Posted on 09/25/2024 9:28:43 AM PDT by fireman15
The ban of DJI drones in the US has stalled out in the Senate, at least for for now, as emergency responders came to the rescue. The Senate Armed Services Committee recently released its version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA FY25), and it does not include the Countering CCP Drones Act, which aimed to ban and ground all DJI drones in the US.
Whether it be a drone made by a Chinese company, or a trained pigeon, governments around the world are always worried about how other countries can spy on them. Such is the case with DJI drones. While the incredibly popular Chinese-made drones are used in a wide variety of use cases, such as filmmaking, agriculture, and for the pure joy found in flying a quality drone, the US government has expressed concerns, with the House of Representatives including a potential ban on the drone company in its version of the NDAA FY25 it passed last month. Now, however, it seems DJI has been given a reprieve from the Senate, if only a temporary one.
The Senate’s decision to not include the ban may have been fueled by blow-back from first responders, who expressed their concern shortly after the House passed its version. Representatives from over 6,000 public safety agencies, mostly police and fire departments, wrote to the Senate Armed Services Committee in opposition to the Countering CCP Drones Act. It may have also been from everyday drone pilots as well, who tend to be very passionate about their hobby, as well as owners who use the drones for business purposes.
While the Senate’s version of the NDAA FY25 did not name DJI, it did mention drones. In its version, the Senate mentions drones in terms of: A report on military drone funding.
(Excerpt) Read more at hothardware.com ...
I have been farting around with cheap Chinese toy drones for about 10 years. Most of them cost less than $40. Some of them came with GPS and cameras that claimed to have decent specifications.
About 3 months ago I bought a DJI Mini 3 drone on sale for $300 at Costco. This was close to what I spent on all of my other drones combined over the previous 10 years. But the thing is a completely different animal than what I am used to. Cheap toy drones can be challenging to fly and build your skills inside and outside. The pictures and videos that come from them are cheesy.
The DJI drone is not really even like flying a toy drone. It is a pretty decent camera on a very steady tripod that flies. It is possible to crash it into something especially when you live in the middle of a bunch of trees. But if you are paying attention and you get it into a hairy situation all you have to do is just take your hands off the controls and it will just sit there in one place even when the wind is blowing a bit. Then you can decide the best way to get it out of the mess that you got it into.
And of course, the videos and pictures are incredible. There just is no comparison to a cheap toy drone. It actually is arguably a useful tool. Apparently, there is nothing made in the USA that is even close to being affordable for a normal consumer. I thought that $300 was a lot to pay, but as far as I can tell there are no camera drones made in the USA for close to that price that have features that are comparable.
https://www.thedronegirl.com/2023/03/20/best-camera-drones-made-in-the-usa/
I have a BWINE and it’s held up to my abuse learning how to handle it.
A DJI is on the short list.
Maybe I will get something out of that FAA 107 eventually.
-PJ
Yes, if you want to do anything that is useful with a drone you are supposed to have the 107 license. I have had a private pilot license for over 30 years, so all I had to do was pass a very easy test online and get a signature in my logbook from a flight instructor.
Just keep on saying DJI without saying what it means. We all know that it stands for Dow Jones Index. Right?
DJI makes the best ready-to-fly drones on the consumer market. IMO.
They also like to phone home. A lot.
But Chinese spy “weather” balloons going across the US esp. at military bases is A-OK? We have the best Congress money can buy. Doesn’t Tampon Timmy have an interest in a Chinese spy balloon business?
I’m looking at trying a discovery flight and see if I have it in me and the interest to learn how to fly a plane.
The 107 test wasn’t hard since I bought a reputable online training program and did the test exercises enough times.
My test took maybe 10 minutes for 60 questions. I drilled practice exams two or three times a day for a week prior. Came out with a 92.
A fair amount of the test was common sense.
The batteries are very expensive. You need to make sure that you charge them up to around 60% every few months. Better still charge them fully every few months then fly the drone around until the batteries are discharged to 50 or 60% then put it back in the closet.
There are 3rd party apps that add functionality to the mini 3 and mini 3 pro. The two that I use are called Litchi Pilot Beta and Drone Link. I would advise against purchasing Drone Link despite it's slicker looking web page and promotional materials on YouTube.
https://forum.flylitchi.com/t/open-beta-litchi-pilot/10621
https://support.dronelink.com/hc/en-us/articles/15304402363411-Mini-3-Mini-3-Pro-Support-Overview
Litchi Pilot Beta is currently free and has more of the features that I use. I actually spent $120 on the most advanced non-business version of Drone Link and have been thoroughly disappointed. It is a severely hobbled version of their business program.
Litchi does everything that has been disabled in the Drone Link Elite version that I purchased for free. Both can be used to pre-program waypoint missions which means the drone will fly around and take the pictures or video you want with almost no input while flying. The difference is that only the business version of Drone Link can use altitude information from Google Earth and other providers. That Drone Link nearly worthless if you are hoping to fly in areas that have hilly terrain.
I've been thinking about going down to the nearby lake/park and practicing with it over there. There is a river that runs alongside the park, so there are plenty of opportunities to practice.
-PJ
They also like to phone home. A lot.
I have tried to research this... I do know that my actual cell phone which was manufactured in China is far more intrusive than a single Chinese app made to control a drone.
To me this seems like sleight of hand. Look over here... Bad DJI App! Don't worry about your Chinese made phone and all the crap that came preinstalled on it. Every cell phone and every “automated home” device has been made to spy on us. You can either live with it, try to find ways to minimize the dangers, or scrap them all.
I have books on how to build your own drone, but even if you put a lot of effort into it... most of the parts and components including the motor controllers and flight controls are still going to be coming from China.
It’s not that the parts are made in China ... it’s that the system likes to store imagery and flight data on “cloud” servers associated with China.
Sounds like it would be an interesting article if only the acronyms were explained for us non-nerds.
I have a hard time believing that this is about so-called “Chinese spying”, especially after they all allowed that Chinese balloon to do its thingy..
Either someone is real paranoid/skeered of the fed-up. overtaxed “unwashed masses”and/tor has big investments in the competition.
Fortunately, the batteries for the mini 3 and mini 3 pro are “smart batteries”, so they discharge themselves down to 60% or so after a couple of weeks. So, it is not as much of a problem as with many electronic devices.
I learned the hard way with a few toy drones with impossible to find replacement batteries not to leave them fully charged for months at a time. Lithium-ion batteries left fully charged for long periods of time often start "off-gassing" and bulging if left fully charged for a few months. Once they are damaged like this they no longer work well and can become hazardous. It depends on the design of the battery and if the device or charger actually charges them to 100%.
The triple charger that I purchased has the option to charge the batteries to 50% for storage.
If you could link to an article about this, I would be interested.
Nothing that I have flown near or taken photographs or video of with a drone or any of the “flight data” would have any interest at all to Chinese authorities. I am fairly certain that the amount of data from actual US hobbyists that would be of interest to Chinese authorities that is not easily available from other sources is so minuscule that it would not be worth their while to sift through even with super computers.
What the Chinese are more likely interested in is info useful for identity theft just like every other app installed on people's phones.
That flight data does not include imagery. It’s altitude, battery charge, gps location, things like that. There is zero evidence to support DJI or any drone is sending images or video anywhere. It would need to be connected to the Internet to do that and most people turn that off mobile data if using a phone or tablet then transfer the data to a computer at home. Anything left in the drone or remote isn’t really usable. Very low resolution.
I’ve only been flying drones for few years and it’s a nice way to make extra cash here and there but if you know how to use Google Earth Studio, you can get passable images for remote locations that a realtor can use for their MLS listing. You can do that from the comfort of your home without leaving the recliner. I can always drive to the location to film it with one of my drones if needed later. So far that has not been necessary. Now if I can do that with a publicly available Internet tool, imagine what a fully equipped satellite with a super telephoto lens can do.
I still enjoy flying but I’ve kinda flown all the interesting places in my area so I wait until I’m somewhere else to do things like 360 degree shots which are very cool. Just go straight to whatever elevation then set it up for the pano. Post it on something like https://panoraven.com/en .
Here’s an example of a pano taken in Williams, AZ, the gateway to the Grand Canyon.
https://panoraven.com/en/embed/LcATZshC5A
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.