Have I got the bottle?

[BadWolf1]

so how many sats do you think will be in a perfect position to be locked on to in such a small opening in the top of a cooling tower
answers on a postcard please

According to wikipedia Didoct's towers were 114 m (375 ft) High and 91 m (300 ft) in diameter at the bottom 54 m (176 ft) at the top. and Wilmington were 300ft high. So if it's 80% of the size that will make the top 40M + wide. If the GPS is out by 10M you're comfortably accurate. And I think it will be flying on inertial guidance. If anything I would be more worried about getting a false compass reading.

I’ve not seen the obvious question yet...after reading this thread twice. Can you retrieve your drone in the event of a failure? All of the responses seem to imply that you won’t.

See pic on msg 30. It is 7 years old but I think this is the site being considered. You can just walk into to the site (I did, with a friend) and I'll happily land my drone in that tower if it is still in the same state. Generation stopped there in 1999 and the other buildings were flattened long before I went and the Towers seem to have been left, there doesn't seem to be any interest in demolishing them.

I'm going to have to go back

 

[Tony McDrone]

That is the photo that I am basing my question upon...msg 30. It appears that the drone will be retrievable, in spite of the apparent risk taken descending down the structure. The drone is not descending into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean at great depths unknown. What is the risk, or fear?

 

[Tony McDrone]

That is the photo that I am basing my question upon...msg 30. It appears that the drone will be retrievable, in spite of the apparent risk taken descending down the structure. The drone is not descending into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean at great depths unknown. What is the risk, or fear?

 

[Tony McDrone]

Ooops. Heavy fingers....I guess!?

 

[Ramjam61]

If the drone goes in from the top and losses gps/signal, would it not just hover until the battery gets low and then land itself? It would still know it's height as that is based on air pressure.

 

[Ramjam61]

There is a YouTube video of a FPV drone flying through one of these with no issue. FPV drones don't use GPS and I'm not sure where they're flying from but he maintained signal flying inside and out of the tower.

2.4ghz maybe. When flying my slope soarers off very steep hills or vertical cliffs I occasionally dive too low and loose sight of them. I still have full control though. Never put one in the ocean yet.

 

[Tony McDrone]

If the drone goes in from the top and losses gps/signal, would it not just hover until the battery gets low and then land itself? It would still know it's height as that is based on air pressure.

That is determined by the pilot prior to flight in the go fly app. It may have been set to return to home. If so, the rth height needs to be higher than the structure it has to overcome to actually make it back to home.

 

[Ramjam61]

That is determined by the pilot prior to flight in the go fly app. It may have been set to return to home. If so, the rth height needs to be higher than the structure it has to overcome to actually make it back to home.

That makes perfect sense but I believe the drone has to be 10 to 20m away from the pilot, horizontally for rth to work? So without gps to tell it where it is in relation to it's take off point am I correct in thinking it will just land vertically from where it is hovering.

 

[jigsaw]

The video makes it look easy.

 

[Ramjam61]

The video makes it look easy.

It would probably be very easy you just need to minimise all the risks, which in this case would just be a damaged drone. The experiment I want to conduct in the old Quarry buildings is to see iff a dji drone can be flown on rc signal alone. Iff it can then flying down cooling towers etc isn't going to be a problem and opens up a whole new world for cave photography.

 

[Mel 08]

Another theory of mine that no one has picked up on is that drones can fly perfectly well inside buildings.

 

[Meta4]

The experiment I want to conduct in the old Quarry buildings is to see iff a dji drone can be flown on rc signal alone.
If it can then flying down cooling towers etc isn't going to be a problem and opens up a whole new world for cave photography.

What do you mean "to see if a dji drone can be flown on rc signal alone".
If you are wondering if you can fly without GPS, it's no mystery.
Before DJI introduced the Mavic series, all DJI drones allowed you to switch to atti mode and fly without GPS.
You can fly without GPS, but you won't have any horizontal position holding ability which means no "brakes".

 

[BadWolf1]

There is a YouTube video of a FPV drone flying through one of these with no issue. FPV drones don't use GPS and I'm not sure where they're flying from but he maintained signal flying inside and out of the tower.

I knew where it was straight away




The flooded bits are a give away. The tower nearest the camera in the shot here is the one I shot in 2013 in post #30 . We parked where google has put the green marker, walked along the edge of the field and the fence was down more than its up.

Youtube also suggested another one, and has come up with 3 or 4 more all at the same place. All FPV and motion sickness inducing !

The OP's location says "Derby" which is only 10 miles from here

 

[kidroc]

Danger Danger Will Robinson lol.. Video it Please.

 

[Ramjam61]

What do you mean "to see if a dji drone can be flown on rc signal alone".
If you are wondering if you can fly without GPS, it's no mystery.
Before DJI introduced the Mavic series, all DJI drones allowed you to switch to atti mode and fly without GPS.
You can fly without GPS, but you won't have any horizontal position holding ability which means no "brakes".

Thanks. I wasn't sure if it needed to use it's downward facing sensor, as in flying in the house. It would be very dim inside the sheds.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Go for it!
No guts, no glory!
Go big, or go home!

 

[SkyeHigh]

The video makes it look easy.

I think I need a sick bag. Amazing flying!! Looks like a lot of fun.

 

[Meta4]

Thanks. I wasn't sure if it needed to use it's downward facing sensor, as in flying in the house. It would be very dim inside the sheds.

The VPS sensors aren't needed but there may be an obstacle related to them.
Are you able to disable the VPS sensors in the Air 2?

If you cannot, this from the manual is important:

Height is restricted to 16 ft (5 m) when the GPS signal is weak and Downward Vision System is activated. ​

Height is restricted to 98 ft (30 m) when the GPS signal is weak and Downward Vision System is inacitvated.​

 

[Ramjam61]

The VPS sensors aren't needed but there may be an obstacle related to them.
Are you able to disable the VPS sensors in the Air 2?

If you cannot, this from the manual is important:

Height is restricted to 16 ft (5 m) when the GPS signal is weak and Downward Vision System is activated. ​

Height is restricted to 98 ft (30 m) when the GPS signal is weak and Downward Vision System is inacitvated.​

They are automatically disabled in sport mode but can be disabled from the app for other modes. Initially I intend to use the mini as the guinea pig. Apparently the mini automatically goes into atti mode if gps is lost. Interestingly after some research it would seem some photographers always fly in atti mode when shooting video to get smoother footage, as you dont have the sudden braking when releasing the sticks.

 

[Ramjam61]

Thanks. I wasn't sure if it needed to use it's downward facing sensor, as in flying in the house. It would be very dim inside the sheds.

Forgot to add I will be outside and testing the RC signal through concrete and steel.