My little Mini-SE, Exocomp, performed above and beyond the call of duty today!
Yesterday I finished the design of my "Kessel Run" drone course. The route is:
1) Start on rear flight deck.
2) Navigate the Northwest Passage (immediately off the rear flight deck, -10 ft ATL)
3) Climb up to Guardian Rock (1000 ft away and 800 ft ATL)
4) Drop down to The Flag (American Flag on a big rock about 3500 ft away, -50 ft ATL)
5) Return to rear flight deck
Exocomp was next up in the flight roster, but I didn't think I could retain the control signal out to 3500 ft. I thought I would save that for a Mini-2, but I decided that since I hadn't done the NWP in many months, I'd at least give that a shot.
The NWP is narrow by my standards, and I went very slowly, with Exo in Cine mode. I stopped and looked both ways, and up and down, at several points. At one point the wind kicked up, and I just hovered. But we made it out!
I switched to Sport mode, and it was up to Guardian Rock! Even though I understand why the camera snaps down when going forward in Sport mode, it was still annoying.
Once at Guardian Rock, I pointed toward The Flag. I had never done the GR-->Flag run before, but I got oriented, and took off downhill.
One of the challenges is to stay below 400 ft AGL when descending a steep slope, and I was very mindful of that. After I got down to 350 ft ATL, I leveled off and continued the Run, expecting the control signal to crap out at any moment.
But it didn't! I took the last 500 ft slowly and carefully to make sure, but the signal remained strong. I turned around to come home.
Both the -SE and the -1 are much more sensitive to antenna orientation than the Mini-2. With the Mini-2, I just need to make sure that the antenna is pointed dimly in the direction of the aircraft. That's what Occusync 2.0 does for you. With both the -SE and the -1, you get the "weak signal" alert pretty quickly if you go at all far out, but then properly aligning the antenna usually solves the problem.
A reliable control signal at 3500 ft away is a first for me with the Mini-SE.
The "Time Remaining" indication for the battery is also a great deal more flakey on the -SE and -1 than it is on the Mini-2. It rapidly moved up and down, in response to conditions that I don't yet fully understand. But I smoothed out those variations in my head, and I didn't get the low battery alert until I was almost home (100 X 100), and landed without incident.
The first completion of the Kessel Run...video to follow!
What a great little machine!
MM-FPV!
Yesterday I finished the design of my "Kessel Run" drone course. The route is:
1) Start on rear flight deck.
2) Navigate the Northwest Passage (immediately off the rear flight deck, -10 ft ATL)
3) Climb up to Guardian Rock (1000 ft away and 800 ft ATL)
4) Drop down to The Flag (American Flag on a big rock about 3500 ft away, -50 ft ATL)
5) Return to rear flight deck
Exocomp was next up in the flight roster, but I didn't think I could retain the control signal out to 3500 ft. I thought I would save that for a Mini-2, but I decided that since I hadn't done the NWP in many months, I'd at least give that a shot.
The NWP is narrow by my standards, and I went very slowly, with Exo in Cine mode. I stopped and looked both ways, and up and down, at several points. At one point the wind kicked up, and I just hovered. But we made it out!
I switched to Sport mode, and it was up to Guardian Rock! Even though I understand why the camera snaps down when going forward in Sport mode, it was still annoying.
Once at Guardian Rock, I pointed toward The Flag. I had never done the GR-->Flag run before, but I got oriented, and took off downhill.
One of the challenges is to stay below 400 ft AGL when descending a steep slope, and I was very mindful of that. After I got down to 350 ft ATL, I leveled off and continued the Run, expecting the control signal to crap out at any moment.
But it didn't! I took the last 500 ft slowly and carefully to make sure, but the signal remained strong. I turned around to come home.
Both the -SE and the -1 are much more sensitive to antenna orientation than the Mini-2. With the Mini-2, I just need to make sure that the antenna is pointed dimly in the direction of the aircraft. That's what Occusync 2.0 does for you. With both the -SE and the -1, you get the "weak signal" alert pretty quickly if you go at all far out, but then properly aligning the antenna usually solves the problem.
A reliable control signal at 3500 ft away is a first for me with the Mini-SE.
The "Time Remaining" indication for the battery is also a great deal more flakey on the -SE and -1 than it is on the Mini-2. It rapidly moved up and down, in response to conditions that I don't yet fully understand. But I smoothed out those variations in my head, and I didn't get the low battery alert until I was almost home (100 X 100), and landed without incident.
The first completion of the Kessel Run...video to follow!
What a great little machine!
MM-FPV!
