Remote ID: Which Location Gets Broadcast?

Both ways of complying with Remote ID broadcast the drone's position. They do not broadcast the same second location. A standard Remote ID drone broadcasts the position of the control station. A drone flown with a broadcast module broadcasts the position of the takeoff location instead. That one difference explains several other rules around them.

How do you comply with Remote ID in the first place?

14 CFR §89.105 gives three ways: fly a standard Remote ID unmanned aircraft under §89.110, fly with a Remote ID broadcast module under §89.115(a), or fly without Remote ID inside an FAA-recognized identification area under §89.115(b). The Remote ID rules post covers all three. This post compares what the first two actually broadcast.

What does a standard Remote ID drone broadcast?

§89.305 lists the minimum message elements:

• the aircraft's identity, either its serial number or a session ID;
• the latitude, longitude and geometric altitude of the control station;
• the latitude, longitude and geometric altitude of the unmanned aircraft;
• the aircraft's velocity;
• a UTC time mark;
• an indication of emergency status.

What does a broadcast module broadcast?

§89.315 has a shorter list:

• the identity, which is the serial number of the module itself;
• the latitude, longitude and geometric altitude of the unmanned aircraft;
• the aircraft's velocity;
• the latitude, longitude and geometric altitude of the takeoff location;
• a UTC time mark.

Why the module broadcasts the takeoff point

The rule does not explain its own design, so this is our reading. A module is an add-on attached to the aircraft, and §89.115(a) requires it to broadcast directly from the aircraft. It has no link to the controller that would tell it where the control station is. What it can know is where it was when the flight started.

That explains a related rule. §89.115(a) also requires the person manipulating the flight controls to be able to see the aircraft at all times throughout the operation. Standard Remote ID has no such paragraph of its own in Part 89, although Part 107's visual line of sight rule still applies to both.

What if the broadcast stops mid-flight?

For a standard Remote ID drone, §89.110 requires the person manipulating the flight controls to land as soon as practicable if the aircraft is no longer broadcasting the §89.305 elements. §89.115(a) contains the same requirement for a module that stops broadcasting the §89.315 elements. Both also require the broadcast from takeoff to shutdown.

What this means for the exam

A question that asks which location a standard Remote ID drone broadcasts wants the control station. The same question about a broadcast module wants the takeoff location. Remember also that the module's serial number, not the drone's, is the identity it broadcasts, and that §89.115(a) requires the module's serial number to be included on the aircraft's Certificate of Aircraft Registration unless a notice of identification under §89.130 is provided instead. The registration post covers that part.

The handbook covers this under UA.I.F.K6, UA.I.F.K1 and UA.I.F.K2.

Registration and Remote ID go together; how to register a drone covers the registration side.

For drones under 250 grams, the sub-250 gram post explains when Remote ID applies and when it does not.