[aprssig] Drones

[Scott Miller]

I've got a DJI Mini 2 and I really like it. Been doing both cinematic 
stuff and more utilitarian surveying. It was about $440 from Costco for 
the bundle. I'm currently about $900 into the hobby, including extra 
batteries and charger, filters, sun shade, and Part 107 testing fee.

It does need a smart phone or tablet, unless you buy the DJI smart 
controller. The smart controller is 2-4x the price of the drone, though. 
I already had a slightly out of date spare Android phone that I paid 
about $60 for and it works just fine.

The camera is great. It shoots good 4K video at 30 fps, and 2.7K at 60 
fps. Endurance is about 30 minutes but I don't normally push it past 20. 
It's under 250 grams so no need to register it. It folds up small enough 
to fit in a coat pocket. Here's a quick video of my shop roof to show 
how it could work for inspection purposes - I'd only had the drone a 
couple of days at that point so there's no particular skill on my part: 
https://vimeo.com/664043482/442cba9bfc

I think your biggest problem is going to be the control signal. Line of 
sight it'll supposedly do 10 km. You know what RF performance is like in 
the real world, though. I flew mine under a railroad bridge from maybe 
100 yards away and went from full strength to no video in an instant. 
Still managed to keep the control link, though, and flew it out the 
other side blind. So flying from your bedroom might be difficult, but 
you could certainly do it from a wheelchair or something if you can get 
outside. (Also legally you're supposed to maintain visual line of sight. 
And if you're using it for anything other than recreational purposes 
you're supposed to have a Part 107 certificate.)

The Mini 2's biggest deficiency is its lack of collision avoidance 
sensors. It only has a downward-facing sensor. For inspection work you 
really need to be vigilant about maintaining situational awareness. The 
good news is that with a high resolution camera you don't need to get 
super close most of the time. The sub-$1000 drones from DJI also don't 
have any autonomous flight capabilities, aside from some pre-programmed 
camera moves. You can't program them to follow a series of waypoints, 
for example. There's third-party software that will sort of do that, but 
only by "virtual stick" inputs where the drone is piloted by the 
controller. If it loses the signal, it can't keep flying the programmed 
route.

Scott
N1VG

On 1/9/2022 1:29 PM, Robert Bruninga wrote:
> Any recommneation for modest cost quality drone for flying around my 1
> acre property for inspections.  My health has me headed to bed ridden
> and so as we clean up
> all the work needed (using contractors aned other h3alp around the
> yard) I need to zoom in
> to look at things and help making decisios.from my bed
>
> Initially cost was no option so I couil also fly around the n3ighborhood and up
> and donw th3e creek, but most are not desgined beyond operator field of vieww.
>
> Also no smart phone wanted.  needs ts own closed system.  Base should be
> able to plug into to TV for large view?
>
> Ive never looked at drones b4 so I could be way off?
> Bob, WB4APR
>
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