High tension wires/ Power lines

Howcroft22 · Jan 3, 2018

Was at a construction site for work today. There were powerlines going over the site. Large high tension wires. I took off with my Mavic while waiting for my turn to get my truck unloaded and all of a sudden my camper to you bu there were power lines going over the site. Large high tension wires. I took off with my Mavic while waiting for my turn to get my truck unloaded and all of a sudden my camera view Was Upside down. So I lifted it right away. Shut it off turned it back on. Tried restarting the app a few times. Still camera view was upside down. So I left and drove down the street away from the Power lines. Camera was back to normal. I never got near the lines but I was below them. That was my only explanation to what could have happened.

zero1981 · Jan 3, 2018

U would be amazed how far the power goes out from the lines. At a local substation near house you can hold up a floresant bulb in ur hand and it will glow

Howcroft22 · Jan 3, 2018

zero1981 said:
U would be amazed how far the power goes out from the lines. At a local substation near house you can hold up a floresant bulb in ur hand and it will glow

Wow. That’s insane.

ATLDroner · Jan 3, 2018

I had serious issues when I flew underneath some large power lines. Thankfully I was only a few feet off the ground, the sticks were not responding to my input at all and the gimbal seemed to have a mind of its' own. I was able to run over to it and hand catch it, but I learned my lesson for sure!

dbyantis · Jan 3, 2018

Howcroft22 said:
Was at a construction site for work today. There were powerlines going over the site. Large high tension wires. I took off with my Mavic while waiting for my turn to get my truck unloaded and all of a sudden my camper to you bu there were power lines going over the site. Large high tension wires. I took off with my Mavic while waiting for my turn to get my truck unloaded and all of a sudden my camera view Was Upside down. So I lifted it right away. Shut it off turned it back on. Tried restarting the app a few times. Still camera view was upside down. So I left and drove down the street away from the Power lines. Camera was back to normal. I never got near the lines but I was below them. That was my only explanation to what could have happened.

I have flown my drones for years under high tension wires behind my house, never had an issue. Careful near the metal towers, though they can interfere.

ATLDroner · Jan 3, 2018

dbyantis said:
I have flown my drones for years under high tension wires behind my house, never had an issue. Careful near the metal towers, though they can interfere.

Maybe high tension is not an accurate description of these wires. I attached a picture of the area below, as you can see there are lots of wires above.

dbyantis · Jan 3, 2018

ATLDroner said:
Maybe high tension is not an accurate description of these wires. I attached a picture of the area below, as you can see there are lots of wires above.View attachment 27961

I would describe the wires/towers on the left to be high tension wires. And that as a "crazy place" to fly, due to the web overhead.

Howcroft22 · Jan 3, 2018

It’s too bad they were there because it would have made for a Great video. The construction site was pretty cool. Almost like a quarry. Luckily Im a lowbed driver and I move heavy equipment for a living so I see these places all the time and I will get a video at a different place.

Howcroft22 · Jan 3, 2018

ATLDroner said:
Maybe high tension is not an accurate description of these wires. I attached a picture of the area below, as you can see there are lots of wires above.View attachment 27961

Yeah I should have took a picture of where I was but they definitely looked like that. Maybe they were a little different I don’t know. I definitely got compass error messages a few times as well.

MPDronePilot1 · Jan 3, 2018

When I first got my Phantom 1 with GoPro and a Fatshark Wireless video transmitter I flew under, over and in between the high tension power lines with absolutely NO issues. Video transmission was superb and no problems. It possibly has something to do with the Ocusync Wireless on the Mavic. Now you have my curiosity peaked, I want to test and see it this happens to me.

ATLDroner · Jan 3, 2018

MPDronePilot1 said:
When I first got my Phantom 1 with GoPro and a Fatshark Wireless video transmitter I flew under, over and in between the high tension power lines with absolutely NO issues. Video transmission was superb and no problems. It possibly has something to do with the Ocusync Wireless on the Mavic. Now you have my curiosity peaked, I want to test and see it this happens to me.

It's possible it could've been coincidence, but it was operating flawlessly when I was just up the road from that spot. Only when I got underneath the lines did I start receiving Magnetic Interference Warnings and then when I had the brief control loss.

Howcroft22 · Jan 3, 2018

ATLDroner said:
It's possible it could've been coincidence, but it was operating flawlessly when I was just up the road from that spot. Only when I got underneath the lines did I start receiving Magnetic Interference Warnings and then when I had the brief control loss.

It may have been a coincidence for me too I don’t know. All I know is I went to flight somewhere else after and it seems like it’s very slightly shaky in the air. And it’s not windy. Also it drifted a few feet on its own and broke a prop. Maybe there is something else going on. This is a brand new drone only a few days old. Maybe I need to recalibrate something. Although that doesn’t account for having an upside down camera view. Now I am scared to fly. Like it’s going to take off on me and I’ll never see it again. I can’t afford another one. I had to save for a long time for this one.

ATLDroner · Jan 3, 2018

Howcroft22 said:
It may have been a coincidence for me too I don’t know. All I know is I went to flight somewhere else after and it seems like it’s very slightly shaky in the air. And it’s not windy. Also it drifted a few feet on its own and broke a prop. Maybe there is something else going on. This is a brand new drone only a few days old. Maybe I need to recalibrate something. Although that doesn’t account for having an upside down camera view. Now I am scared to fly. Like it’s going to take off on me and I’ll never see it again. I can’t afford another one. I had to save for a long time for this one.

I would definitely calibrate gimbal and compass before next flight to be safe.

I would recommend getting insurance on it, there are a few threads on here that tell you who to contact depending on what state you live in. Search State Farm at the top and you should find it.

I have a Personal Articles Policy from State Farm that cost $60 that covers me up to $1000 and is good for a year.

Howcroft22 · Jan 3, 2018

ATLDroner said:
I would definitely calibrate gimbal and compass before next flight to be safe.

I would recommend getting insurance on it, there are a few threads on here that tell you who to contact depending on what state you live in. Search State Farm at the top and you should find it.

I have a Personal Articles Policy from State Farm that cost $60 that covers me up to $1000 and is good for a year.

Maybe I should have done that instead of the DJI refresh.

ATLDroner · Jan 3, 2018

Howcroft22 said:
Maybe I should have done that instead of the DJI refresh.

Yeah it's hard to justify getting State Farm if you already have the Refresh. The advantage with State Farm is you can make a claim when your drone is lost, Refresh requires you to be in possession of your bird to make a claim.

Howcroft22 · Jan 3, 2018

ATLDroner said:
Yeah it's hard to justify getting State Farm if you already have the Refresh. The advantage with State Farm is you can make a claim when your drone is lost, Refresh requires you to be in possession of your bird to make a claim.

yes exactly what I meant it’s cheaper and It works if you lose it is well. I wish I didn’t already pay for the refresh. We need to start telling more people so that they don’t spend money on refresh

Lars Olsson · Jan 3, 2018

ATLDroner said:
Yeah it's hard to justify getting State Farm if you already have the Refresh. The advantage with State Farm is you can make a claim when your drone is lost, Refresh requires you to be in possession of your bird to make a claim.

naturecannon · Jan 3, 2018

I have both Refresh and State Farm PAP. DJI Refresh is good for 2 crashes/repairs. About $100 for each repair which is not bad considering their hourly repair rate.

State Farm policy is pretty much last resort and a one time use (you'll most likely be booted after you make a claim and recieve a check). SF is good for when you no longer have Mavic in hand, like the fly away Mavic, dropped out of sky into the ocean never seen again Mavic, Stolen out of truck Mavic or the "I got screwed by DJI on my warranty repair and they want an outrageous amount to repair".

I just signed up for State Farm yesterday,. Cost me $60 for the year. Agent said there is now a $50 deductible . He also said since drone insurance is becoming so popular with SF, especially the Mavic, he heard through the grapevine the deductible will be going up to $100-200 in the near future so now is a great time to sign up if considering to do so.

Here is the link I used to find agents in my area familiar with the process insuring drones. State Farm UAS Agents