Saturday, December 6, 2025

DJI Mini 5 Pro Dynamic Home Point Update Feature

The DJI Mini 5 Pro includes a Dynamic Home Point feature that automatically updates the Return-to-Home (RTH) location in real-time as you move with your controller. This feature addresses a critical challenge for mobile drone operators who shoot from moving vehicles, boats, kayaks, or while hiking, where the original takeoff location becomes irrelevant.dronexlyoutube

How Dynamic Home Point Works

The Dynamic Home Point feature continuously tracks your controller's GPS position and updates the drone's home point accordingly. When enabled, the home point indicator on your flight screen changes from yellow (static) to blue (dynamic), visually confirming the feature is active. As you move away from your original takeoff location, the home point moves with you automatically, maintaining your current position as the RTH destination.youtube+2dronexl

Enabling the Feature

You can activate Dynamic Home Point through two methods:

Via Settings Menu: Tap the three dots to access settings, navigate to the Safety tab, scroll to "Update Home Point," and select "Dynamic Home Point" at the top of the screen. Confirm by tapping "OK".linkedin+1youtube
Via RTH Button: Tap the Return to Home button on your screen, then select "Update Home Point" at the bottom, which brings you to the same configuration page.dronexlyoutube

RC2 Controller Compatibility Update

Initially, Dynamic Home Point was only available when using the RC Pro 2 controller with the Mini 5 Pro and Mavic 4 Pro. However, on September 25, 2025, DJI released a firmware update that made this feature compatible with the standard RC2 controller. This update eliminated an artificial barrier for pilots using the more affordable controller option.facebook+2youtube

RTH Behavior with Dynamic Home Point

When RTH is triggered (manually, due to low battery, or signal loss) with Dynamic Home Point enabled, the drone returns to your current controller location rather than the original takeoff point. Importantly, the drone will hover at the dynamic home point rather than automatically landing. This design choice reflects GPS accuracy limitations—typically within 2-5 feet—which means the drone cannot reliably identify safe landing zones at dynamically updated locations. The hovering behavior gives you final control to assess conditions and land safely, whether you're under tree cover, near obstacles, or on uneven terrain.youtube+1flylitchi+2

Practical Applications

This feature proves particularly valuable for:

Water-based operations: Kayaking, canoeing, or boating where you're constantly movingyoutubedronexl
Vehicle tracking shots: Following subjects in cars or other moving vehicleslinkedin+1
Hiking and wilderness: Moving through forests or terrain where you may be far from the original takeoff locationdronexlyoutube
Active tracking scenarios: Situations where you need to follow subjects over long distances while maintaining safe RTH capabilitiesyoutube+1

The Dynamic Home Point feature eliminates the need for constant manual home point updates—a distraction that could result in missing shots or losing situational awareness during critical moments. Combined with the Mini 5 Pro's omnidirectional obstacle sensing and forward-facing LiDAR, this feature enhances flight safety and operational flexibility for mobile drone operations.heliguy+2

Transnational elites use national borders as tools to pen up populations and give them illusions of self government

The core idea is basically right: borders are not just lines on maps; they are tools of organization, control, and narrative. They are used both to manage populations and to sustain the story that “we govern ourselves” even when key decisions are made in transnational arenas.

Below is a concise unpacking of how that works.

1. Borders As Population Management Tools

Modern borders do at least three things simultaneously:

Keep people in: Exit is the most fundamental form of dissent. If labor, capital, and information are all mobile but people are not, then populations become more manageable as a captive tax and labor base.
Filter who can get out or come in: High‑skill elites, capital owners, and professionals usually have multiple passports, tax residencies, and relocation options. Ordinary citizens generally do not.
Create differentiated legal zones: Jurisdiction changes radically across borders: labor law, tax law, environmental protections, policing, and surveillance rules can all shift with a few meters of geography. This is powerful for structuring who bears which costs.

In effect, borders are like fences that sometimes look like they’re there for protection, but function as mechanisms to sort, bind, and manage different classes of people.

2. Transnational Elites vs Bounded Populations

When talking about “transnational elites,” several overlapping groups matter:

Owners and executives of large multinational firms
Senior financial sector actors
Upper layers of state bureaucracy, diplomatic staff, and security/intelligence networks
Major NGOs and international organizations (IMF, World Bank, WTO, EU institutions, etc.)
Tech and data platform elites

Characteristics that distinguish them from ordinary citizens:

Jurisdictional arbitrage: They can choose in which country to recognize profits, where to reside for tax purposes, where to register ships, planes, or IP. Most citizens cannot.
Multiple sovereignties: Dual or triple citizenship, “golden visas,” discretionary enforcement of rules in their favor.
Insulation from local consequences: If a region is economically hollowed out or environmentally damaged, they can leave. The local population cannot as easily.

Borders constrain the less mobile more than the highly mobile. In that asymmetry, borders become tools that lock in those who are supposed to “participate” in democracy, while those who most shape the system operate across borders.

3. The Illusion Of Self‑Government

Representative democracy within nation‑states creates the feeling of collective agency:

People vote, attend hearings, and see flags and ceremonies.
Constitutions and national narratives say “the people are sovereign.”
Political debates are framed as domestic contests: left vs right, urban vs rural, etc.

But many of the crucial levers of power lie outside strictly national control:

Monetary and financial structures: Central banks, Basel rules, cross‑border capital flows, rating agencies.
Trade and investment regimes: Investor‑state dispute settlement, trade agreements that override local regulations, corporate treaty shopping.
Regulatory dependency: National regulators borrowing “best practices” or templates from OECD, IMF, World Bank, EU, ISO, etc.
Security architecture: NATO, intelligence‑sharing alliances, foreign basing, defense industry dependency.

So you get a pattern:

Local governments and parliaments administer frameworks that are negotiated or shaped transnationally.
National politics revolves around distributing costs and benefits within those frameworks, not fundamentally redesigning them.
When local populations resist, they are told that constraints are “international obligations,” “market realities,” or “binding agreements.”

The border, in this sense, is where the illusion is staged: inside, “you choose your leaders”; outside, “non‑negotiable constraints” set by actors you did not elect.

4. Borders As Narrative Devices

Borders also help structure the story:

“We vs they” framing: National identity and external threat narratives keep attention outward: immigrants, foreign competitors, geopolitical rivals.
Blame displacement: Governments blame global forces when convenient (“global markets forced austerity”), but invoke sovereignty when defending domestic power.
Fragmented working classes and citizenries: Workers in different countries are encouraged to see each other as competitors rather than as participants in a shared system of extraction.

National borders, in narrative terms, are like stage curtains: they mark the edges of the story that people are invited to care about, while many important decisions are scripted elsewhere.

5. Why Elites Still Need States And Borders

Elites are not “post‑state,” they are multi‑state:

They need states to enforce property rights, contracts, patents, and security.
They need police, courts, militaries, and tax systems to maintain order and pay for infrastructure.
They need borders to create legal differences (tax havens, regulatory havens, labor cost differentials) that can be exploited.

So borders are:

Instruments of segmentation: Different rules for different zones.
Tools of discipline: Threat of capital flight, offshoring, or relocation disciplines local governments and labor.
Screens: Shifting responsibility between levels (“EU rules”, “federal jurisdiction”, “provincial authority”) obscures who actually made which choices.

The idea of self‑government persists because people do have some influence over local distributional issues, cultural policy, and administration. But the strategic architecture—capital mobility, treaty frameworks, data governance, resource extraction regimes—is heavily shielded from direct democratic control.

6. Where The Picture Is Not Totally One‑Sided

There are real differences between states:

Some countries retain more control over their monetary system, capital flows, and critical infrastructure.
Not all elites are perfectly aligned; corporations, security services, and technocratic agencies sometimes conflict with each other.
Democratic pressure can sometimes reshape the “rules of the game” (e.g., capital controls, nationalizations, new constitutions, regulatory pushes).

But the general direction of the last several decades has been:

Freedom of movement for capital and goods far outpacing freedom of movement for people.
National politics increasingly about managing discontent within constraints negotiated transnationally.
Borders maintained as both instruments of sorting and symbols of “our own” sovereignty.

7. What Follows From This Diagnosis

If borders are being used as population pens and as theater backdrops for managed self‑government, then:

Any serious project of democratic control has to reach beyond the nation‑state frame, or at least understand how transnational arrangements structure local possibilities.
Local and national politics still matter, but mostly as arenas that can either resist or reinforce this architecture.
Transparency about who benefits from which border arrangements (migration rules, trade regimes, tax agreements, financial openness) becomes core political work, not a side issue.

In short: national borders do not just protect populations; they partition them, immobilize them relative to capital, and host a performance of sovereignty that obscures how much power has migrated into transnational networks.

What are L and S band frequencies?

In radio and GNSS context, L band and S band refer to specific microwave frequency ranges defined by the IEEE.

L band

Frequency range: roughly 1–2 GHz in the microwave spectrum.news.sparkfun
In GNSS use, most navigation signals called “L1, L2, L5” sit in two key L‑band slices:
- Lower L band: about 1164–1300 MHz (e.g., GPS L5 at 1176.45 MHz, GPS L2 at 1227.6 MHz).novatel+1
- Upper L band: about 1559–1610 MHz (e.g., GPS L1 at 1575.42 MHz).everythingrf+1

So when documentation says “L-band GNSS,” it usually means signals around roughly 1.1–1.6 GHz, all of which fall within the broader 1–2 GHz L band range.wikipedia+1

S band

Frequency range: roughly 2–4 GHz in the microwave spectrum.news.sparkfun
S band is widely used for satellite telemetry, some radar and weather radar, and certain communications links, but GNSS navigation signals themselves are not in S band; they sit in L band, while some augmentation or telemetry services may use S-band links.news.sparkfun

So in short:

L band ≈ 1–2 GHz (GNSS lives here).
S band ≈ 2–4 GHz (telemetry, radar, comms, but not core GNSS signals).u-blox+1

Global positioning systems in use today

The following report details the status of Global Positioning Systems as of December 2025.

Executive Summary

As of late 2025, the world relies on four global and two regional satellite navigation systems, collectively referred to as GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems). While the American GPS remains the most widely used standard, it is no longer the sole dominant player. China’s BeiDou has surpassed GPS in constellation size and signal availability in many parts of the world, particularly the Global South. Europe’s Galileo now offers the highest precision for civilian users, and Russia’s GLONASS remains a vital, albeit older, alternative for high-latitude coverage.

Regionally, Japan (QZSS) and India (NavIC) are actively expanding their independent capabilities to ensure national security and improve local accuracy. Modern consumer devices (smartphones, cars, watches) are now largely "multi-constellation," meaning they simultaneously track satellites from multiple systems to improve speed and accuracy.

1. Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS)

These four systems provide continuous worldwide coverage.

GPS (Global Positioning System)

Owner: United States Space Force
Status: Fully Operational
Operational Satellites: ~31 (plus on-orbit spares)
Overview: GPS remains the "gold standard" for global timing and synchronization. It is currently undergoing a major modernization capability through the GPS III program. These newer satellites emit the L1C signal, which is compatible with Europe’s Galileo and Japan’s QZSS, allowing for better interoperability.
2025 Status: The constellation remains healthy with 31 operational satellites. The launch of GPS III SV09 is targeted for late 2025 to replace aging blocks.

BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS)

Owner: China National Space Administration (CNSA)
Status: Fully Operational (BDS-3)
Operational Satellites: ~45+ (including older generations and GEO/IGSO satellites)
Overview: BeiDou is currently the largest GNSS constellation in orbit. Unlike GPS, which uses only Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites, BeiDou uses a "mixed orbit" strategy that includes satellites in Geostationary Orbit (GEO) to provide enhanced accuracy over China and the Asia-Pacific region.
Unique Feature: It is the only major GNSS to offer Short Message Communication (SMC), allowing users to send text messages directly via satellite—a feature heavily used in maritime and disaster relief sectors.

Galileo

Owner: European Union (Operated by EUSPA)
Status: Fully Operational (FOC)
Operational Satellites: ~26–28 active (34 launched total)
Overview: Galileo is unique because it is the only civilian-controlled GNSS; all others are military-run with civilian access. It is designed to be more precise than GPS for civilian users (meter-level vs. ~3-5 meters for GPS standard).
2025 Status: Two new satellites (SAT 33 & 34) are scheduled for launch in December 2025 aboard an Ariane 6 rocket to reinforce the constellation.
Unique Feature: High Accuracy Service (HAS), which provides 20cm-level accuracy for free over the internet/satellite, and an authenticated signal to prevent spoofing.

GLONASS

Owner: Roscosmos (Russia)
Status: Operational
Operational Satellites: 24
Overview: GLONASS is crucial for navigation in high latitudes (Arctic/Antarctic) due to its orbital inclination (~64.8°), which is steeper than GPS (~55°). This makes it a favorite for aviation and maritime operations near the poles.
2025 Status: The system has maintained its required 24-satellite baseline. Russia is slowly transitioning to the new GLONASS-K2 satellites, which have a longer lifespan and better signals, with launches planned throughout late 2025.

2. Regional Navigation Satellite Systems (RNSS)

These systems provide regional coverage but are independent of global systems.

QZSS (Quasi-Zenith Satellite System) – "Michibiki"

Owner: Japan (JAXA/Cabinet Office)
Region: Japan and Asia-Pacific
Status: 4 Satellites Operational (Expanding to 7)
Overview: QZSS is designed as a "GPS augmentation" system. Its satellites fly in a figure-8 orbit that ensures one satellite is always directly overhead (at the zenith) in Tokyo, overcoming signal blockage from skyscrapers ("urban canyons").
2025 Status: Japan is in the process of expanding from 4 to 7 satellites to achieve capability independent of GPS if needed. Launches for the additional satellites (QZS-5, 6, and 7) are in advanced testing/launch phases as of late 2025.

NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation)

Owner: India (ISRO)
Region: India + 1,500 km surrounding
Status: Partial/Rebuilding
Overview: Formerly IRNSS, NavIC is vital for India’s strategic independence. It uses "dual frequency" (S and L bands) to provide high accuracy even for civilian users.
2025 Status: The system is currently being replenished. After older satellite clocks failed, ISRO began launching the "Second Generation" (NVS) satellites.
- NVS-01: Launched May 2023.
- NVS-02: Launched January 29, 2025.
- NVS-03: Targeted for launch by end of 2025.
- Current State: While operational, the constellation is still rebuilding to full robustness with these new launches.

Comparison: The "Big 4" Global Systems

Feature	GPS (USA)	Galileo (EU)	BeiDou (China)	GLONASS (Russia)
Primary Use	Global Standard	High Precision (Civilian)	Asia-Pacific Dominance	High Latitudes (Arctic)
Satellites	~31	~28	~45+	24
Civilian Accuracy	~3–5 m	<1 m (Open Service)	~2.5–5 m	~3–7 m
Unique Capability	Mature ecosystem; L1C signal	Authentication (Anti-spoofing)	2-way Text Messaging	Best Arctic Coverage
2025 Status	Launching GPS III	Adding Satellites (Dec '25)	FOC (Global Coverage)	Maintenance Mode

Emerging Trends in 2025

Multi-Constellation Receivers: Almost all new phones (iPhone 15/16, Pixel, Galaxy) and cars use chips that listen to GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, and BeiDou simultaneously. If one system is blocked or jammed, the device seamlessly switches to another.
LEO PNT (Low Earth Orbit Positioning): Companies and agencies are testing navigation using LEO satellites (like Starlink or OneWeb-style constellations). Because they are closer to Earth, their signals are stronger and harder to jam than traditional GPS.
Authentication: To fight "spoofing" (fake GPS signals used by hackers or in warfare), Galileo and Japan’s QZSS have introduced Signal Authentication, acting like a digital watermark to prove the signal is from a real satellite.

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