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DJI Mavic pilots - Australia

Im a little excited tonight, picking up my Mav 3 tomorrow
Nice! sleepless night I guess :)

Where abouts are you located.
Apparently, I'm always where there is a control tower based air port Interpreting OpenSky For South East Brisbane? LOL

Where are you shopping?
Seems the current ebay discounts + afterpay option + shopback cashback are most enticing DJI Mini 2 Fly More package at AUD$901.55 DJI Mini 2 Drone Fly More Combo - [Official Store] | eBay and then buying the DJI Care Refresh 2yrs from DJI Australia site for 2nd yr warranty and replacement protection Buy DJI Care Refresh 2-Year Plan (DJI Mini 2) - DJI Store

A few stores I emailed, but if they can't bother replying to my emails for days for a potential customer, it doesn't give me confidence in any after-sales support anyway :)
 
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Nice! sleepless night I guess :)


Apparently, I'm always where there is a control tower based air port Interpreting OpenSky For South East Brisbane? LOL


Seems the current ebay discounts + afterpay option + shopback cashback are most enticing DJI Mini 2 Fly More package at AUD$901.55 DJI Mini 2 Drone Fly More Combo - [Official Store] | eBay and then buying the DJI Care Refresh 2yrs from DJI Australia site for 2nd yr warranty and replacement protection Buy DJI Care Refresh 2-Year Plan (DJI Mini 2) - DJI Store

A few stores I emailed, but if they can't bother replying to my emails for days for a potential customer, it doesn't give me confidence in any after-sales support anyway :)
You cant go past the guys at D1 Carindale. They are always my goto. Not sure if these are on your list for not returning emails, but this would be unusual. I do know they have been flatout with EOFY sales.

 
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You cant go past the guys at D1 Carindale. They are always my goto. Not sure if these are on your list for not returning emails, but this would be unusual. I do know they have been flatout with EOFY sales.
Yeah D1 but via their web site so not sure if it's the Carindale store? D1 is the one I'm frustrated with for 3 emails they span 5-7 days wait to reply. And from 3 price quotes I asked for, not one of the quotes has been for the correct product items I asked for. This means I have to email them again and wait a few days more for another reply and none of the accompanying email questions in any of the emails has been answered at all. Probably EOFY sales related I guess but just hasn't been a nice first impression. Still there's time ~9days till June 30 end for sales at D1 and Ebay discounts :)
 
Give the store at carindale a call instead of the online on which is based in melb i think
 
Give the store at carindale a call instead of the online on which is based in melb i think
Cheers. The shopping Gods came to my rescue, got a CamelCamelCamel price alert from Amazon.com.au - DJI Mini 2 and other gear have a very nice discount - DJI Mini 2 Fly More bundle went from AUD$948 to AUD$848! So nabbed it along with discounted 128GB Sandisk Extreme Pro micro sdcard discounted to AUD$39. Going to get the DJI Care Refresh 2yr plan separately from official site Buy DJI Care Refresh 2-Year Plan (DJI Mini 2) - DJI Store :)

Guess I just wait to get the drone and then when I order DJI Care Refresh, enter the serial number ?

dji-mini2-fly-more-amazon-01.png
 
yea you activate the refresh when you activate your drone
well done, you will love it
 
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I've been looking more at OpenSky for my trip in November.

I just noticed since yesterday, OpenSky has changed and all areas where you place the little pointer is always a Red X now, instead of changing to Orange or Green, regardless of whether the pointer is in a red, orange or clear zone. Looks like the reason for the Red X is that it has this warning at the top:

X Flying during daylight
Do not fly at night. Daylight begins at 5:53 AM and ends at 5:23 PM.

I assume the times will change as spring and then summer arrives, resulting in longer days?


Half my time will be in QLD but I've decided to have 3-5 day stays around Sydney and Melbourne, with the latter likely around Mornington, maybe Phillip Island.

I've also gotten suggestions to go to Tasmania as well.

Here's what I've been seeing as far as flight possibilities:

1. Sydney area, see a few drone panos posted on Google Maps over the Harbour, near the Harbour Bridge. I know it's strictly a NFZ so I've been looking at the east coast. Most of the coastal area between Dover Heights and just north of Coogee seem to be in the Orange zone, mostly because of various helipads.

But I know there are exceptions like The Gap is in the Orange zone but I recall seeing "No drones" signs there.

Manly is all in Orange and then there's a stretch of coast from Freshwater Beach to Long Reef Beach which is in the clear. Does that mean you're unlikely to encounter helicopters in that clear area or are you even allowed to fly higher?

2. Melbourne area, I'm surprised most of it is Orange, including the CBD. But I would imagine helicopter activity is much greater there?

There are some great drone shots taken over Albert Lake, with the golf course and a lot of greenery in the foreground and the Melbourne skyline in the background. I thought maybe these were taken illegally but most of Melbourne is Orange and the area around Brighton is all clear.

3. Mornington Peninsula is mostly Orange but also large swaths of clear areas too. Town of Mornington itself is in the clear.

Wilson's Promontory is mostly clear but Orange over Tidal River. Isn't it mostly a National Park, so there would be additional restrictions?

4. Tasmania - Found some places on the Tasmanian Peninsula, mainly in the southern coast near the capes that I'd like to visit. However, it appears access to those tracks are limited and you have to pay to access them, even make reservations well in advance? So probably not in the cards for this trip but the terrain looks insane, with those tall cliffs over the sea.

5. QLD - Gold Coast and Brisbane CBD are in Orange, which is as surprising as Melbourne CBD being in Orange. There must be other restrictions for CBDs other than what OpenSky is displaying, like maybe these cities have their own restrictions?

I can understand why Sydney Harbour is restricted but if you go by OpenSky, you can fly over Sydney CBD land but not the water? Though of course there would be a lot of people on land so flying over land may be more restricted.

6. Sunshine Coast - Mostly will be staying around the Noosa area, with some day trips. The whole Sunshine Coast seems to be in the clear north of Sunshine Coast Airport, with Orange dots over towns.

There is the Noosa National Park which is mostly in the clear. But do you require permission from the Park to fly around that coastal headland?

The other area I'm interested in flying in would be around Rainbow Beach and Double Island Point. That is also a part of either a state or national park

I did email QPWS asking specifically about Noosa National Park and just got a generic response from a Queensland Customer Service Response with links to CASA and just general drone rules. Maybe I contacted the wrong agency because the Google Maps links points to a Queensland parks agency, even though it's called a National Park?
 
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I've been looking more at OpenSky for my trip in November.

Final edit here up top . . . sorry for the long reply, but you did ask a lot, lol.
It's a huge country, and no joke so much to see / do.

How long are you staying ? (And from where ?)

That's an AWFUL big area / states / places etc you plan visiting.
Possible I guess in say a month, but boy it will be rushed.

I think I saw you post in the other thread re Nat Parks, and sure I answered that park of your question there.
Noosa, Rainbow Beach and Double Island Point, all ok to fly and I've 4WDd through the latter 2 places quite a bit.

Forget totally any of Victoria's National Parks, same with NSW and Tasmania.
Tassie is great, a little south of the Tasman Peninsula is Bruny Island, do the boat trip from Adventure Bay to The Friars, now that is a no drone trip but well worth doing.
I've car toured and walked all sort of remote paces in Tassie, it really is wonderful, and you could fly a drone in some of the really way out there places if you wanted, no one for kms, hard to get to those though.

Other more urban places here, most 'councils' (what you might call something else there you are from), probably have bans from take off, landing, operating a drone from land under their authorisation.
Public parks, sports grounds etc mostly.

That's a big chunk of some of the city's urban places.

I guess if you have clear or orange zones, and want a nice shot of Manly from a safe end, away from people, sunrise shots before the place might be packed, then take it up almost dead above, take the shot(s) come down, that way no one is going to bother you too much.
If you go fly down the beach, you might get more attention.

I'd keep clear of Sydney Harbour in general, but same could apply there.
If someone from the Bot Gardens approached after getting a couple of shots, you either be walking out with drone in bag, or packing up, they'd ask you not to fly there perhaps.

Keep in mind, most councils have bylaws sometimes hidden away on their websites, I usually check by googling the name of the council, eg > city of * < and > drones < see what comes up.
You could do that with Sydney Royal Bot Gardens etc too . . . eg . . .


SOME places that get a lot of tourist attention will possibly have 'No Drone' signage, not sure, haven't been to Sydney around the harbour for a long time, or bothered looking into other places too much for them.

Check the DJI Flysafe Geo Map too, it can be rather erroneous of what they see fit to fly vs what CASA say is ok.

Enjoy your trip, but maybe think about choosing one or two general locations and having some relaxing time, unless you really do want to see 'a little of a lot' as a guide for future trips with more time to explore what you discover.
 
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Yes, the red X will come up for no night flying, think it will probably be adjusted for longer hours outside the current winter daylight, but usually just fly when it's reasonable to do so.

Heliports are all over, esp urban, you can encounter a heli anywhere really, in general around the coast, but unless near big hospitals or touristy spots, you are probably not too likely to have any issues with having to land etc.
 
Thanks again.

Only 16-17 days on the ground for this trip.

I don't think Tasmania is in the cards for this trip, I would be going there instead of Sydney or Melbourne, not in addition to it. But it certainly looks like an interesting place for another time.

Interesting about the difference in how the people managing the parks in different states will react differently.

Yes I did find the Sydney Botanical Park link after I posted here. That's understandable, probably a popular place too.
 
Thanks again.

Only 16-17 days on the ground for this trip.

I don't think Tasmania is in the cards for this trip, I would be going there instead of Sydney or Melbourne, not in addition to it. But it certainly looks like an interesting place for another time.

Interesting about the difference in how the people managing the parks in different states will react differently.

Yes I did find the Sydney Botanical Park link after I posted here. That's understandable, probably a popular place too.

Oh that's good, a bit of settling in and 2 weeks will cover Sydney, Melbourne, or Brisbane reasonably.
Surroundings, if you like nature / National Parks, and drone flight, SE Queensland (QLD) makes sense.

If you hire something with 4WD, you could drive Teewah Beach up to Rainbow / Double Is Pt, lovely camping in the dunes along Teewah, if time permits and you can borrow some basic gear.
Tyres, you need to air down for the sand and air up later for the blacktop.
Or you could drive in at the top end and drive some decent tracks through Great Sandy Nat Pk, no need to air down / up if not going through to beach access on the east side . . . walk it to the beach, do some flying, etc.

Most urban councils have almost same drone / model aircraft policies, the bigger urban cities / larger towns more so.

When you know more what you'd like to do as far as final destination, post up again here and I'm sure more specific answers can be made.
 
I'll see what kind of cars are available but I heard you need to get a license to drive on the beach.

So I"m looking more at guided trip where an operator would pick you up from Noosa, drive you up there and across the sand to the Double Island Point Lighthouse.

I don't know if that would give me enough free time to fly my Mavic 2 Pro though. But there are a few drone shots taken over DPI in Google Street View. It's really a beautiful landscape.

Generally I'd be leery about taking my camera near all that sand. I don't know if winds will get sand inside equipment. But I guess you wouldn't see that kind of terrain unless you went to some expansive desert.
 
I heard you need to get a license to drive on the beach.

No, there's no special license requirement to drive on beach sand, just a beach access permit, easy to get.
Some care and sand driving knowledge / recovery gear is good to have, as well as tide times !!

But yeah, there might be a local tour op that does tours along there.
It might be a bit co$tly for a 1 on 1 tour, or small group 2 or 3 others, but they should allow time to fly ok.
It is a really nice area, I was through there last time pre drone, so one day I might try and get back to do some flying myself.
 
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Found some more info, which seems definitive for Victoria:

First this blog post:


Says that Parks Victoria, which includes all National and State Parks and even city parks do not allow any recreational flights.

Only people allowed are commercial operators, who must obtain permits and pay all fees.


City of Melbourne seems to have a similar stance, only mentions commercial filming and the requirements for doing so.

 
Found some more info, which seems definitive for Victoria:

First this blog post:


Says that Parks Victoria, which includes all National and State Parks and even city parks do not allow any recreational flights.

Only people allowed are commercial operators, who must obtain permits and pay all fees.


City of Melbourne seems to have a similar stance, only mentions commercial filming and the requirements for doing so.

Yes these are the restrictions over and above CASA rules, that a pilot must try and discover.
It can be frustrating as many authorities don’t have them prominently on their websites, you have to do some digging.

We still have loads of great places to fly outside these urban areas
As noted, Queensland National Parks will offer some excellent scenery within easy regular vehicle access, and totally allowable.
There are some nice islands too that you could say ferry over as a pax only and do some flying, Google Tangalooma wrecks Moreton Island.
I would have normally taken my Ranger over and driven it a few days last trip, but instead having flown up just went as a pax and camped overnight in The Wrecks campground, so I could get a sunset and dawn flight in over the ship’s graveyard.
Also snorkelled them with a GoPro, very wary of Bull Sharks !!
 
I contacted Northern Beaches and Waverly Councils and they both says recreational drone use would fall under CASA rules.

So that appears to suggest that the OpenSky maps would be valid for those areas?

Parks Victoria and Melbourne city seem to just rule out any non-commercial drone use. They do have webpages showing the process for commercial operators to get permits.

NSW Parks seem to suggest it's possible to go through a permit application process but I'm not sure there are actually NSW Parks where I would be interested in flying, at least for this trip.

North Head in the Sydney Harbour might be cool but seems like jumping through hoops to apply for permission and they may turn you down anyways.

Plenty of other places along the Tasman Coast in the Northern Beaches and the Waverly areas that seem to be interesting and less likely to stir objections.
 
Good that some metro Sydney councils still have that stance.
Yes, fly by OpenSky, OK2Fly etc, CASA rules, all good.

Yep, Victoria tough, unless you take a chance early morn, before anyone populates the park etc.
If shooting form the eastern or northern suburbs you could catch a city skyline with sunrise behind you (lighting up the city), or from the other side with sunrise behind the shot.
I haven't checked the airport no flys on the apps.

NSW, yes I thought they had a reasonable stance, but it's for every individual flight, and that's quite impractical for most drone pilots.
I've also read of people attempts to get permissions, without success !


Try for North Head, Nat Parks might say ok to a dawn flight, catch vistas from all around, but the main aim for Sydney city lighting up ?

You could also try here . . .

OpenSky

Seems clear except for the usual heli vigilance area.

Shelly Beach just north of there is very nice too.
 
Will be hard for me to get to North Head/Manly area at dawn. I don't know how early the ferries run but it takes time for me just to get to the Circular Quay.
 
Hmm, I wasn't planning to stay on the Gold Coast, maybe visit as a day trip from Brisbane.

But these rules may make me reconsider.

Regulation​

As the land owner, City of Gold Coast regulates the launching and landing of these aircraft from Council land. You can launch and land your drone/RPAS aircraft in designated park areas if the following conditions are met:

  • You are flying for recreational purposes.
  • Your aircraft is electric and weighs no more than 2 kilograms.
  • You are flying:
    - Monday to Saturday from 7am to 6pm
    - Sunday and public holidays from 8am to 6pm.
  • You keep your drone/RPAS within visual line of sight and fly no higher than 120 metres above the ground.
  • Your activities do not endanger, interfere with or cause nuisance to the park, park users or adjoining properties.
  • You keep your drone at least 30 metres away from other people.
  • You comply with all other Civil Aviation Safety Authority's (CASA) regulations and safety rules.
  • You comply with Local Law No 9 (Parks and Reserves) 2008 requirements at all times.


Seems really lenient if they're asking for CASA compliance.

Only seeing Orange zones over most parts of the city. Only red zone is to the south, near the Gold Coast Airport.

There are some nice drone panos in Street View, over the Nerang River and the Ocean, looking west over the skyline.
 

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