Re:Ask HN: DJI possibly providing location of Ukranian drones
by wmf on Friday May 13, 2022 @09:51PM
(#31374382)
To be clear, the data never goes to DJI themselves. DJI drones broadcast their location and other information over RF for anyone nearby to receive. In a war zone we should assume that all interested parties are listening.
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Re:Ask HN: DJI possibly providing location of Ukranian drones
by jhugo on Saturday May 14, 2022 @01:48AM
(#31375398)
> DJI drones broadcast their location and other information over RF for anyone nearby to receive.
This is true, it's in an unencrypted beacon.
> To be clear, the data never goes to DJI themselves.
Is this true? If I fly my Spark with my phone connected, the phone sends a pretty constant stream of stuff to somewhere on the Internet. It's encrypted, so I don't know what it is, but I assumed it would include telemetry of drone parameters that could include location.
Of course, if you're in a war zone, consider just not connecting your phone... the drone flies fine with no possible connection to the Internet.
Re:Ask HN: DJI possibly providing location of Ukranian drones
by flemhans on Saturday May 14, 2022 @04:19AM
(#31376058)
Especially if you modded the drone (range extension hack, height limit hack), you anyway don't connect it to the phone as it may reverse the hacks.
The DJI FPV has a range of 5+ km with the range extension hack, which ignores local regulations and boosts sending power.