leave your drone home when going to DC

[Dustbuster]

i wonder why lol...

 

 

Buyer beware that DJI has locked your Phantom from being able to even start the motor if you live within a 15 mile radius of the White House. This encompasses not only D.C. but much of Prince Georges County, Arlington, Fairfax, Silver Spring, Falls Church and Montgomery County. DJI does not warn you of this prior to purchase. Outside of this 15 mile radius, the drone works great, but be aware, that if you bought it and live within the restricted zone, you will not be able to fly it, even on your own property.

[Hozzie]

Yeah, there have been people complaining on the Phantom forums. They also have no fly zones around most airports. I fully expect the 3dr solo will also have them.

[ehull20000]

Forgive my ignorance, but how is the restriction imposed?  Is there an embedded GPS or cellular device that can tell where the drone is located?  I honestly know very very little about these little drones.  They seem cool though.  

[Hozzie]

Yes, the new drones do have a GPS chip in them.  The apps you use also use the GPS to determine exactly where you are and if you fall within one of these zones.  I have mixed feelings on the issue, but reading some of the posts on the forums, some of these people have no common sense whatsoever.  Mine will go up to 500 meters high and people are complaining that they should be able to go has high as they want.  I don't really care, but the ones who want to do it are usually the ones in a major city near an airport.  It just goes to show how many people really have no common sense.

[DaveTN]

I’ve been planning on getting one, but GoPro has announced they will be releasing one next year. I might wait to see what they offer.

Putting elevation limiters on them would make sense. A drone hitting a prop or being sucked into the intake of a jet could be catastrophic.

The restricted airspace around DC has been in place for years.

I wonder if a drone activates the NORAD laser warning system?

I love technology and the technology we have today will make drones a pretty cool hobby. However, as with everything else; a few stupid people will cause problems for all.

[No_0ne]

Most of these restrictions are either standard FAA "no-fly" zones or normal airspace restrictions such as Class A. B. C areas which require transponders and/or 2-way communications with the ATC controlling authority - basically the same restrictions that GA aircraft have.  FAA rules on drones are somewhat murky as of now, like most new technologies, drone usage has outpaced the regulations governing them, so the FAA is using their regulatory authority over airspace to restrict when and where they fly.  The more advanced drones, like the DJI Phantom are now more affordable to the average person, thus it's probably inevitable that incursions will occur, and stiffer regulations will follow; to curb some of these incursions, the software built into the "smart" drones is being programmed  to eliminate flying in known restricted and/or regulated airspace.

[Hozzie]

I’ve been planning on getting one, but GoPro has announced they will be releasing one next year. I might wait to see what they offer.

Putting elevation limiters on them would make sense. A drone hitting a prop or being sucked into the intake of a jet could be catastrophic.

The restricted airspace around DC has been in place for years.

I wonder if a drone activates the NORAD laser warning system?

I love technology and the technology we have today will make drones a pretty cool hobby. However, as with everything else; a few stupid people will cause problems for all.

 

As for waiting for GoPro, I would recommend that if you are wanting one, I wouldn't wait for them.  There are already a lot of options out there for people using go pro's.  The latest is the 3dr Solo.  I think what you are going to find is that these companies making drones have spend a lot of time and more importantly, headache's, getting these things dialed in and they still have some issues.   I would not want to wait for another 6 months or year for go pro and be one to buy a first version.  If they had one out for a while and new version was coming out, I might consider it.  

 

If you do some research on 3dr you will find that they are having some challenges with their first launch as well because of hardware suppliers for the gimbals, but I think they will be pretty nice machines.  

 

Anyway, not to deter you, once you see one in action ,you will definitely want one.

[2.ooohhh]

As for waiting for GoPro, I would recommend that if you are wanting one, I wouldn't wait for them.  There are already a lot of options out there for people using go pro's.  The latest is the 3dr Solo.  I think what you are going to find is that these companies making drones have spend a lot of time and more importantly, headache's, getting these things dialed in and they still have some issues.   I would not want to wait for another 6 months or year for go pro and be one to buy a first version.  If they had one out for a while and new version was coming out, I might consider it.  

 

If you do some research on 3dr you will find that they are having some challenges with their first launch as well because of hardware suppliers for the gimbals, but I think they will be pretty nice machines.  

 

Anyway, not to deter you, once you see one in action ,you will definitely want one.

3dr is far from launching their "first" drone since they have had drones marketed in the commercial mapping space for a few years now. ;) The solo is their first drone marketed to the consumer.

 

 

I do agree with hozzi that I wouldn't hold out for gopro's offering though. If it's anything like dremel's entry into 3d printing it'll just be a rebadged 3dr or DJI anyway.

[Hozzie]

2.0, I agree. I was referring only to the challenges 3dr had had getting the solo launched. DJI had their own as well while we all waited on extra batteries. They are all trying to be first to market in the new prosumer market.

[Dustbuster]

I'm leaning on a phantom 3 pro just haven't pushed the buy button yet. As far as restrictions go, it is possible to write a geofence into their software to keep nipple heads from buzzing the DC doghouse and airports....

[Hozzie]

I have a P3 Pro if you have any questions. I am very happy with it.

[Ted S.]

Disable GPS, problem solved?

[Hozzie]

Yes, but it's not easy to disable and you lose too many failsafes in my opinion. I suppose if I lived in a no fly zone I may care more.

[2.ooohhh]

Disable GPS, problem solved?

On some drones you loose a lot of features if you disable the GPS such as the ability to autopilot to "home" and land in case of a remote control issue. 

 

Building a drone that can ignore a no fly zone is getting pretty easy at this point in time though. I have a friend who's much less tech savvy then I and he's about done with a 3d printed open source 3 rotor drone that he'll only have a couple hundred bucks in for fun.