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I wish I had this thread when my QU4D was crashing all the time for no reason. I ended up selling it and picking up something more reliable. Has this thread gotten into any of the legal discussion regarding drones? Big legal challenges just got filed the other day.
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Aug 25, 2014 02:53
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I need to get business cards made with "A couple thousand...about half a mile...about fifteen minutes"printed on them so I can use them to answer the inevitable set of questions I get every time I fly. I do love the reaction, from a little kid to an old man that I get when I show then the view on my phone. That never gets old. I had a close call yesterday, flying around some naval gun battery ruins. It was a well protected area but when I popped up above the trees while I was moving myself it got into high winds. So all I hear are the motors straining really hard and I lose signal (tons of concrete). Luckily I regained in a few seconds and it was fine.
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Aug 28, 2014 14:23
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http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregorymcneal/2014/09/23/drones-are-coming-to-hollywood-faa-will-announce-approval-this-thursday/ Proof in the commercial drone world (which sucks right now let me tell you, at least in the US), if you can pay you can play (more official than not). Not sure if this is good or bad news for the little guys.
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Sep 25, 2014 21:59
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Trabisnikof posted:Section 333 requires that the drones be operated within line-of-sight so this sounds like the another case of someone rule lawyering the FAA away from dumb decisions. Its not surprising that the movie industry drone companies were the first industry to apply for a section 333 exemption. If you're an actual manufacturer, you would want a real wavier so you can fly out of line of sight. But camera operators specifically want to be close enough to their drone that section 333 works well for them. The biggest problem is that Line of Sight, under FAA rules means no FPV, which is dumb and silly.
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Sep 26, 2014 05:21
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I'm sure you've heard about the "flyaways" that idiot phantom owners seem to have, you can protect yourself by not ever taking off without getting a GPS lock, with a calibrated compass, and familiarizing yourself with emergency procedures like how to regain control, how to recognize when it's coming home on its own, etc. If you want to be extra safe, get a GPS lock, walk the phantom 15-20 feet away, and get a second lock, this will ensure that your first GPS isn't magically wrong. Otherwise, enjoy, the P2V+ is great, and if you wanna get fancy you can do stuff like this:  edit: oh lots of people love to hand catch, which is fine but can be dangerous. My rule of thumb is hand catch if I'm landing somewhere iffy (mud, on a boat, water, etc), otherwise just be gentle on landing. Another thing to watch out for, much like the mighty V-22 Osprey, if you descend too fast through your own rotor was you can enter a Vortex Ring state, and crash, so either descend in circles (so you're never directly passing through your rotor wash) or descend slowly (which is smarter). When powering down, don't hold both sticks down and in, hold just throttle down, after a few seconds it will stop. Often times if you hold both sticks you can tip the bird over. edit2: If you want to test the come home, don't kill the remote (because you'll never get it back), just flip the upper right S switch all the way down. Then you can flip back up to regain control. Elendil004 fucked around with this message at 17:13 on Sep 27, 2014 |
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Sep 27, 2014 17:06
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjSf43fhGco This is the closest I've come to crashing this drone, my first was a SteadiDrone QU4D that crashed all the time because it was poo poo.
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Sep 27, 2014 22:36
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slidebite posted:A case for a Vision 2 should also fit a Vision 2+ fine, shouldn't it? Yes, they have the same form factor. slidebite posted:That didn't seem to work, just hovered. Gave it about 20 sec before I just put it back up. I was able to regain control again though last time by just turning the controller back on and flipping S1 down and up. Is that bad? Odd, if it worked though that's good!
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Sep 28, 2014 19:38
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Anytime I get up in winds over 25 kts I get nervous, it's gusting pretty good today...going to be touch and go.
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Sep 29, 2014 14:50
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slidebite posted:For the Phantom 2 people here, is there anyway to have the camera to include flight info in the recording? The same stuff on the bottom of the DJI app screen would be perfect. I've never seen it captured.
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Oct 1, 2014 13:25
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I really need to get business cards made with "It's a drone, about $3,000, about a half mile, about fifteen minutes, no" to easily answer "What is it, how much does it cost, how far does it fly, how long does it fly, can I fly it" Also: http://motherboard.vice.com/read/my-neighbor-blasted-my-drone-with-a-shotgun . In the words of my friend who shared this story, "Crazy assholes" Elendil004 fucked around with this message at 17:16 on Oct 2, 2014 |
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Oct 2, 2014 17:14
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Erwin posted:Your drone cost $3,000? Not that I doubt you, but what has gone into it that costs that much? drone around 1,300ish, insurance a solid 1k and several hundred in stuff like batteries, case, cards, etc. seriously considering stepping up to an S1000 which, ready-to-fly is around 11k
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Oct 2, 2014 21:49
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Erwin posted:You paid $1,000 to insure a $1,300 item? Yeah lots of liability. I'm insured enough that if I crash the drone into a house and the battery ruptures and sets fire to the house and kills everyone else inside I'm good.
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Oct 3, 2014 01:14
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Never hurts, let's see em!
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Oct 5, 2014 23:57
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slidebite posted:^ That DOES look like fun. You can plug it into your computer and run some more detailed calibrations, that's about it. The tech support is non-existent, you can try facebook but god it's awful sometimes.
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Oct 8, 2014 20:30
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Like I said, we're looking at a ready to fly S1000 and thats pricey.
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Oct 9, 2014 00:35
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FAA is trying another tactic to make drones illegal... This time, trying to ditch the 1981 advisory circular. This will affect anyone who flies hobby stuff too, so maybe some of the big hobby companies will finally start telling people that this will affect the bottom line. After all, money makes the system go round, not things like laws or rights. http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-faa-is-trying-to-erase-the-1981-document-that-legalized-hobby-drones
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Oct 10, 2014 23:12
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If the FAA was actually concerned about safety then it wouldn't be trying to make a differentiation between commercial and hobby. They can claim that me flying over a construction site and taking a photo for fun is legal, then if a week later someone sees it and says "hey I own that site can I buy your phone" my flight was now illegal. This shows the FAA is completely up its own rear end. They're hosed because they just want to find a way to monetize it, and they haven't yet. Pretty much every action the FAA takes shows they don't really give a poo poo about safety. They're currently basing all their "rules" off of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act (FMRA) of 2012, but the problem is that's an act of congress telling the FAA to do poo poo, not a law that says that X Y or Z can be enforced. So the FAA skipped the step where they are actually supposed to make a rule (following lots of public procedures like comments and whatnot) and skipped to "oh here's the rule". There's currently 3 cases filed against the current interpretation. What's so frustrating, is that we (commercial drone operators) want some commonsense, safety-minded regulations. One, it will keep hobbyists from bottoming out the market and Two, the last thing any of us want is to have a drone/medflight accident and kill people. However, the FAA is in full combat mode, which is too bad. My favorite thing recently was a requirement for a drone user and flight manual to be kept onboard the aircraft at all times. Who the gently caress is going to read it? edit: My personal feeling is that the commonsense rules would fall somewhere between requiring a drone operator to have a full pilots license (which is overkill, especially if you operate outside the NAS), and the current wild-west we have now. A series of courses, maybe even online, that give you the basics like "here's where you can/can't fly, here's how to contact an ATC tower to let them know you'll be doing X Y or Z, here's best practices to avoid aircraft, etc" would be a good start, probably an annual or every few year refresher. Having a dedicated observer on each flight (we always do) is another good requirement. Commercial insurance, maintenance and operating logs maintained, etc. edit edit: The best analogy I've come up with for the current state of affairs, is imagine you live in a state with no speed limit laws at all. the state passes a law requiring towns to enact speed limit bylaws, and the next day you get pulled over for speeding. It's asinine. Elendil004 fucked around with this message at 14:53 on Oct 11, 2014 |
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Oct 11, 2014 14:47
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loving laughable: http://www.suasnews.com/2014/10/31829/ac-91-57-cancelled-in-error/ the FAA has it's head so far up it's own rear end it's not even funny anymore.
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Oct 15, 2014 11:33
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Source: http://motherboard.vice.com/read/is-the-faa-purposefully-trying-to-confuse-everyone-about-its-drone-rules Highlights of what the FAA's tried to do this year: -Lost a federal court case in which it tried to fine a man $10,000 for operating his drone commercially -Asserted that the unenforceable guidelines it used to fine the man are still valid -Let the Catholic Church fly a drone in one of the few places that it actually could enforce rules -Issued cease-and-desist letters to dozens of businesses -Argued in court that its cease-and-desist letters are not legally enforceable -Got that decision confirmed by a court, therefore invalidating its cease-and-desist letters -Continued sending these cease-and-desist letters after the court decision -Demanded that a search-and-rescue team stop flying drones -Gave permission to the search-and-rescue team to resume flying drones -Said its new "interpretation" of a law was an enforceable regulation, before public comment was done -Been sued by three separate entities for its interpretation -Canceled AC 91-57 -Uncanceled AC 91-57 -Pissed off its only friend in the model aircraft world, the Academy of Model Aircraft (one of the groups now suing it)
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Oct 16, 2014 16:20
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This happened a while ago, but glad to see that charges were dropped against the pilots in this NYC "near miss" case. You know, the one where the NYPD helicopter chased the drone and created a dangerous situation because cowboys? http://motherboard.vice.com/read/flying-a-drone-is-still-not-a-crime-new-york-police-department-learns
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Oct 17, 2014 22:32
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The only helicopter vs drone video I've seen where I approve of the helicopters actions is the one where coast guard one sends the phantom into the surf during what appears to be an active SAR case.
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Oct 18, 2014 03:50
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVRL34VsIBI Ignore the awful music, but this is pretty funny.
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Oct 20, 2014 17:22
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EdEddnEddy posted:Question, Has anyone here gotten insurance for their Quad/Phantom in the US and if so, who or what do you go through to do it? I have had good luck with http://www.transportrisk.com/ . you're effectively ensuring it like an aircraft. Your regular business/homeowner policy might cover loss or damage but not while airborne.
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Oct 20, 2014 22:23
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In case any of you fools are shooting video and want to put some music to it, I've been using this guys stuff for a while. All good quality, royalty free, which is fantastic for clients who have a budget (and that budget is mine, all mine!) http://incompetech.com/
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Oct 22, 2014 20:47
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EdEddnEddy posted:I wonder if any of that can be upgraded on the current P2? Could always use a better compass and motors\props\esc's. Just wait till yours flies away and buy the new one.
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Oct 27, 2014 01:07
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Anyone have hands on experience with a larger 6 or 8 rotor? Like an S1000? Something that'll carry a 5d3 or RED?
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Oct 27, 2014 15:38
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Wojcigitty posted:Yes, I've built a few big hexes and quads that carry large stuff, and I'll likely be maidening an S900 next week. What are your questions? I started off in the drone game buying a Steadidrone QU4D and it was nothing but problems. Crashes, expensive repairs, control issues, near impossible to troubleshoot, wikipedia tech support, etc. Then moved to a P2V+ and it's been smooth sailing ever since. When a drone is costing less than a couple grand, some trial and error is OK, when it's a solid ten plus grand, I want to get it right. So just looking to find out if theres someone else in the thread who can offer some hands on advice, what works, doesn't work, what's coming, poo poo to avoid, etc.
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Oct 28, 2014 01:10
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Just had a solid near miss with a Cessna which buzzed me at about 40 feet. Idiot. And people worry about drones! CPA was under a hundred feet, easy.
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Oct 30, 2014 23:14
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Mobile home is huge, especially for flying of a moving platform. You can now install a hardware gimbal tilt control (channel 7) which is neat but I don't think I'll bother. Edit: my near miss story on Facebook has blown into a pretty solid debate...even got Brendan Schulman weighing in (he's the lawyer behind most of the big US suits, Pirker, the ones against the FAA interpretation, etc.) Elendil004 fucked around with this message at 14:45 on Oct 31, 2014 |
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Oct 31, 2014 14:35
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Elendil004 posted:Just had a solid near miss with a Cessna which buzzed me at about 40 feet. Idiot. And people worry about drones! CPA was under a hundred feet, easy. I was flying out over a beach to get a shot of a house that showed the beach as well when a small cessna came barreling down the beach at about 40 feet. Fast too, normally I can hear a plane or helicopter coming and will ground the drone until I can see whats up. All I had time to do here was come to a stable hover and pray. He pulled up over the beach after passing by, easily within 100 ft of the drone and banked hard over some houses then sailed off. Stayed well under 500' the whole time. I wasn't recording yet so I don't have a record. I considered trying to get a shot with the drone, but didn't want to move and complicate things in case he saw at the last minute and tried to avoid.
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Oct 31, 2014 18:14
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Dunno if I posted it here, but here's the closest call I've had, from a few months back: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjSf43fhGco Was moving myself out of the frame, so lost sight of the drone for a second, heard it chipping limbs and powered out quickly. No damage, just lot of nerves.
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Nov 1, 2014 18:38
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ImplicitAssembler posted:Erhh, it's common sense. You're frankly stupid if you fly over other peoples property or any kind of gathering. Flying "over" crowds is tricky because people want to move to stand under you and gawk while you spend time trying to offset yourself so if you come hurtling out of the air you don't bean anyone. The raw footage of any of my event videos is at least 40 percent looking straight down.
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Nov 9, 2014 17:20
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Think of hobbyists as the filthy console peasants of the drone world. edit: though to be fair, most commercial users are nearly as bad or worse.
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Nov 10, 2014 21:50
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I skipped the hobby phase and if commercial was magically fully illegal forever I'd sell my gear and never look back.
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Nov 11, 2014 04:46
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Go outside idiots Jesus Christ
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Nov 11, 2014 05:53
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Yeah while the FAA says it's not legal, they don't have the actual laws to back it up. I've certainly lost clients though, hard to tell them they have a lawyer who's an idiot.
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Nov 12, 2014 06:27
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A Yolo Wizard posted:Thats an incredibly overly antagonist way to summarize the article but ok No that guy is a loving idiot. Has no business flying, let alone in those conditions. Demonstrates great incompetence and almost injured someone then bloo bloos about lack of regulation. Edit: the consensus, and I agree, is that the story is fake, for clicks. Re: commercial insurance, I use transportrisk.com they have a good policy, and does cover in flight issues. Elendil004 fucked around with this message at 07:01 on Nov 14, 2014 |
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Nov 14, 2014 06:57
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Pretty sure I'm pulling the trigger on Inspire 1.
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Nov 14, 2014 23:09
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Big NTSB news, they referred the case back to the ALJ but opened the doors to either making all flying illegal, rec and commercial, to nothing, depending on you ask. http://www.ntsb.gov/news/2014/141118.html Either way, not good news I don't think. edit: Lot of speculation on the main forums and news sites, I'm waiting for some of the heavy-weights to weigh in, Brendan Schulmann, Peter Sachs, etc. Elendil004 fucked around with this message at 18:37 on Nov 18, 2014 |
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Nov 18, 2014 18:34
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So basically, the NTSB ruled that any "device" that is "used for flight" is under the regulatory authority of the FAA. A broad reading of this means that all hobby flying, illegal (you're operating an uncertified aircraft without a license), paper airplanes, illegal, etc. Really totally loving stupid. e: the big distinction now is that before the FAA thought they had the authority and no sane person agreed. Now they've got a ruling from the NTSB backing them up. ee: Of course, I fully plan on being as civilly disobedient as I can. A paper airplane falls on my lawn, I will summon an NTSB investigative team since it's an aircraft crash, right? Elendil004 fucked around with this message at 23:31 on Nov 18, 2014 |
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Nov 18, 2014 23:27
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