n3tjm
Papa Elf
Trying out my new drone . Can't wait to try it out at the next rocket launch I go to
Camera pointed down or not, it’s lame to fly over residential areas. Can you honesty claim to be able to see such a small quad VLOS at the distances flown in the video? I understand you mean no harm, but this kind of stuff is what’s killing the hobby.I did not have the camera "Pointed down" in anyone's yard. The only shots that were looking down was over trees and over my brothers property. The altitude was high enough that you can't see into windows and recognize people in the shots. This was very deliberate since I did not want to invade anyone's privacy.
I chose the Mavic Mini due to the fact of its range and battery capacity. It came with three batteries that are rated 30 minutes each. The drone is rated 4 Kilometers although I did not test this due to being in a urban area. The drone will not allow you to fly in restricted areas. This drone is under the weight limit that requires registration or permits to fly. While this drone does not let you set waypoints by defaults, there are apps that allow you to program waypoints.
This drone is very easy to fly!
Now for some complaints. The instructions that come with it are very vague and font and illustrations are to small to read. Fortunately they have the full manual online and there are plenty of you tube videos that show you how to turn on the equipment, how to pair the controller to the drone, and how to turn off the equipment. Yeah, that was not obvious.
Another complaint is you need a high end phone to pair with the controller. There is no where in the advertisement or packaging that says this. The reason for this is the app only works on 64 bit smartphones. While a lot of smartphones have 64 bit processors, most run the 32 bit OS version due to the fact that many phones do not have the memory needed to run 64 bit efficiently. Fortunately, my brother gave me his previous Samsung Galaxy.
I also was impressed with the $320 price tag. You get a lot for that price, I also opted for the $41 extended warranty plan which covers accidental and water damage. The plan includes 2 replacement drones for under $50 each if you loose or completely destroy a drone. if you have at least 1 replacement left, the plan can be extended another year.
I haven't flown R/C in quite awhile (my R/C gear was 72 MHz FM...), but I wonder if drones are flown at AMA-sanctioned sites, or if they're even welcome. I think part of the appeal of drones is that "you can fly them anywhere since them come back to home"... plus they don't take a lot of skill or practice, like R/C planes do (or .30-size gas R/C helis...)
That sounds like a pretty good arrangement. I know back in the day when I showed up at a flying field with a heli, I got the stinkeye from some of the airplane guys... they put me way over by the fenced-in control line area, and I had to fly in a relatively small space, they didn't want me flying over "their" field.Our club has separate flight boxes on the heli side. I’ve seen some with semi-permanent race courses setup. Our thought is if they have their own space it’s better to have people there than flying in parks and causing trouble. The biggest problem is always someone trying to fly FPV without a spotter. It’s really easy to end up far away or behind yourself.
Your brother owns four houses on four adjacent lots?I did not have the camera "Pointed down" in anyone's yard. The only shots that were looking down was over trees and over my brothers property. The altitude was high enough that you can't see into windows and recognize people in the shots. This was very deliberate since I did not want to invade anyone's privacy.
How would YOU feel if a drone with an FPV camera flew over your back yard ...
<snip> and who nowadays swims naked. <snip>
Not at all. This is a forum for free and open discourse. No room for haters.Well, some of you are going to hate me.
Except that porch was there yesterday, today and probably tomorrow.A drone is no different then my sister on her back porch.
I'm not a lawyer but.....Is taking a picture of a plastic flamingo in someone's fenced off yard invasion of privacy. Nope, it isn't.
But isn't it supposed to be? Or are you wearing Depends?Don't let your a$$ pucker up when you walk.
I'm wondering how you chose a drone and what features or specs it has.
My present one is a palm-sized one for indoors only. I got it because it got me to practice handling the controls and it was cheap. It also has a camera so I can get a feel for aiming.
My next one would be heavy enough for outdoors flying and have some automatic features, but I'm not yet sure which features I need the most.
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