Are there any strobes that will keep the weight under 250g now that the Mini 2 has a few extra grams to play with?

[Skybuyer]

Just curious what’s the purpose for a strobe on a drone?

Tony McDrone said:
They really help to identify the location of the drone in low light flying. If you fly at dusk, 30 mins before sunset, or dawn 30 mins before sunrise, it is a requirement that your aircraft(drone) has at least 3 miles of visibility. During daylight flight, it helps increase the visibility further than you can see without them.

Actually, they can help you keep your eye on your drone in ANY lighting condition. It's not just limited to dusk or night flying. I recall when I first started flying (Mini 1) I was at a small park with baseball diamond and trees on the perimeter of the park. My drone couldn't have been more than 10' off the ground and probably no further than 200' away. I took my eyes off of it for a few seonds and then had to hunt for it as it was blending into the background. In the sky in daylight it blends in even more. Get a few hundred feet out and over 100 feet up and it's nothing more than a black speck in the sky... until you can't see it any longer. A strobe at night will help you spot it much, much further out as it provides maximum contrasts, where is a drone with no strobe during daylight has minimal contrast.

Additionally, for new flyers, I recommend a "headlight" of any kind so you know where way your drone is oriented when flying exclusively VLOS.

 

[DHAirbus]

@Meta4 you don't say where you're living but there are a lot of countries that have an under 250 gram UAV classification. Some that permits flying without registration and pilot certification and relaxed flying rules. In Canada under 250 grams has one rule, the "Don't do anything stupid rule", basically don't endanger people or aircraft. In my area I can fly almost anywhere as a hobby whereas I couldn't if the mini was over 250g.

"Don't do anything stupid rule"
UK +(CAA) after 01-01-2021 same Probably most of Europe (EASA) is/will be the same
It's not about cost it's compliance with regs. for some people.

 

[howardK]

I use these: 3 grams
Look online for Flytron.
About £12.00 I think

There's also a guy who 3D prints mounting accessories. Don't know the weight or if they fit Mini2

JimView attachment 117383

I use the same ones on my M1P's. I think with the velcro adhesive they are 3.67 grams each

 

[DenPou]

After reading closer at some of the item descriptions, there's one that lists the weight at 6 grams. It's very bare bones but that's fine with me. I'm not sure if it's ok to link directly but it's $29.88 with 4.7 rating on Amazon. I weighed my Mini 2 with battery and SD card on my scale and it was 238g so if it's actually only 6g that would be good.

Not that big of a deal I guess but every review I watched on the Mini listed it being under 250g as one of the biggest selling points, so it is important to some people.

Needless to say that being under 250g makes it also much easier to travel with rather than having to hassle with registration in the visited country... Registering in my own country is ok since it would be for flying often at home, but having to fill out lots of paperwork to fly in a country that I would visit for two weeks, that's... So that's why I'm still juggling with the question of : I have a Mini that I like but do I go with the Mini2 or Air2? Or sell my Mini and get the Mini2 and Air2 eventually and travel with the Mini2? That is the question! ?

 

[Tdsdad2020]

Just register your drone no matter what it weighs and put the FAA registration sticker and your phone number on your drone. It's the correct thing to do

 

[Skybuyer]

I'm looking on Amazon for a strobe and I've seen people recommend Lume Cubes but they look quite a bit heavier than some of the others that are basically an LED on top of a small chip. I've never used or seen a strobe so I don't know if it's even feasible to get one in the ~10g the Mini 2 has to work with to stay under 250g. Any recommendations? Thanks

Lume Cubes are now on sale for $32 if anyone is interested. I don't think the Lume Cubes are any heavier than the Firehouse ARC V. But they appear to be thicker/bulkier. Their specs stated 1.5" long @ 10gms, but don't state a thickness. I maintain that if you're going to have a single strobe it should be mounted on the bottom. I actually confirmed that last night with a night flight test, testing actual VLOS.

For weight comparison with the Lume Cube the Arc V is 13.4 grams (w/velcro) and the ARC II is 7.74 (w/velcro). The ARC II has the same 500 lumens output as the Lume Cube. [measured on a jewelry scale accurate to 0.01 grams] The ARC V output is 1000 lumens.

I had one white ARC V on the top, one on the bottom and the small ARC strobes, one red, one green on the front legs. My 2nd floor balcony faces a golf course approx 75' away so I flew from there starting over the golf course after launch. Again, the mission was to fly as far as I could while still maintaining VLOS.

As I sent my M2 out I sent it up to almost 400' to make sure it was still in LOS not obscured by anything. After about 100 feet or so in the air the top strobe was no longer visible. Going out the R/G strobes couldn't be seen. But the bottom strobe was bright and clear. At 8000 feet out I could still see it EASILY. At that point, from the 2nd floor I was almost at the point where the trees across the street began to obscure the drone, though the strobe was still clearly visible. I wanted to go 10,000 feet, but at that point my PHONE gave me a low power warning and so I hit the RTH button at that point. As soon as the drone spun around to come home I could again see the R/G strobes, though a bit fainter than the white one.

If we ever get a shot of warm weather and moderate wind I'll go up on the roof and do the test again to see how far I can send my M2 maintaining enough battery to RTH and maintaining continuous LOS. I suspect I can exceed 10,000 ft and don't doubt that the ARC V can be seen for 3 SM as at 8000' the strobe was still surprisingly bright and easily seen.

 

[TomSull]

Any of the commonly used strobe lights is going to make it exceed 250 grams.

Well, the LumeCube Strobe is pretty light (10g) and comes in at 249 grams including the mounting pad (WITH the removable back still on it, so it will be a tiny bit lighter when mounted).

 

[baddog]

I'm looking on Amazon for a strobe and I've seen people recommend Lume Cubes but they look quite a bit heavier than some of the others that are basically an LED on top of a small chip. I've never used or seen a strobe so I don't know if it's even feasible to get one in the ~10g the Mini 2 has to work with to stay under 250g. Any recommendations? Thanks

You know, it is only $5.00 for 3 years to register each of your drones, if you are using it for commercial use.

If you are a hobbyist you register once for $5.00 and then you can apply that registration number to as many drones as you have/own.

 

[Thomas B]

I own Lume Cubes. Very disappointing.
Register for $5 USD and use ARC XLs.

 

[joe1407]

I'm looking on Amazon for a strobe and I've seen people recommend Lume Cubes but they look quite a bit heavier than some of the others that are basically an LED on top of a small chip. I've never used or seen a strobe so I don't know if it's even feasible to get one in the ~10g the Mini 2 has to work with to stay under 250g. Any recommendations? Thanks

There is nothing you can add to the mini with out removing somthing else to stay below 249 G

 

[Skipper1]

There is nothing you can add to the mini with out removing somthing else to stay below 249 G

You are incorrect, sir. If you will put your Mini 2 on some scales you will see that it weighs only 238g so you have a lot of wiggle room.

 

[Crouching Leopard]

Also, a better chance to see it during normal VLOS bright daylight flying as my 2 strobes are more noticeable than the drone alone against the sky backdrop. Where I fly here in Australia the sky is usually can very glaring even on a cloudy day so I regularly have to wear sunglasses when flying. Strobes can be spotted easier than the drone even at less than a couple of hundred metres distance and 50 metres height.

At dusk, it really makes a difference.

 

[Dizzy1971]

What's the concern about staying below 250 grams?
If it goes over 250g, registration only costs $5 for three years, for as many drones as you own.

I wonder if adding the weight might then put the drone into the “over 250g” designation thereby making it illegal to fly in an area where 250 g drones are allowed currently? I suppose that depends on ones jurisdiction.

 

[Skipper1]

I wonder if adding the weight might then put the drone into the “over 250g” designation thereby making it illegal to fly in an area where 250 g drones are allowed currently? I suppose that depends on ones jurisdiction.

Mini 2 weighs 238g, a Firehouse strobe with Velcro on the back weighs 8g.

 

[Lister]

Lume Cubes are now on sale for $32 if anyone is interested. I don't think the Lume Cubes are any heavier than the Firehouse ARC V. But they appear to be thicker/bulkier. Their specs stated 1.5" long @ 10gms, but don't state a thickness. I maintain that if you're going to have a single strobe it should be mounted on the bottom. I actually confirmed that last night with a night flight test, testing actual VLOS.

For weight comparison with the Lume Cube the Arc V is 13.4 grams (w/velcro) and the ARC II is 7.74 (w/velcro). The ARC II has the same 500 lumens output as the Lume Cube. [measured on a jewelry scale accurate to 0.01 grams] The ARC V output is 1000 lumens.

I had one white ARC V on the top, one on the bottom and the small ARC strobes, one red, one green on the front legs. My 2nd floor balcony faces a golf course approx 75' away so I flew from there starting over the golf course after launch. Again, the mission was to fly as far as I could while still maintaining VLOS.

As I sent my M2 out I sent it up to almost 400' to make sure it was still in LOS not obscured by anything. After about 100 feet or so in the air the top strobe was no longer visible. Going out the R/G strobes couldn't be seen. But the bottom strobe was bright and clear. At 8000 feet out I could still see it EASILY. At that point, from the 2nd floor I was almost at the point where the trees across the street began to obscure the drone, though the strobe was still clearly visible. I wanted to go 10,000 feet, but at that point my PHONE gave me a low power warning and so I hit the RTH button at that point. As soon as the drone spun around to come home I could again see the R/G strobes, though a bit fainter than the white one.

If we ever get a shot of warm weather and moderate wind I'll go up on the roof and do the test again to see how far I can send my M2 maintaining enough battery to RTH and maintaining continuous LOS. I suspect I can exceed 10,000 ft and don't doubt that the ARC V can be seen for 3 SM as at 8000' the strobe was still surprisingly bright and easily seen.

Bottom mounting makes the most sense if the goal is to make the drone more visible to the pilot. Has anyone noticed any adverse effects on the camera or the vertical motion sensors from a bottom mounted strobe?

 

[Skybuyer]

Bottom mounting makes the most sense if the goal is to make the drone more visible to the pilot. Has anyone noticed any adverse effects on the camera or the vertical motion sensors from a bottom mounted strobe?

You bring up an important point. It is important to make sure you do not block any of the sensors. Strategically placed velcro can provide secure mounting behind the gimbal and and head of vents or sensors. I had to get a bit more creative with my Mini as once the strobe is mounted on the bottom the switch and battery indicator lights are blocked. What I do is initially mount the strobe on top, turn the Mini and the strobe on, then remove the strobe from the top and secure it on the bottom before flight. There are any number of ways to do it. Firehouse Technology has a bottom mount kit for the Mini which also functions as a sort of "belly" landing gear. Firhouse Mini Strobe Kit As I've started doing more night flying due to the blah post-fall scenery and early darkness I have both top and bottom mounted strobes and red/green in front to help with visual orientation, but thinking about changing to a front/rear configuration.

I've elected to use a velcro strategy, and since the photo (below) have replaced the velcro with a cleaner design and removed the rear velcro. At the time of the photo I was using that rear piece of velcro to "tie down" the props, but have since gone to a props-forward tie-down putting a strip of velcro on the gimbal cover taking advantage of the velcro that exists on the bottom of the Mini (bonus photo below). The new cradle of the Mini2 eliminates the need for velcro tie-down.

 

[Dizzy1971]

Mini 2 weighs 238g, a Firehouse strobe with Velcro on the back weighs 8g.

Oh ic. That’s excellent news. I just purchased a mini 2 and thought for sure I’d be out of luck adding anything at all to it’s weight.

 

[kush61]

Hello from the Western end of Lake Ontario:
Check out bicycle lights !!! Also check out toy helicopters from a thrift store and rip the lights out of 'em !!!
Specifically I picked up a "Movello" USB rechargeable bike rear light (red strobe). I stripped it down to just battery, circuit board, led strip and the small internal plastic housing beneath the exterior red housing and sealed the back with aluminum tape. It weighs 10 grams.
My front strobe (white) weighs 9 grams.
They both have their own 3.7v battery which I'll be trying to eliminate by tapping into the Mini's 7.4v battery to power them in series. The self contained units are a clean install with just velcro, tapping into the Mini's battery will resort to running some wires to the strobes.
I'll post some images tomorrow.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[TDZHDTV]

going to give this a try at only 6 - 7g, will attach to Mini in case i have to go looking for in in the hills while out hiking and/ or at sunset and sunrise

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[Lister]

Hello from the Western end of Lake Ontario:
Check out bicycle lights !!! Also check out toy helicopters from a thrift store and rip the lights out of 'em !!!
Specifically I picked up a "Movello" USB rechargeable bike rear light (red strobe). I stripped it down to just battery, circuit board, led strip and the small internal plastic housing beneath the exterior red housing and sealed the back with aluminum tape. It weighs 10 grams.
My front strobe (white) weighs 9 grams.
They both have their own 3.7v battery which I'll be trying to eliminate by tapping into the Mini's 7.4v battery to power them in series. The self contained units are a clean install with just velcro, tapping into the Mini's battery will resort to running some wires to the strobes.
I'll post some images tomorrow.

Cheers
Andrew

Hey kush61, bicycle strobes were my first thought, too. Thanks.

vindibona1, I’ll have to wait until my M2 arrives to be able to visualize all those Velcro locations. Fore and aft colours make sense.

still worried about camera effects, though.

thanks for your input, guys!