It's not just about not flying in restricted airspace, it's about having to unlock the geozone after you've got LAANC approval - an aggravating step, especially when you have to set up a hot spot if you have enough cell coverage. It WAS a real pain in the ass...
I did some photos today for Airbus in Mobile, We have a FAA Waiver but when we set up to Fly today, we did not have to go to the waiver to unlock the drone or unlock anything. Once we started the drone, we were able to take off, both my friend and I both. Brookley Aeroplex is Class D airspace. Go figure that.
I was happy to see GeoZone go but my 2nd thought was I probably will get a call from The FAA or are local KCEF asking if I was flying. I'm well known in town and when the drone fiasco in New Jersey was happening, I was getting messages from lots of people asking if it was me they just saw flying. Everyone won't abide by the laws, unfortunately.
To be honest, I'm super happy that this happened! I hated having to constantly ask permission for an area that I obviously know I can't go above a certain altitude. I just hope everyone else respects it all
@@billjohnsonseattle It obviously was put in place to identify drones that were breaking the rules but that's an "active" technology that requires someone to be close enough to the drone to pick up their RemoteID and then chase down the offender. It's an incident based solution that takes time and effort. Geofencing is designed to be a "passive" solution to prevent those same pilots from ever having the chance to break the law by stopping them from entering these locations. It's also automatic and can apply to thousands of flights at the same time with no intervention. Easy solution to a potentially serious issue.
Rick, here's some grief for you. As a commercial 107 drone pilot, I've wasted countless hours dealing with DJIs made up, BS geofencing that was not in agreement with the real LAANC air space maps. It was poorly researched, poorly implemented, and during the entire time it was active it did zero good for me, my business, or my bottom line. There is no way, a foreign company should be able to regulate where certificated drone pilots can fly in another country. Being just a little responsible and taking a few moments to plan is not that hard. Very happy to see that BS nanny control gone and I hope we never, ever, see any crap like that again.
Exactly. And they wren't responsive to feedback about those made up zones that didn't align with the ACTUAL airspace boundaries. Their response was always something along the lines of "well we aren't the FAA" or "we made it a long time ago and it's hard for us to keep everything up to date". Ok then why are you enforcing laws you don't understand and cannot stay on top of? This is awesome news.
I am there with you. Many times I had approval from the FAA, andbut then realized i had to unlock the drone through dji, basically cancelling my job. It made me paranoid on every job after that, that I would have to get FAA approval, that I would just upload the info into the dji website. This is a celebration 🎉🥳
I agree! I also think however that they should make some sort of open source solution that allows the FAA could put some sort of feed into to keep it up to date. Especially with TFR's. I think they could do a better job of it. That said I understand why they got rid of it, our government hasn't really been nice to these drone companies with restrictions etc. After so many changes it becomes a hassle to keep fixing things just to keep up with law changes. I also wonder if this is some form of retaliation by China for some of the various things we have been doing , and have done to them. I also think a warning message is really the only thing that should block part 107. It should not need more than a warning for 107. But I think to keep it safe, the FAA should be able to feed it the correct information for non licensed pilots. But it is what it is
Ya until they ban them for flying in no fly zones , there are always people with no respect for rules who ruin things for us responsible ones , i get your point but there are more morons then responsible people so this will bite us in the ass you watch and see ........
Geo fencing has been removed for a while now in the UK, and has not resulted in masses of people flying their DJI drones in airspace they should not be in, granted there will always be stupid people who will ignore rules and laws but 99% seem to fly sensibly, i would like to think it will be similar in the states too.
interestingly, it was also removed by DJI in response to RID being introduced. I think you will see DJI remove geofencing in any region that mandates RID.
Laws are always made for the stupid few that cause the problems. Look at all of the firearms laws that affect everyone because one or two people did something stupid/bad with them. Once someone does something bad with a drone, you can bet the laws will come down hard for everyone.
I'm happy about this. My house is a Class D airspace with zero altitude for certain hours, and Class G unrestricted airspace for other hours. But the DJI geofence prevented flights at all times - it couldn't handle time-dependent airspace designations.
It sounds like you still are not authorized to fly in your yard. Removing geofencing is still good for authorized pilots who take the time to gain FAA approval. But people like you who think you can start flying next to an airport now?, that's a problem.
@@sethbob5742 I live in an area where the airport is up on the Rim Rocks. I live below below them. The Rim Rocks are 300 feet tall on average. So your logic says I shouldn’t be able to fly at my house, yet the airport is more than 300 feet higher and more than a mile away. If I keep my drone below 300 feet I would not be in the airport airspace as I have NEVER seen a plane, jet or helicopter fly BELOW the rims.
@@sethbob5742 I agree... its risky. You might not need LAANC approval @sptrader6316, but keep an eye out for small planes. Be advised that the small ones usually won't give an ADS-B warning on the DJI fly app while you are flying, and can sometimes be near or even under 400 feet when close to an airport. Ask me how I know lol, just be careful, especially when flying with the sun overhead which may obstruct your view.
There's been many times where I just wanted to exercise the motors, not even take off but just kick on the motors just to hear my drones but I can't because DJI had the geozone feature. I live 5.2 miles from Andrews Airforce Base and very aware not to break the rules of a restricted no fly zone but now at least I can just let the motors spin but not take off.
To me, geo fencing is the equivalent of buying a Tesla and being prohibited from starting the car because I'm in a no drive zone. How logical or stupid would that be to most people? Not sold yet? How about, buying a John Deer tractor, and be prevented from doing preventive maintenance on your own tractor, because John Deer does not aprove of you doing your r own repairs without them getting a cut from you first? Oh, wait, John Deer already does that. Their claim is to guard against proprietary company secrets. Otherwise known as intellectual property. Which everyone knows is nonsense. It is not Dji's job to protect you from doing stupid things with your drone. It is up to every individual not to fly in restricted areas. And, if you do, you need to be held accountable. It's called responsibility.
Yes its the pilots responsibility. But not all people are the same. You get people who will not do the right thing because they think they can do anything they like. You get stupid people who have no idea what the are doing. But they are the kind of people that will ruin it for everyone else...I think thats the point he is trying to make. Yes they will get in trouble they might get a fine but if it happens enough then things will be put in place or police's will be brought in and you will end up not being able to fly. Or at least need to get a licence and even then you will have people doing what ever they like. I will give you a example. 10 years ago there where lots of places you could go in your 4wd lots of beaches and tracks where I'm from. Now there are hardly any access now. The reason...people not doing the right thing driving of the tracks driving up in the dunes etc and they just started closing everything.
@overtime_approved I fully understand your point. Believe me, I do. But, I still say it is up to everyone to take personal responsibility for their actions. As for your area being closed off to everyone because of stupid people's actions. I believe that was simply an excuse for the authorities to do so. The best example I can give you is this. How many drunk driving accidents, and how many people get killed by a drunk driver every year? According to the stats, every day, about 37 people died in the US in 2022. Or, about 13, 524 people died in that year. And all, because a stupid drunk person decided to get behind the wheel of a car. Now, does that mean the government should take everyone else's license to drive away because of the actions of an individual? Of course not. That would be stupid. The same logic applies to drone pilots. Put the blame and responsibility where it belongs, with the drone pilot.
Some people like to be ruled by others. can you imagine having your car not starting up because the geofencing says you are in a restricted area. some people don't like to be truly free. besides, even with the geofencing in place there are ways around it if someone want to break the law.
I'm glad they are dropping geo fence cause sadly I live in a caution zone and it's a royal pain to fly at my own home but they need to redo the zoning like caution then no fly but I think it should be no fly without the caution areas
Great news I'm up for the responsibility. There is so much context being left out of this conversation. Absolutely safety first, but there is not enough space here to address all the nuance on this subject of geofencing. It's not as cut and dry as it looks on paper.
if this was any other thing like guns or cars, whoever is in the accident or intentional misuse is the one held accountable. But because lobbyists hate DJI, they will spin any mishap against all of us unfortunately.
Geofencing was why DJI lost a lot of money over the past few years, including from me. Nothing pissed me off more than going to a photo shoot and getting LAANC authorization to fly from the FAA via Aloft, and then being locked out from flying by the ridiculously stupid DJI geofencing!!!! I couldn’t unlock it from the field, and lost out on thousands of dollars over the last few years…. 🤬🤬🤬. Last year I really wanted to buy the Mavic 3 Pro, but went with the Autel Evo 2 Pro V3 instead because I couldn’t stand dealing with the tedious BS, so DJI lost out on $3,000+ just from me, so if you do the math DJI likely lost out on millions of dollars. There is no reason a licensed drone operator should have to jump through additional hoops from the manufacturer just to fly the drone they paid for. It would be like buying a Cessna, and then after you file your flight plan with the FAA, your plane would be locked out from flying until you got an unlock code from Cessna to be able to fly your trip…. COMPLETE AND UTTER NONSENSE!!! I would have no problem with applying for a one time unlock process by simply sending a copy of my FAA license and drone registration to DJI to have it permanently unlocked & be free from the geofencing, while keeping the unlicensed hobbyists from going into LAANC restricted areas and complete no fly zones like airports and government / military zones. Remote ID should already keep the idiots from doing that anyways, because the fines can be huge and I wouldn’t be surprised if the government already has some sort of drone countermeasures in place to jam & keep drones away from senstive areas like the White House, and if they already don’t they should definitely work on that.
Well said. Its absurd how many are screaming about geofencing going away. It does how out of touch they are. I work with a nonprofit, often in remote areas. The geofencing nonsense often prevented us from flying. Most of the time in areas the faa didn't care about
We'll have to agree to disagree on this Rick. My understanding is that we will still get onscreen warnings. This will save a lot of time and aggravation for all DJI drone operators.
Polite disagreement is the best way to stay friends and solve issues. The point I was trying to make in the clip was that the small hassle that Geofencing caused when you needed to unlock a zone was worth it for the safety it provided to keep a new pilot from lifting off in NYC or DC. My worry is that now we'll see more new fliers doing incredibly dumb things with the drone they got for their birthday. Geofencing was a sane baseline that kept them out of these restricted areas by default and now that it's gone - "Katie bar the door". I hope I'm wrong, but history and human nature doesn't lean towards common sense prevailing.
@@Dronevalley I completely agree! Gentlemen can disagree without any enmity. I do understand your point. The thousands of people who buy the many drone brands that Amazon sells have not caused any big issues that I know of. There will always be scofflaws though.
@@IdahoQuadcopterbut it's also good to call out the bs that rick is shoveling. I saw your well done video. It was a great example of how it should have been, especially for certificated pilots.
After a few geozone mishaps and nearly losing my drone to their awful software, I essentially boycotted Dji for years, saying never again. But now? I'm looking for deals on a mini 4 pro. I'm so on board.
Thanks for the post and I'd be curious to hear about the mishaps with the Geofencing. It does nothing but prevent you from violating restricted airspace so I'm not sure how that lead to a near crash. As for the Mini 4 Pro, it's one of the best smaller drones flying today and years ahead of the competition, you're going to love it.
Kind of feels like DJI might be pushing back at the U.S. government for what seems like pretty unfair treatment. My biggest issue with geofencing is how often it got things wrong. For example, I fly in the Nashville area, and there used to be a police building that’s now just an empty lot, but it was marked as off-limits until this update. Meanwhile, Fort Campbell is near my home and is definitely restricted airspace, but now someone who doesn’t know the area, or doesn't care, could accidentally or intentionally fly there and make all of us drone pilots look bad.
LOL, "this guy" is a responsible pilot that appreciates when tech can make my life easier. All the Geofencing did was prevent me from breaking the law. DJI didn't put up the fences, the FAA did. All DJI did was make the drones aware of them and keep the pilot from flying into trouble, nothing more. It's a really bad move for the hobby.
A: there are still multiple warnings on the screen advising the user not to fly in the restricted area. B: New users of non DJI drones could srill fly in restricted airspace anyway My take is the benefit of allowing users that get proper permission to fly outways grounding everyone... especially in instances where the geofencing map is inaccurate and it is impossible to show DJI you have permission from an entity that doesn't exist.
Exactly!!!!! It's basically the pilots responsibility to be safe and keep abiding by the rules. Autel never had geofencing so that's basically a super power move for DJI.
If DJI had kept the data accurate, that would be one thing. But they didn't make sure it was accurate and they weren't responsive to feedback about issues. There were so many areas that were legal and safe to fly in which pilots that know what they are doing were locked out of. For example, near me, an airport that was retired over a decade ago and a prison that has been closed since 1971(!!!!) and converted into a tourist destination, yet still a NFZ in 2025? Additionally their pre-flight web map had issues with dissapearing zones so I'd show up to a shoot after doing my due diligence and getting LAANC and be blindsided by the drone being grounded. I think this is why people didn't like the system and why, in my opinion, it is great that it has been removed. In terms of new pilots I see your point though and think there may be other solutions like improving (and maybe even verifying completion of pre-flight) education for new/recreational pilots.
I think that's why they've removed it. Because now with RID, they can legitimately put the enforcement back on the government, and just issue enhanced warning zone alerts for potentially restrictive areas and leave it up to the pilot to be responsible for assessing any actual restrictions in that area. In fact I did read somewhere DJI saying pretty much that exact thing - that pilots were being unduly restricted in cases where the geofencing wasn't responsive enough to the situation on the ground - and in their defence if they have a geofencing system they have to err on the side of limiting pilots otherwise they will get blamed if the geofencing fails to prevent a pilot flying when it should have done. With Remote ID now they can wipe their hands of it and let the government enforce it. I actually think this is a better approach, but I just hope the government don't over react with legislation. Implement broadcast RID in all drones (not just 250g and over), let police and other emergency services have access to the RID scanner systems, maybe get network ID for bigger drones like 150kg and over. But otherwise leave things as they are
I will have to disagree with you on this one. DJI was doing something they didn’t have to do and with all the grief the US has given them i am surprised they haven’t done it a long time ago. It’s always been on the pilot and his responsibility. The Zones were never accurate anyway.
I'll try and get to the bottom of why the change was made. I don't think it has anything to do with the date and it's a big move in the wrong direction.
Its a step in the right direction. Now to get rid of the faa overreach into recreational sized drones, even if used commercially. Its always been a money and power grab.
I wonder why do you feel that way? DJI is the only company that had this and have taken it away, what about Autel you didnt have to unlock geozones with them so why is it such a big deal? To me i think its the pilots responsibility to be knowledgeable and fly safe according to the rules. All drone companies moving forward should have printed on the boxes "Must pass (TRUST) exam before flying.
I would be ok with dji canceling the geofence for people with the 107 certification but keeping it active for people who are just flying for recreation.
I agree and almost said that in the clip but knew that I would get a ton of grief from other hobbyists. The bottom line for me was that Geofencing was a minor hassle to prevent a major problem. Now that it's gone, I think we'll see more goofy fliers doing dumb things that impact our hobby. I hope I'm wrong.
@@MysticalDragon73 That's a bit of simple assumption. I agree that Part 107 pilots should be more free to fly since they're essentially pilots and if you're flying a small prop plane, there's no geofencing involved. The challenge for me is the newbie hobbyist that just walked out of a Best Buy with a shiny new Mini 4 Pro and doesn't take the time to understand that there are hard rules for flying their new toy. Geofencing kept them from doing something incredibly dumb, which hurts the hobby and the industry. I know folks say, "well then just punish them" and I agree, but the overall attention it draws to the industry will still result in more regulations. Lastly, the only reason no other drone company has Geofencing is because it's hard to do and expensive. Autel, Parrot and even Skydio all dodged it since it's really complicated and they don't have the engineering prowess to pull it off. If the FAA ever mandates it (and I think they should), those three companies will fold their tents.
@Dronevalley what aren't you clamoring for it with other manufacturers? It's absurd. Why don't cutely skydio etc and all the Amazon drones have it? No to say it's a bad idea removing it shows how absurd that position is.
@@MysticalDragon73 I have been clamoring for it to be added to Autel and if you follow any of the news around drone development, Autel announced they were adding it to their gear about 2 years ago and then stopped talking about it. The reason that happened is that they probably realized how complicated and expensive it was to integrate and decided to not spend the $. You have to remember that both Autel and Parrot are divisions or larger companies that were only spun up when drones got popular. Autel is primarily a car test/analysis company and Parrot made toy drones and Bluetooth systems for cars. DJI was born in the drone space and is years ahead of them both. Skydio played a nasty shell game with consumers by selling into that space as they developed their drone and then pulled the rug out from under us by jumping into the commercial space. Both of them watch DJI for development ideas and then try to copy them in their next product release. But back to the Geofencing. Its a safety feature that keeps folks out of restricted areas that you're not allows to fly. I agree that some of the zones were sloppy but they have gotten better aligned with the actual NFZ in recent years and would continue to improve. Removing them allows any flier to now violate this airspace and can only lead to trouble. Assuming that every new flier will read, understand and follow the FAA rules is absurd.
I'm all for less restrictions but I feel this will give gov't more reason to ban use of public drones. There are politicians' hell bent on banning drones.
Thank you Rick for bringing this up. This came as a complete surprise to me. I was furious when that idiot in California flew into the firefighter plane because he gives us all a bad name. I will admit Geofencing is a pain but I wish DJI had kept it.
This was a little surprising, but welcome for me. As some who does Real Estate shoots, I was constantly running into locations that were in FAA class G airspace, but DJI had them Geo Fenced. I always wished that DJI's Geo zones would have perfectly lined up with the FAA restricted airspace. And that there unlocking procedure would have been easier, especially when trying to unlock on a mobile device. As far as the bigger picture of what it means for uneducated beginners, and so-called outlaw pilots, some of your concerns could be valid. Great video Rick, thanks for sharing.
This is only for USA and some European countries (as of Jan 22nd 2024). You can see the geofences that are in place (or not) through the DJI fly-safe site.
Personally, I'm glad they removed geo-fencing. Not just with drones, but I think we need to put responsibility back on the operator. No matter what we're operating, as an owner we need to look up the rules and regulations, understand them, and operate within the rules. There are too many rules protecting us from ourselves. We need to go back to personal responsibility. I do appreciate you sharing your thoughts. I'm not upset with you, I'll keep watching...
I'm so glad it's gone. I live about 4 1/2 miles from a small airport. It's so quick and easy to get LAACE approval, BUT getting DJI to unlock is a real pain in the azz. There is software available to the government so they already know who flies in restricted zones, who flies too high, and what you are flying over ALSO they don't need remote ID to do it. Best of all, they keep a historical log of your flights. They can key in your SN and see every flight of that drone. Big Brother is here. But I get it, some morons will get in trouble and that is bad for all of us.
Some of that I agree with but I can assure you that there is zero government tracking of drone flights. The only details they have are through the RemoteID beacon and that is through Wifi and only works when you're flying. None of that data is stored anywhere or reviewed by anyone. It simply lets someone know what the ID of the drone is and where it's heading along with the location of the pilot. This move by DJI is a huge mistake and could spell the end of the hobby for non Part 107 pilots going forward.
@@Dronevalley Part of the rationale for RID is keeping a historical record of all RID flights, to more accurately determine the threat assessment of an encroaching drone that has a flight history. At least that’s what has been claimed. 24/7 RID detection with antenna amplification can detect both the location of the pilot and the drone throughout the flight from over 5 miles away to create a flight history of every drone. The capability exists for any entity to passively collect and archive this historical RID data with a computer and an antenna, to be immediately referenced whenever the same RID is detected.
@@gadgetguy9984 None of that is true or happening. RID is simply a Wifi beacon that is broadcast from the drone for a limited distance that provides the ID of the drone and the location of the drone and operator. It only broadcasts when the drone is airborne and not recorded or stored anywhere for review. It's simply a way of identifying the drone and locating the operator in case they need to intervene when a drone violates an NFZ, which is now more possible since Geofencing has been disabled.
@@Dronevalley I have an RID detection device that is capable of exactly what I have described. When connected to sufficient antenna amplification and a computer with the necessary software, it is capable of logging every RID detected within the range of the antenna 24/7, and can create a searchable log of the history of all prior flights sorted by RID and pilot location. It is a very simple system. Anyone can buy all the necessary equipment and software for under $1,000. It is a good Aeroscope replacement at less than 10% of the cost. Unlike Aeroscope, it can detect ANY brand of drone currently broadcasting the legally required RID. Are you disputing the capability, or that anyone would ever want to do so?
If i do get an alert that is fine for me. Also the geofences were not always accurate. Not sure in the USA, but from Europe I have heard complaints about that. Bottom line it is our individual responsibility to know the law and where to fly. On the other end there is a lot of confusion and poor information about where to fly and where not to fly
Appreciate your input as always, but I can't fly my Avata 2 at 15 feet in my house or backyard because I live in an Authorization zone. Sure I can unlock with a license, but a PITA. I am so glad I don't have to connect my phone to my goggles to reaffirm my valid license. Your position penalizes the law abiders more than the offenders. What's worse was DJI's indiscriminate implementation of their geofences.
It's coming to Canada soon. They rolled it out in the EU first and it just hit the U.S. on Monday. I'll bet Canada is next so keep an eye on your app for the update to the Flysafe database.
Hi-respecfully disagree. New pilots are expected to learn just like the rest of us. Geofencing doesn't handle that, just creates a hassle. You mentioned that before long, we might be restricted to fly under 50' only in our own backyard-what if before this unlock, you couldn't even do that? There's a 15-mile perimeter around the White House, for example, and if you live on the edge, you cannot fly. No reasoning for that, other than knee-jerk overreaction to some idiot landing theirs on the WH lawn 10 years ago. Not DJI's responsibility to wrangle with end users. Take some responsibility, and fly safely and within the law. No need for geofencing.
I disagree and said this to another commenter. Geofencing was a minor hassle to prevent a major issue. If Geofencing is preventing you from flying, you're either in an NFZ or really close to one so just move a little further away so you can fly. The big thing it did was prevent new fliers (and goofy ones) from violating these restricted areas. That's a good thing. The last point I'll make, nobody has the "right" to fly in their backyards, period. Even though it's your yard, it's still national airspace and flying anything there is a privileged. If you want the privileged, you have to follow the rules.
@@MysticalDragon73 Not out of touch and I can assure you that I'm deeper into the technolgy, been flying longer and more often than most. The point I was making is that flying anything is a privileged, not a right - just like driving a car. We can only fly our drones because the FAA allows it and they set up some simple rules that we have to follow for that privileged to keep the skies safe for other aircraft. Just like with driving, if you violate them, you can lose your ability to fly and face stiff fines. As I said in my reply above, if you can't take off in your backyard it's because you're too close to an NFZ and it must be a serious one because with most restricted areas you can still fly but are "height limited" to 100' or less. Arguing that you SHOULD be able to fly is like arguing that you can do 60mph though a school zone because you're a responsible driver. It's nonsense. Geofencing prevented you from breaking the law and it kept novice fliers out of restricted areas. Now that it's gone it may be easier for commercial pilots to fly anywhere but at the cost of safety with these novice fliers. I wish that DJI would have removed it for registered Part 107 pilots and kept it in place for the weekend fliers. Overall disabling it makes things more dangerous and will lead to more regulations.
@ in this case you are putting the onus on DJI, rather than the FAA. This is like making the sign manufacturers in your school zone be responsible for stopping cars. Makes no sense.Not their job. The 15-mile radius around the White house is another discussion-15 miles is arbitrary, how did they come up with that distance?
Hay! A few questions. Do you or anyone know how the new geofence removal update works? Is US based devices e.g FCC devices? Is it devices with a US GPS location? Is it devices bought in the US but is being used in another country e.g Ecuador? Is it ALL DJI devices? Is it an On/Off toggle option where the user can choose to remove geofencing? If I take an EU mini drone to the US while in vacation, will the geofence still be available or will I get an update option to remove geofencing?
Is this only in the USA or is it all DJI drone around the world had the NFZ removed. I'm living in Taiwan. Haven't been flying recently because its quite cold here in Taiwan.
Please everyone fly responsible and with safety in mind always. It's a good thing,bad thing without geo fencing. Don't fly in a restricted area please. Drones are a wonderful and fun ,life saving wonderful technology. Have fun flying but with safety and awareness. Thank you so very much Rick for sharing this video and God bless you always 🙏. Be safe everyone.
@@davebeasley9060 Lol, so you never watch the channel, but came here to comment. The best thing about this country (and sites like TH-cam) is that polite discussion and disagreement makes all of us smarter. If you lock onto misguided notions that you never challenge, you risk extinction. Open your mind a little and explain why you think I'm off-base on my opinion and we can move forward.
Dave, you have to remember that even though DJI no longer enforces these NFZ's they still exist and you have to respect them. It just puts the responsibility on you to willfully fly into an area that's restricted. I'm waiting for someone to launch a drone in downtown NYC or DC now that DJI has disabled the feature and then the restrictions start.
@@Dronevalley Thanks! I am fully aware of my responsibilities and respect the laws. I do wish they would just keep geofencing turned on unless you sign into your account that is linked to your part 107 or other clearance you may have to fly commercially. That could prevent some of those issues.
Had this situation a couple of times: Airaware said “No problem, Airport not active, unscheduled service” DJI says “There is an aerodrome in 0.2 miles! please confirm the indent to start your drone, leave your email address behind. Be careful.”
I'm assuming that you're in the beautiful, great white north and things are a little different. Even with Geofencing active, you could still fly in certain NFZ areas with permission. It just takes a little extra work to get those zones unlocked. This is a good thing since it prevents the casual flier from wandering into an NFZ unwittingly.
Totally disagree with his position. For me, it's a matter of convenience - i could seek permission to enter a zone that dji prohibited despite it being legal for me to fly there. "All" i had to do was go home for an Internet connection, navigate the dji website to request permission, download permission to my computer, download permission to the drone and return to the fly site. All that for an area where Transport Canada deems it legal for me to fly but dji classified incorrectly. Unfortunately, the recent change did not apply to Canada.
I think you're making that seem a little more cumbersome than it really is. I have to fly in areas that need permission all the time and I simply do my research before leaving home and get the approvals. If I get caught in the field needing an unlock, I simply tether to my phone and get the code. I know it's not super easy but the system kept the novice flier (and there are a lot of them) from violating an NFZ. That's the really important part that folks are missing. On a side note, the change is coming to Canada soon so keep an eye on the app.
@Dronevalley is there a confusion over jargon? I get, and agree with, what you're saying if it is genuinely a "no fly zone" such as type E (or is it Type F?) Canadian airspace in which flight is never allowed. Flight *is* legally allowed in many areas where I've had difficulty, but DJI has made it very inconvenient to fly there. The permission that I obtained from the DJI website had zero connection with, or authority from, Transport Canada. *That's* what I want to be removed. I live near the boundary of a Transport Canada altitude zone, and routinely tap the button to accept responsibility for flying within that zone. I want the same logic to be applied to the DJI Authorization Zone. I also get what you're saying about tethering to a phone for the Internet, but that does not apply in remote areas or for those (eg, me) without a data plan on the phone. As I said, it's inconvenient.
It's unfortunate, but if your location is that close to an airbase, you have to deal with the restrictions. Most folks don't realize that you don't own the airspace over your property and some of it has flight restrictions for safety. I'd be frustrated if I lived in an NFZ but would just drive a little to a lake or park to fly.
100% agree, that was what was good from DJI that they took the responsibility and avoided the consumer making mistakes. Lead by example. Now we are all in the same boat and if some idiot rocks it’s we are all punished.
No sorry buddy. Nice try at trying to sound like you have some moral official agency. Previously almost the entire coast of our beautiful California 1500 mile coastline was offline to drone photography, including Big Sur.
It's not a matter of responsibility, it's a matter of limits. Removing the geofencing doesn't allow you to fly anywhere you were prevented from flying before. All if did was stop the drone from breaking the law by flying into an NFZ. Same rules apply now but if you fly in a restricted zone, you face some serious penalties.
@@Dronevalley Avata 2 is in a special category because DJI boneheadedly requires connecting the Goggles to an internet connection after every single battery change and power cycle when in an Authorization Zone to unlock the zone, because the unlock will not survive a reboot! This is the one drone for which this is a big step forward, because they were not going to change the stupid functionality. Once you have a one year unlock for a Blue Authorization Zone, it should stay ON for a year, like it did on every other drone, and not need to be reverified online every 20 minutes!
yoo. earlier this month i tried flying in Anaheim but my area was engulfed with the no fly zone and I assumed it was because of the fires. Now it’s removed and displayed as “Enhanced-Warning Zone” and Im able to fly again in Anaheim. Great to know that the map is synced to the FAA.
Just be sure to check for TFR's in the area. With the wildfires there are still a lot of restrictions in place and you'll need to be careful if you're flying near those.
Is the geofencing removed in Canada? I live near an airport, I have a dji neo. I just want to fly in my house. Geofencing is still keeping me grounded, I'm a noob and wondering if I did something wrong.
There was always a drone that did not have Geo zones, so the people that ruin the hobby by flying in a restricted zone always had that option. Let’s just people follow the rules and fly safe.
Another thing that DJI has to consider doing is making the information available for those doing software programs that are used for mapping and other functions. My son and his police department use Pix 4D to document accidents. Newer DJI drones no longer make their info available so that program can be adapted. DJI wants users to pay for their mapping software.
No, the FAA set that as 400' AGL and it's still the same. The key thing to remember here is that the NFZ's are still in place and you can't fly in any of them. The only thing that changed is that the drones no longer stop you from flying there. If you cross the virtual border into an NFZ, you face a steep fine and possible jail time. It makes flying riskier and does nothing to improve safety.
@@Dronevalley Mountain climbing ,while staying below 400’ AGL is completely legal. He was asking about the artificial 500m altitude limit above the launch point, which makes mountain climbing impossible from the base, when the peak is higher than 500m. No definitive answer about that yet, because it depends upon which drone model. On the Mavic 3 series and the Air 3 series, it is supposedly now possible to fly over 500m, but still requires unlocks on other models.
The geo fencing was the main reason I refused to purchase the drone with a RC 2 or RC 3 controller because the unlock was a hassle and barley worked. The database in my opinion was not kept up to date. I am happy it is gone. I do agree with accountability and those who break the law should be punished. However the fact that a pop up warning will warn you I think I sufficient enough.
I agree with you to a point. Instead of not letting you fly I would like to see enforcement of how you fly. Limit the altitude. Limit the distance the drone can fly. In nearly all cases when I have been in a no-fly zone, if an aircraft was at 200 feet -- that would not be welcome, so I could see allowing the drone up 200 feet. The fact a DJI drone can travel miles from the pilot, this is not allowed. Signal strength is for penetration not for distance. Enforcing a distance in a restricted area to ensure the flight doesn't exceed visible range would be advisable. For drones like the Neo, why restrict a flight if the person is flying without a controller or with the phone? The distance the Neo can travel in that flight mode is limited and if there is a manned aircraft that the Neo in this mode would crash into, there are bigger problems with that aircraft being so low. I think DJI should actively lobby to allow for smarter rules for drones such as a residential area that is within five miles of an airport -- why not let a user fly up to 200 feet in those areas? Unless its inline with the runway an aircraft shouldn't be that low in that area, but defiantly restrict when it's inline with what could be an aircraft's flight path to the airport.
I didn't mind geo fencing. Now it's making it easier for people to fly where they're not allowed. It seems to me that this will give the US another reason to ban them. At least before the argument was there that they were keeping people from flying near critical infrastructures.
I know it could be a little sloppy and was constantly updated but it did the job of keeping new pilots (or goofy ones) from violating these NFZ's. Now that it's disabled, watch the news for drones lifting off in NYC and DC. This is going to really cause issues for the hobby.
I sure hope the FAA has enough enforcement officers. No way the non 107 operators will not abuse this. I believe this will only make things more difficult for us that actually make a living with drones.
Thats the issue and it'll more likely fall to local law enforcement to handle these issues and I worry that it'll lead to more news reports of bad behavior with drones that will eventually lead to more restrictions. Bad for the hobby and I don't understand the reason for the change.
the governments worse nightmare is that the chinese government hits a big red button and then all of our drones unfold themselves and fly out of our windows and chimneys and take over the world
Hopefully the new enhanced warning zones will match the actual FAA controlled airspace rules. The old DJI geofences that didn't match any FAA regs was a major pain. I actually had a job near SRQ in Sarasota FL that was in class G airspace with no LAANC authorization needed. I drove down there from Tampa then found that my DJI drone wouldn't take off because of a DJI geofence. I didn't have my laptop with me, so I couldn't request an unlock... it cost me several hours of work and made the job basically a loss because of DJI's geofence that didn't match any FAA airspace. I'm glad to see them gone. If the geofences came back they need to match actual FAA airspace requirements.
I could not agree more with you Rick. I can only see bad things happening from here on out. I think it is a bad day for the industry. Thanks for the video!
Thanks for watching! I think the same thing and hope that I'm wrong. I was really caught off-guard with the change and haven't been able to figure out why they did it. I'm still digging for an answer with DJI so stay tuned.
I agree bu this had nothing to do with tracking anyone. All it did was keep you from violating the law by flying into an NFZ, where you weren't allowed to fly. How can that be a bad thing?
While I’ve been frustrated by Dji’s Geofencing, I understand your point. Maybe the FAA should ask Dji to reinstate it, it would save FAA lots of time and effort if they did.
As much of a pain in the ass sometimes it was to unlock the drone to fly (and I have been through it a thousand times!), I agree with you that turning geofencing off is a horrible decision! It will end up causing a lot of unintentional (and intentional) violations!!! I live in an authorization zone and my DJI would never take off unless I get the authorization from DJI to fly. Even LAANC would not turn the drone on! Now the drone will take off whenever launched! Stupid mistake by the unknowing! Anyway, the feature was turned off in other countries before it made it to the U.S. so we knew it was coming! Well, I will finally say that DJI probably got sick of all the complaints and several countries pissing on them and calling the safest drone built a national threat! Well now it can be! Even with Remote ID. Shaking my head. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the post and I knew I would catch a lot of heat for doing the clip and speaking up, but had to offer my opinion. I really don't understand who made the decision or the rationale behind it. Why make a safer drone less safe? I understand that the Geozones were sloppy and it was a hassle to unlock them from the field with limited Wifi, but that is part of running a business. The folks that are welcoming this are being shortsighted. It now allows a novice pilot to fly a drone in NYC or DC and that will make the news. Then some elected official that needs a crusade to get re-elected will amplify the threat and start creating legislation to restrict flight. If you doubt any of this can happen, just look to the last month in NJ where I live. A few folks thought they saw swarms of "drones" flying all over the state and I was even contacted by NBC news to comment. None of it was real or could be documented but it resulted in 33 temporary NFZ's being put in place that grounded all drone traffic for 30 days. This is a real issue with real consequences and it will affect the entire drone-flying segment.
I met a guy who has a dji phantom and a mini 3 i asked him if he had a pilots license and he said whats that , thats the problem right there ! He has a phantom and no pilot licance and doesnt even know the laws or rules of flying a drone ,,, these are the type of people who make things worse , i had to explain to him that he is not soppose to be flying the phantom until its registered and he was a licensed drone pilot , i said the mini 3 is ok but you should still look up the laws before flying around .....bad drone pilots are everywhere !
I agree and made a few mistakes myself when I first started flying but soon figured out how to do it legally and safely. The challenge is that as drones get less expensive, more folks will join the hobby (which is a good thing) but many may not know about the simple rules to keep things safe. Geofencing was one that prevented the worst violations from happening and now it's gone.
Warch for tine incoming Chaos... I'm not an Ignorant person, but... I recently bought a drone because I was bored with standard photography... I knew there were places that you wouldn't want to fly, but... Cerifications required, etc, etc, etc, didn't even occur to me until I started watching tons of videos... Think of the number of people who don't/won't bother...
I hear ya but honestly, it was never DJI's responsibility to enforce our regulations. It was a complete lose, lose situation for them from day one. Most drone pilots hated them for it, there was a considerable cost required to implement/maintain the system, their competitors used it as a sales tool and it didn't seem to earn them ANY points with the federal government who has been after them periodically this entire time. Not to mention that every time some idiot managed to get past their restrictions, like the recent incident with the bucket plane, people went out of their way to blame them for that as well. "Damn DJI for their stupid NFZs!!!" "Damn DJI for not stopping that guy from flying over the Palisades fire!!!" "I don't want some CCP company telling me where I can fly! 'Merica!" "There has to be some way for DJI to stop these perverts from spying on us! " I'm with DJI, the feds made them implement Remote ID so they can police drone pilots. Have at it, boys!
Geofencing essentially means a company dictates how and where you can use your drone, limiting your freedom to operate it as you see fit. In essence, you don’t fully own your drone if you need their permission to use it.
Nope, DJI is just reacting to "fences" that the FAA has already established as No-fly zones. It only prevents you from flying into places you're not allowed to fly legally. How can that be a bad thing?
I agree that they weren't pinpoint perfect but they were getting closer with every update. You have to remember that TFR's come out randomly and DJI had to update for those as well so it's like herding cats to stay on top of it. For the little hassle it caused, it was well worth the safety of not letting new fliers violate this airspace.
sorry it was not a technology but a pure software restriction . they were the only one having it. they remove it cause people had enough and started to buy from competitors. I might finally buy a new dji
Thanks for the post, but everything in the drone is a "software" feature including flight stability, gimbal control, crash avoidance and a ton of other things. What the Geofencing was designed to do was to prevent fliers from violating restricted airspace and it did that fairly well. It was somewhat sloppy and expanded the restrictions a little beyond the official NFZ for safety, but they have been getting closer to the actual NFZ with every release. Honestly, the only reason you'd have an issue with the feature is if you wanted to violate these restricted zones, which makes no sense since it's a federal offence.
@Dronevalley true but at the same time those that wished to fly everywhere could choose other drones or just unlock dji drone ( as I always did ) unfortunately just like in anything else we need ( and must ) rely on people consciousness . Also a car in the wrong hands become a killing machine
Lol, there were never any "car sized" drones flying around NJ. Just a lot of bored folks that don't spend a lot of time outside looking at the stars and can't tell a plane from the moon. It was a whole lot of titillating nonsense and I'm glad it's over.
It's not just about not flying in restricted airspace, it's about having to unlock the geozone after you've got LAANC approval - an aggravating step, especially when you have to set up a hot spot if you have enough cell coverage. It WAS a real pain in the ass...
Exactly!!!!! Makes no sense it's like you have to ask twice🤦🏾♂️
I did some photos today for Airbus in Mobile, We have a FAA Waiver but when we set up to Fly today, we did not have to go to the waiver to unlock the drone or unlock anything. Once we started the drone, we were able to take off, both my friend and I both. Brookley Aeroplex is Class D airspace. Go figure that.
I was happy to see GeoZone go but my 2nd thought was I probably will get a call from The FAA or are local KCEF asking if I was flying. I'm well known in town and when the drone fiasco in New Jersey was happening, I was getting messages from lots of people asking if it was me they just saw flying. Everyone won't abide by the laws, unfortunately.
@Ludlowdroneguy David keep doing what your doing buddy and that's safe flying👌🏽
@@kingisrael1532 thank you ✈️👍
To be honest, I'm super happy that this happened! I hated having to constantly ask permission for an area that I obviously know I can't go above a certain altitude. I just hope everyone else respects it all
I didn't like geofencing because it wouldn't let me fly in uncontrolled airspace at times. So I see this as good news.
As a professional commercial pilot this is going to save me time and money. I’m all for it.
I agree, but this is a slippery slope for the rest of the hobbyists.
@Dronevalley I thought Remote ID was put in place to identify people breaking the rules…. Or was it not?
@@billjohnsonseattle It obviously was put in place to identify drones that were breaking the rules but that's an "active" technology that requires someone to be close enough to the drone to pick up their RemoteID and then chase down the offender. It's an incident based solution that takes time and effort. Geofencing is designed to be a "passive" solution to prevent those same pilots from ever having the chance to break the law by stopping them from entering these locations. It's also automatic and can apply to thousands of flights at the same time with no intervention. Easy solution to a potentially serious issue.
Rick, here's some grief for you. As a commercial 107 drone pilot, I've wasted countless hours dealing with DJIs made up, BS geofencing that was not in agreement with the real LAANC air space maps. It was poorly researched, poorly implemented, and during the entire time it was active it did zero good for me, my business, or my bottom line. There is no way, a foreign company should be able to regulate where certificated drone pilots can fly in another country. Being just a little responsible and taking a few moments to plan is not that hard. Very happy to see that BS nanny control gone and I hope we never, ever, see any crap like that again.
Exactly. And they wren't responsive to feedback about those made up zones that didn't align with the ACTUAL airspace boundaries. Their response was always something along the lines of "well we aren't the FAA" or "we made it a long time ago and it's hard for us to keep everything up to date". Ok then why are you enforcing laws you don't understand and cannot stay on top of? This is awesome news.
I am there with you. Many times I had approval from the FAA, andbut then realized i had to unlock the drone through dji, basically cancelling my job. It made me paranoid on every job after that, that I would have to get FAA approval, that I would just upload the info into the dji website. This is a celebration 🎉🥳
I agree if you sign the flightplan in a commercial flight on an airliner onus is on the Captain same with drone sign the responsibility is the same.
I agree! I also think however that they should make some sort of open source solution that allows the FAA could put some sort of feed into to keep it up to date. Especially with TFR's. I think they could do a better job of it. That said I understand why they got rid of it, our government hasn't really been nice to these drone companies with restrictions etc. After so many changes it becomes a hassle to keep fixing things just to keep up with law changes. I also wonder if this is some form of retaliation by China for some of the various things we have been doing , and have done to them. I also think a warning message is really the only thing that should block part 107. It should not need more than a warning for 107. But I think to keep it safe, the FAA should be able to feed it the correct information for non licensed pilots. But it is what it is
Ya until they ban them for flying in no fly zones , there are always people with no respect for rules who ruin things for us responsible ones , i get your point but there are more morons then responsible people so this will bite us in the ass you watch and see ........
Geo fencing has been removed for a while now in the UK, and has not resulted in masses of people flying their DJI drones in airspace they should not be in, granted there will always be stupid people who will ignore rules and laws but 99% seem to fly sensibly, i would like to think it will be similar in the states too.
interestingly, it was also removed by DJI in response to RID being introduced. I think you will see DJI remove geofencing in any region that mandates RID.
Laws are always made for the stupid few that cause the problems. Look at all of the firearms laws that affect everyone because one or two people did something stupid/bad with them. Once someone does something bad with a drone, you can bet the laws will come down hard for everyone.
I'm happy about this. My house is a Class D airspace with zero altitude for certain hours, and Class G unrestricted airspace for other hours. But the DJI geofence prevented flights at all times - it couldn't handle time-dependent airspace designations.
Being 3 miles from a small airport, I couldn't even fly in my own yard ! So glad they removed geofencing.
It sounds like you still are not authorized to fly in your yard. Removing geofencing is still good for authorized pilots who take the time to gain FAA approval. But people like you who think you can start flying next to an airport now?, that's a problem.
@@sethbob5742
I live in an area where the airport is up on the Rim Rocks. I live below below them. The Rim Rocks are 300 feet tall on average. So your logic says I shouldn’t be able to fly at my house, yet the airport is more than 300 feet higher and more than a mile away. If I keep my drone below 300 feet I would not be in the airport airspace as I have NEVER seen a plane, jet or helicopter fly BELOW the rims.
@@sethbob5742 I agree... its risky. You might not need LAANC approval @sptrader6316, but keep an eye out for small planes. Be advised that the small ones usually won't give an ADS-B warning on the DJI fly app while you are flying, and can sometimes be near or even under 400 feet when close to an airport. Ask me how I know lol, just be careful, especially when flying with the sun overhead which may obstruct your view.
I’ll be able to fly my drone inside my house now that geofencing is removed. 😂
There's been many times where I just wanted to exercise the motors, not even take off but just kick on the motors just to hear my drones but I can't because DJI had the geozone feature. I live 5.2 miles from Andrews Airforce Base and very aware not to break the rules of a restricted no fly zone but now at least I can just let the motors spin but not take off.
Now I usually fly my house near my drone
FAA no fly zones is one thing but DJI made up GEO fencing was the main issue for us.
This is great news. That means I can buy more DJI products now.!
To me, geo fencing is the equivalent of buying a Tesla and being prohibited from starting the car because I'm in a no drive zone. How logical or stupid would that be to most people? Not sold yet? How about, buying a John Deer tractor, and be prevented from doing preventive maintenance on your own tractor, because John Deer does not aprove of you doing your r own repairs without them getting a cut from you first? Oh, wait, John Deer already does that. Their claim is to guard against proprietary company secrets. Otherwise known as intellectual property. Which everyone knows is nonsense. It is not Dji's job to protect you from doing stupid things with your drone. It is up to every individual not to fly in restricted areas. And, if you do, you need to be held accountable. It's called responsibility.
Yes its the pilots responsibility. But not all people are the same. You get people who will not do the right thing because they think they can do anything they like. You get stupid people who have no idea what the are doing. But they are the kind of people that will ruin it for everyone else...I think thats the point he is trying to make. Yes they will get in trouble they might get a fine but if it happens enough then things will be put in place or police's will be brought in and you will end up not being able to fly. Or at least need to get a licence and even then you will have people doing what ever they like. I will give you a example. 10 years ago there where lots of places you could go in your 4wd lots of beaches and tracks where I'm from. Now there are hardly any access now. The reason...people not doing the right thing driving of the tracks driving up in the dunes etc and they just started closing everything.
@overtime_approved I fully understand your point. Believe me, I do. But, I still say it is up to everyone to take personal responsibility for their actions. As for your area being closed off to everyone because of stupid people's actions. I believe that was simply an excuse for the authorities to do so. The best example I can give you is this. How many drunk driving accidents, and how many people get killed by a drunk driver every year? According to the stats, every day, about 37 people died in the US in 2022. Or, about 13, 524 people died in that year. And all, because a stupid drunk person decided to get behind the wheel of a car. Now, does that mean the government should take everyone else's license to drive away because of the actions of an individual? Of course not. That would be stupid. The same logic applies to drone pilots. Put the blame and responsibility where it belongs, with the drone pilot.
Tesla are electric, they don't need starting.
Some people like to be ruled by others. can you imagine having your car not starting up because the geofencing says you are in a restricted area. some people don't like to be truly free. besides, even with the geofencing in place there are ways around it if someone want to break the law.
I'm glad they are dropping geo fence cause sadly I live in a caution zone and it's a royal pain to fly at my own home but they need to redo the zoning like caution then no fly but I think it should be no fly without the caution areas
Great news I'm up for the responsibility. There is so much context being left out of this conversation. Absolutely safety first, but there is not enough space here to address all the nuance on this subject of geofencing. It's not as cut and dry as it looks on paper.
if this was any other thing like guns or cars, whoever is in the accident or intentional misuse is the one held accountable. But because lobbyists hate DJI, they will spin any mishap against all of us unfortunately.
Geofencing was why DJI lost a lot of money over the past few years, including from me. Nothing pissed me off more than going to a photo shoot and getting LAANC authorization to fly from the FAA via Aloft, and then being locked out from flying by the ridiculously stupid DJI geofencing!!!! I couldn’t unlock it from the field, and lost out on thousands of dollars over the last few years…. 🤬🤬🤬. Last year I really wanted to buy the Mavic 3 Pro, but went with the Autel Evo 2 Pro V3 instead because I couldn’t stand dealing with the tedious BS, so DJI lost out on $3,000+ just from me, so if you do the math DJI likely lost out on millions of dollars. There is no reason a licensed drone operator should have to jump through additional hoops from the manufacturer just to fly the drone they paid for. It would be like buying a Cessna, and then after you file your flight plan with the FAA, your plane would be locked out from flying until you got an unlock code from Cessna to be able to fly your trip…. COMPLETE AND UTTER NONSENSE!!! I would have no problem with applying for a one time unlock process by simply sending a copy of my FAA license and drone registration to DJI to have it permanently unlocked & be free from the geofencing, while keeping the unlicensed hobbyists from going into LAANC restricted areas and complete no fly zones like airports and government / military zones. Remote ID should already keep the idiots from doing that anyways, because the fines can be huge and I wouldn’t be surprised if the government already has some sort of drone countermeasures in place to jam & keep drones away from senstive areas like the White House, and if they already don’t they should definitely work on that.
Well said. Its absurd how many are screaming about geofencing going away. It does how out of touch they are.
I work with a nonprofit, often in remote areas. The geofencing nonsense often prevented us from flying. Most of the time in areas the faa didn't care about
We'll have to agree to disagree on this Rick. My understanding is that we will still get onscreen warnings. This will save a lot of time and aggravation for all DJI drone operators.
Polite disagreement is the best way to stay friends and solve issues. The point I was trying to make in the clip was that the small hassle that Geofencing caused when you needed to unlock a zone was worth it for the safety it provided to keep a new pilot from lifting off in NYC or DC. My worry is that now we'll see more new fliers doing incredibly dumb things with the drone they got for their birthday. Geofencing was a sane baseline that kept them out of these restricted areas by default and now that it's gone - "Katie bar the door". I hope I'm wrong, but history and human nature doesn't lean towards common sense prevailing.
@@Dronevalley I completely agree! Gentlemen can disagree without any enmity. I do understand your point. The thousands of people who buy the many drone brands that Amazon sells have not caused any big issues that I know of. There will always be scofflaws though.
@@IdahoQuadcopterbut it's also good to call out the bs that rick is shoveling.
I saw your well done video. It was a great example of how it should have been, especially for certificated pilots.
After a few geozone mishaps and nearly losing my drone to their awful software, I essentially boycotted Dji for years, saying never again. But now? I'm looking for deals on a mini 4 pro. I'm so on board.
Thanks for the post and I'd be curious to hear about the mishaps with the Geofencing. It does nothing but prevent you from violating restricted airspace so I'm not sure how that lead to a near crash. As for the Mini 4 Pro, it's one of the best smaller drones flying today and years ahead of the competition, you're going to love it.
Curious to know what were the GeoZone mishaps?
Kind of feels like DJI might be pushing back at the U.S. government for what seems like pretty unfair treatment. My biggest issue with geofencing is how often it got things wrong. For example, I fly in the Nashville area, and there used to be a police building that’s now just an empty lot, but it was marked as off-limits until this update. Meanwhile, Fort Campbell is near my home and is definitely restricted airspace, but now someone who doesn’t know the area, or doesn't care, could accidentally or intentionally fly there and make all of us drone pilots look bad.
Do you have to update the software to get rid of geofencing?
Yes
@ done, many thanks!
No, just the FlySafe Data.
this guy is like the kid in class that reminds the teacher to assign homework
LOL, "this guy" is a responsible pilot that appreciates when tech can make my life easier. All the Geofencing did was prevent me from breaking the law. DJI didn't put up the fences, the FAA did. All DJI did was make the drones aware of them and keep the pilot from flying into trouble, nothing more. It's a really bad move for the hobby.
A: there are still multiple warnings on the screen advising the user not to fly in the restricted area.
B: New users of non DJI drones could srill fly in restricted airspace anyway
My take is the benefit of allowing users that get proper permission to fly outways grounding everyone... especially in instances where the geofencing map is inaccurate and it is impossible to show DJI you have permission from an entity that doesn't exist.
Exactly!!!!! It's basically the pilots responsibility to be safe and keep abiding by the rules. Autel never had geofencing so that's basically a super power move for DJI.
If DJI had kept the data accurate, that would be one thing. But they didn't make sure it was accurate and they weren't responsive to feedback about issues. There were so many areas that were legal and safe to fly in which pilots that know what they are doing were locked out of. For example, near me, an airport that was retired over a decade ago and a prison that has been closed since 1971(!!!!) and converted into a tourist destination, yet still a NFZ in 2025? Additionally their pre-flight web map had issues with dissapearing zones so I'd show up to a shoot after doing my due diligence and getting LAANC and be blindsided by the drone being grounded. I think this is why people didn't like the system and why, in my opinion, it is great that it has been removed. In terms of new pilots I see your point though and think there may be other solutions like improving (and maybe even verifying completion of pre-flight) education for new/recreational pilots.
I think that's why they've removed it. Because now with RID, they can legitimately put the enforcement back on the government, and just issue enhanced warning zone alerts for potentially restrictive areas and leave it up to the pilot to be responsible for assessing any actual restrictions in that area. In fact I did read somewhere DJI saying pretty much that exact thing - that pilots were being unduly restricted in cases where the geofencing wasn't responsive enough to the situation on the ground - and in their defence if they have a geofencing system they have to err on the side of limiting pilots otherwise they will get blamed if the geofencing fails to prevent a pilot flying when it should have done. With Remote ID now they can wipe their hands of it and let the government enforce it. I actually think this is a better approach, but I just hope the government don't over react with legislation. Implement broadcast RID in all drones (not just 250g and over), let police and other emergency services have access to the RID scanner systems, maybe get network ID for bigger drones like 150kg and over. But otherwise leave things as they are
I will have to disagree with you on this one. DJI was doing something they didn’t have to do and with all the grief the US has given them i am surprised they haven’t done it a long time ago. It’s always been on the pilot and his responsibility. The Zones were never accurate anyway.
Exactly nice to see someone who gets it
That is something political, coincidentally it is before January 20th.
I'll try and get to the bottom of why the change was made. I don't think it has anything to do with the date and it's a big move in the wrong direction.
Freedom! Just be responsible for yourself in accordance to FAA rules.
Its a step in the right direction. Now to get rid of the faa overreach into recreational sized drones, even if used commercially. Its always been a money and power grab.
I like the no fly zone option, How ever it shoud be the up to pilot to use it or not... So it should be a on or off thing in the programing...
I wonder why do you feel that way? DJI is the only company that had this and have taken it away, what about Autel you didnt have to unlock geozones with them so why is it such a big deal? To me i think its the pilots responsibility to be knowledgeable and fly safe according to the rules. All drone companies moving forward should have printed on the boxes "Must pass (TRUST) exam before flying.
Taking full responsibility for where I fly my drone is just fine for me. Because I'm not an idiot.
I would be ok with dji canceling the geofence for people with the 107 certification but keeping it active for people who are just flying for recreation.
I agree and almost said that in the clip but knew that I would get a ton of grief from other hobbyists. The bottom line for me was that Geofencing was a minor hassle to prevent a major problem. Now that it's gone, I think we'll see more goofy fliers doing dumb things that impact our hobby. I hope I'm wrong.
Kerry ive been saying that for years too. I'm totally ok with all removals.
Only fools demand dji keep them while othe drone companies don't need them
@@MysticalDragon73 That's a bit of simple assumption. I agree that Part 107 pilots should be more free to fly since they're essentially pilots and if you're flying a small prop plane, there's no geofencing involved. The challenge for me is the newbie hobbyist that just walked out of a Best Buy with a shiny new Mini 4 Pro and doesn't take the time to understand that there are hard rules for flying their new toy. Geofencing kept them from doing something incredibly dumb, which hurts the hobby and the industry. I know folks say, "well then just punish them" and I agree, but the overall attention it draws to the industry will still result in more regulations. Lastly, the only reason no other drone company has Geofencing is because it's hard to do and expensive. Autel, Parrot and even Skydio all dodged it since it's really complicated and they don't have the engineering prowess to pull it off. If the FAA ever mandates it (and I think they should), those three companies will fold their tents.
@Dronevalley what aren't you clamoring for it with other manufacturers? It's absurd. Why don't cutely skydio etc and all the Amazon drones have it?
No to say it's a bad idea removing it shows how absurd that position is.
@@MysticalDragon73 I have been clamoring for it to be added to Autel and if you follow any of the news around drone development, Autel announced they were adding it to their gear about 2 years ago and then stopped talking about it. The reason that happened is that they probably realized how complicated and expensive it was to integrate and decided to not spend the $. You have to remember that both Autel and Parrot are divisions or larger companies that were only spun up when drones got popular. Autel is primarily a car test/analysis company and Parrot made toy drones and Bluetooth systems for cars. DJI was born in the drone space and is years ahead of them both. Skydio played a nasty shell game with consumers by selling into that space as they developed their drone and then pulled the rug out from under us by jumping into the commercial space. Both of them watch DJI for development ideas and then try to copy them in their next product release. But back to the Geofencing. Its a safety feature that keeps folks out of restricted areas that you're not allows to fly. I agree that some of the zones were sloppy but they have gotten better aligned with the actual NFZ in recent years and would continue to improve. Removing them allows any flier to now violate this airspace and can only lead to trouble. Assuming that every new flier will read, understand and follow the FAA rules is absurd.
I'm all for less restrictions but I feel this will give gov't more reason to ban use of public drones. There are politicians' hell bent on banning drones.
Thank you Rick for bringing this up. This came as a complete surprise to me. I was furious when that idiot in California flew into the firefighter plane because he gives us all a bad name. I will admit Geofencing is a pain but I wish DJI had kept it.
This was a little surprising, but welcome for me. As some who does Real Estate shoots, I was constantly running into locations that were in FAA class G airspace, but DJI had them Geo Fenced. I always wished that DJI's Geo zones would have perfectly lined up with the FAA restricted airspace. And that there unlocking procedure would have been easier, especially when trying to unlock on a mobile device. As far as the bigger picture of what it means for uneducated beginners, and so-called outlaw pilots, some of your concerns could be valid. Great video Rick, thanks for sharing.
This is only for USA and some European countries (as of Jan 22nd 2024). You can see the geofences that are in place (or not) through the DJI fly-safe site.
Personally, I'm glad they removed geo-fencing. Not just with drones, but I think we need to put responsibility back on the operator. No matter what we're operating, as an owner we need to look up the rules and regulations, understand them, and operate within the rules. There are too many rules protecting us from ourselves. We need to go back to personal responsibility.
I do appreciate you sharing your thoughts. I'm not upset with you, I'll keep watching...
I'm so glad it's gone. I live about 4 1/2 miles from a small airport. It's so quick and easy to get LAACE approval, BUT getting DJI to unlock is a real pain in the azz. There is software available to the government so they already know who flies in restricted zones, who flies too high, and what you are flying over ALSO they don't need remote ID to do it. Best of all, they keep a historical log of your flights. They can key in your SN and see every flight of that drone. Big Brother is here. But I get it, some morons will get in trouble and that is bad for all of us.
Some of that I agree with but I can assure you that there is zero government tracking of drone flights. The only details they have are through the RemoteID beacon and that is through Wifi and only works when you're flying. None of that data is stored anywhere or reviewed by anyone. It simply lets someone know what the ID of the drone is and where it's heading along with the location of the pilot. This move by DJI is a huge mistake and could spell the end of the hobby for non Part 107 pilots going forward.
@@Dronevalley Part of the rationale for RID is keeping a historical record of all RID flights, to more accurately determine the threat assessment of an encroaching drone that has a flight history. At least that’s what has been claimed. 24/7 RID detection with antenna amplification can detect both the location of the pilot and the drone throughout the flight from over 5 miles away to create a flight history of every drone. The capability exists for any entity to passively collect and archive this historical RID data with a computer and an antenna, to be immediately referenced whenever the same RID is detected.
@@gadgetguy9984 None of that is true or happening. RID is simply a Wifi beacon that is broadcast from the drone for a limited distance that provides the ID of the drone and the location of the drone and operator. It only broadcasts when the drone is airborne and not recorded or stored anywhere for review. It's simply a way of identifying the drone and locating the operator in case they need to intervene when a drone violates an NFZ, which is now more possible since Geofencing has been disabled.
@@Dronevalley I have an RID detection device that is capable of exactly what I have described. When connected to sufficient antenna amplification and a computer with the necessary software, it is capable of logging every RID detected within the range of the antenna 24/7, and can create a searchable log of the history of all prior flights sorted by RID and pilot location. It is a very simple system. Anyone can buy all the necessary equipment and software for under $1,000. It is a good Aeroscope replacement at less than 10% of the cost. Unlike Aeroscope, it can detect ANY brand of drone currently broadcasting the legally required RID. Are you disputing the capability, or that anyone would ever want to do so?
Did they get rid of the 500 meter height limit?
If i do get an alert that is fine for me. Also the geofences were not always accurate. Not sure in the USA, but from Europe I have heard complaints about that. Bottom line it is our individual responsibility to know the law and where to fly. On the other end there is a lot of confusion and poor information about where to fly and where not to fly
inaccurate in USA as well
Appreciate your input as always, but I can't fly my Avata 2 at 15 feet in my house or backyard because I live in an Authorization zone. Sure I can unlock with a license, but a PITA. I am so glad I don't have to connect my phone to my goggles to reaffirm my valid license. Your position penalizes the law abiders more than the offenders. What's worse was DJI's indiscriminate implementation of their geofences.
Looks like it didn't applied worldwide, mine still have geo fencing. Just updated to the latest DJI fly app and RC 2 firmware
Correct. Still in place where I live in Canada.
It's coming to Canada soon. They rolled it out in the EU first and it just hit the U.S. on Monday. I'll bet Canada is next so keep an eye on your app for the update to the Flysafe database.
Hi-respecfully disagree. New pilots are expected to learn just like the rest of us. Geofencing doesn't handle that, just creates a hassle. You mentioned that before long, we might be restricted to fly under 50' only in our own backyard-what if before this unlock, you couldn't even do that? There's a 15-mile perimeter around the White House, for example, and if you live on the edge, you cannot fly. No reasoning for that, other than knee-jerk overreaction to some idiot landing theirs on the WH lawn 10 years ago. Not DJI's responsibility to wrangle with end users. Take some responsibility, and fly safely and within the law. No need for geofencing.
I disagree and said this to another commenter. Geofencing was a minor hassle to prevent a major issue. If Geofencing is preventing you from flying, you're either in an NFZ or really close to one so just move a little further away so you can fly. The big thing it did was prevent new fliers (and goofy ones) from violating these restricted areas. That's a good thing. The last point I'll make, nobody has the "right" to fly in their backyards, period. Even though it's your yard, it's still national airspace and flying anything there is a privileged. If you want the privileged, you have to follow the rules.
Cve exactly and well said. Too bad Rick is so out of touch and clueless with this bs
@@MysticalDragon73 Not out of touch and I can assure you that I'm deeper into the technolgy, been flying longer and more often than most. The point I was making is that flying anything is a privileged, not a right - just like driving a car. We can only fly our drones because the FAA allows it and they set up some simple rules that we have to follow for that privileged to keep the skies safe for other aircraft. Just like with driving, if you violate them, you can lose your ability to fly and face stiff fines. As I said in my reply above, if you can't take off in your backyard it's because you're too close to an NFZ and it must be a serious one because with most restricted areas you can still fly but are "height limited" to 100' or less. Arguing that you SHOULD be able to fly is like arguing that you can do 60mph though a school zone because you're a responsible driver. It's nonsense. Geofencing prevented you from breaking the law and it kept novice fliers out of restricted areas. Now that it's gone it may be easier for commercial pilots to fly anywhere but at the cost of safety with these novice fliers. I wish that DJI would have removed it for registered Part 107 pilots and kept it in place for the weekend fliers. Overall disabling it makes things more dangerous and will lead to more regulations.
@ in this case you are putting the onus on DJI, rather than the FAA. This is like making the sign manufacturers in your school zone be responsible for stopping cars. Makes no sense.Not their job. The 15-mile radius around the White house is another discussion-15 miles is arbitrary, how did they come up with that distance?
@@cve5731 exactly. Its sad how few understand it
I’m happy GEO fencing is gone know we can get creative
How responsible are the drone pilots who are swarming the Los Angeles wild fires? Are they thinking, "I shouldn't be flying there"?
They should have left it in place on entry level drones
I agree and it makes everything safer for the hobby.
Hay! A few questions. Do you or anyone know how the new geofence removal update works? Is US based devices e.g FCC devices? Is it devices with a US GPS location? Is it devices bought in the US but is being used in another country e.g Ecuador? Is it ALL DJI devices? Is it an On/Off toggle option where the user can choose to remove geofencing? If I take an EU mini drone to the US while in vacation, will the geofence still be available or will I get an update option to remove geofencing?
Update flysafe and they are removed
I thought it was for 250g and above and all others could fly anyways. is this correct ?
Is this only in the USA or is it all DJI drone around the world had the NFZ removed. I'm living in Taiwan. Haven't been flying recently because its quite cold here in Taiwan.
Lols cold in rltaiean riiiight
Please everyone fly responsible and with safety in mind always. It's a good thing,bad thing without geo fencing. Don't fly in a restricted area please.
Drones are a wonderful and fun ,life saving wonderful technology. Have fun flying but with safety and awareness.
Thank you so very much Rick for sharing this video and God bless you always 🙏.
Be safe everyone.
Your opinion 😢
Yep, my opinion entirely and I stand by the feeling that it's a step backward for the hobby and safety.
I disagree keep it to your self i never watch your channel
@@davebeasley9060 Lol, so you never watch the channel, but came here to comment. The best thing about this country (and sites like TH-cam) is that polite discussion and disagreement makes all of us smarter. If you lock onto misguided notions that you never challenge, you risk extinction. Open your mind a little and explain why you think I'm off-base on my opinion and we can move forward.
I'm glad we'll still get a message on our screen saying we're about to enter a restricted zone.
as a resident of Oahu... this is GREAT news!! :)
Dave, you have to remember that even though DJI no longer enforces these NFZ's they still exist and you have to respect them. It just puts the responsibility on you to willfully fly into an area that's restricted. I'm waiting for someone to launch a drone in downtown NYC or DC now that DJI has disabled the feature and then the restrictions start.
@@Dronevalley Thanks! I am fully aware of my responsibilities and respect the laws. I do wish they would just keep geofencing turned on unless you sign into your account that is linked to your part 107 or other clearance you may have to fly commercially. That could prevent some of those issues.
Why i update and still have it....
Had this situation a couple of times: Airaware said “No problem, Airport not active, unscheduled service” DJI says “There is an aerodrome in 0.2 miles! please confirm the indent to start your drone, leave your email address behind. Be careful.”
I'm assuming that you're in the beautiful, great white north and things are a little different. Even with Geofencing active, you could still fly in certain NFZ areas with permission. It just takes a little extra work to get those zones unlocked. This is a good thing since it prevents the casual flier from wandering into an NFZ unwittingly.
Totally disagree with his position. For me, it's a matter of convenience - i could seek permission to enter a zone that dji prohibited despite it being legal for me to fly there. "All" i had to do was go home for an Internet connection, navigate the dji website to request permission, download permission to my computer, download permission to the drone and return to the fly site. All that for an area where Transport Canada deems it legal for me to fly but dji classified incorrectly.
Unfortunately, the recent change did not apply to Canada.
I think you're making that seem a little more cumbersome than it really is. I have to fly in areas that need permission all the time and I simply do my research before leaving home and get the approvals. If I get caught in the field needing an unlock, I simply tether to my phone and get the code. I know it's not super easy but the system kept the novice flier (and there are a lot of them) from violating an NFZ. That's the really important part that folks are missing. On a side note, the change is coming to Canada soon so keep an eye on the app.
@Dronevalley is there a confusion over jargon? I get, and agree with, what you're saying if it is genuinely a "no fly zone" such as type E (or is it Type F?) Canadian airspace in which flight is never allowed. Flight *is* legally allowed in many areas where I've had difficulty, but DJI has made it very inconvenient to fly there. The permission that I obtained from the DJI website had zero connection with, or authority from, Transport Canada. *That's* what I want to be removed.
I live near the boundary of a Transport Canada altitude zone, and routinely tap the button to accept responsibility for flying within that zone. I want the same logic to be applied to the DJI Authorization Zone.
I also get what you're saying about tethering to a phone for the Internet, but that does not apply in remote areas or for those (eg, me) without a data plan on the phone. As I said, it's inconvenient.
Does any one know why DJI dropped the Geo Fencing?
I live near a air base & could not launch without calling in for clearance in my own yard
It's unfortunate, but if your location is that close to an airbase, you have to deal with the restrictions. Most folks don't realize that you don't own the airspace over your property and some of it has flight restrictions for safety. I'd be frustrated if I lived in an NFZ but would just drive a little to a lake or park to fly.
100% agree, that was what was good from DJI that they took the responsibility and avoided the consumer making mistakes. Lead by example.
Now we are all in the same boat and if some idiot rocks it’s we are all punished.
No sorry buddy. Nice try at trying to sound like you have some moral official agency. Previously almost the entire coast of our beautiful California 1500 mile coastline was offline to drone photography, including Big Sur.
I was about to sell my Avata 2....because of GEO Fencing. No I am keeping it. Leave the responsibility up to the USER.
It's not a matter of responsibility, it's a matter of limits. Removing the geofencing doesn't allow you to fly anywhere you were prevented from flying before. All if did was stop the drone from breaking the law by flying into an NFZ. Same rules apply now but if you fly in a restricted zone, you face some serious penalties.
@@Dronevalley Avata 2 is in a special category because DJI boneheadedly requires connecting the Goggles to an internet connection after every single battery change and power cycle when in an Authorization Zone to unlock the zone, because the unlock will not survive a reboot!
This is the one drone for which this is a big step forward, because they were not going to change the stupid functionality. Once you have a one year unlock for a Blue Authorization Zone, it should stay ON for a year, like it did on every other drone, and not need to be reverified online every 20 minutes!
yoo. earlier this month i tried flying in Anaheim but my area was engulfed with the no fly zone and I assumed it was because of the fires. Now it’s removed and displayed as “Enhanced-Warning Zone” and Im able to fly again in Anaheim. Great to know that the map is synced to the FAA.
Just be sure to check for TFR's in the area. With the wildfires there are still a lot of restrictions in place and you'll need to be careful if you're flying near those.
Is the geofencing removed in Canada? I live near an airport, I have a dji neo. I just want to fly in my house. Geofencing is still keeping me grounded, I'm a noob and wondering if I did something wrong.
Not been removed. I live just south of Vancouver.
Not yet. Canada is next.
I'll have to see. I liked it. I hope it still operates with an override. I won't be overriding
This is great because it seems that all DJI did to show that they were sensitive to safety was met with nothing but criticism
There was always a drone that did not have Geo zones, so the people that ruin the hobby by flying in a restricted zone always had that option. Let’s just people follow the rules and fly safe.
Another thing that DJI has to consider doing is making the information available for those doing software programs that are used for mapping and other functions. My son and his police department use Pix 4D to document accidents. Newer DJI drones no longer make their info available so that program can be adapted. DJI wants users to pay for their mapping software.
Did they remove the altitude restriction?
No, the FAA set that as 400' AGL and it's still the same. The key thing to remember here is that the NFZ's are still in place and you can't fly in any of them. The only thing that changed is that the drones no longer stop you from flying there. If you cross the virtual border into an NFZ, you face a steep fine and possible jail time. It makes flying riskier and does nothing to improve safety.
@@Dronevalley Mountain climbing ,while staying below 400’ AGL is completely legal. He was asking about the artificial 500m altitude limit above the launch point, which makes mountain climbing impossible from the base, when the peak is higher than 500m.
No definitive answer about that yet, because it depends upon which drone model. On the Mavic 3 series and the Air 3 series, it is supposedly now possible to fly over 500m, but still requires unlocks on other models.
NO ISSUE HERE, ITS ALL GOOD.
The spoofing gps position is Beirut airport once the drone receives a new fake gps in the airplane airfield it flies away from runway and lands.
Sounds like a preventative measure for the airport. That can't happen in the U.S. as spoofing GPS is illegal and a pretty serious deal.
Does it means no more nfz?
No Fly Zone
what about canada?
Geofencing is still in place.
@@jacksonmacd i wonder why canada didnt get removed
Canada is next!
The geo fencing was the main reason I refused to purchase the drone with a RC 2 or RC 3 controller because the unlock was a hassle and barley worked. The database in my opinion was not kept up to date. I am happy it is gone. I do agree with accountability and those who break the law should be punished. However the fact that a pop up warning will warn you I think I sufficient enough.
Rick, our AMA RC airfield is within geofencing of DJI drones. We HAVE freedom to fly within this area. That is why I DIDN'T buy DJI.
I agree with you to a point. Instead of not letting you fly I would like to see enforcement of how you fly. Limit the altitude. Limit the distance the drone can fly. In nearly all cases when I have been in a no-fly zone, if an aircraft was at 200 feet -- that would not be welcome, so I could see allowing the drone up 200 feet. The fact a DJI drone can travel miles from the pilot, this is not allowed. Signal strength is for penetration not for distance. Enforcing a distance in a restricted area to ensure the flight doesn't exceed visible range would be advisable. For drones like the Neo, why restrict a flight if the person is flying without a controller or with the phone? The distance the Neo can travel in that flight mode is limited and if there is a manned aircraft that the Neo in this mode would crash into, there are bigger problems with that aircraft being so low. I think DJI should actively lobby to allow for smarter rules for drones such as a residential area that is within five miles of an airport -- why not let a user fly up to 200 feet in those areas? Unless its inline with the runway an aircraft shouldn't be that low in that area, but defiantly restrict when it's inline with what could be an aircraft's flight path to the airport.
I agree, but the problem is that most of the rules they would have to put in place to make it work would be pretty extreme.
I didn't mind geo fencing. Now it's making it easier for people to fly where they're not allowed. It seems to me that this will give the US another reason to ban them. At least before the argument was there that they were keeping people from flying near critical infrastructures.
Bro people with Autel drones?? Autel never had geofencing why are we making such a big deal? DJI just made a super power move🤷🏽♂️
Like all protection schemes, geofencing makes more problems to regular user than for someone who wants to fly in forbiden zones...
I know it could be a little sloppy and was constantly updated but it did the job of keeping new pilots (or goofy ones) from violating these NFZ's. Now that it's disabled, watch the news for drones lifting off in NYC and DC. This is going to really cause issues for the hobby.
I sure hope the FAA has enough enforcement officers. No way the non 107 operators will not abuse this. I believe this will only make things more difficult for us that actually make a living with drones.
Thats the issue and it'll more likely fall to local law enforcement to handle these issues and I worry that it'll lead to more news reports of bad behavior with drones that will eventually lead to more restrictions. Bad for the hobby and I don't understand the reason for the change.
Well dang hope this isn’t the beginning of a drone lock down
the governments worse nightmare is that the chinese government hits a big red button and then all of our drones unfold themselves and fly out of our windows and chimneys and take over the world
Hopefully the new enhanced warning zones will match the actual FAA controlled airspace rules. The old DJI geofences that didn't match any FAA regs was a major pain. I actually had a job near SRQ in Sarasota FL that was in class G airspace with no LAANC authorization needed. I drove down there from Tampa then found that my DJI drone wouldn't take off because of a DJI geofence. I didn't have my laptop with me, so I couldn't request an unlock... it cost me several hours of work and made the job basically a loss because of DJI's geofence that didn't match any FAA airspace. I'm glad to see them gone. If the geofences came back they need to match actual FAA airspace requirements.
I could not agree more with you Rick. I can only see bad things happening from here on out. I think it is a bad day for the industry. Thanks for the video!
Thanks for watching! I think the same thing and hope that I'm wrong. I was really caught off-guard with the change and haven't been able to figure out why they did it. I'm still digging for an answer with DJI so stay tuned.
Sure that Beale Air Force Base will be overjoyed with this.
The government is always trying to kick dji out of the country anyway
It’s only a matter of time before a drone makes their way inside an airplane engine
The less restrictions and government control and the tracking of it's citizens the better.
I agree bu this had nothing to do with tracking anyone. All it did was keep you from violating the law by flying into an NFZ, where you weren't allowed to fly. How can that be a bad thing?
While I’ve been frustrated by Dji’s Geofencing, I understand your point. Maybe the FAA should ask Dji to reinstate it, it would save FAA lots of time and effort if they did.
Why should dji have it, especially with how inaccurate it is wen other drones don't have ut?
As much of a pain in the ass sometimes it was to unlock the drone to fly (and I have been through it a thousand times!), I agree with you that turning geofencing off is a horrible decision! It will end up causing a lot of unintentional (and intentional) violations!!! I live in an authorization zone and my DJI would never take off unless I get the authorization from DJI to fly. Even LAANC would not turn the drone on! Now the drone will take off whenever launched! Stupid mistake by the unknowing! Anyway, the feature was turned off in other countries before it made it to the U.S. so we knew it was coming! Well, I will finally say that DJI probably got sick of all the complaints and several countries pissing on them and calling the safest drone built a national threat! Well now it can be! Even with Remote ID. Shaking my head. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the post and I knew I would catch a lot of heat for doing the clip and speaking up, but had to offer my opinion. I really don't understand who made the decision or the rationale behind it. Why make a safer drone less safe? I understand that the Geozones were sloppy and it was a hassle to unlock them from the field with limited Wifi, but that is part of running a business. The folks that are welcoming this are being shortsighted. It now allows a novice pilot to fly a drone in NYC or DC and that will make the news. Then some elected official that needs a crusade to get re-elected will amplify the threat and start creating legislation to restrict flight. If you doubt any of this can happen, just look to the last month in NJ where I live. A few folks thought they saw swarms of "drones" flying all over the state and I was even contacted by NBC news to comment. None of it was real or could be documented but it resulted in 33 temporary NFZ's being put in place that grounded all drone traffic for 30 days. This is a real issue with real consequences and it will affect the entire drone-flying segment.
I met a guy who has a dji phantom and a mini 3 i asked him if he had a pilots license and he said whats that , thats the problem right there ! He has a phantom and no pilot licance and doesnt even know the laws or rules of flying a drone ,,, these are the type of people who make things worse , i had to explain to him that he is not soppose to be flying the phantom until its registered and he was a licensed drone pilot , i said the mini 3 is ok but you should still look up the laws before flying around .....bad drone pilots are everywhere !
I agree and made a few mistakes myself when I first started flying but soon figured out how to do it legally and safely. The challenge is that as drones get less expensive, more folks will join the hobby (which is a good thing) but many may not know about the simple rules to keep things safe. Geofencing was one that prevented the worst violations from happening and now it's gone.
Warch for tine incoming Chaos...
I'm not an Ignorant person, but...
I recently bought a drone because I was bored with standard photography...
I knew there were places that you wouldn't want to fly, but...
Cerifications required, etc, etc, etc, didn't even occur to me until I started watching tons of videos...
Think of the number of people who don't/won't bother...
Why does this happen before the the Inauguration day? 🤔
Just a coincidence. It does nothing to improve DJI's standing with the regulations and actually makes their drones less safe.
I hear ya but honestly, it was never DJI's responsibility to enforce our regulations. It was a complete lose, lose situation for them from day one. Most drone pilots hated them for it, there was a considerable cost required to implement/maintain the system, their competitors used it as a sales tool and it didn't seem to earn them ANY points with the federal government who has been after them periodically this entire time. Not to mention that every time some idiot managed to get past their restrictions, like the recent incident with the bucket plane, people went out of their way to blame them for that as well.
"Damn DJI for their stupid NFZs!!!"
"Damn DJI for not stopping that guy from flying over the Palisades fire!!!"
"I don't want some CCP company telling me where I can fly! 'Merica!"
"There has to be some way for DJI to stop these perverts from spying on us! "
I'm with DJI, the feds made them implement Remote ID so they can police drone pilots. Have at it, boys!
Happy days for me. If new flyers get themselves into hot water is their fault and they shouldn't be flying anyways.
Geofencing still on in California as of 1-18-2025
Geofencing essentially means a company dictates how and where you can use your drone, limiting your freedom to operate it as you see fit. In essence, you don’t fully own your drone if you need their permission to use it.
Nope, DJI is just reacting to "fences" that the FAA has already established as No-fly zones. It only prevents you from flying into places you're not allowed to fly legally. How can that be a bad thing?
Well this is an interesting development.
Third Party pay app a coming....
This is a good! You call and get the airport at get permission to fly, then you fly.
That right there issue with DJI geofence is are the discrepancies with FAA
I agree that they weren't pinpoint perfect but they were getting closer with every update. You have to remember that TFR's come out randomly and DJI had to update for those as well so it's like herding cats to stay on top of it. For the little hassle it caused, it was well worth the safety of not letting new fliers violate this airspace.
Rick it´s only apply in the U.S, here in Latin America it doesn´t apply.,..
It's probably coming there soon. DJI is rolling this out in phases that started in Europe and then the U.S. and other areas to follow.
sorry it was not a technology but a pure software restriction . they were the only one having it. they remove it cause people had enough and started to buy from competitors. I might finally buy a new dji
Thanks for the post, but everything in the drone is a "software" feature including flight stability, gimbal control, crash avoidance and a ton of other things. What the Geofencing was designed to do was to prevent fliers from violating restricted airspace and it did that fairly well. It was somewhat sloppy and expanded the restrictions a little beyond the official NFZ for safety, but they have been getting closer to the actual NFZ with every release. Honestly, the only reason you'd have an issue with the feature is if you wanted to violate these restricted zones, which makes no sense since it's a federal offence.
@Dronevalley true but at the same time those that wished to fly everywhere could choose other drones or just unlock dji drone ( as I always did ) unfortunately just like in anything else we need ( and must ) rely on people consciousness . Also a car in the wrong hands become a killing machine
I thought Geofencing and the Chinese government supposedly knowing the drowns location in the US is why the US government is banning DJI?
Not in Australia, still have GEOFENCE
I don't think the car sized drones flying around NJ use geofencing either. I guess it's the wild west for all drones now.
Lol, there were never any "car sized" drones flying around NJ. Just a lot of bored folks that don't spend a lot of time outside looking at the stars and can't tell a plane from the moon. It was a whole lot of titillating nonsense and I'm glad it's over.
@@DronevalleyFair enough! Fortunately the media has dropped covering reported possible misidentified aircraft or celestial objects.
Major security issue. Think about it.
Ehhh.. dji is feeling gutsy. We nearly banned from the US... why be on the bad side of the governments?