How far away can you see your Mini?
- Thread starter spudster
- Start date
I have the same experience many commenting have: I can get 1000+ ft. out, but then can lose it when I look down to do the photos. One technique I've come up with is to launch from a corner with a stop sign, and then I mark the mini at a certain point on the sign, almost like a clock...usually between 9 or 3. I can then look down to line up the photo. Last time I flew out that far was coverage of a university that I couldn't launch from, so I had to be off campus and fly in quite a bit.
Update for anyone interested.
I bought one of these strobes from Amazon UK for just £6.50. It took 12 days to arrive. Weight 9g (takes my MM1 over 250. but that's not a problem).
I charged it up and then switched it on. After over 2 hours it was still happily blinking away so more than enough for getting through all my batteries in one session
Do you have a link please? I can't see it for looking.Update for anyone interested.
I bought one of these strobes from Amazon UK for just £6.50. It took 12 days to arrive. Weight 9g (takes my MM1 over 250. but that's not a problem).
I charged it up and then switched it on. After over 2 hours it was still happily blinking away so more than enough for getting through all my batteries in one session
There were two on there at the sub £7 price when I bought, but both seem to be out of stock now. The one I ordered from was:
There are lots of them being sold at higher prices, so if you keep checking:
Amazon.co.uk : 10w drone strobe light
www.amazon.co.uk
You might see one listed at the lower cost - they all seem to be the same item.
There is a £9 one currently:
Thanks, that's why I couldn't see it, being out of stock.
That last one seems a different model, the reviews are not as good.
I've gone for the similar model from Ali Express, it's got a choice of colour. ?
Bought me one also. Man, what a bright light! Do not look into the LED when trying it out as I did, I have a few dots in my sight for 30 mins...Update for anyone interested.
I bought one of these strobes from Amazon UK for just £6.50. It took 12 days to arrive. Weight 9g (takes my MM1 over 250. but that's not a problem).
I charged it up and then switched it on. After over 2 hours it was still happily blinking away so more than enough for getting through all my batteries in one session
It was delivered fast, but no instruction sheet included, so I downloaded the pictures from amazon. I also have the impression that the USB port is quite fragile, so you will have to be careful when connecting it to the charger (not included).
And, last but not least, a question: is it possible to see when it is fully charged? When you press the button a red LED flashes twice, but I cannot figure out what the meaning of this can be. Can't find that anywhere and I do not want to overcharge it though.
Donb1
Member
Just checked mine which is now a spare as using my Flytron standalone mostly now, two red flashes means it needs charging.
If a drone is far away and not very high, it can be hard to tell if it is flying away or toward you. The way I learned to get home (flying toy drones that are really hard to see and don't have RTH or video stream) is this: Push the elevator stick forward and note if the drone moves to the left or right. If it's moving to the left, push the rudder stick to turn to the left, or if it's moving to the right, turn to the right. If the drone was moving away from you, then turning may speed up the apparent sideways motion, but continue turning in the same direction until the apparent motion slows and comes to a stop. The drone is now flying toward you, so stop turning and come straight home. If you don't see any sideways motion when you push the stick forward, the drone could be flying straight away or straight toward you, so you have to push the rudder to either side to determine which it is: If you turn to the left and then see leftward motion, then the drone is flying away from you, so continue turning left until that apparent motion stops. If you turn left but see the drone moving right, then it was coming toward you, so turn back to the right.
Short version: If you see any sideways motion when moving forward, then turn in that same direction until you don't see any. I consider this to be something every drone pilot should be able to do, rather than depend on RTH, maps and/or the video stream.
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Great, thanks for clearing this for me. I charged it today and it starts flashing until if is full and then the red LED remains on.
I thought that the regulations (at least in the UK) required you to be able to have VLOS and tell the direction it was facing. Not, use VLOS and a bit of faffing about to determine it's direction?
I know that would _severely_ limit the range though...
The various versions may be slightly different, but for mine at least plugging it in to charge starts with a flashing red led. After a while it turns to solid red. I assume that is fully charged.
You shouldn't be able to overcharge it as it most likely will have the circuitry to prevent this.
If you've completely lost orientation, you can put a drone into a constant banked turn, and after a circle or two, when you've seen the limits of the back-and-forth motion, you should be able to imagine that circle from above and fairly accurately tell the drone's direction at any point. After getting reoriented, you can leave the turn when you're headed the way you want to go.
Yeah but the point is, under most regulations you should be able to visually see the orientation without having to do any of that as you may not have time to "do a banked turn" etc due to an incoming aircraft or other incident.
I'm not commenting on if that is reasonable or not, just that's how the regs are.
I looked at a few pages from a Google search about UK regulations, and I couldn't find anything indicating that VLOS requires directly seeing the orientation. For recreational flying, at least, the regulations seem to be pretty similar to the US. Anyway, when you're flying any RC aircraft visually, you need to maintain orientation and adjust by observing how the aircraft reacts to controls, or you probably won't be flying very long. My comment only addressed what to do if you've lost orientation.
Rchawks
Well-Known Member
Lately I've been flying around totally using VLOS and man what fun. It's like flying a rc plane again. I'm not real sure on the distance of the MM, but with the MA2 I got to 1100ft VLOS and as mentioned the moment you look down at the screen it take forever to realign with it again. The best way to stay out of trouble in such a case is to check your distance and make sure it's going down as you check the map if your uncertain of your surroundings. If I could I'd fly in a different spot every time, but overtime keeps me tethered close to home.
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It seems to me that if I was to fly completely within the regulations of VLOS, I shouldn't look at the screen at all; to look at the screen I'm looking away.
If the instructions were not to go more than x metres away, people would push it further, so putting in a low range stops people doing what they want without care.
You don't need your five a day, but people have more chance of getting the 3.x they do need. ?
The official description of VLOS for the UK (CAP 722) does not specifically mention knowing the orientation of the aircraft. The emphasis is on seeing your drone, its flight path and the surrounding airspace. Snip from CAP722, pg36:
Knowing the drone's orientation could be useful, but doesn't seem to be an explicit requirement in the UK. The most common action to avoid other aircraft is to lower your height, which doesn't require immediate aircraft orientation awareness.
Being pedantic, if you fly directly away from you then you can't monitor the aircraft's flight path by VLOS as the body of the aircraft obscures it. ?
Knowing the drone's orientation could be useful, but doesn't seem to be an explicit requirement in the UK. The most common action to avoid other aircraft is to lower your height, which doesn't require immediate aircraft orientation awareness.
Being pedantic, if you fly directly away from you then you can't monitor the aircraft's flight path by VLOS as the body of the aircraft obscures it. ?
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Here is what I found for the US regs:
§ 107.31 Visual line of sight aircraft operation.
(a) With vision that is unaided by any device other than corrective lenses, the remote pilot in command, the visual observer (if one is used), and the person manipulating the flight control of the small unmanned aircraft system must be able to see the unmanned aircraft throughout the entire flight in order to:
(1) Know the unmanned aircraft’s location;
(2) Determine the unmanned aircraft’s attitude, altitude, and direction of flight;
(3) Observe the airspace for other air traffic or hazards; and
(4) Determine that the unmanned aircraft does not endanger the life or property of another.
(b) Throughout the entire flight of the small unmanned aircraft, the ability described in paragraph (a) of this section must be exercised by either:
(1) The remote pilot in command and the person manipulating the flight controls of the small unmanned aircraft system; or
(2) A visual observer.
§ 107.31 Visual line of sight aircraft operation.
(a) With vision that is unaided by any device other than corrective lenses, the remote pilot in command, the visual observer (if one is used), and the person manipulating the flight control of the small unmanned aircraft system must be able to see the unmanned aircraft throughout the entire flight in order to:
(1) Know the unmanned aircraft’s location;
(2) Determine the unmanned aircraft’s attitude, altitude, and direction of flight;
(3) Observe the airspace for other air traffic or hazards; and
(4) Determine that the unmanned aircraft does not endanger the life or property of another.
(b) Throughout the entire flight of the small unmanned aircraft, the ability described in paragraph (a) of this section must be exercised by either:
(1) The remote pilot in command and the person manipulating the flight controls of the small unmanned aircraft system; or
(2) A visual observer.
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