Recent content by hank970

Yeah, you're probably right. The demand will be immense, so I suspect that the folks in Silicon Valley are already lining up to fund the OP's idea.

I prefer to dance with the one that brung me, so I'll continue using DJI props. Of course, I'm old enough to remember when every teenaged boy had a J.C. Whitney catalog and dreamed of or was lured into ways to "improve" whatever piece of junk he was driving by adding bogus aftermarket crap. I...

I'm not excited. Much of what you proposed can be shot using waypoints, subject tracking, and a willing and attentive subject. Part of the fun, at least for this rank amateur, is figuring out how to achieve the results I want using the tools at my disposal. In other words, the creative part...

It isn't fair. Neither is it some office in New Guinea or elsewhere that's the problem. It's our own government acting on the whims of a few flag-waving zealots with an apparent grudge against the world or maybe a particular interest in some domestic manufacturer that's a DJI competitor. Like...

Concrete throughout -- probably 30 or 35 miles for just the main trail running the length of the valley. It started out as a private amenity, funded by donations. Since then, local governments have obtained grants and chipped in. It's a sound investment in an area where tourism is an economic...

Not a problem. There are radio frequencies that can penetrate walls and operate BLOS. I'd imagine that the folks who can design and build stuff like this are a lot sharper than the average drone operator and forum commentator.

That's the spirit! Roll over and play dead.

A view along a paved bike trail which runs the length of the Grand Valley in western Colorado -- from Palisade in the east to Loma in the west. Much of the trail follows the Colorado River. The wide spot affords an opportunity for weary riders to rest on a particularly steep section of the...

If the government confiscates your property without paying just compensation, that's a taking in violation of your Fifth Amendment rights, more specifically, a physical taking. I suppose an exception would be if your property is considered contraband -- an illicit or illegal product or...

I'm sure glad it doesn't. There need to be at least a few refuges in this world where wildlife and visitors aren't subjected to the buzzing of drones and where natural features, like Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone, are protected from damage because thoughtless idiots lose control of...

The acreage of national parklands in Colorado's mountains is dwarfed by the acreage of national forestlands. Similarly, the acreage of parklands at lower elevations is dwarfed by the millions of acres of public lands administered by the BLM. There are plenty of places to fly in Colorado...

You don't need to walk the entire trail to reach a good vantage point. Accirding to Google Earth's "ruler," the distance is 0.8 miles.

If you don't mind heading west on I-70, a three-quarter mile hike up the Grizzly Peak Trail from Loveland Pass (on US Hwy 6, the alternate route which bypasses the Eisenhower/Johnson tunnels) would afford great views of Grays and Torreys Peaks, two of Colorado's 14ers, The air is thin at 12,000...

The following remarks assume that you want to create a topographic map or something similar. If my assumption is flawed, then disregard the following. Mean sea level (MSL) serves as a worldwide reference for ground elevations. What you want/need to do with your drone is to create a proxy...

Do you think aircraft and satellites which have long relied upon to map Earth's surface change their altitude to conform to surface elevation? They don't. If they did or could, stereo pairs and resultant maps would appear flat because every feature would be perceived as being at the same...