looking for a drone

Airmapper

Inactive Member
@Airmapper, could you talk about any efforts or methods of thwarting China's 'phone home' stuff in the DJI drones. I've been wanting one for years but I am troubled by their access and would like to know if there's any way around it. What are the conditions that trigger it and what can be done to restrict what data / info gets sent back to China?

Not viewing the FAA's quest for dominance any more favorably than China's behaviour and want to limit my contact or exposure to the US Depts of Making You Sad any way I can. So I just keep looking at the Mavic Mini in my e-shopping cart.

Speaking based on my Mavic 2 the software environment means it "phones home" about every startup if you use the DJI go4 app and internet. This is not entirely evil, it updates the software, updates a map of places it would be really stupid to fly and locks the aircraft from taking off there, so it has a legitimate purpose. It does operate without an internet connection so I suppose it is possible to only allow it to initialize and register itself then limit it's access to the internet from that point on, however it will be hard to keep it's software up to date. Also I don't know if after so long perhaps it forces you to check in or you can't fly.

The most obvious thing it does is logs flights and thumbnails of images to your profile. This info is useful and I find it practical, but rest assured it's stored in the cloud and I'm sure China can look at it any time they like.

For me on the Part 107 side the FAA wants me to keep that software up to date, part of my maintenance of the aircraft, so they are basically asking me to let it phone home while the rest of the Government is complaining that it does. On the recreational side though, once it's working, aside from feature and bug fixes, I don't see updating the software as being vital as long as it's stable. Truth be told updates are as likely to cause issues as fix them.

For the Mavic Mini, say you used a dedicated smartphone or tablet, only turned the WiFi on long enough to let it call home and activate, from that point forward put that device in Airplane mode or whatever and use it like that, it's possible you could kill the link. However if at any point it does get a connection it will likely dump everything at once. You may be able to delete files off the aircraft and controller but it would take a software guru more skilled than me to ensure nothing makes it to the internet anyway.

I will say many of my flights I do not use DJI's app. I have 2 other apps that interface with the controller and allow me to automate flying, advanced autopilot's so to speak for mapping and automated flight paths. I don't know if China gets anything from them, but as long as there is an internet connection I'd say something could get out, the aircraft computer logs independently. Basically the aircraft has a computer onboard, the controller has one, and your smartphone or tablet provides the user interface.

I will say this, I'm worried about where this is headed. I'm wondering if it's even worth pursuing as a business unless your name is Amazon.
 

4x4tripping

Adventurer
I would point to the Mavic Air mini

1588833285523.jpeg

It is below 250g and looks more like an toy and is under less restrictions worldwide, because of the weight. It has a 3way Gimbal and brings great videos / Pictures
 

rayra

Expedition Leader
Thanks for the detailed reply. I've been a sysadmin since before the advent of the public internet and long plagued by both Microsoft and Apple "upgrades", so I'm very much a 'late adopter' and also tend to skip updates until a few later versions come out. So as long as the drone isn't bricked if I don't download the latest, I can deal with doing it once in a while.
I agree that the direction this is heading is bad. It's a massive overreach by the FAA and disturbingly there isn't much resistance to it, from any quarter.

I have both hobby and possible business-related interest in having one, would likely do the pilot / licensure / registration thing to use it commercially related to home inspections and real estate, but I'm getting old and past my fill with 'government'.
I just keep staring at the Mavic Mini in my e-shopping basket and decidign to NOT pull the trigger...
 

4x4tripping

Adventurer
I will say many of my flights I do not use DJI's app. I have 2 other apps that interface with the controller and allow me to automate flying, advanced autopilot's so to speak for mapping and automated flight paths. I don't know if China gets anything from them, but as long as there is an internet connection I'd say something could get out, the aircraft computer logs independently. Basically the aircraft has a computer onboard, the controller has one, and your smartphone or tablet provides the user interface.

I will say this, I'm worried about where this is headed. I'm wondering if it's even worth pursuing as a business unless your name is Amazon.


Which Apps did you use too with the DJI Product?

Surfy
 

crazysccrmd

Observer
Thanks for the detailed reply. I've been a sysadmin since before the advent of the public internet and long plagued by both Microsoft and Apple "upgrades", so I'm very much a 'late adopter' and also tend to skip updates until a few later versions come out. So as long as the drone isn't bricked if I don't download the latest, I can deal with doing it once in a while.
I agree that the direction this is heading is bad. It's a massive overreach by the FAA and disturbingly there isn't much resistance to it, from any quarter.

I have both hobby and possible business-related interest in having one, would likely do the pilot / licensure / registration thing to use it commercially related to home inspections and real estate, but I'm getting old and past my fill with 'government'.
I just keep staring at the Mavic Mini in my e-shopping basket and decidign to NOT pull the trigger...

It sucks when government has to get involved but it starts to become necessary when people with no understanding of what they're doing or no regard for safety get into drone flying. There wasn't much of a need back when simpler RC planes were it since those pretty much required the operator to maintain constant eyes on and needed a certain level of skill to operate. With autonomous GPS guided quadcopters capable of being flown beyond line of sight things changed.
 

rayra

Expedition Leader
That's a design fault, not a people fault. Easy enough to limit range, speed, altitude coupled to hours of use. The issue is training and education, not Freedom. And imposing autocratic regulation as the first response to emergent issues is the worst sort of impulse AND governance.
Humans are willing to spend untold hours jerkin' it on video games, 'leveling up' and vomiting every detail of their lives into social media. Make drone control software leverage those tendencies and data. Training exercises, stick time, a profile that accrues cumulative time so a flyer doesn't have to start from scratch with each new drone.
But no, it's the heavy hand of Government. Both imposed and asked for. It's a damned shame that's where we are at as a nation / culture.
 

IdaSHO

IDACAMPER
Its a tough call, but do not overlook the efforts of the FAA to essentially destroy the hobby side of the industry.
There are proposals in the books right now for continuously broadcasting location data to FAA while in flight, as well as a ban on the right to repair your own crafts.

These types of efforts have me on the fence as well. Like you, Ive had a Mavic Mini in my shopping basket for weeks....
Along with a Hubsan Zino. Both are fantastic, low buck little camera drones.

I'm just trying to decide if I want to deal with DJI geofencing/data/BS while enjoying the sweet little sub 250gram craft.

Or just go with the Hubsan and put up with the added size and weight.

OR, just pitch the entire thought altogether as the regulations get considerably tighter.
 

IdaSHO

IDACAMPER
Well, after thinking it about it simply too hard, I went ahead and purchased a Mavic Mini.
The latest manual controls in photo and even video modes pushed my buttons just right.
Being under the 250gram FAA mark is just a bonus.

After shopping for days, and even considering used units, I also realized that if it came to it I could easily turn around and sell it for essentially no loss.

DJI's seem to hold their value better than Wranglers :oops:
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,534
Messages
2,875,626
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top