anti-collision strobe placement

[ruggb]

Is there a guide, besides FAA AC20-30B, for where to place anti-collision strobe lights on a quad-copter?
My main objective is for MY daytime visibility, but I would like to comply with FAA rules if there are any.
I have a Mavic 2 and I can easily mount to bottom and front. Mounting to prop arms is a little more complicated, and mounting to top does not do me any good.

 

[Thealien]

Strobe Mounting

 

[Deleted member 79533]

Is there a guide, besides FAA AC20-30B, for where to place anti-collision strobe lights on a quad-copter?
My main objective is for MY daytime visibility, but I would like to comply with FAA rules if there are any.
I have a Mavic 2 and I can easily mount to bottom and front. Mounting to prop arms is a little more complicated, and mounting to top does not do me any good.

I never fly at night but I use a bottom mounted strobe to assist me to follow the drone visually.
My strobe is a White Flytron Strobon Cree.

 

[ruggb]

I never fly at night but I use a bottom mounted strobe to assist me to follow the drone visually.
My strobe is a White Flytron Strobon Cree.

thanks, what is the visibility height & distance for that mounting? Is that the flat LED or the round top one? Do you happen to know the Cree model of the LED?

 

[Deleted member 79533]

I never fly at night but I use a bottom mounted strobe to assist me to follow the drone visually.
My strobe is a White Flytron Strobon Cree.

Here is the Amazon link for the strobe:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074JZX57M/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The elevation ASL was about 3300', AGL was approx 2950', visual distance was 2.5 miles and still visible when I directed the drone to RTH. The launch site was the top of a hill in WNC and the drone travelled across a valley. This was an ideal situation from a VLOS point of view, but without the strobe, VLOS would have been impossible. Cloud cover was 100%.

 

[ruggb]

thanks for the details. Where were u flying in WNC? I have a place in Elk Park at about that alt. but no valleys.

That is the one I was looking at, but I found it for about $24. + SH ~$1.20 here.
However, I am considering this, which would light it up like an Xmas tree. That is 4 pieces.
Based on your experience though I am thinking all white might be better. I don't think the FAA specifies color on a drone. At least I have not found it yet. However, I still need to figure the mounting positions.

 

[Deleted member 79533]

thanks for the details. Where were u flying in WNC? I have a place in Elk Park at about that alt. but no valleys.

That is the one I was looking at, but I found it for about $24. + SH ~$1.20 here.
However, I am considering this, which would light it up like an Xmas tree. That is 4 pieces.
Based on your experience though I am thinking all white might be better. I don't think the FAA specifies color on a drone. At least I have not found it yet. However, I still need to figure the mounting positions.

At a friends property in the Sylva area and I have a weekend place in Asheville which can be aPITA to use a drone in... My usual home is in the ATL TCA.

I use the strobe to extend my VLOS and for that purpose a single bottom mount strobe seems to work. IMO, white is the brightest color. I think that strobe use could serve to lower the heat on compliant drone operators from the GA/CA/MA communities because IMO strobes effectively increase the perceived size of our drones.

 

[theDRONEranger]

Is there a guide, besides FAA AC20-30B, for where to place anti-collision strobe lights on a quad-copter?
My main objective is for MY daytime visibility, but I would like to comply with FAA rules if there are any.
I have a Mavic 2 and I can easily mount to bottom and front. Mounting to prop arms is a little more complicated, and mounting to top does not do me any good.

There is no definite positioning for Anti-Collision lights on a drone. Fixed/Rotary wing - yup! It just needs to be positioned for you to see at a distance of up to 3 miles. I have seen pix of some that place: i.e., red/green strobes on the front struts and white on the rear struts to easily identify which way the drone is facing in flight. If you place them on top it may defeat the purpose of seeing them. Choose the location, O B Won, so it does not interfere with flight capability.

 

[ruggb]

Thanks. That is the conclusion I came to. The unit is too small to differentiate until you are about to hit it. The recommendation of Firehouse Technology is top & bottom. That seems to make sense. They had a deal on 2x, $50.00 for the dual LED. The single LED from Flyton was about the same price so I went with the FT. A video review showed the FT as brighter than the Flyton. The LED actually looked a little brighter and there are 2x. The 4 LED unit was brighter but it is also too big to mount anywhere on an M2 and 25% more $$.

 

[theDRONEranger]

Firehouse technology is a good choice
I recommend
Aerial-Pixel - Vinyl Graphics, Vinyl Decals, Apparel, 3D Printing
for the mounts. They have them available in flexible 3D print. I did buy some and they work great!

 

[theDRONEranger]

Is there a guide, besides FAA AC20-30B, for where to place anti-collision strobe lights on a quad-copter?
My main objective is for MY daytime visibility, but I would like to comply with FAA rules if there are any.
I have a Mavic 2 and I can easily mount to bottom and front. Mounting to prop arms is a little more complicated, and mounting to top does not do me any good.

No guidance at all. You place where you want. Visual and 3 mile range

 

[ruggb]

Firehouse technology is a good choice
I recommend
Aerial-Pixel - Vinyl Graphics, Vinyl Decals, Apparel, 3D Printing
for the mounts. They have them available in flexible 3D print. I did buy some and they work great!

What would my 3D printer think if I bought mounts? I was just curious as to why flexible filament was used. I haven't tried that yet.

 

[theDRONEranger]

What would my 3D printer think if I bought mounts? I was just curious as to why flexible filament was used. I haven't tried that yet.

My apoligizes to you 3D printer. Hope I didn’t upset it too much. Anyway, the flexible filament used allows for easy on and easy off mounting. It also does not cut into any decal skin.

Side note: where could I find more data about 3D printers?
I was also thinking they may be a nice to have asset for model railroading. (as if I ever open up all my train boxes again), maybe, maybe not, ok, maybe, . . . or not, ok I really don’t know.

 

[ruggb]

I just printed one that fits over the battery for the top mount. There is a place to mount the bottom one. It has plenty of give to easily snap over the releases with plain PLA. Sort of difficult to take off.

I built my printer from Carl Fenick's plans on the openbuilds site. It is what is a CoreXY with a Bowden extruder and runs constantly changing Marlin beta firmware. It has definite advantages over Cartesian and Delta printers. Most of the small parts were sourced from AliExpress at 30-50% US prices. The bigger the bed the more $$. Mine scaled up to 12x12x12 from 8x8x8 very easily but the scaling involved V channels that are pricey per foot.

There are plenty of printers out there and an almost equal number you do not want.
HOWEVER, most of the challenges you will have with one will be your learning curve.
But there is also a LOT of resources and helpful ppl on the forums.

It has taken me a couple years to get it where I love it. It is producing great prints and runs very reliably.
Of course, lots of reading, troubleshooting, updates, and watching it print went into that.
I have printed lots of repair parts, and accessory items for my drones. Many items can be found on the inet - thingiverse.com for one place - but I had to learn a CAD program to create things that were not available or that I had to fix/modify. I actually modeled the whole printer before I built it since I made some changes to Carl's plan and wanted to be sure everything fit and clearances were good.

They are not plug-n-play like paper printers, regardless of that they tell you.

Here is a pic of it

 

[stberlin]

so I put mine on top so manned aircrafts can see it = "anti-collision."