New drone on the way...

[SidecarFlip]

Bought a cheap one to get 'my feet wet' so I ordered an Autel Evo this morning from B&H. My birthday present to me. Need to get a Tablet yet as my Android isn't quite big enough to easily view the drone in flight but will work for now.

Was gonna ask the wife for it for my birthday but decided not to. I figured $1199 bucks was a bit much for a present so I got a present from myself to myself.

They upgraded the Autel App last month as well. They went to a 2900 foot ceiling with grid capabilities. 4.5 mile horizontal range, 23 mph horizontal speed plus it will do acrobatic maneuvers. Has crash avoidance sensors and a high resolution gimbal mounted camera with streaming real time video.

The neighbors aren't safe anymore....

My primary use will be field plotting and checking crop yields.

 

[NHSleddog]

Bought a cheap one to get 'my feet wet' so I ordered an Autel Evo this morning from B&H. My birthday present to me. Need to get a Tablet yet as my Android isn't quite big enough to easily view the drone in flight but will work for now.

Was gonna ask the wife for it for my birthday but decided not to. I figured $1199 bucks was a bit much for a present so I got a present from myself to myself.

They upgraded the Autel App last month as well. They went to a 2900 foot ceiling with grid capabilities. 4.5 mile horizontal range, 23 mph horizontal speed plus it will do acrobatic maneuvers. Has crash avoidance sensors and a high resolution gimbal mounted camera with streaming real time video.

The neighbors aren't safe anymore....

My primary use will be field plotting and checking crop yields.

I use a Mavic Mini all the time. It is a really impressive unit for the weight 249g. 120m height restriction to stay away from the fed requirements but it will go higher as well. A guy on YouTube did a 3 mile out and back (over 6 miles traveled) with the mini (it died at his feet). That was impressive given the tiny size.

I use it with a 10" Samsung Galaxy tab and it is worlds better than the 5" screen on my phone. It also frees up your phone.

A shot while I was cleaning (stump debris) and grading a new horse paddock. LOL - really, it is the 1 acre paddock that makes the B2650 look so small.

 

[PHPaul]

My primary use will be field plotting and checking crop yields.

Uh-huh. Sure. I believe that...

 

[SidecarFlip]

I use a Mavic Mini all the time. It is a really impressive unit for the weight 249g. 120m height restriction to stay away from the fed requirements but it will go higher as well. A guy on YouTube did a 3 mile out and back (over 6 miles traveled) with the mini (it died at his feet). That was impressive given the tiny size.

I use it with a 10" Samsung Galaxy tab and it is worlds better than the 5" screen on my phone. It also frees up your phone.

A shot while I was cleaning (stump debris) and grading a new horse paddock. LOL - really, it is the 1 acre paddock that makes the B2650 look so small.

View attachment 44217

I was going to get a DJI until I found about their Geofencing and decided not to. The Autel has good range as well and the Autel console has it's own viewscreen built in. I'll need a tablet though. My Andriod phone is too small; to be of use.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Uh-huh. Sure. I believe that...

Around here, spying on the neighbors could get it shot out of the sky... Don't want that, too expensive. Have to get adapted to flying it. it's light years faster than the cheapo one I bought to see if I really liked it. I do, it's fun actually.

 

[WFM]

You took the words right out of my mouth. I'd love to have one. But to have $1200. shot from the sky would really hurt. Most folks here own and use guns and like their privacy. Id be afraid if even you were no where near a persons property but they could still see or hear it. Let the lead fly.

 

[PHPaul]

Around here, spying on the neighbors could get it shot out of the sky... Don't want that, too expensive.

Just tugging on yer chain a little.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Just tugging on yer chain a little.

No issue. I need it tugged on occasion.My seed farmer friend wants me to video him and his crew combining seed corn this fall. I told him I'd do it as a favor but the FAA has very strict rules and regulations concerning the commercial use of a drone and I don't want to go there.

You can spend a huge bundle on one if you want to. Seems as though the better the optics get the more they cost, but no matter what they cost, flight time is still around 30 minutes maximum.

Autel produces some very high quality automotive scanning equipment, I have one of their OBD scan tools as well.

The final straw for purchasing an Autel Evo drone was it's KUBOTA ORANGE. I liked that a lot.

 

[Tornado]

I'm resurrecting this thread because I just got the Mavic Mini yesterday. This will by my first personal drone. I got the fly more combo pack that comes with 3 batteries, extra blades, blade guard and such. I got it yesterday after work, got home, threw everything on the chargers. I was hoping to do at least one flight before dark to just check it out. Then a nasty round of thunderstorms blew up, tons of lightning popping etc, so I never got to fly it in daylight. I was so eager though to at least see it fly, that I went out at like 11pm after the storms passed and flew it around a little area in the front yard where I have an outside light. I also realized last night I didn't have any free Micro SD cards - I thought I had some free ones still around but they are all being used so I had to overnight a Micro SD card, and it will be here tomorrow. So, I cant record any video or photo's until I get that, but I can still fly. So I've got about 15 minutes of experience with it so far in a small little area. Today when I get home I will fly it a lot more, given it isn't storming again (80% chance today) As a first time owner I can just say....really responsive little drone. Cant wait to try it in daylight.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Don't care for any DJI products. They all have built in Geofencing. I deal with enough regulations as it is.

I do need to get the FAA drone pilots license as mine will be for commercial use and personal use. The DJI drones have a built in maximum ceiling of 400 feet as required by the FAA for personal drones, the Autel EVO and EVO II have no 400 foot ceiling height restriction. Both will do around 2200 feet if necessary.

I suggest you apply for the non commercial drone pilot license and display the certification number on your drone. it's only 5 bucks for 2 years.

Keep it in 'Novice' mode until you feel comfortable with it. Unlike toy drones, crashing one is expensive and in novice mode, all crash avoidance sensors are 100% active.

Autel upped the level on drones with the EVO's and now DJI needs to play catch up.

You need to consider using a tablet too. I use a Lenovo Tab 10.1 with mine and the Lifthor mount. A tablet is much easier to deal with than a smart phone or the controller screen. You need an Android (preferred) with the PIE operating system and WiFi capable.

 

[NHSleddog]

...The DJI drones have a built in maximum ceiling of 400 feet as required by the FAA for personal drones, the Autel EVO and EVO II have no 400 foot ceiling height restriction. Both will do around 2200 feet if necessary.
.....

This is not true flip. You can keep going up, up, up. It just tells you you are breaking the law doing it. Just as you are breaking the law with any other brand you choose to break the ceiling limit with. You can register your DJI product and report your flights just like any other brand.

I choose the Mavic Mini for it's price, (not as painful to crash for a newbie) 3D gimble, and high quality photos and video. At this price point EVERY other brand is trying to catch DJI in photo/video quality.

 

[B737]

I love the drone tractor shots!!

 

[motionclone]

This is not true flip. You can keep going up, up, up. It just tells you you are breaking the law doing it. Just as you are breaking the law with any other brand you choose to break the ceiling limit with. You can register your DJI product and report your flights just like any other brand.

I choose the Mavic Mini for it's price, (not as painful to crash for a newbie) 3D gimble, and high quality photos and video. At this price point EVERY other brand is trying to catch DJI in photo/video quality.

Hope he smartens up about the ceiling height and doesnt take out a small plane or heli flying low.
Ive had Nat Guard Helicopters fly over my house at about 500ft before doing training.
My Spark lists 13k feet i think for ceiling

 

[NHSleddog]

 

[Tornado]

While Ive never personally owned a drone I am not new to them. I was heavily into photography for years and they were pretty common. I'm very aware of them and all the topics surrounding them. I don't plan to register it because it isn't required, so long as I don't put anything on the drone to exceed the weight limit. This is just a little side toy for me right now. I live way out in the country, so I have little to worry about regarding other people or issues of that sort. I do live about 1 mile as the crow flies from a river here. Between my house and the river is nothing but woods and pine plantation - no houses or any structures at all. Maybe one day Ill get the balls to actually try and see if I can fly it that far. I have watched lots of videos showing it go out over 3 miles, but those were in perfect line of sight conditions. I would love to see if I could make the river - The biggest obstacle will be all the trees. Lots of tall pine trees here in this area, and between me and the river is several hundred acres of them. Losing the drone on that route would almost certainly mean it would end up in the top of an 80 foot pine tree and would never be recovered.

I want to test thoroughly how well the RTH (return to home) works when signal is lost etc. I've watched lots of videos and it seems to work really well, but being a new owner there is something a little scary when I think about flying that thing out a mile out of my sight over a mile and over a massive pine forest. I'm excited to play with it though, test it out, see what I can do with it. I have some massive fields and farms in the area here I can go test. Once I get over that anxiety of pushing the distance, I plan to do my own distance tests here in my area and see what I can pull off.

Regarding the 400ft ceiling - that is of no concern to me at all. I really have no real need to go crazy high. I want to be able to fly over any and all trees comfortably, and 400ft will more than do that. If I end up really enjoying this and getting more into it - which is possible knowing how I can be with new toys, I may one day look at stepping up to a more capable drone. I really would like auto tracking features, which the mini does not have.

 

[Tornado]

I love the drone tractor shots!!

just be careful out there guys, controlled airspace can start as low as the surface to just 400', even if you think you live in 'uncontrolled' airspace, there stands a good chance it is actually controlled, Class G / E is commonly misunderstood. There is a lot of wrong information on the internet about it, and when read staight from the FAR/AIM its often misunderstood.

The Geo fencing system from DJI is a very smart use of technology because people can be idiots. My airplane weighs 780,000 pounds, a 2 pound drone could still totally ruin everyone's day.

I will spare any more of my CFII/ATP safety rants

back to more drone photos!

Hey B737. Sounds like you're a pilot. I got a question for you then. I do live, as I said above, in very rural area. However there is a guy who moved to our county a few years ago, and put in a aviation subdivision of sorts. Its like twelve 10 acre lots or so with a grass air strip in the middle of them. He's never sold any of the lots in many years. His house is the only one in the development. What he has done however is open a little sky diving business there. This is just 2 miles from me as the crow flies. I see his little prop plane flying around all the time. I see the sky divers jumping and can actually see them parachuting down from my yard. When I began to get serious about trying a little drone like the mini just got, this guys little business was a concern to me - would I be restricted in some way from flying I wondered? I downloaded the B4ufly app that is put out by the FAA. Not sure if you are familiar with this app but it uses your gps location and tells you if youre safe to fly a drone. The app tells me im fine. The DJI fly app let me fly last night without any notification of restriction. In some online mapping systems hwoever his little air strip is marked as a little aiport or air strip. No one flies and or lands from that location but the property owner. He has 2 sperate planes. One tiny little prop plane he flies a lot, and one slight larget prop plane that he uses for the sky diving. I will always make it a point to listen and be aware of him if I am flying my drone, but I never plan to go up high enough where I would be in his way. Just curious what you as a pilot and educated in this area have to say about this.

 

[B737]

The grass strip your neighbor has put in may or may not appear on a sectional chart.

 

[motionclone]

Used to be you had to call the airstrip and get permission from them if within 5 miles but that has changed now:

FAA Highlights Changes for Recreational Drones

www.faa.gov

 

[Tornado]

Thanks B737 for your insights. I did do my research into this best I could before buying the drone. As I said I checked with the FAA's app they use (B4UFLY) and it shows me as having no restrictions or anything around my location. I also referenced the DJI Geo Zone map (https://www.dji.com/flysafe/geo-map) It doesn't have any type of zones anywhere around me. Going off of those 2 resources you wouldn't even know 2 small grass air strips were even near me. One is at a state park and I've never actually seen it used personally but I'm just aware that its there. Neither app have any warning space or anything around them of any kind.

I finally got my drone out yesterday in daylight and put it up. Now when flying, the in flight app does actually tell me about the airstrip with a little notification, but it doesn't place any restrictions on me flying, it basically just alerts me to it being there and just kinda says "be aware and fly with caution" but there are no limits imposed of any kind from what I can tell. I took the drone right up and tipped just a hair past 400 ft just to see if it would do it, and it did without restriction. I have seen in videos though other folks pushing the mini up 3 times higher than that though so I figured it would.

 

[B737]

looking forward to seeing some more drone shots!