I'm deeply concerned about their expanding use of NFZ and their support of ever expanding flight restrictions in various jurisdictions. Had I known that they planned to go down this route, I would not have spent the substantial amounts of money I've invested in their products.


I understand that some restrictions are required, but in the UK there seems to be an undue level of media hysteria around the use of drones, I believe the below image just about covers it.





Let me be clear anyone flying a drone over an airport or on a flight path should face prison, that being said, I believe the risks to aircraft are greatly overstated and probably equivalent to striking a large bird like a goose or a swan, but judging by the "experts" you see quoted in the media, who tend to be pilots have no engineering or physics expertise,  they're much more dangerous to planes than an AIR120 AMRAAM.  I think unconfirmed and alleged sightings of drones has led to a plethora of negative media reporting, which has led to the usual knee jerk reaction from government and a planned mandatory registration and training for all UK drone pilots when the drone weighs over 250g.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-40684581


The current regulations on drone use in the UK are a poor joke and lag far behind the technical reality,  line of sight flight only without an observer, 400ft max flight altitude, not within 50 metres of persons, animals or property you aren't in control of and don't own. They're already absurdly restrictive and at a guess widely ignored, plans to introduce mandatory registration and training is just silly, the only people who would obey it are law abiding citizens, the sort of people who fly on flight paths and over airports and use them to drop drugs etc into prisons are the sort of people who would keep doing this anyway, it will have no net reductive effect on stupid piloting in my opinion..

Antonio76 Posted at 2017-7-21 21:26
I wonder if using what they call "Flight planner" would work -that is, authorise flights- in advance and for up to 72 hours  for Enhanced warning zones... That would explain the sentence i quoted. If it is so, it certainly is not explained very clearly...

Perhaps yes, it may work, but that’s NOT the solution in my case. See, the one and only reason I spent significant amount of money on this platform is the amateur landscape photography. That’s all. Once affordable drones became capable of carrying high quality cameras, boom … I was on it!

An landscape photographer travels a lot with various imaging equipment, capturing potentially attractive scenes as these evolves along. Some traveling routes can be planned, most of them can not. That’s the reality of my style … In no way I could predict that this summer, suddenly, some of my perfectly performing drones will become crippled in places I would never consider restricted. In no way I could predict that consumer class P4P drones with such amazing cameras will became useless in some places normally considered as a wilderness …

Kmelx Posted at 2017-7-21 23:07
I've decided to lock out Wifi on my drone tablet and refuse any further software updates on the drone or the app and keep it that way until and unless DJI change their current approach, as the largest and most sophisticated drone manufacturer I believe they should be advocating for us, their customers, in the current climate, to maintain the maximum possible freedoms to fly and operate our drones safely, and  I'm deeply concerned about their expanding use of NFZ and their support of ever expanding flight restrictions in various jurisdictions. Had I known that they planned to go down this route, I would not have spent the substantial amounts of money I've invested in their products.

As clearly stated on official DJI Fly Safe webpage, geofencing restrictions system is in early stage of development, barely embryo. With great deal of complexity, inconsistency, mistakes, bugs etc., it behaves like a newborn giraffe baby. It's developed not because of you, apparently seasoned and responsible drone pilot. It's developed because thousands of NOT experienced, rookie consumer drones pilots is launching their new toys every day after unboxing and briefly reading Quick Start brochure. It's developed NOT for a handful of hardcore hobbyists or professionals who knows what they're doing. You've been victimized by all this hysteria ... It's complicated ...

Antonio76 Posted at 2017-7-21 21:26
I wonder if using what they call "Flight planner" would work -that is, authorise flights- in advance and for up to 72 hours  for Enhanced warning zones... That would explain the sentence i quoted. If it is so, it certainly is not explained very clearly...

This is the key point.
I would very much like to hear from first hand experience if unblocking an area on the computer before going to a restricted area really works.
Also, is the geofencing only for drones with the last update, or it apply to previous firmware too?

Justin Case Posted at 2017-7-23 06:02
This is the key point.
I would very much like to hear from first hand experience if unblocking an area on the computer before going to a restricted area really works.
Also, is the geofencing only for drones with the last update, or it apply to previous firmware too?

Geofencing is not new - has been around for over a year.

Labroides Posted at 2017-7-23 06:25
Geofencing is not new - has been around for over a year.

Yes, but it's newest incarnation for Go 4 app and consumer grade drones is much more densely restricted than the one used with Go app for professional aircrafts ...

I've asked this question before but we need this answer. Were can you go on the internet to report NFZ mapping errors. I'm traveling right now and can't fly in a 'safe'  because of the NFZ message. I've check three different maps and all say I'm safe to fly in the area I'm in.

TJH Posted at 2017-7-24 14:43
I've asked this question before but we need this answer. Were can you go on the internet to report NFZ mapping errors. I'm traveling right now and can't fly in a 'safe'  because of the NFZ message. I've check three different maps and all say I'm safe to fly in the area I'm in.

LOL....now that's funny right there!   That would make to much common sense...none of which DJI possesses and I can assure you that even if they did they wouldn't give a rats butt about it.  Seems like they wont be happy until then entire globe is a NFZ.  Enjoy it while you can.  

TJH Posted at 2017-7-24 14:43
I've asked this question before but we need this answer. Were can you go on the internet to report NFZ mapping errors. I'm traveling right now and can't fly in a 'safe'  because of the NFZ message. I've check three different maps and all say I'm safe to fly in the area I'm in.

Have you tried to look at the website for the cause of the NFZ?

Someone on here the other day was complaining as they were grounded all weekend, because a large area in their state had been declared a NFZ as Trump was watching a ladies golf tournament in the area.