Begin mini rant

[SmilingOgre]

Is Murphy really that supreme? How does my drone know?

Performed a practice flight at home mid day and tested everything I would need for the shot.

My wife went two RR crossings "up stream" to alert me to the train be a comin.

Had tablet and controller powered up ahead of call.

Fired up the drone per my wife's call.

Holy Crap!!! IMU problems, altitude problems, other window pop-ups I can't even entertain at that point and the drone refuses to launch. Really?

Of all the times.....

Crossing guards are coming down and the horn is a bloin.

I saw something in the mess of messages about position mode and switched it over. Finally the thing takes off.

I got a beautiful shot of the last car.

Will be back tomorrow. It passes through once a day. At least I did get some great footage and audio from a camcorder I had set low and close for another perspective of the event. I calibrated the IMU when I got home. It said it calibrated ok. I hope it knows what it's talking about.

Rant end.

 

[dirkclod]

Well try it out before you plan to go try again . Better safe than
sorry.

 

[SmilingOgre]

Well try it out before you plan to go try again . Better safe than
sorry.

For sure!! That was definitely a disappointment.

 

[Dale D]

Is Murphy really that supreme? How does my drone know?

Performed a practice flight at home mid day and tested everything I would need for the shot.

My wife went two RR crossings "up stream" to alert me to the train be a comin.

Had tablet and controller powered up ahead of call.

Fired up the drone per my wife's call.

Holy Crap!!! IMU problems, altitude problems, other window pop-ups I can't even entertain at that point and the drone refuses to launch. Really?

Of all the times.....

Crossing guards are coming down and the horn is a bloin.

I saw something in the mess of messages about position mode and switched it over. Finally the thing takes off.

I got a beautiful shot of the last car.

Will be back tomorrow. It passes through once a day. At least I did get some great footage and audio from a camcorder I had set low and close for another perspective of the event. I calibrated the IMU when I got home. It said it calibrated ok. I hope it knows what it's talking about.

Rant end.

No need to record train sounds! Here are screen grabs you can easily record in the comfort of your house. Just Google "train sounds" in Google.

 

[SmilingOgre]

No need to record train sounds! Here are screen grabs you can easily record in the comfort of your house. Just Google "train sounds" in Google. View attachment 112990

Great stuff my friend! I will note these for future shoots. I've got it covered on this shoot. I placed a Panasonic UX90 with a Rode shotgun mic on a tripod maybe 10 feet to the side of the tracks and got a great audio track including that wonderful Doppler effect as the train moved to the rear pick-up pattern of the mic. I've got a great mark point where the RR tracks cross a sidewalk to sync everything up.

 

[jacquespa]

Looking forward to seeing your video

 

[SmilingOgre]

Great stuff my friend! I will note these for future shoots. I've got it covered on this shoot. I placed a Panasonic UX90 with a Rode shotgun mic on a tripod maybe 10 feet to the side of the tracks and got a great audio track including that wonderful Doppler effect as the train moved to the rear pick-up pattern of the mic. I've got a great mark point where the RR tracks cross a sidewalk to sync everything up.

Just posted it a couple of hours ago. The thread is titled: Here come da train! Here come da Train!!! Only took three days and three tries, lol.

 

[Dale D]

Just posted it a couple of hours ago. The thread is titled: Here come da train! Here come da Train!!! Only took three days and three tries, lol.

Yes- three days to shoot a few minutes of footage. That is why we actually love this hobby.

 

[SmilingOgre]

Yes- three days to shoot a few minutes of footage. That is why we actually love this hobby.

All joking aside, it really is, isn't it. A lot of factors to deal with keeps it interesting.

 

[Dale D]

All joking aside, it really is, isn't it. A lot of factors to deal with keeps it interesting.

Without video(and tennis) , my life these days would be truly boring. I went out for a shoot yesterday (90 degrees and humid). I tried to shoot timelapse near downtown at the Miami River, but I was chased off the bridge (it was opening for traffic), so I had to film from angle and not down the throat of the river. I was also too close to the airport for the drone, which I would have flown right down the river at a safe altitude nowheres near a plane, e.g.: just about the telephone wires and in direct LOV (line of vision).

 

[SmilingOgre]

Without video(and tennis) , my life these days would be truly boring. I went out for a shoot yesterday (90 degrees and humid). I tried to shoot timelapse near downtownView attachment 113052 at the Miami River, but I was chased off the bridge (it was opening for traffic), so I had to film from angle and not down the throat of the river. I was also too close to the airport for the drone, which I would have flown right down the river at a safe altitude nowheres near a plane, e.g.: just about the telephone wires and in direct LOV (line of vision).

I hope you can find a way to make it happen. That would be a beautiful shot. I had to get a three day pass to fly up one river to a dam once. Like you are saying, I would have been no more the 50 ft in altitude but it was too close to an airport so it refused to launch until I got the pass. The drone has got a lot of people freaked out. I feel fortunate I have had nothing but supportive folks approach me to talk. I'm sure at some point I get to meet the Don Quixote on a quest to vanquish drones. And then of course there's the gooberment. Never makes sense, never works well, just is.