The extra crazy part is that the safest places to fly a drone tend to be places where there is no internet service. I live on the edge of a metro area and I drive 20m into the middle of nowhere, up an unmarked dirt trail to launch and fly around looking at the pretty scenery. By going that far out, I know for sure there are no other people, certainly no aircraft under 500 ft and no chance I'm going to injure, bother or even be seen by anybody.

I go there because it's so safe and stress-free. If I were to even hear a vehicle or aircraft in the distance, I'd land immediately (though that's never happened). Where I fly, not only is there no internet service, there's no cellular voice service.

So the FAA has basically assured that I have little incentive to follow their rules. I don't want to start flying within cellular data service range because people, property and aircraft tend to be in those places.

That is the opposite of my understanding based on two parts. As part of the protocol the UAS needs to be able to transmit:

> An indication of the emergency status of the UAS, which could include lost-link or downed aircraft.

I suppose this could possibly be done from the base station as well but manufacturers are going to have to get this certified for operation and I bet this will be sticking point.

The other one is this one:

> UAS would be required to broadcast identification and location information directly from the unmanned aircraft and simultaneously transmit that same information to a Remote ID USS through an internet connection.

While I suppose it could be read that the "directly from unmanned aircraft" might not apply to the internet connection portion I'm willing to bet that is the intent.

p.111 of the regulations gives an example specifically of a UAS that uses the internet connection of a paired smartphone:

> Charlie’s UAS is designed to pair with his smartphone to transmit the remote identification message elements through an internet connection to a USS. Because Charlie’s UAS cannot broadcast [i.e. radio] remote identification message elements, it does not function unless his smartphone is connected to the internet and transmitting through that internet connection to Bravo USS.

That doesn't seem remotely practical. Even the tiniest hobby drones can easily and safely get 150ft away along the ground and are allowed to go up to 400ft.

Have you tried connecting to a phone's hotspot or bluetooth line of sight from 50ft away? 75ft? That's like half a second of flight time for drone then it's supposed to just "stop operating". Sounds incredibly dangerous and ineffective to me.

If its from the base station that would probably make more sense but that would require replacing controllers which are the most costly portion of amateur setups (besides FPV setups).

The proposed document contains answers to most of your questions. I'd recommend using search to jump around to the areas you seem interested in.

> For both standard and limited remote identification UAS, at this time the FAA has not proposed any requirements regarding how the UAS connects to the internet to transmit the message elements or whether that transmission is from the control station or the unmanned aircraft. The FAA understands, however, that there are concerns about the impact that connecting to the internet directly from the unmanned aircraft (as opposed to the control station) could have on networks that use radio frequency spectrum, including interference, network stability, or other effects.

If you want to fly 400 ft away, it doesn't seem too onerous to require a communication setup that's capable of staying in contact with your drone.

You wouldn't even need a "base station", surely your phone in your pocket would work.