I can fly my DJI Avata drone in Canada with no problem . . . until I get within 30 kilometres or so of the US border, whereupon I suddenly have some sort of remote ID error, preventing takeoff. I tried to connect the Goggles 2 to the DJI Fly app on a phone or a tablet to supposedly get around this, but lately my Fly Connection setup stalls at the first stage even though the 3 devices are completely operational. If I try the Goggles alone, the app complains about a lack of a drone, and if I activate the drone the app stalls and won’t progress any further, even though it did when I first purchased it to register and update the system.
Greetings Colin and welcome to the Forum! This could be a GEO Zone issue affecting the app. DJI, has in the past, admitted the GEO Zoes are not always “accurate” depending upon location. Does any zone warning appear in the DJI App (usually in blue) before the app freezes before you reach the 30 kms spot with your drone? Is it always in the same location you fly close to the US border or this happens at other locations close to the border as well? If so, authorization zones can be unlocked by authorized users using a DJI verified account.
This article speaks to a possible GEO Zone issue here: https://tinyurl.com/2ejejaz2
Thanks for getting back to me. Sorry I took so long to get back to you, but we were off on our boat. As to locations, the ‘forbidden’ range seems constant across about 90 miles of lateral distance along the US border. There were no GEO or any other warnings — only a declaration of an ID error and a complete refusal to spin up and take off. I tried a solution I found online . . . during the initial few seconds of an attempted takeoff — apparently before the system knows exactly where it is . . . you can initiate takeoff by appropriately manipulating the handheld remote’s orange control button repeatedly. If you can succeed (I did . . . once), the Avata will keep on flying even when the “ID error” warning appears on the Goggles’ screen. However, once you land you are out of luck again and have to shut everything down and re-initiate (including the DJI Fly app) to see if you can fool it again. For me, this involves an additional problem of my current system’s refusal to proceed with the Connection routine (it just hangs up at the #1 stage (Goggles) and refuses to go any further) even when back home in Ottawa.
At the moment the matter is academic — while we were away, I flew my drone behind an island to have a close look at the back channel before proceeding with the boat. Unfortunately, the trees on the island itself unexpectedly blocked the signal, and when the Avata rose to automatically RTH, it hit an overhanging tree crown and fell into the shallow, reedy shoreline water. . . somewhere. I have ordered another one from amazon, since DJI is out of them and is currently flogging their new model that, unfortunately, doesn’t take the same battery (of which I have 3 extras).
When the new drone arrives, I will have to re-register it, but I did learn to drop down into areas of debatable reception so the drone can always safely ascend into reception territory when the signal is lost.