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Fun with your Drone

docmoore

Subscriber and Workshop Member
As I said when and if the technology improves and the cameras, units, and Civilian GPS gets less unreliable I might take the plunge again but most likely as old as I am I probably won't see that day while I am still kicking and breathing
I never imagined that I would be flying a drone or RC craft at any point ... after all the disastrous experiences in my early 30's with RC planes.

I do a bit of flying that necessitates take off and landing under some high power lines ... up 4 feet out 40 then ascend as needed. There is so much magnetic interference it makes calibrating the compass of the unit
impossible. But it is still able to hover and adjust ... now the units use both GPS and Glasnost signals and I usually have 8 - 10 synced in my area. After a severe rain storm with significant cloud cover and gust to 15 miles
per hour I lost gps signal and while the craft was controllable ... it did not hover in position nor maintained altitude and was skitting around like a kite. However ... did not stall nor assume an uncontrollable attitude. My
flying skills improved very quickly that morning.

I also started flying patterns within 30 then 50 feet and limited to 50 feet altitude. Figure of eights forward backward clockwise and counterclockwise ascending and descending. Got a bit of practice in the house ... with vision
positioning only as no GPS signal available.

My real drive is the feeling of motion ... ascending and moving towards and away from objects of interest that allows them to be put in perspective both visually and geographically.

The new Phantom 4 has redundant sensors and compasses but I assume you would need a hexa- or octa- copter to deal with the loss of a motor. I am fairly confident that the failure rate of the motors would be low after initial
startup ... should fail early or not likely unless the craft had been damaged in transit or crashed.

Things are moving very quickly and I think you may find in the not too distant future one that you trust enough to play with in safe areas.

The far limit is seen in this video .... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uWlg5-6gWQ

Bob
 

Jim DE

New member
I just went back to two of the forums I used to visit when I had my drone.... seems there is far less talk of flyaway than several years ago when the 3 was the tol. Seems they still are having servo issues causing downed units with the 4 pro and mavica's but DJI is covering this issue with their warranty. Obviously DJI has corrected most if not all of the unexplained fly away issues but seems slanted flight at takeoff causing rotor damage and cocked video images due to the gimbal not staying level without twisting the unit.

Hope you guys have great luck with your DJI's ..... I read some of the same old firmware upgrade fears by users and some other DJI confidence issues that would still keep me from plunking down $2k with the chance of it dropping out of the sky and doing property or physical damage to a individual and getting my life's savings taken away from me in a liability lawsuit for a toy made by DJI that has proven to have flight and reliability issues. I was surprised B&H was selling DJI products with all the returns they were getting between the phantom 3 and 4 model releases for all the reliability issues. My drone was the first item I ever returned to B&H in 20 years of buying products from them. Fact is I had to twice return units one for the servo and the replacement units camera was a blur on the left side so it went back too .. third unit still had a oof region on the ft left corner but I just cropped that out on every pic rather than return yet another unit
 

f6cvalkyrie

Well-known member
I really like some of your pictures here, and also have admired many videoclips shot from drones .... but ...
when I look at them, and how they are probably shot, I have to admit that I wonder if this would all be legal in our country (Belgium) where the rules are (IMHO) very stringent : max alt 10m, only above (your ?) private terrain ...

How's that in your countries ? Are you all licensed drone-pilots ? With a flightplan for every flight ?????

C U,
Rafael
 

stngoldberg

Well-known member
I registered my drone with the FAA as required here, but so far no requirement to get a permit to fly it
There is a list of regulations mostly concerning proximity to airports and places where people congregate. There is a height restriction here, I think at 500 meters
Stanley
 
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xpatUSA

Member
I registered my drone with the FAA as required here, but so far no requirement to get a permit to fly it
There is a list of regulations mostly concerning proximity to airports and places where people congregate. There is a height restriction here, I think at 500 meters
Stanley
Might be 500ft not meters, Stan. As a private pilot long ago in UK, then USA, descent below 500ft above ground level was not allowed, IIRC.
 

k-hawinkler

Well-known member
Yup, in the States limited to 400 ft or 120 m above ground, not over people, and not over restricted areas, such as National Parks, National Monuments, National Laboratories, security areas or within 5 nautical miles from airports without informing the airport manager first. One also has to stay away from hospitals with heliports, etc. It's also not a good idea to loiter over private property other than your own.

I use the free airmap software on my iPad to stay clear of all restricted areas.
 

stngoldberg

Well-known member
Castle Hill light is down there somewhere.
This week my drone and I feel rejected. Security people see me as the enemy when I appear with my drone even if I try to fly it in a lawful area. My solution is to fly it early in the morning when no one is around.
I purchased some copper shields that attach to my antenna on the Phantom 4 controller. I find the drone stays in contact over a 4,000 meter distance (almost three miles) with the copper attachment. Supposedly the drone returns to home (me) when it looses contact which gives me the courage to push the limit.
Stanley
 
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docmoore

Subscriber and Workshop Member
That one is nice .... love the surge deep blue and foreground.

Must have had a bit of wind to contend with?

Bob
 

stngoldberg

Well-known member
Bob, it was kinda of windy there; but the next day, I brought the drone over to Nubble light in York, Maine where it was just too windy to put up the aircraft.
The flag was straight out; it was blowing in excess of 25 knots
Stanley
 

docmoore

Subscriber and Workshop Member
Good to know and not exceed the limits of your craft and your skill!

Old pilots and bold pilots but no old bold ....


Bob
 
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