Active Track and flying at sea.

[Jurassic Waverunner]

Hello! I want a drone for filming from a Jetski which will obviously require launch and reccovery on the Ski. I have seen a couple of videos where people have added a light wegiht 'pole' beneath the drone to make recovery easier at sea. This would cover the main bottom landing sensor. On one video the pilot stated he turned off all intelligent flight modes when using this mod. On the ski I will need active track to function because I wont be able to fly it when riding. Will active track function with this sensor covered? Thanks

 

[Crouching Leopard]

Welcome to the forum and perhaps even the hobby.

You don't mention how much experience you have had, so I will just base my input on my own personal experience of flying over / on water. Others may think differently.

Just my personal observation but, those swim pool noodle mods don't seem to have a positive reputation overall, mainly because of the possible effects on the aerodynamics, especially in the wind. You can try phantom rains products, or an Autel drone if you have the $ and intend to do this regularly.

Active track should not be affected by covering the sensor but you might have issues if you fly too close to the water. Covering the bottom sensor stops the drone from being confused by light reflection off the surface and which can lead to a descent into the water, but it also means that it has reduced ability to detect what's underneath it. Water plays strange tricks with drone sensors. My own drone has followed a "ripple" of light down a river.

Whatever solution you take up, you might want to consider having someone on shore holding the controller and spotting for you as things do not always go according to plan. This happened to me very recently and my drone was stopped in its descent just 1.9 metres above Melbourne's 60 metre deep port Philip bay.

If you feel you have the right drone and product go for it but a friendly heads up, whatever solution you go for, be very careful that water doesn't get inside the main body, say through the front air vents, as it can possibly lead to a major issue. I recently wrote off a the main circuit board / cpu / fan on a Mavic 2 pro due to that issue despite everything being sealed up and fitted as per instructions. All it took was a small seepage through a vent cover which moved barely noticeably during a battery change. The water caused the internal fan to stop, which overheated the main board and I got a critical overheat error whilst flying. I managed to land it just as smoke came out. I took the drone apart and water seepage through the front left vent was definitely the culprit. I got a replacement but it has made me cautious to say the least.

Its an exciting project for you, I hope you find what you need and post us some shots.

 

[Capt KO]

You’ve got guts. I have to recommend the Rescue Jacket by @Phantomrain.org, an advertiser on this forum. Most of my flight are over water so it helps stop the pucker factor. You could actually land on calm seas and go pick it up. It’s also big enough to help with a hand grab.
Note, forum members get a benefit at purchase. Well worth it! Don’t buy cheap noodles, they are dangerous.

 

[CKWUSA]

You’ve got guts. I have to recommend the Rescue Jacket by @Phantomrain.org, an advertiser on this forum. Most of my flight are over water so it helps stop the pucker factor. You could actually land on calm seas and go pick it up. It’s also big enough to help with a hand grab.
Note, forum members get a benefit at purchase. Well worth it! Don’t buy cheap noodles, they are dangerous.

I recently had some difficulty with a hand grab until it dawned on me that I could put it in sport mode and bypass the obstacle avoidance system. It didn’t like the mast! No, I don’t recommend launching and/or landing from the middle of the lake on a Sunfish, but it was fun.

 

[Meta4]

I recently had some difficulty with a hand grab until it dawned on me that I could put it in sport mode and bypass the obstacle avoidance system.

You can disable Obstacle Avoidance in the app settings and not have to deal with the jumpy Sport Mode performance.

 

[veryzebra]

Like the above says, you can just turn off obstacle avoidance. I would still heavily recommend you have someone control it from shore. Just safer for you that way but if you're going out several miles or for a really long time that may not be an option.

I wonder what Kenny Powers would have done

 

[CKWUSA]

You can disable Obstacle Avoidance in the app settings and not have to deal with the jumpy Sport Mode performance.

Thank you for pointing that out! When I was trying to fly it into my hand I was well past the “critically low battery” point and beginning to almost panic! )). They’re just so much fun to fly. I’m really looking forward to learning more about how to shoot compelling videos!