Bicycling Offroad: Active Track vs. Protecting Remote Controller/phone

[EyinHelga]

Recently bought Mavic Air 2 (MA2). I’m very exited! How is your experience with Active Track during bicycling on tracks in rough terrain? How and where do you carry and protecting your controller/phone – so that you not accidently touching the mobile phone screen while bicycling? Possible solutions:

1) Putting the remote controller/phone on a bicycle mount? – or 2) After activating «active track», putting the remote controller/phone in a rucksack, disable the controller sticks, putting on some protection over the RTH- and power button (metal cork and tape), and then an otterbox holster protecting the mobile screen?

When it comes to 1) I reckon the bicycle mount will loosen and get off in «rough» terrain» after a while - and that 2) will be a better viable solution?

If 2) is a good solution – will it better using the «trace mode» instead of «parallel mode» - because in «parallel mode» it’s a greater risk hitting bush/trees because of lack of side-sensors on the drone? What altitude of the drone will you recommend as a starting point?

What do you guys reckon – would be nice to have som tips/advice from experienced droners on bicycle – thanks!

 

[icecoldgin]

I am using a mount. While I have not strictly been offroad, I believe that it will hold. More convenient and safer also for you and the drone.

On your second query, unless the fields are clear of obstacles on the sides (trees, branches, outcrops, etc), better to use trace. The MA2 does not have side avoidance sensors. For trace mode, I set it to between 3m-4m.

 

[EyinHelga]

I am using a mount. While I have not strictly been offroad, I believe that it will hold. More convenient and safer also for you and the drone.

On your second query, unless the fields are clear of obstacles on the sides (trees, branches, outcrops, etc), better to use trace. The MA2 does not have side avoidance sensors. For trace mode, I set it to between 3m-4m.

Ok, thanks for your answer - I'll try different solutions and see how it goes...

 

[Pappy]

From watching Ray's video it's not only the handlebar mount but the RC phone mount as well. When it's bumpy this mount isn't strong enough to hold the phone in place. I'm also leery of having to put the RC/phone in a knapsack since you wouldn't be able to monitor the aircraft tracking. If there's a phone mount capable of holding the phone on the handle bars while traversing rough terrain, I wonder if it wouldn't be possible to run a long usb cable between the handle bar mounted phone and say a chest mounted RC. The only drawback is the cable dangling between you and the phone. It seems there are no great solutions.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[EyinHelga]

From watching Ray's video it's not only the handlebar mount but the RC phone mount as well. When it's bumpy this mount isn't strong enough to hold the phone in place. I'm also leery of having to put the RC/phone in a knapsack since you wouldn't be able to monitor the aircraft tracking. If there's a phone mount capable of holding the phone on the handle bars while traversing rough terrain, I wonder if it wouldn't be possible to run a long usb cable between the handle bar mounted phone and say a chest mounted RC. The only drawback is the cable dangling between you and the phone. It seems there are no great solutions.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Thanks for the link and your comments! I watched the video from Ray, interesting! Yeah, difficult to find secure and good solutions! But do you reckon to «split» the controller and phone would be less weight pressure on the bicycle mount: Let’s say you put the controller on the bicycle mount, and then the phone on a quadlock (phone mount) – and use the existing cable to make a connection (make sure both gadgets are close)?! Or get a a little longer compatible cable, if exist?

 

[Pappy]

Thanks for the link and your comments! I watched the video from Ray, interesting! Yeah, difficult to find secure and good solutions! But do you reckon to «split» the controller and phone would be less weight pressure on the bicycle mount: Let’s say you put the controller on the bicycle mount, and then the phone on a quadlock (phone mount) – and use the existing cable to make a connection (make sure both gadgets are close)?! Or get a a little longer compatible cable, if exist?

Indeed that would be an even better solution, to spread the load from a single mount (RC/Phone) to two mounts, one for the RC and the other for the phone. The mount Ray was using looked good for the RC, it's just that the RC wasn't designed to hold a phone under those conditions. If there is a mount you know will hold the phone securely, then all you would need to add is a slightly longer usb cable. The cable included with the RC is barely long enough to reach a phone in the RC mount.

Let us know how it goes and maybe a comment in Ray's video if your solution works for you. I'm sure there are a lot of other bike enthusiasts who would be interested.