Typhoon H height limit problem

[P Howard]

Want to override the default height limit of 122m
I have GUI version 1.02 and Firmware version 1.30

I connected the Typhoon H to my laptop per instructions. Made sure I had the correct Com port, It updated my Current Value

I then updated the height limit value to 500m. I pressed the 'Update' button. The current value changed to 500m.

When I tested my Typhoon H it still only ascended to 122m(390ft)

After flying and then reconnecting the Typhoon H to my laptop
The current value still stated it was set at 500m for the Height Limit

Any suggestions would be appreciated on steps to update the height limit



Thank you

 

[Ty Pilot]

I believe (but could be wrong) that, you have to apply for the NFZ release on Yuneec's site to alter the height restriction on the H and H Pro. Just go to Yuneec'c US site and the release is under the 'Service' tab, or just click HERE you will need to verify you're a 107 operator.

 

[P Howard]

Ty,
Thanks for your quick response. I do not believe you are correct. I discusssed this with a Yuneec rep a few weeks ago who who told me that the NFZ waiver was no longer needed. He said to go into the GUI and simply change the settings. While it seems to work and says the altitude limit has been altered, the Typhoon apparently is not getting the message as it stops around 390’.

I went to the waiver link you posted and interestingly noted when asking for information about the drone says Typhoon H with Intel RealSense. The drone I am trying influence is one that came without Real Sense. I took the Real Sense off the older machine I have and put it on this one. I wonder if that is the issue and if they somehow can prevent certain drones from being altered based upon ID numbers. Is going to try to fill out the form and send it in to see what happens, if anything.

 

[Ty Pilot]

Yeah I wasn't sure how they are doing it. Hmm, when I looked the tab shows both the standard H and the one with Realsense on the same line so I don't think it matters. Good Luck

 

[P Howard]

The more I think about this topic the more questions it raises. By law we are limited to 400’ AGL. Let’s put a big cube out in a large field. The cube is 400’ on a side. As I understand the rule, within 400’ of that 400’ cube I can legally fly 400’ above the cube, ie 800’ above AGL at my takeoff spot if there has been no change in surface elevation, even as a recreational pilot. If the cube were located 100’ above my takeoff spot I can still fly 400’ above it which would now put me 900’ AGL at my takeoff spot. Obviously this cannot be done with an altitude limit of 400’ AGL at my take off spot. One quickly realizes the limitations this imposes if you fly in Vermont. It seems odd to me we can have GPS chips in our cell phones and watches that give elevation above mean sea level. Seems it should not be a bid deal to be able to incorporate one in a drone and thus provide some worthwhile information.

(Ty, I. Just got a message that you posted to this thread. Not sure if is referring to the original post or my response to your post so excuse any redundancy that may be in this post.)

 

[Ty Pilot]

That was for your previous post.

These systems use a barometer to calculate altitude changes I believe and not actual GPS data. You are correct about about how the rules are managed in regards to objects rising above ground. Yuneec finally fixed this (a little) with the Plus, as we can unlock our maximum height AGL to 1640 feet right in the controller, but you do have to confirm that you understand what it all means. So perhaps you should be able to do the same with the standard H using the GUI. Living in Florida I never needed to raise the limits.

 

[rdonson]

What is the firmware on your ST16 and H 480? Is it at the latest from Yuneec?

Drone Firmware
Typhoon H STD v3.04 Gimbal: v1.25, Autopilot: v1.35, Camera: v3.2.34(A)

Controller Firmware
ST16 Controller STD v03.01.b30

I fly in the Blue Ridge Mountains of NC from time to time. I must admit though that I'm usually above 3,000 ft altitude when I take to the air and the 390' limitation is not an issue. I've not tried starting in a valley and trying to get above the surrounding mountains. That's just not good practice for me as I don't see myself having a lot of sats for good flying from the valley unless its quite a big valley.

AFAIK unless you have a 107 license you're restricted to 400' AGL which means from where you lifted off. As @Ty Pilot stated you used to be able to unlock that by contacting Yuneec and presenting your 107 license.

 

[P Howard]

Ron

I do have the above firmware versions.

I have not found anything that prevents a non Part 107 pilot from flying greater than 400’ above AGL as I described in my example above. It also would seem unreasonable that you could be standing within feet of me, but on a berm 25’ higher than I am, and that would allow you to fly 25’ higher than I can even though are drones are flying an inch apart (for discussion purposes only).

" + ttlms_connect.course_name + "

So I am thinking Ty knows more about removing the altitude limitation than does the Yuneec rep I spoke with. I submitted a waiver request and when I checked my e mail about an hour later it was there. I am about to see if it will work. It said Part 107 pilot verification was required but there was no way to provide it. It must be they verify it at their end or don’t verify it at all. Stay tuned.

 

[rdonson]

I just go by what the FAA states about 400' AGL. Personally, its difficult for me to see my H at 400' AGL.

Looking now at the FAA website it seems 400' AGL is a "Drone Safety Tip". When I registered my drone in early 2017 I thought it was a requirement to stay below 400' AGL.

Getting Started

 

[Ty Pilot]

Ron

I do have the above firmware versions.

I have not found anything that prevents a non Part 107 pilot from flying greater than 400’ above AGL as I described in my example above. It also would seem unreasonable that you could be standing within feet of me, but on a berm 25’ higher than I am, and that would allow you to fly 25’ higher than I can even though are drones are flying an inch apart (for discussion purposes only).

" + ttlms_connect.course_name + "

So I am thinking Ty knows more about removing the altitude limitation than does the Yuneec rep I spoke with. I submitted a waiver request and when I checked my e mail about an hour later it was there. I am about to see if it will work. It said Part 107 pilot verification was required but there was no way to provide it. It must be they verify it at their end or don’t verify it at all. Stay tuned.

From Yuneec's perspective the height limitation of 400 feet (from take off point) was/is to protect Yuneec and be able to sell their product here. Yuneec did not, and still does not have a way for the Typhoon to interpret its surroundings and allow flight heights that correlate to the FAA rules as written and; they know that most of those flying drones don't even know the rules (present company excluded). So they put a blanket AGL limit into the H flight controller. In their mind that insulated them, and those in your situation from their point of view, would just have to deal with it. Or get the waiver from them.

 

[Ty Pilot]

I just go by what the FAA states about 400' AGL. Personally, its difficult for me to see my H at 400' AGL.

Looking now at the FAA website it seems 400' AGL is a "Drone Safety Tip". When I registered my drone in early 2017 I thought it was a requirement to stay below 400' AGL.

Getting Started

I have not read too deep into the 336 hobby rules in the last year so maybe some things have changed but the rule for flying over 400 feet is as P Howard suggests. If you are flying near (within 400 feet) of a building or structure such as a tall antennae or mountain, then the 400 foot restriction is placed at the top of that building, structure or mountain but again only out 400 horizontally from it. They (FAA) do this because GA charts show these obstructions and pilots are trained to fly at a surplus above them. Now granted this is under the 107 rules framework but it is not mentioned or denied in the 336.

 

[P Howard]

The continuing saga - I was able to upload the license so when I go to the Flight Boundaries page I now have the additional No Fly Zone enable, disable and clear parameters options. When I click on the disable option it asks me to confirm it but when I try to do so it doesn’t give me a success option. I think it is a serial port problem. When I go to the serial port tab my “Now” port is Com7. If I click on the new port option, I can only choose Com7. When I do that and hit testing it will always fail. I tried on my PC, the first attempt was on my laptop, it is Com 4 as the only option but that too fails. Looks like I need to get back with Yuneec because I have exhausted my ideas. So here i sit at 390’.

 

[PatR]

Looking now at the FAA website it seems 400' AGL is a "Drone Safety Tip". When I registered my drone in early 2017 I thought it was a requirement to stay below 400' AGL.

Getting Started

The 400’ has never been a legal altitude cap for recreational level operations. In fact, there are absolutely zero altitude limits for recreational flyers except when they are within a 5 mile radius of an airport and if I recall correctly even that limitation is an advisory, not a mandate. Dumb, but That’s what they have. Only commercial ops have the 400’ limit spelled out in the CFR’s. The 400’ cap everyone thought was applicable to everything was caused by people reading the text associated with the FAA registration process where the FAA tries to force people to voluntarily agree to a 400’ limit. I don’t know how the web page is formatted now but previously, if you wanted to comply with the registration law, you had to agree to a 400’ limit that was presented in a pop up window before you could get through the registration process. In fact, you had to check the agree box in two different pop up windows.

The way they did that is highly questionable from a legal stand point as they prevented people from complying with published law unless they agreed to a policy that is not contained within published law. In a way that might negate the registration process because to comply with the law people are forced in what is in essence under duress to agree with something that is not part of law.

As for the H’s 400’ default limit, which is actually closer to 392’, there’s something not working right between the GUI and the H. Neither of mine use waiver software and both have had altitude limitations elevated through the GUI. Bear in mind I have never used the OTA firmware process. Telemetry has indicated both will fly well above 400’ during some recreational experimentation in safe airspace. The 920 Plus uses the same GUI and altitude limits are modified the same way as the H, and something I have done.

 

[PatR]

The continuing saga - I was able to upload the license so when I go to the Flight Boundaries page I now have the additional No Fly Zone enable, disable and clear parameters options. When I click on the disable option it asks me to confirm it but when I try to do so it doesn’t give me a success option. I think it is a serial port problem. When I go to the serial port tab my “Now” port is Com7. If I click on the new port option, I can only choose Com7. When I do that and hit testing it will always fail. I tried on my PC, the first attempt was on my laptop, it is Com 4 as the only option but that too fails. Looks like I need to get back with Yuneec because I have exhausted my ideas. So here i sit at 390’.

Try a different USB cable. The connection is very finicky.

 

[FlushVision]

The 400’ has never been a legal altitude cap for recreational level operations. In fact, there are absolutely zero altitude limits for recreational flyers except when they are within a 5 mile radius of an airport and if I recall correctly even that limitation is an advisory, not a mandate. Dumb, but That’s what they have. Only commercial ops have the 400’ limit spelled out in the CFR’s. The 400’ cap everyone thought was applicable to everything was caused by people reading the text associated with the FAA registration process where the FAA tries to force people to voluntarily agree to a 400’ limit. I don’t know how the web page is formatted now but previously, if you wanted to comply with the registration law, you had to agree to a 400’ limit that was presented in a pop up window before you could get through the registration process. In fact, you had to check the agree box in two different pop up windows.

The way they did that is highly questionable from a legal stand point as they prevented people from complying with published law unless they agreed to a policy that is not contained within published law. In a way that might negate the registration process because to comply with the law people are forced in what is in essence under duress to agree with something that is not part of law.

As for the H’s 400’ default limit, which is actually closer to 392’, there’s something not working right between the GUI and the H. Neither of mine use waiver software and both have had altitude limitations elevated through the GUI. Bear in mind I have never used the OTA firmware process. Telemetry has indicated both will fly well above 400’ during some recreational experimentation in safe airspace. The 920 Plus uses the same GUI and altitude limits are modified the same way as the H, and something I have done.

Just to clarify for U.K. readers of PatRs text above. In the U.K. it is now law that both recreational and commercial flyers of drones must not exceed 400' height above AGL. Previous to a couple of months ago, a recreational flyer didn't have such a restriction over them...it was only advisory... but now it's compulsory. For the commercial flyer, there is the possibility of flying above 400' but only if he has been given a special PfCO to allow it under very restricted instances...and is very hard to obtain. A Standard PfCO holder is limited to 400' no matter what and no matter how near the holder is to a structure. The 400' rule in the U.K. is NOT terrain following: It is 400' above the ground that the pilot is standing on...not the nearby hill.

 

[Proper51pilot]

I am new here and was recently given a Typhoon H as a gift and part of its use was to be able take pictures of our property, I cannot get the properties in the picture with a limit of 400 ft. I have been researching fixes, with mixed results, I tried downloading the GUI and it won't allow me to do so on my old Windows 7. Am I just stuck with 400' limit? I have even tried to chat online with Yuneec and they always seem busy, I did not want to hijack this thread, but it came up in the forum search. Thank you for any input, and no hurry.

 

[P Howard]

Proper51Pilot
Welcome to the forum. You aren’t hijacking anything. Looks like you are searching for the same solution I have been unsuccessfully looking for. I tried Pat’s recommendation to try another USB cable. I tried 3. With one of them I was able to get a “success” response but the Typhoon was just jerking my chain. Test flew it - stopped at 392’. Now I am really frustrated.

 

[Proper51pilot]

Thank you for the response P, it has been frustrating to say the least, the only solution I saw was to revert back to an earlier version and upload it via the GUI, but not even sure that would work. I couldn't down load the GUI to my computer with WIN 7, which is old and I use my Mac for pretty everything, so no iOS download, ah well I am going to keep trying...

 

[rdonson]

Have you tried a dealer? A shop like Terrestrial Imaging or CarolinaDronz may be able to help. If you bought from Best Buy maybe try them.

 

[PatR]

Best Buy is typically only a seller and of little help with drone tech stuff. My guess is the new altitude is not being input and saved properly in the GUI. Put the new altitude in the left side box and hit save changes off to the right. Be sure the H is powered up when doing it