Drone Pics

[Lost Soul]

dobbo_ said:

The wind was just my excuse to convince myself I wasn't a moron.

However, I was a moron.

Too fast, to inexperienced, and too windy was a bad combination. Lesson learned.

I'm the same, i stacked my Mini 2 last weekend....again....trying to be clever. Fortunately i only broke two prop blades...again....but it is a reminder that i am not as good as i like to think i am.
Oh well at least i haven't done any permanent damage to it....yet!

This was while having a quick test flight after the last update

[Lost Soul]

As you can probably see from my older posts, i've turned off the auto setting on the Mini 2 to learn how to edit pics and videos - i still have a very long way to go.
I went out earlier and flew not far from work, as you can see from the picture i need to adjust the aperture and didn't



This pic has been edited and as you can see from the background, i should have adjusted the aperture and didn't. It's a learning experience after all

[dobbo_]

Sorry drone noob here, but can I ask a question about range which the internet appears to be unable to answer?

My Mini3 apparently has a 10km range, but even with line of sight, if I get about 1km away it sts it's pants and comes home.

Drone photo so I don't totally derail the thread:



I should be able to fly it to here (blue arrow) and back on the battery but it just can't cope - What am I doing wrong?

Edited by dobbo_ on Monday 24th April 21:07

[Lost Soul]

Lack of satellite coverage? Interference from something?

[Byker28i]

Lost Soul said:

Lack of satellite coverage? Interference from something?

UK Regulations say it should be in sight the whole time, which you'd know if you've registered?

[Byker28i]

dobbo_ said:

The wind was just my excuse to convince myself I wasn't a moron.

However, I was a moron.

Too fast, to inexperienced, and too windy was a bad combination. Lesson learned.

Did you have it in sport mode? It handles the wind much better as it allows it to fly faster/cope with wind speeds.

[dobbo_]

Byker28i said:

Lost Soul said:

Lack of satellite coverage? Interference from something?

UK Regulations say it should be in sight the whole time, which you'd know if you've registered?

Under 250grams is exempt

Edit: Wait no I see that's wrong, exempt from only part! I'll get it registered now

Edited by dobbo_ on Tuesday 25th April 09:41

[dobbo_]

I see now I wildly misunderstood/misinterpreted the rules on less than 250g drones.

I'm now registered and have purchased a commercial insurance policy for flying it, and will give up on my trying to fly 10k away

[GetCarter]

dobbo_

The only times I've experienced a surprise turn around was either:

A/ Running low on battery.
B/ About to enter an area that is ring fenced for no drones. (Believe it or not they do even exist up here).

Whilst I'm here ... one from Sunday.

Edited by GetCarter on Tuesday 25th April 10:28

[Byker28i]

GetCarter said:

dobbo_

The only times I've experienced a surprise turn around was either:

A/ Running low on battery.
B/ About to enter an area that is ring fenced for no drones. (Believe it or not they do even exist up here).

Yup I've had B before, Fairford over a lake, forgot about the exclusion zone around the airfield which was miles away
and CastleMartin exclusion runs a fair way...

Dobbo - Mini 3 falls under the same rules as the Mini 2 - open category, For operator ID it's £10.33 a year to register and you stick your operator ID on the drone. Worth doing the test, just so you have an idea of the rules so you don't fall foul.

Under 250g means you can fly nearer people... All other safety rules, including flight restriction zones around airfields, the need to keep your drone in visual line of sight and not flying over 400ft / 120m all still apply to drones under 250g.

https://www.caa.co.uk/drones/rules-and-categories-...
https://register-drones.caa.co.uk/drone-code

[Byker28i]

Mostly been using mine lately trying to find a leak on the roof

However, busy pub on the coast

[dobbo_]

Byker28i said:

Dobbo - Mini 3 falls under the same rules as the Mini 2 - open category, For operator ID it's £10.33 a year to register and you stick your operator ID on the drone. Worth doing the test, just so you have an idea of the rules so you don't fall foul.

Did it all this morning, and got insurance, better safe than sorry! Wrote the ID on the drone with a pen, that felt wrong

[Byker28i]

I use small labels from the label maker at work

[Lost Soul]

Byker28i said:

Lost Soul said:

Lack of satellite coverage? Interference from something?

UK Regulations say it should be in sight the whole time, which you'd know if you've registered?

Yes i'm well aware of the rules thank you but i was just suggesting reasons as to why he might have lost contact with his drone. As to VLOS rules, the current ruling states you must be able to tell which way the drone is facing without using telemetry and there are strobes you can buy which when added to a Mini 2, don't take it over 250 grams and theoretically can be seen up to 3km away.
Personally i wouldn't want to fly it that far away but the rules for VLOS are a framework, it is up to you how you interpret them and how you can prove you are following them should the need arise, personally i keep my drone within visual eye sight at all times.

[Byker28i]

Lost Soul said:

Byker28i said:

Lost Soul said:

Lack of satellite coverage? Interference from something?

UK Regulations say it should be in sight the whole time, which you'd know if you've registered?

Yes i'm well aware of the rules thank you but i was just suggesting reasons as to why he might have lost contact with his drone. As to VLOS rules, the current ruling states you must be able to tell which way the drone is facing without using telemetry and there are strobes you can buy which when added to a Mini 2, don't take it over 250 grams and theoretically can be seen up to 3km away.
Personally i wouldn't want to fly it that far away but the rules for VLOS are a framework, it is up to you how you interpret them and how you can prove you are following them should the need arise, personally i keep my drone within visual eye sight at all times.

This is true - it says You must be able to see your drone or model aircraft clearly enough that you can tell which way it’s facing, with the naked eye.

The mini 3 is 251×362×72mm unfolded, with a claimed weight of 248gms
My mini 2 is 245 x 289 x 56 mm unfolded and I weighed mine when considering a skin, and it's 246gms

I can just see mine at 120m high, then depends on the background as to how far away it can get before it's hard to tell direction, but its not far.

You'd need lights on each arm red/green sides, to tell for sure at any furtherdistance. Got a link for these lights that are light enough to keep the drone under 250g because they'd be really good. All I've found is a single strobe, which wouldn't show direction facing

[Lost Soul]

Byker28i said:

Lost Soul said:

Byker28i said:

Lost Soul said:

Lack of satellite coverage? Interference from something?

UK Regulations say it should be in sight the whole time, which you'd know if you've registered?

Yes i'm well aware of the rules thank you but i was just suggesting reasons as to why he might have lost contact with his drone. As to VLOS rules, the current ruling states you must be able to tell which way the drone is facing without using telemetry and there are strobes you can buy which when added to a Mini 2, don't take it over 250 grams and theoretically can be seen up to 3km away.
Personally i wouldn't want to fly it that far away but the rules for VLOS are a framework, it is up to you how you interpret them and how you can prove you are following them should the need arise, personally i keep my drone within visual eye sight at all times.

This is true - it says You must be able to see your drone or model aircraft clearly enough that you can tell which way it’s facing, with the naked eye.

The mini 3 is 251×362×72mm unfolded, with a claimed weight of 248gms
My mini 2 is 245 x 289 x 56 mm unfolded and I weighed mine when considering a skin, and it's 246gms

I can just see mine at 120m high, then depends on the background as to how far away it can get before it's hard to tell direction, but its not far.

You'd need lights on each arm red/green sides, to tell for sure at any furtherdistance. Got a link for these lights that are light enough to keep the drone under 250g because they'd be really good. All I've found is a single strobe, which wouldn't show direction facing

It was on a youtube video, i'll look it up later but best to check the drone before buying them as they add 6 grams or so to the overall weight. I weighed mine as i was curious and i think mine weighed 241gms with the battery in so would still be well inside the 250gram category


Here's the link to Amazon for the strobes and they can be done as red and green, so easy to identify which way it is facing
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ultralight-Brightness-Col...

[Lost Soul]

Lost Soul said:

Byker28i said:

Lost Soul said:

Byker28i said:

Lost Soul said:

Lack of satellite coverage? Interference from something?

UK Regulations say it should be in sight the whole time, which you'd know if you've registered?

Yes i'm well aware of the rules thank you but i was just suggesting reasons as to why he might have lost contact with his drone. As to VLOS rules, the current ruling states you must be able to tell which way the drone is facing without using telemetry and there are strobes you can buy which when added to a Mini 2, don't take it over 250 grams and theoretically can be seen up to 3km away.
Personally i wouldn't want to fly it that far away but the rules for VLOS are a framework, it is up to you how you interpret them and how you can prove you are following them should the need arise, personally i keep my drone within visual eye sight at all times.

This is true - it says You must be able to see your drone or model aircraft clearly enough that you can tell which way it’s facing, with the naked eye.

The mini 3 is 251×362×72mm unfolded, with a claimed weight of 248gms
My mini 2 is 245 x 289 x 56 mm unfolded and I weighed mine when considering a skin, and it's 246gms

I can just see mine at 120m high, then depends on the background as to how far away it can get before it's hard to tell direction, but its not far.

You'd need lights on each arm red/green sides, to tell for sure at any furtherdistance. Got a link for these lights that are light enough to keep the drone under 250g because they'd be really good. All I've found is a single strobe, which wouldn't show direction facing

It was on a youtube video, i'll look it up later but best to check the drone before buying them as they add 6 grams or so to the overall weight. I weighed mine as i was curious and i think mine weighed 241gms with the battery in so would still be well inside the 250gram category


Here's the link to Amazon for the strobes and they can be done as red and green, so easy to identify which way it is facing
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ultralight-Brightness-Col...

That says the overal package is 31 grams but there are links to other strobes you can use, think the video was by a youtuber called windswept robert if you want to check it out

[dobbo_]

Can you not tell which way it's facing from the screen showing the camera view?

By which I mean would the screen not satisfy the direction requirement, meaning a strobe alone would be sufficient in terms of line of sight?

[Lost Soul]

These might be better

https://www.flyingtech.co.uk/electronics/vifly-str...

Dobbo - yes you can but the current rules for VLOS state you must be able to do that without looking at telemetry, so you cannot look at your screen basically.
If you use red and green strobes, then in low light conditions you can easily tell which side is facing which way even if you are 500 mts away

Edited by Lost Soul on Wednesday 26th April 16:42

Edited by Lost Soul on Thursday 27th April 07:31

[Freakuk]

dobbo_ said:

Sorry drone noob here, but can I ask a question about range which the internet appears to be unable to answer?

My Mini3 apparently has a 10km range, but even with line of sight, if I get about 1km away it sts it's pants and comes home.

Drone photo so I don't totally derail the thread:



I should be able to fly it to here (blue arrow) and back on the battery but it just can't cope - What am I doing wrong?

Edited by dobbo_ on Monday 24th April 21:07

You'll never get that range in the UK as the the drone/controller know which country they are in and are locked to different frequencies which ultimately mean the range is vastly reduced.

If you take your drone abroad where the other frequencies are available (it will inform you on the controller) then you'll have a far better range.

There's obviously other considerations, wind, how built up where you are flying, if you're in the middle of nowhere the likelihood they'll be little interference from phones, metal, radio, TV masts, power lines etc.

The shots are clearly in/over a built up area so that will affect the signal and the range.