DragonScope decodes encrypted DJI identification by exchanging a small amount of data with the service. This article explains what leaves the unit, what never does, and what that means for sites with restricted networks.
What stays on the unit
Raw radio samples never leave the unit. Everything else the kit detects is handled locally: Remote ID, DJI OcuSync 2 and 3, and on Elite kits the FPV and telemetry coverage. None of it needs DragonScope or an internet connection.
What is sent
Only OcuSync 4 and newer aircraft involve the service. When DragonScope is active and one is detected, the unit sends the information needed to decode it. Usually that is one message at the start of a session and then one for each frame that follows. The volume is small. The decoded result comes back to the unit and is published like any other detection, with the aircraft’s position, velocity, pilot position, home point, serial number, and signal data.
The exchange runs while the aircraft is in range. It is not a batch process and nothing is queued for later.
Sites with restricted networks
DragonScope needs a working outbound internet connection from the unit at the time of detection. If your network restricts outbound traffic, open a support request and ask which destinations the unit needs to reach.
If the connection is unavailable, nothing else changes. Detection continues locally, and an OcuSync 4 aircraft is still detected with a per-flight identifier and a distance estimate. It simply does not resolve to a serial number or position until the connection returns. A site that must stay fully disconnected is not a fit for DragonScope, and the rest of the kit works exactly as it does without it.
How the data is handled
The terms that govern the service, including how data sent for decoding is handled and what is processed in memory only, are in the DragonScope Service Agreement and the privacy policy on the legal page. Where this article and those documents differ, the documents govern.