Not according to a Dji rep on the Dji forums
EDIT: apparently the DJI rep has corrected himself and has said that the max height is indeed 500 meters
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P4 Hard Set Altitude limit?
- Thread starter ChadDa3mon
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EDIT: apparently the DJI rep has corrected himself and has said that the max height is indeed 500 meters
ianwood
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GadgetGuy
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Aside from the fact that they are wrong, it would make no sense to create such a limitation with existing P4 technology. The 400 foot FAA guide limit is Above Ground Level, not above your launch point. No DJI craft yet can measure AGL. They can only measure height relative to your launch point. The world is not flat! Terrain changes during flight. DJI therefore has set a range limit of 200m below and 500m above your launch point to allow you to fly over varying terrain heights while staying within 400 feet AGL. The default setting in DJI GO is 400 feet. To exceed it, you merely change it, and accept a liability waiver in the software, assuming all responsibility for changing it. QED.
Today a DJI chat rep couldn't even find the dimensions of the P4. "We don't have that information" he said. Yeah, DJI is flying them around and they don't have that information. The competency of of the average DJI phone/chat rep is really poor, I wouldn't believe anything they say.They're wrong. Shocking!
Tonight was just sent this below via email from DJI, apparently clipped from the Phantom 4 preliminary manual. It appears to be identical height, width and depth as the Phantom 3, which means my P3 Think Tank backpack will work. Nice!
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GadgetGuy
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The specs sheet of the phantom 4 was changed. Now does not say anything about the max altitude. How about that. They should come clean.
Just talked to a Dji person. Said max is 500m above takeoff point. That software limit thing is not in the specs anymore.
DJI just get given the tech from the guys in Area 51, and they get it from the aliens. So it's no surprise they don't know the dimensions.
UK
ASL vs AGL: This is why education is helpful. 400 AGL does not mean everybody has to fly at the beach. If you are in Denver, Colorado, you are already 1 mile above sea level (ASL). As some above have noted (eg, air density), 400 ft above GROUND level still works (legal) when the GROUND is a mile above SEA level. However, in less dense air, e.g., high altitudes, warm air or moist air, the battery time will be reduced along with lift power.
So curious, that may not be the law, but to be FAA registered we agreed to fly under 400 feet. Isn't that legally binding? I have gone over 400 feet, but only once accidentally. I was playing with inflight shut down in the flight simulator and wanted to see how high you had to be to do an in-air restart and not crash, also figure out P3 terminal velocity. Didn't realize, should have, that at least some settings would stick for live flight. My next flight I took off and as usual was going to my max height and waiting for the audio alert I had reached it. Was watching the drone and talking to someone who was interested in the drone. Wasn't watching the screen then when I looked down it was almost at 1000 feet! No I didn't attempt the in-air shutdown restart maneuver for real at that point.
GadgetGuy
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Actually, you agreed that you intended to follow the FAA Safety Guidelines. Perhaps you had a change of heart afterwards.
In any event, the 400 foot FAA Safety Guideline is 400 feet Above Ground Level (AGL) and not 400 feet above your launch point. So unless your terrain is flat as a pancake, you will need to adjust your altitude as you fly to stay within 400 feet AGL, often by flying well above 400 feet above your launch point, so you don't run into the side of a hilltop that you may be flying to.
Ask 10 of them, and you'll get 10 different answers to any question!
You're right. One of them just told me max alt is 40 fathoms!!!
The 6000m is the service ceiling that the aircraft can handle. It's to do with air density. So if you were on a 5500m high mountain, you can push it to 500m from the top of that mountain. If you were on a 6000m high mountain, you would ideally not fly it very high above that mountain, the aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft don't allow it.
Today took the P4 out for exactly this purpose, viz., flying up to tower on top of Hubbard Park in CT. P4 could not do it. Had plenty of battery & range but because I hit the 400' ceiling I couldn't get up the mountain - would have hit trees. No problem at all with the P3 Pro. I've tried to calibrate the height setting on P4, no success - unless you consider getting it to go lower a success. If there's anyone that has a work around for this please let me know. Other wise I'm returning the bird to DJI. FYI: everything else works great and I get great time out of the battery. I really hope there is something that can be done to get over the 400' limit.
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