Am observation...

edfrombama · Feb 15, 2022

Good morning to all-
What a gorgeous morning. I just needed to take my Mini 2 out and get some air time. Glad I did. got to see some new to me country and interesting features.

Just for a lark, I decided to try something. I launched up after returning from my main flight to determine how far I could see my Mini 2 if I am ever restricted by some power to be to VLOS flying only. I don't know if it's just my old eyes, or the way the drone blends into the sky, but at 150 yard altitude, that bird is GONE. I can not see my drone any farther away than that. At 200 yards, there is no sound from it that I can detect.
This makes me glad that the DJI control and monitoring system is so good.
How far can you see your drone in sunny conditions?

Good day to all- Ed

Deleted member 103366 · Feb 15, 2022

I find that it depends on the background.
Your eyes are older than mine but I can, against a suitable back ground, see a mavic mini at 500m to 600m. That's religiously following it on its way out but at that distance I would struggle to find it again if I lost sight of it.
I have not checked the range limit for "finding it again".

Faster · Feb 15, 2022

I can follow mine at around 250 yards, if I lose it at that distance I'm not able to find it again.

4006448 · Feb 16, 2022

I think it’s great that you folks know what your VLOS is. I’m interested also in what could make the distance greater - drone colours, drone size, strobes etc?

Hooch · Feb 16, 2022

That's crazy, I fly mine from my couch on a 55" tv , never have VLOS and it works just great! 3 mikes out zero issues.

Crash Gibby · Feb 16, 2022

Interesting timing. I just asked myself that the other day. Glad I did a search here before posting the question. Sad thing is if in sky level at 400 feet I can see it but if I look at screen it is very hard to spot again. Cant hear it at 400 feet either. Wonder if a bright orange color would help?

Faster · Feb 16, 2022

The only thing I've found that helps me a lot for seeing my Mini 2 at longer distances was the "Bottom Mount Strobe Kit with Arc "V" Series Strobe" from Firehouse Technology. It's the FH Arc V strobe light mounted on the bottom of the drone with their 3D printed mount. It won't block the bottom vents nor the power button and works as a landing skid at the same time.
The weight of my Mini2 increases to >250g but I don't care because I registered with the FAA anyway.

Chaosrider · Feb 16, 2022

edfrombama said:
Good morning to all-
What a gorgeous morning. I just needed to take my Mini 2 out and get some air time. Glad I did. got to see some new to me country and interesting features.

Just for a lark, I decided to try something. I launched up after returning from my main flight to determine how far I could see my Mini 2 if I am ever restricted by some power to be to VLOS flying only. I don't know if it's just my old eyes, or the way the drone blends into the sky, but at 150 yard altitude, that bird is GONE. I can not see my drone any farther away than that. At 200 yards, there is no sound from it that I can detect.
This makes me glad that the DJI control and monitoring system is so good.
How far can you see your drone in sunny conditions?

Good day to all- Ed

Did you have a strobe going?

I may be squishy on the edges of the VLOS rule, but I take the 400 ft AGL rule pretty seriously. Given that I'm flying in a canyon, I'm frequently in a position of being well above 400 ft above the take-off point, and well below 400 ft AGL.

But unless I'm going to do some mountain climbing, if the "above 400 ft" warning comes on, I immediately drop back under 400 ft.

For me, the maximum height restriction is far more annoying and restrictive. I've seen a couple of mentions here about what that limit is, but I always get slapped down lower than those numbers.

If I fly carefully within the 400 ft AGL envelope when I climb up the mountain, and I can see it's flashy little Arc V butt clearly, it's annoying that I can't park at 300 ft AGL above a 1200 ft ridge.

TCS