After three days of rain I'm getting prepped to retrieve my drone from 60 feet up in a tree. Since climbing the tree is out of the question and not accessible with any equipment, my only recourse is to try grappling. Therefore I've got myself a sling shot, 20 pound test fishing line, and led weight with wire eyelets with which to attach the line. My hope is to launch the lead weight over the top of the drone, and have the lead weight hit the ground. At that point, tie on a small section of wire mesh to snag the drone. and if all goes well, have assistants at the ready with a large blanket to catch the drone.
one thing I've noticed about the drone being positioned in a tree at such a high elevation is that its almost impossible to detect; especially not that autumn is closing in and the leaves are still thick and multicolored. Therefore I make this suggestion should anyone find themselves in a similar situation. In hind sight, I wish I would have had the foresight to map out the drones exact location while the strobes were still illuminated.
The ideal thing I feel that would have helped me relocate my drone the next day, would have been to attach something such a drinking straw or straight stick to "point" directly at the drone. The reason I say this is that over the course of the last three days, I spent several hours searching for my drone. Once I found it, I made a mental picture of its location in reference to the tree limbs, only to return between rain showers to discover that the drone wasn't as easy to relocate as I first imagined, simply using memory. Again I searched for what seemed an hour then if finally appeared. The second time I made a point to stand in a specific spot, create a point of reference; again using the tree's branches for reference. For example, one foot to the right of one branch's feature such as a bend, and one foot below another branch's feature. Surely I thought this was a sure way to locate the drone when the rain finally stopped and I could have all the gear collected...not.
Back to the pointing device. As I mentioned, it may seem easy to relocate your drone when the LED's are flashing but I found that even with high resolution binoculars, nature's ability to camouflage objects in the wild is amazingly effective.
Heading out now with slingshot in hand. If possible, I'll attempt to take a zoomed in photo of the drones location to reveal just how hidden it is among the multicolored foliage. Also, if this crazy idea works, I'll try to offer some feedback on what did, and didn't work.
one thing I've noticed about the drone being positioned in a tree at such a high elevation is that its almost impossible to detect; especially not that autumn is closing in and the leaves are still thick and multicolored. Therefore I make this suggestion should anyone find themselves in a similar situation. In hind sight, I wish I would have had the foresight to map out the drones exact location while the strobes were still illuminated.
The ideal thing I feel that would have helped me relocate my drone the next day, would have been to attach something such a drinking straw or straight stick to "point" directly at the drone. The reason I say this is that over the course of the last three days, I spent several hours searching for my drone. Once I found it, I made a mental picture of its location in reference to the tree limbs, only to return between rain showers to discover that the drone wasn't as easy to relocate as I first imagined, simply using memory. Again I searched for what seemed an hour then if finally appeared. The second time I made a point to stand in a specific spot, create a point of reference; again using the tree's branches for reference. For example, one foot to the right of one branch's feature such as a bend, and one foot below another branch's feature. Surely I thought this was a sure way to locate the drone when the rain finally stopped and I could have all the gear collected...not.
Back to the pointing device. As I mentioned, it may seem easy to relocate your drone when the LED's are flashing but I found that even with high resolution binoculars, nature's ability to camouflage objects in the wild is amazingly effective.
Heading out now with slingshot in hand. If possible, I'll attempt to take a zoomed in photo of the drones location to reveal just how hidden it is among the multicolored foliage. Also, if this crazy idea works, I'll try to offer some feedback on what did, and didn't work.
