DJI Mavic Drone

[seanmclean]

Adorama is an excellent vendor.

 

[BigAbe75]

Well, pulled the trigger on it. $1,099 for Mavic Pro Fly More "basic kit" which includes a bunch of other stuff above the normal fly more.

- 32 Gb MicroSD
- Propeller Guards
- ND/CP Filter kit for camera
- landing pad
- multi format card reader
- pro-optic lens care kit

Some of that maybe extra stuff that I don't need, but this deal was cheaper than the 1149 that I was seeing for less stuff. Thinking, if any of it is extra maybe I can sell some of it after the fact. (probably won't though)

https://www.adorama.com/djimpcb.html

Next challenge will be letting the wife put it under the tree for me and waiting a month.

 

[ToddW850]

You're gonna love it @BigAbe75 And you'll need extra batteries. Don't forget to take the gimbal clamp and cover off for each use. I forgot once and couldn't figure out why the camera wouldn't move. Duh

 

[txav8r]

I ordered the Mavic Pro in a combo. It has the extra two sets of blades, batteries, the car charger, the backpack, and several other components I am not sure about. I had connection points (CC) I was going to lose, so I used them for the drone. I ordered the 23rd of November, and I just found out today, when I never got shipping info, that it may be 4 to 6 weeks. We had hoped to play with it at Christmas with the kids and granddaughter. But we may not see it by then. I am not a whiz or even enjoy the video processing process. I have been told it is much easier today than when I bought a H2 go pro. I hope I don't have to sell @jawsf16 this too! I am looking forward to non professional, around the property enjoyment with it. And on motorhome trips that don't involve NP or other no fly zones. Tell me about the FAA policy that was waived? Do or don't have to register? N numbers on it? And software I need/want that will make upload and storage on an iMac possible. I have an iPhone, ok for using with remote control? It is a 6. Hope you guys can drag an aging actual pilot along for the ride!

 

[ToddW850]

@txav8r you'll enjoy it once it arrives. They are easy to fly. I recommend going to an open area for your first couple flights though.

Yes you must still register your aircraft with the FAA. It's $5 for 3 years. You have to put your registration numbers on the aircraft. Doesn't HAVE to be visible but must be easily accessible.

Your iPhone should be no problem. But I have Samsung Galaxy.

Enjoy

 

[Ronnie]

I have to verify that registering and payment along with numbering are still required but i heard a few months ago that all of is no longer required and now some peopleare s eling a refund of the registration fees already paid. Fees were $5 if paid directly to the fcc so not worth the effort for a refund imho.

I believe dji and gopro now offer apps that create a video for you by pulling clips from a master file.

I use an iphone 6 and/or 7 with my dji please products they both work fine.

Save yourself from a little stress and register with dji as well as download / install the djigo app now. Most of the time this goes smoothly and you are flying within 10 mins of unboxing (30 if you need to update the firmware on the heli or remote). Sometimes this can take numerous attempts over hours of time.

 

[txav8r]

Good info, thanks @Ronnie . You have been flying these things for years now and have probably forgotten much you now take for granted. As with any pastime, hobby, career, there is literally hundreds and in most cases, thousands of hours of attained skill and knowledge to become familiar with much of what we do. I can fly easy, but I'm in the bird! Being disconnected might be a different story. That's why these new drones are so appealing, much of the process is automated to help you adapt. The camera alone takes up a tin of your brain, an autopilot is a good thing! When not shooting, using the sport mode sounds fun too. Living in the woods, I told my wife we may have to make a race course! I have you guys to blame for all of this!

 

[Ronnie]

If you get more into it @txav8r , see if you can rent the dji googles from someone online (craigslist). The VR is great it has integrated head tracking so that you can control the camera gimbal (up, down, left and right) or the pitch of the gimbal and yaw of the aircraft (in fixed wing mode) Just by moving your head in that direction.

Be careful with the course through the trees, the mavic only has forward obstacle avoidance and the sensors dont always see thin tree branches.

 

[spatty99]

It's hard to keep up with the registration requirements, but as of right now I don't think it is required, but probably will be soon. I would still register regardless.

https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2017/november/16/house-votes-to-restore-drone-registration

 

[OCMD]

What is the price on that? Just curious.

If I remember correctly (I have CRS - can't remember Sh#t) it was 1199.

 

[ToddW850]

Well Crap! I was told I had to register mine. So I registered it through the FAA website. They took my money without hesitation. And that's where it said I had to put the FAA registration numbers on.

 

[BigAbe75]

Just a couple links I came across:

https://registermyuas.faa.gov/

https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started/fly_for_fun/

According to this, it looks like I would not be required to register for my intended use (under current rules). I will likely register, though, as I live within 5 miles of a small town airport. I'll probably stop by the airport one of these days just to check in and see what they say about drone flights. I know they're tolerant of unmanned aircraft. They host an annual gathering of RC Jets, and have scheduled flight days for those clubs as well. Btw, those jets are awesome! And looks to me like the hobby could be as expensive as boating. Lol.

 

[Ronnie]

Just dont be stupid with it and im sure you will be fine. A 56 year old man was arrested earlier this week for using a drone to drop small flyers into levi/49ers and oracle/raiders football games. They are still figuring out what to charge him with, public endangerment? He didnt fly over the crowd just used the wind to his advantage. If he was dropping advertizing flyers maybe they can charge him with commericial use. Could not have been a newer dji device because it almost certainly would have been blocked from flying at all within at least a quarter mile of those places. I was further away than that from dodger stadium and couldnt fly my spark.

@BigAbe75 , i was a member of an rc club when the jets/turbine engines first got to market and saw them mostly used in the larger scale helicopters. they are awesome,
Love the sound and power they put out. At the time it was common to see the engine alone for selling for $3,500 to $5,000 depending on how big you wanted to go.

 

[txav8r]

There is an "airport" about every mile or so out in the country. Every farmer that had a dream of flight registered his 70-80 acre ranch as a private airport. I have two near me. One of them would certainly overlay my property. I am a bit concerned if they upload every one of these as a no fly zone. He has no runway and has never had an aircraft into his ranch in the 16 years he has owned it. He's retired is a AA pilot and it's just having his ranch on the sectional chart as an aero drone that he wanted. It is a restricted aero drone as most are. Will these be in the no fly database? And I read you can somehow get around these?

 

[spatty99]

@txav8r I don't think those would be no fly zones, worst case maybe just a warning area. In Orlando there are a lot of small lakes nearby designated airport runways for seaplanes but I never had an issue. We are also right by some medical helipads and likewise no issues, just a warning. The only restrictions I've encountered were when traveling and really close to a regional airport, but those are less common and easily searchable. There are lots of apps and web pages that should show affected airports in your area.

 

[txav8r]

What apps show them? As an aviator, I should know...but I have been out of general aviation and in the airline game so long, I don't keep up with the general aviation stuff like I used to.

 

[txav8r]

I am also watching a ton of videos on photography and videography from the mavic pro. Almost all of them are suggesting that the ND filters are a must. They are also saying you must calibrate before every flight day, just due to changing locations. I can't see how that would affect your pictures, but who knows. I am putting together a list of what I will need in addition to what came with my kit. It is the fly more combo. I thought they should probably all be the same. But I do see some variations of that when I look at the specials.

My kit has the copter of course, the RC, 3 batteries, the battery charging "hub" (assume this is the 4 battery hub?), car charger, charger, 16gb microSD card, manuals, gimbal clamp, power, microUSB and RC cables and sliders, 5 pairs propellers, shoulder bag.

So I am anticipating the need for the ND filters, at least the ND4, ND8, ND16. I am wondering if I need the ND32 and if I need to consider the same ones with the polarizing filter? I think there is a clear polarizing filter some use as well as another filter I read about that some use, can't remember its nomenclature. I expect I need one of the 3D joystick protectors? Beyond these extras, what are must haves? I have read that the prop guards are not really needed, the floats cause other issues, gear extenders may help but a mat will take care of that issue? Some say the platinum prop blades will make it quieter, but I think I will wait and see what i have first and I know I will knick a blade occasionally, so I can just replace with the new style blades.

EDIT: It is also probable that I need to get at least a 32GB card to use in it. I have one I use in my camera that gets very little time, I can use it in a pinch.

Are there any local Mavic aviators in the metroplex, that might want to give me some tips and possible dual instruction? I am going to need help with streaming, uploading video, and editing. I have to keep this simple. I already know I have a huge issue...my 64GB iPhone 6 is full, and I keep vacation photos, granddaughter, motorhome, and flying pics already, not sure how to free up space without losing stuff I reference all the time.

 

[Ronnie]

@txav8r , sounds like you are ready to go all in on this as i usually do with new hobbies. My suggestion is that you wait to buy more accessories. Most of the accessories i bought get no use.

I have an nd 8 filter but dont like it because it snaps instead of screws on, ive also never really needed it but some may disagree when they see my footage. I run the stock settings by the way.

Float balls work but slow the heli down a lot and probably hurt flight times as well.

Extended gear is cool but like other add ons such as the prop gaurds they dont allow the mavic to be folded up for storage or transport.

I have a bunch of sd cards of varying capacities but found that the 16gb that comes with it is fine, i dont record in 4k so the 16gb card will hold at least an hour of footage, maybe more. If you run 3 batteries consequetivley and are flyjng not just hovering you wont be in the air for more than an hour and still have 20% of the charge remaing per battery when you land. An hour is still a long time for me and ive accepted that i risk losing or damaging the $1k heli everytime i put it in the air.

You can set the app and/or phone so that it doesnt record the footage to the iphone. That is how mine came set up out of the box but when i use an android tablet with removable memory it records the footage i take, i think in a lower resolution than the camera takes it in.

As for must haves, an after market gimbal protector is nice because it locks the camera into positon unlike the stock unit which just covers the camera and gimbal. I tried to use one that had a cut out in it so that the camera and gimbal are protected but can still be used in flight, its edges kept getting in my footage so i stopped using it. Another good updgrade is the rc control stick/display protector. Lastly is the getter back ballon float because i fly over water a lot. All of the these can be found on line for under $15 each.

I have not bought the new blades yet and probably wont. Not because i dont want them but because i dont need them as i have a full set of spares and have yet to replace the original blades. Plus i usually dont fly where noise would be an issue.

Big differnce betwen a no fly and restricted zone, no fly will keep the bird from spinning up or will prevent a bird in flight from entering the zone. Restricted zones result in an on screen warning and a request that you confirm and accept the risk. These have been coming up more often for me lately. THey are a hasle because the bird will stop and hover at the zone border until the user confirms and accepts the risk but they are managable.

You dont have to recaibrate the compass every time you fly. I only do it when the app tells me to. I have had to calibrate the imu once to resolove an out of focus issue but that was about it and firm ware upgrades have pretty much taken care of the problem long term. I still set one of the buttons on the back of the rc to focus and hit it whenever i notice the view is blurry (auto focus is good but not 100% effective).

If you are visiting state or federal parks check to see if they have an anti drone policy. National parks dont allow them (actually any photography) and a foreign user found out the hard way a few years ago when he crashed his drone in the water at a national park. The park service gave it back to him after he paid a $2500 fine for taking photgrpahs /video in the park. Seemed like selective enforcemnt to me but i would not chance flying in a national park.

Ive seen a lot more no drone signs over the years so i dont fly at those locations, near airports, hospitals or anywhere that i feel i have to hide what im doing. If a spectator feels uncomfortable i will usually stop until they are gone or will fly somewhere else they are not. Most are just curious and want to know more. The exceptions being those few non leos that feel they can make or order me to stop. I just keep flying and either ignore them or have a discussion about legalities with them. In the past with the conventional pod and boom helis ive put the heli in a hover between me and the agressor when necessary, that always shut them up amd made them back away, justifiably so, with blades 550 to 700 mm each spinning at 1,500 rpm. Please still goes a long way with me.

Anyway, sorry about the long post, hope it helps, as an aviator i dont need to tell you not to be one of "those guys" that give the hobby a bad reputation but be aware that there are a lot of those guys out there, especially now that the cost of a complete system is under $1k, they run on electricity not gas or nitro methane and they are easy to fly/hands free hover with four to six counter rotating and small blades.

 

[txav8r]

Thanks @Ronnie , that is exactly the type of advice I was after. I will wait on accessories such as larger cards on your advice. I think the joystick lock is a must in the soft case as I know those things can probably get messed up easy, and I have already read about several.

I think most anyone that has been here long, knows I am conservative (not speaking politically, although it may or may not apply), anal, and I follow the rules for the most part. Especially when it concerns my license. Getting it suspended when it not only certifies me as a pilot, but allows my career (income) to continue. And I follow the rules so much so, that I go out the way to make sure. Some guys as you say, just can't help thinking rules don't apply to them. I know one in particular, and it is very sad, because he gets to pay for not following them for a long time.

Again, thanks so much for the advice and your continued involvement in all of this, especially in Jetboaters

 

[txav8r]

I order my mavic pro fly more combo, through the credit unions points program, and it was to be drop shipped within 4-6 weeks. I ordered on the night of 11/23/17...

And without one shipping notice, it was just dropped off! Now how do I wait for Christmas???