Recent content by Robert Prior

Depends on what you want to do, and where you fly. I have three regular and four plus batteries for my Mini 3 Pro (was supposed to be three and two, but the regular Fly-More kit I'd ordered was delayed and the shop got a Plus version in after I'd already bought the Plus batteries I'd wanted, so...

Canada has over 330,000 drones, with about 53,000 registered (all drones over 249 g must be registered). We have just under 90,000 pilot certificates issued (required to fly a drone heavier than 249 g). (Source: Transport Canada and MadeInCa.ca) This leads me to wonder how many of the...

Actually, up here drones are specifically banned around advertised events in the Canadian Aircraft Regulations, specifically 901.41: Special Aviation Events and Advertised Events 901.41 (1) No pilot shall operate a remotely piloted aircraft system at any special aviation event or at any...

In Canada that would be an "advertised event" and thus you couldn't fly a drone there even if it was authorized for flight over people (most aren't). Unless you got a SFOC, of course. This site says you can't do it. Four years old post, and no idea how authoritative they are...

Depends on where and how fast you are going, if you want it to follow you. One of my nephews-in-law rides dirt bikes, and he says every DJI drone has a hard time tracking him, so he uses another make (Skydio, maybe?) that tracks a transmitter that he keeps in his pocket. In Canada that would...

The world population was 3 billion people.

I'll point out that Transport Canada has a pilot license for balloon pilots. Here's the study guide: https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/publications/study-reference-guide-balloon-pilot-licence-including-flight-instructor-rating-tp-10087 Interestingly, my sRPAS pilot certificate is labelled as...

At the top of mine it says "Pilot certificate" in big letters, then the next line has (in smaller letters) "Small Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS), Visual line-of-sight (VLOS)". Below that is possible levels (with "Basic operations" checked) and some of the limitations (uncontrolled...

I fly to take pictures for my own enjoyment. My drone is a camera on a 120m tripod. :) My brother-in-law thinks I should make it a business, but I'm afraid doing that would suck the enjoyment out of photography — I used to enjoy coding before I got a job as a programmer, and I don't want to do...

Currently "AI" is mostly a marketing buzzword. And a means of separating investors from their money. Same animal, different product…

According to Transport Canada I'm a pilot — it says so on my pilot certificate. When flying I try to think of myself as a pilot, because it reinforces that my primary responsibility is flying, not taking nice pictures. To extend Petter Hornfeldt's maxim about priorities: Aviate, Navigate...

I first encountered AI in the 70s, when I was an agricultural technician. Modern usage seems to refer to a different bull product — but still a bull product. 🤣 In the tech field I've seen several iterations of AI come and go. It's been a good way of separating marks from their money. Maybe this...

If you prefer video, then I've found Stewart and Alina to be good. https://www.youtube.com/@DroneFilmGuide/playlists This video is old (DJJI Go not DJI Fly) but still valid:

I picked up a small USB-powered fan to use during updates and I've never had a problem with my Mini 3 Pro.

Easiest thing to do is make sure you are set to Auto-exposure when in video mode rather than manual (which DJI calls "Pro"). There's no one answer for what normal settings are, because it depends on the scene, the lighting, and what you are trying to do. Look up the exposure triangle for a...