Strobe Lights Poll

[Ed H]

They do help finding the drone faster when you take your eyes off for a second

 

[BigAl07]

I was doing a pair of fairly large Drone Deply projects today. The sky was bluish/grey and the Mavic 2 Pro pretty much vanished fairly easily, much quicker than normal. Since I have an Arc strobe on the aircraft it definitely made aircraft acquisition much easier.... until the strobe itself got low on battery LOL.

 

[Chaosrider]

I'm going to retire the strobe that was damaged in the Pine Tree Incident. One of the four strobes of the basic Arc is now permanently on at a low level, even when I turn the power off.

That's a wee bit creepy, in terms of being a failure mode that I don't understand.

If Firehouse wants it for failure analysis, I'll happily send it to them. But I don't feel comfortable leaving it on the aircraft with that as yet unexplained damage.

The light's still on now, even though I turned the strobe off yesterday afternoon. There's now a rogue power path in that strobe.

TCS

 

[MA2 317]

One of the four strobes of the basic Arc is now permanently on at a low level, even when I turn the power off.

If it's the type with the shrink wrapped circuit board, I have a few of them myself, only they don't turn ON at all.

I think the circuit board gets compromised with repeated installation and removal using the 3m fastener / Velcro monts available.

I hope the ARC V's being in a plastic case will last longer than the earlier ones I purchased.

.

 

[Ed H]

Is anyone having trouble turning these on and off?

 

[Chaosrider]

If it's the type with the shrink wrapped circuit board, I have a few of them myself, only they don't turn ON at all.

I think the circuit board gets compromised with repeated installation and removal using the 3m fastener / Velcro monts available.

I hope the ARC V's being in a plastic case will last longer than the earlier ones I purchased.

.

Yes, it's the shrink wrapped circuit board. Taking it off and putting it on isn't the problem in my case, because once I put it on, I've never taken it off.

This was clearly damage from the collision, which created a rogue power path.

I'm hoping I can get a bit more VLOS distance with the Arc V, but I'll know when I do the test after I get it next week.

Thx,

TCS

 

[Chaosrider]

Is anyone having trouble turning these on and off?

Well, the switch is annoyingly small, but it's never failed to work for me. Eventually.

TCS

 

[vindibona1]

Strobes- Day or night. In the day without strobes I lose sighting at about 400 ft out. With strobes that increases to around 1600ft. At night I've flown as far out as 10,000 ft and still maintained visual LOS with my drone.

 

[DroneSolutions]

Old Thread...New Input to Strobe Poll. I just got the StartRC Strobe Light for Mini 2 reviewed by another member who indicated it didn't get the advertised visibility. I only need to maintain visibility to 600' VLOS. It claims 1.8 Miles. It has 4 colors and 3 modes, 2 flash, and 1 solid. Visibility depends on which color you are using. The human eye sees green the best. See link below. 1.5 Hour Charge...Claims 4 hours usage.

This is why some firearm owners use green lasers because they can be seen during the day. At 6 grams, which I verified with my sensitive powder scale, it is one of the lightest. Actually. 6.6g with velcro. Just for test placement I have added white, low stick velcro as can be seen in pics. Black velcro used in install and 2 extra included plus charging. cord in box. It will not stick out from drone as shown in pics. Can be kept on when Mini 2 folded. No prop interference. Will cut off 4 tabs seen in pictures for rubber band mount. Rubber band doesn't stay in place. I'm sure vibration will dump the strobe and possibly damage props and motors.

I have been given permission by the farmer next to my subdivision to film an old 1850 vacation house on a little lake right in the middle of his corn field. He doesn't want me on his property but says the drone is welcome in exchange for some services. I also agree with BigA107. I too have my Part 107 Cert. There is no FAA reg against strobes enhancing VLOS.

My concern is strobe placement. I want it on the back battery door for better visibility @ 600' but can mount on top also. Obviously, the DJI engineers designed and determined the Center of Gravity & Balance. For the Engineers in the group, will 6.6g on battery door cause rear motors to work too hard causing excess heating, wear out sooner, cause damage, or inhibit control.

I'm sure the IMU & accelerometers will keep it stable and horizontal with hands off sticks..but at what cost? I will only be making 6-8 flights, half with Litchi and half with Dronelink...testing both. But if no harm to motors would keep on back door. Your thoughts?

$23 Amazon...does not meet FAA Night Flight requirements.
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"The human eye uses special photoreceptors to characterize light in terms of intensity and color. These photoreceptors are very sensitive to green wavelengths and much less sensitive to blue and red waves" Human Eye Sees Green Best