Drone strobe lights

[Infotraker]

Has anyone attached the firehouse strobe lights to their Mavic Air ? I have a white one on order. Mostly want to make the air more visible during the day.

 

[Mossiback]

I haven't, but you can find some discussions here: Search results for query: firehouse

 

[msinger]

When do you plan on attaching it?

 

[Wetfun]

The Firehouse 4 LED white helps a lot in keeping track of the drone in daytime, if the LED array is pointed at you.

 

[John Kyte]

I was also wondering how to add a strobe light on my Air also

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

If you are just getting the one, perhaps mount to the rear, on the back leg (red circle) if it will fit ok there, or onto an arm.



That way you can rotate the Air to pick up the flashing.

If you look at other strobe threads on the forum via the search mentioned above (Firehouse Arc II), you'll see comments about how bright they are.
Having them front and back would possibly be better to maintain sight, and not have to rotate if you lose it briefly, but that comes at a cost, and possible interference with camera vision in lower light, or any sort of particles in the air (dust, fog, pollution haze, etc).

 

[Wetfun]

Velcro

 

[e143slime8]

I use these Firehouse Strobe holders:

Home

Products by drone pilots for drone pilots. In 2013 we started Aerial-Pixel as a drone photography and videography service. Since then we have grown to also provide vinyl graphics, apparel and 3D printed products for the drone industry.

www.aerial-pixel.com

They work great, mounting on legs. I purchased two strobes and mount them one on front leg and one on rear. Easy to apply and remove. The strobes I purchased were from here:

Amazon.com: Firehouse Technology ARC White Strobe: Toys & Games

Buy Firehouse Technology ARC White Strobe: Strobe & Safety Lights - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

Hope this helps.

 

[Red Baron]

Firehouse is currently having a QC issue with the white ones- Mine worked for about 20 seconds and then failed so waiting on the replacement--- Big warning- Do not and I mean do not look at this light when turning on- If you do you will not be able to see and focus for 10 to 20 minutes- They are almost to bright

 

[msinger]

If anyone is looking for Firehouse ARC mounts, I make these mounts:

 

[Manty]

I mounted mine on rear arm facing forward with 3m. Now getting another for other side rear arm. Very bright in daylight

 

[Frickster]

I just got mine, i'm going to mount it to the battery on the bottom with Velcro so I can see it no matter what direction it's facing

 

[Manty]

I looked at that but it means changing light each time you change batteries.

 

[Frickster]

I looked at that but it means changing light each time you change batteries.

not a big deal to me, takes 2 seconds

 

[e143slime8]

The Firehouse ARC mounts that are shown above, easily slip on and off the arms. If needed, that's when you would re-charge the strobe lights.

 

[msinger]

The Firehouse ARC mounts that are shown above, easily slip on and off the arms. If needed, that's when you would re-charge the strobe lights.

And if you keep the arms of the Mavic Air open when you're done flying, there's no need to remove the lights from the mounts. A Micro USB cable can be attached to the light while it's in the mount.

 

[MavicFlyer]

My main objective was to make my MA more visible in daylight.

No doubt in my my mind that the best strobes are the Firehouse with 4 LEDs (about $38 each at Amazon). I bought a white one, and promptly ordered another one (red). These are extremely bright, and have ON, Slow Flash, Strobe, OFF.

As to mounting, my first approach was to use Velcro type squares, attaching the white to the top of the MA, and red to the battery on the bottom. This approach was OK, though a pain to have to move the bottom strobe from one battery to another. I considered buying the mounts that snap onto the arms, but they can't be used with prop guards or landing gear extensions that attach to the arms. I consider the extensions essential because the basic MA has inadequate ground clearance. The ones I use are Amazon.com: RCstyle Compatible with DJI Mavic Air Leg Feet Height Extensions 1.8 Inches Landing Gear Stabilizers,Black: Toys & Games

My latest approach is to use the bracket that comes with the "grate" style of finger guards to aid in hand launch and recovery. Just snap on the bracket, and use the Velcro squares to attach the Firehouse strobes.

Amazon.com: Drone Start Mavic Air Accessories Finger Guard Board Hand Dam-Board for DJI Mavic Air: Toys & Games

Buy Drone Start Mavic Air Accessories Finger Guard Board Hand Dam-Board for DJI Mavic Air: Aircraft Landing Gear - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

smile.amazon.com

I also experimented with automotive vinyl wrap applied to the MA. To keep it simple, I just applied them to the landing gear extensions. I tried blue chrome and red chrome, and prefer the red...easy enough to try, and remove if you don't like.

Amazon.com: TECKWRAP 11.5" x 55" Blue Chrome Mirror Vinyl Wrap Film Vinyl Roll: Automotive

Amazon.com: TECKWRAP 11.5" x 55" Blue Chrome Mirror Vinyl Wrap Film Vinyl Roll: Automotive

smile.amazon.com

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GJXU1BE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1. If the sun is out, its reflection in the wrap is impossible to miss.

BTW, changing to colored props helps somewhat. There are no DJI versions, but these seem to be fine; they survived a crash into tree branches with no damage - just picked up some sap that wiped off easily with a household cleaner.https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BLRYJRZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1