Additional lights

[SHRED]

Have any of you got this?

I am trying to decide between 1 red and 1 green light or both white lights.

White lights are better visibility I think. Am I correct in this assumption?

Mavic Mini Mini 3 strobe light kit

dji mavic mini spotlight headlight strobe light

www.firehousetechnology.com

 

[msinger]

White lights are better visibility I think

White has always been the brightest color for all of the commonly used brands. Mixing in the other colors can help with orientation (if that's also important to you).

 

[MS Coast]

Have any of you got this?

I am trying to decide between 1 red and 1 green light or both white lights.

White lights are better visibility I think. Am I correct in this assumption?

Mavic Mini Mini 3 strobe light kit

dji mavic mini spotlight headlight strobe light

www.firehousetechnology.com

Yes. I had the same question last year and found several good sources that said white was best for visibility.

 

[FLDave]

Use standard small airplane placement: red light on the left side as the airplane is moving and the green light on the right. When viewing the lights of a drone flying at you the red light will be on the right. That's how to identify the movement of a small plane flying towards.
Location is not a requirement for drones, just and idea to be consistent for those who choose to have red and green lights.

 

[MA2 317]

As mentioned by msinger, orientation of the aircraft is important when flying VLOS,

I would suggest a White and Red strobe to help with this.

.

 

[Jdrone]

yes White is the way to go - I just tested a strobe over a lake with the mini 3, getting the signal, distance, strobe visibility and placement test done together. completley unobstructed, dark night, no moon, great visibility, got to the other side of the lake at ~1.8 miles, at about 200ft up, and completely visible, and good signal on the RC, pretty sure I could have hit 2 miles if I pushed it - I used the VIFLY strobes- 1 on top 1 on bottom - I think $15 ea. if you use them don't use the velcro the supply, it's not going to hold long - I use the gorilla glue square picture things, they say permanant, but easy enough to reuse, or cut a new square pretty cheap,

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

FHT site says somewhere visibility is white > red > green.
I tend to agree having used their Duals and ARCIIs in these colours on my drones.

The only thing I find though is you can't really tell orientation all that well unless the drone is very close, night or day.
All colours at distance tend to blend, too hard to determine what's what.

For orientation, I'd use one decent white on the back, if you want to find your aircraft if not directly facing away from you, just yaw a little.
Not sure if this is for day or night, but at night if you need to keep it orientated flying back, just fly it back to you backwards.

Noted those FHT 5 led mini strobes in your link, they would be pretty good.
That mount should give reasonably viewing at altitude Red / Green (left and right respectively), and maybe a velcro white strobe on the back ?

I put the red / green Duals (2 led) on the side of my Spark here to test.

 

[vindibona1]

I have tested several strobes and have my own preferences for the Mini 3 strobe arrangement but there are many ways to approach it. Based on cost and performance I would probably send you in a bitdifferent direction than that kit. Yes, you will need at least one clear strobe, but I would recommend the FH Arc V for that one Firehouse Arc V $35 I like the red and green strobes because it helps me see the drone's orienation and I know when it's facing me and know when it's facing away or otherwise. I have a very poor sense of visual positioning and the red/green strobes help me a lot without having to look at my screen to see where the drone is pointing.

I really like the "Vifly" strobes as they are relatively cheap and more versatile than any of the Firehouse strobes. Depending on position I use either elastic hair bands (they work great on the arms), a strip of velco on each battery and a velcro strip on the bottom for the clear strobe. Vifly strobes weigh 6 grams. cost $15 each and each has the ability to flash red, green or clear in 3 different pulse settings. In terms of brightness they are as bright as all the Firehouse strobes, except for the Arc V. I advise not to use the velcro supplied by Firehouse. It works well at first, but wears quickly. I lost two Arc V's because of their velcro. Use heavy duty velcro or 3M dual lock.

Vifly Strobe link A 3 pack is less than $40.

The way I configure my Mini 3 is to have one red strobe on each forward arm, attached with elastic. The benefit of the elastic is that because the front arms fold down and under I can move the strobes out of the way for packing without removing them. I have one green strobe on the rear, with small velcro strips on each battery where the green strobe is placed. If I want the clear strobe on the bottom I install "leg" extensions (the Mini 3 has no legs) and have a velcro strip on the bottom of the extension. If I don't want a clear strobe on the bottom I can fly without the leg extensions, lightening the Mini 3 by 20 grams. I also plan on putting a strip of velcro on the top band of the leg extensions and at night will run 4 strobes; two in front, one in the rear, and clear Arc V's on top and bottom. The top is for other aircraft and the bottom so it's more visible from the ground.

For hair bands, I use these. They are extremely elastic and small so hold the strobes on very well. Very cheap. Here is the link to the ones that I use: Elastic hair bands

 

[Mike107]

Good tip. I appreciate it.
Hair bands worked well for the Vifly on the arms. I like the bands better than adding more velcro to the arms.
I do like the way the strobes can be rotated out of the way and yet remain attached with the arms folded.
I ran the light setup you show in the top picture the last couple days.

The Vifly are neither as bright nor as columnated as are the FH Arc V, which is bad and good, respectively, to me.
I may try to excise the shrink wrap directly over the strobes as suggested elsewhere.
Although I don't think of them as powerhouses, I do find them helpful and a very good value.

I did order some Ariel-Pixel 3-D Printed Strobe holders out of curiosity and to support a supporter of this forum--I expect the "made-for" look is also an attractant for me. The website is good and videos helpful. He does discount to premium members.

 

[SHRED]

I have tested several strobes and have my own preferences for the Mini 3 strobe arrangement but there are many ways to approach it. Based on cost and performance I would probably send you in a bitdifferent direction than that kit. Yes, you will need at least one clear strobe, but I would recommend the FH Arc V for that one Firehouse Arc V $35 I like the red and green strobes because it helps me see the drone's orienation and I know when it's facing me and know when it's facing away or otherwise. I have a very poor sense of visual positioning and the red/green strobes help me a lot without having to look at my screen to see where the drone is pointing.

I really like the "Vifly" strobes as they are relatively cheap and more versatile than any of the Firehouse strobes. Depending on position I use either elastic hair bands (they work great on the arms), a strip of velco on each battery and a velcro strip on the bottom for the clear strobe. Vifly strobes weigh 6 grams. cost $15 each and each has the ability to flash red, green or clear in 3 different pulse settings. In terms of brightness they are as bright as all the Firehouse strobes, except for the Arc V. I advise not to use the velcro supplied by Firehouse. It works well at first, but wears quickly. I lost two Arc V's because of their velcro. Use heavy duty velcro or 3M dual lock.

Vifly Strobe link A 3 pack is less than $40.

The way I configure my Mini 3 is to have one red strobe on each forward arm, attached with elastic. The benefit of the elastic is that because the front arms fold down and under I can move the strobes out of the way for packing without removing them. I have one green strobe on the rear, with small velcro strips on each battery where the green strobe is placed. If I want the clear strobe on the bottom I install "leg" extensions (the Mini 3 has no legs) and have a velcro strip on the bottom of the extension. If I don't want a clear strobe on the bottom I can fly without the leg extensions, lightening the Mini 3 by 20 grams. I also plan on putting a strip of velcro on the top band of the leg extensions and at night will run 4 strobes; two in front, one in the rear, and clear Arc V's on top and bottom. The top is for other aircraft and the bottom so it's more visible from the ground.

For hair bands, I use these. They are extremely elastic and small so hold the strobes on very well. Very cheap. Here is the link to the ones that I use: Elastic hair bands

View attachment 152141

View attachment 152142

I did something similar.

 

[Mike107]

I ran the light setup you show in the top picture the last couple days.

Actually--When flying at altitude or lower light situations, I run a FH Arc 5 all white on the top as the most powerful warning light, a FH Arc V Multicolor in red on the belly (slightly less powerful but subjectively brighter than Vifly). I added the Vifly to the rear recently.

When I am staying low and primarily practicing piloting skills and am more concerned about orientation and people than planes, I typically run Port/Starboard/Tail Vifly and a white Arc V on the bottom.

 

[SHRED]

Good tip. I appreciate it.
Hair bands worked well for the Vifly on the arms. I like the bands better than adding more velcro to the arms.
I do like the way the strobes can be rotated out of the way and yet remain attached with the arms folded.
I ran the light setup you show in the top picture the last couple days.

The Vifly are neither as bright nor as columnated as are the FH Arc V, which is bad and good, respectively, to me.
I may try to excise the shrink wrap directly over the strobes as suggested elsewhere.
Although I don't think of them as powerhouses, I do find them helpful and a very good value.

I did order some Ariel-Pixel 3-D Printed Strobe holders out of curiosity and to support a supporter of this forum--I expect the "made-for" look is also an attractant for me. The website is good and videos helpful. He does discount to premium members.

I contacted Ariel Pixel just now. I didn't see any Mini 3 Pro items for my particular model Firehouse.

 

[Mike107]

Ariel-Pixel 3-D Printed Strobe holders for Vifly and Ariel-Pixel 3-D Printed Strobe holders for Arc V, the beasties!
Tell him I sent you and his support of the forum is appreciated!
Mike

 

[vindibona1]

Actually--When flying at altitude or lower light situations, I run a FH Arc 5 all white on the top as the most powerful warning light, a FH Arc V Multicolor in red on the belly (slightly less powerful but subjectively brighter than Vifly). I added the Vifly to the rear recently.

When I am staying low and primarily practicing piloting skills and am more concerned about orientation and people than planes, I typically run Port/Starboard/Tail Vifly and a white Arc V on the bottom.

Very similar to my setups. Arc V is, when the strobes are measured in the "continuous" settings is about 1 f stop brighter than the Arc II and Vifly strobes. It may be important to note that there are some brightness variance from Arc V to Arc V. I have one that is considerably brighter than a few others I own and similar to Arc II and Vifly in brightness. I think the Vifly strobes are a bit brighter than the Arc II's, which one wouldn't expect due to the number of LED's on each strobe.

I use the colored strobes, red in front, green in back for orientation and a clear one on the bottom, usually an Arc V to help maintain visual contact at greater distances. At night a clear Arc V will go on top, but will still have a clear one on the bottom. Top mount is for other aircraft to see. Bottom mount is for me to see from the ground.

 

[SHRED]

Ariel-Pixel 3-D Printed Strobe holders for Vifly and Ariel-Pixel 3-D Printed Strobe holders for Arc V, the beasties!
Tell him I sent you and his support of the forum is appreciated!
Mike

I'm wondering if those will hold my older Arc lights?

 

[vindibona1]

I'm wondering if those will hold my older Arc lights?

IMO the 3D printed mounts add weight, and become cumbersome with front arms that now fold under.

My solution for the front arms is elastic hair bands. The ones I use come in packets of 300 for $2.50. They have never failed (while velcro has). But the beauty of this method is that now that the front arms fold over, strobes mounted with velcro or a printed device need to be removed for packing and reinstalled before flight. My Vifly strobes stay attached to the arms, get "rolled" over so that they can stay on in the case. When the arms get unfolded it takes about 2 seconds each to get them back to the front facing position.

Like you, I've attached velcro (you're smart for using dual lock fasteners) to each battery to accomodate a strobe on the rear of the drone. If you look at the 3rd photo with the Mini 3 in the case you'll see a partition which holds 2 additional strobes attached to a velcro strip. I pull up the strip with the strobes on it and then can quickly attach one on the rear and one on the bottom. With this setup I waste no time with the strobes getting deployed

 

[SHRED]

IMO the 3D printed mounts add weight, and become cumbersome with front arms that now fold under.

My solution for the front arms is elastic hair bands. The ones I use come in packets of 300 for $2.50. They have never failed (while velcro has). But the beauty of this method is that now that the front arms fold over, strobes mounted with velcro or a printed device need to be removed for packing and reinstalled before flight. My Vifly strobes stay attached to the arms, get "rolled" over so that they can stay on in the case. When the arms get unfolded it takes about 2 seconds each to get them back to the front facing position.

Like you, I've attached velcro (you're smart for using dual lock fasteners) to each battery to accomodate a strobe on the rear of the drone. If you look at the 3rd photo with the Mini 3 in the case you'll see a partition which holds 2 additional strobes attached to a velcro strip. I pull up the strip with the strobes on it and then can quickly attach one on the rear and one on the bottom. With this setup I waste no time with the strobes getting deployed

View attachment 152424
View attachment 152425View attachment 152426

That's awesome.

Not I'm considering getting 2 Vifly lights for the front arms with hair bands and use my Firehouse on the butt of the drone.

ON EDIT

I just ordered a couple.

 

[Mike107]

That's awesome.

Not I'm considering getting 2 Vifly lights for the front arms with hair bands and use my Firehouse on the butt of the drone.

ON EDIT

I just ordered a couple.

You won't be disappointed.