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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 1/9/2022 4:29 PM, Robert Bruninga
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CALdCfNJwWs4OADW5_+k+SEyZ83VnQ5A_6K7bT=W_FaajxhbCEQ@mail.gmail.com">
<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">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
</pre>
</blockquote>
<p> </p>
<p>1) Legally, FAA rules for consumer drones (i.e. not flown by
FAA-certified pilots) REQUIRE that they remain within sight of the
operator and no more than 400 feet above ground level.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>2) Virtually all consumer drones with remote video links assume
a smart phone as the video display on the controller. There are a
few that have their own display as part of the controller, but
they aren't cheap! <br>
</p>
<p>One of the few that has it's own video display on the controller
is my Autel Evo. This drone has a controller with a built-in 4"
color OLED display that can be toggled between showing engineering
data (hight above ground, speed & heading, battery charge, GPS
status, remaining minutes of flight time, etc) and showing the
live view of the on-board HD camera. The controller has a clamp to
mount a smart phone as a SECOND screen, so you can see both tech
data and the live view as the same time. I use an iPod Touch
(essentially an iPhone without the phone but stilll capable of
running iOS apps like the drone control app) as the second screen.<br>
</p>
<p>With a smart phone mounted (either Android or iOS), with cellular
connectivity, you have the choice of a third display -- a live
Google map (either road map view or "satellite" view) centered on
the drone's current location. The Evo (currently in generation
II) is about $900-$1000 with a "quad-hd a.k.a. "4K" camera; more
for an 8K or infra-red night-vision camera. This drone will
record live video into a micro-SD card onboard the aircraft - it
can shoot 720, 1080 or 4K video, and take still photo snapshots up
to 3000x4000 pixels at the same time. (The controller has two
buttons on it - one starts/stops the video record; the other is
like a still camera shutter release -- it takes a snapshot each
time you push it.)<br>
</p>
<p>No civilian consumer drone controller I am aware of can output to
an external HD display; i.e. has an HDMI port. For $500, Autel
offers a device called the "Live Deck". This is a completely
separate receive-only box that monitor the 2.4 GHz link between
the drone and it's controller. This battery-powered die-cast
metal box looks somewhat like a typical basic router with a couple
of rubber whips on it. The Live Deck outputs simultaneous 4K HD
video on an HDMI port, an IP stream on an Ethernet port, and a
magic mystery output stream on a USB port that the mfr has never
provided a program to exploit. All streams function
simultaneously. The 4K HDMI output is by far the most useful.<br>
</p>
<p>The original intended use for the Live Deck was to provide a
passive live feed of drone video in a TV news van, or in an EOC
trailer, while staying out of the way of the drone operator abd
his two-way control links. I have a LiveDeck Velcroed to the
back of an ASUS 27" 1080P monitor connected with a 1-foot HDMI
cable. Curious onlookers can see what I am seeing with the Autel
EVO at hamfests and other gatherings. <br>
</p>
<p>I also have a cheap ($30) box that takes HDMI -in (up to 4K) and
outputs a standard USB output that mimics a webcam. In turn, any
application on a PC that can use a webcam (Skype, Zoom, vlogging
apps, etc) can see the drone image as a virtual webcam. I use
several SSTV programs that can grab live frames from webcams for
immediate transmission over the air. In the past, for many
years, I have done "Mobile SSTV LiveCAM" operations from my car
with a Microsoft "LifeCAM" webcam looking out the front window
while enroute on road trips. This converter box has added a new
dimension to this concept - live "SSTV DroneCAM" shots at
hamfests and swapmeets! <br>
</p>
<p>Here are a couple of drone-related links on my website:</p>
<p>Flying Digipeater using my drone and a WiMo PicoAPRS radio:</p>
<p> <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://WA8LMF.net\Flying-Digi"><http://WA8LMF.net\Flying-Digi></a><br>
</p>
<p>This is a time-lapse drone shot of the Kalamazoo MI farmers
market setting up one Saturday last summer. The EVO drone has an
automatic mode for still picture shots (as distinct from normal
video recording). You can set it to automatically take a 4K still
pic every so many seconds. I had the drone hovering over the
side of the market, shooting a pic every 2 seconds for an hour.and
20 minutes (required 4 landings and fast battery-pack swaps). I
assembled the roughly 1400 JPGs into an MP4 video at 30
frames/sec. This compresses over an hour of real life into about a
minute and 15 secoinds:</p>
<p>
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://WA8LMF.net/DronePics/Market-Setup-From-Drone.htm"><http://WA8LMF.net/DronePics/Market-Setup-From-Drone.htm></a></p>
<p><br>
</p>
<hr width="100%" size="2">Stephen H. Smith wa8lmf (at) aol.com <br>
Skype: WA8LMF<br>
EchoLink: Node # 14400 [Think bottom of the 2-meter band]<br>
Home Page: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://wa8lmf.net">http://wa8lmf.net</a><br>
<br>
-- APRS over FLdigi Modes --<br>
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<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://wa8lmf.ddns.net:14447/"><http://wa8lmf.ddns.net:14447/></a><br>
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