Best American made drone?

[waynorth]

Here is some info about Autel Robotics, its shareholders (all Chinese), and headquarters in Shenzen, China:
Pan Xiangxi (潘相熙), is Executive Director.

Autel Robotics 道通智能 – Company Profile on ChinaEDGE

<p>Comprehensive product lines with technically advanced drone, camera, and AI operating systems. Main features include obstacle navigation. One of the slickest English websites as well.</p>

thechinaproject.com

 

[Don Testme]

The Vesper Drone by Vantage Robotics has an awesome light weight, long flight time, super quiet drone that sells for 7,000 dollars, mostly due to its extreme camera system capabilities. It's a former military drone. It's made for stealth surveillance missions. It's also water resistant, meaning it can fly in heavy rainstorms. It also has impressive wind resistance considering how light it is.

Vantage Robotic's Vesper drone is now available to the public

The Vantage Robotics Vesper, a drone created for the military and first responders, is available to the public. Not cheap, but it's cool.

dronedj.com

 

[Don Testme]

90 min flight time vtol. 68mph max speed.

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Topcon Solutions serves the AEC industry as the retail division to Topcon Positioning Systems, and as an Autodesk Platinum Partner. Many Locations nationwide and growing!

www.topconsolutions.com

 

[Meta4]

90 min flight time vtol. 68mph max speed.

Neither of these is going to excite most DJI flyers.

The Ebee looks like a $100 foam RC plane but costs over US$10,000.
It's good for mapping flights, but nothing else.

The Vantage Robotics Vesper has been around a few years now.
It's about the same size and speed as a Mavic 3, but 2 or 3 times the price.
It flies longer and quieter, but has less signal range.
It's camera is only 8 megapixels.

 

[karlblessing]

Neither of these is going to excite most DJI flyers.

Agreed , if I were coming from probably an RC plane background I might be more excited. But my ultimate goal when I First got a drone and w hen I continue to get them is for photography/videography, and most of the competitors I saw either can't match it or are a bit too expensive to match it.

 

[jmaganaski]

Yes .. Autel is a Chinese company, just like DJI.
They have a sales and service centre in Bothell, WA, just like DJI have a sales and service centre in California.
But that doesn't make either of them an American company.

The difference is that everyone knows DJI is Chinese and Autel is happy to let you think they aren't.

Thanks for the polite answer.

 

[JS_2016]

The Vesper Drone by Vantage Robotics has an awesome light weight, long flight time, super quiet drone that sells for 7,000 dollars, mostly due to its extreme camera system capabilities. It's a former military drone. It's made for stealth surveillance missions. It's also water resistant, meaning it can fly in heavy rainstorms. It also has impressive wind resistance considering how light it is.

Vantage Robotic's Vesper drone is now available to the public

The Vantage Robotics Vesper, a drone created for the military and first responders, is available to the public. Not cheap, but it's cool.

dronedj.com

I just happen to see a short video of the Vesper drone today and it sounds like something I’d like to get. I like the fact that it’s made in USA and not China! Do you have any firsthand experience with the vesper or do you know anyone that’s flown one before? Sounds like it might be a good drone to have and if something goes wrong there’s a much better chance of getting some customer service help than DJI.

 

[Meta4]

I just happen to see a short video of the Vesper drone today and it sounds like something I’d like to get. I like the fact that it’s made in USA and not China! Do you have any firsthand experience with the vesper or do you know anyone that’s flown one before? Sounds like it might be a good drone to have

It's an old model, but back in 2020 the price was $7000.
The 8MP camera wasn't particularly exciting either.

Vantage Robotic's Vesper drone is now available to the public

The Vantage Robotics Vesper, a drone created for the military and first responders, is available to the public. Not cheap, but it's cool.

dronedj.com

It doesn't have the fancy features that you get with consumer drones.

Here's he manufacturers website:

Vantage Robotics - Military Grade ISR

Vantage Robotics manufactures drones in the US for government, commercial and consumer markets-- including Vesper, the portable drone system with EO/IR.

vantagerobotics.com

and if something goes wrong there’s a much better chance of getting some customer service help than DJI.

DJI customers aren't having problems getting service.

 

[Frank Dracman]

DJI customers aren't having problems getting service.

Speak for yourself. Read more post of people having problems getting service. Just because you haven't had problems doesn't mean others are in the same position.

 

[Meta4]

Speak for yourself. Read more post of people having problems getting service. Just because you haven't had problems doesn't mean others are in the same position.

And I read plenty of posts from people who are very happy with the service they received.

 

[Droning on and on...]

Speak for yourself. Read more post of people having problems getting service. Just because you haven't had problems doesn't mean others are in the same position.

Speak for yourself. Read more posts of people having great experiences getting service. Just because you've had problems doesn't mean others are in the same position.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Typically you won't hear from the 1000x more satisfied customers, over the very tiny minority that make all the noise when they have a perceived issue . . . right or wrong.
DJI have this consumer drone thing totally sewn up for the foreseeable future.

 

[Macinfo]

Forum postings can gauge some sentiment, however, generally more people are likely to post when they are having problems then when things are going just fine.. If you're not having a problem, what is there to complain about?

Flying drones without crashing or damage is a skill. Some fly for years, never have an issue, some crash them within days or hours of learning to fly.. the one's you hear from most are the one's that have a problem, you only hear from the one's that had a great flight when you see their results in great photos or videos from their work.

Many times IMHO the results of a service call are totally dependent on the situation, if its a straight forward issue, they go smoothly in most cases.. If its complicated somehow and the OP is new, it never seems to go right... or its confusing and the OP Is not happy.

I've never crashed any of my drones, though like many, I suspect most of us have gotten close, I've spent $$ on service plans I've never used. I suspect one of these days a problem will occur, but for now, things are fine..

 

[lewisrassee]

Hello Folks!

I fly a DJI Air2S. I think it’s a great drone. I want to buy another drone, but thought I would get a non DJI drone. Sometimes the DJI “fly safe” grounds me unnecessarily.

With that said, I thought I would buy an American made drone. In your opinion, what is the best American made drone?

I’ve heard of Skydio and Exo Drones the most.
A follow up question wound be, what are the pros and cons of different American made drones? Has any of the details on pros done any videos about this?

Thanks for your opinions and resources!

Showbox jiofi.local.html tplinklogin​

Blessings,
Chris

If your Air 2s is at firmware 2190 or earlier, you can use drone-hack to remove all that with the certificate hack, can even go as far as turning off aereoscope broadcasting.

 

[Frank Dracman]

Speak for yourself. Read more posts of people having great experiences getting service. Just because you've had problems doesn't mean others are in the same position.

Hypocrisy at its finest.

 

[Droning on and on...]

Hypocrisy at its finest.

Do you even...

Oh never mind. Not worth it.