How wrong ....or right am I?

[Cymruflyer]

hi all. i'm a newbie to the drone world.... so new that i haven't even received my drone yet. i just ordered a Mavic Air 2 bundle off of eBay a few hours ago. i just made this sound like an impulse buy, but ...rest assured....it's not. i've been actually thinking about this for a few years now.

so, the reason for my first post is this. while i've done a significant amount of research, i still have a few unanswered questions. questions that would help me figure out if i have any unrealistic expectations about drone ownership. here's what i expect out of all this ...or why i want to have a drone. it may sound silly to all of you out there....but, i can take the criticism. please feel free to tell me where i'm wrong or right.

to start, i bought a Mavic Air 2 bundle from an eBay store with a good rep. had a carrying case, extra battery, some software, a 32 gig memory card and a landing mat. i'm sure you're all familiar with bundles like these.

my first reason i wanted to own a drone was to scout camping sites when i'm out with an RV trailer. i thought it would be great if i could send a drone out to see if there were any unoccupied spots out in some BLM land before i took the time to drive down some winding dirt road that would be difficult to turn around from. seemed like use that would be a great big time and anxiety saver.

the other...and this may sound real corny .... was a great sense of freedom through flight. i know there are many restrictions on where, when and how you can fly....and i know there's a great danger of losing and damaging your drone as well....but , the idea of being able to check out a tall structure, skim above a body of water...get a closer look at things that were well out of your reach...has a huge appeal for me. i know it'll probably take a lot of practice, but i'm willing to put that time in if i could fly and do all those things.

taking pictures and video are all nice, but not my main reason to get a drone.

anyway, what do you think? do i have this all wrong? am i not getting what you can and can't do with a drone and should i just return the thing and move on? please let me know....and thanks in advance for your time.

For what you have stated, such as being in a more dessert area, then what you have chosen is great. That is a great idea to use it for searching out a nice area to camp. I'm sure not everywhere is covered in a tree canopy, therefore, as long as you are high enough, you should have no problem with a blocked signal from trees. When at altitude, you can get a good idea on what might look like a nice spot to make your camp and being higher gives you a good perspective to see what the surrounding area looks like in order to choose an ideal spot.

Your next reason, to be able to fly off and take a closer look at that point of interest, is also a great idea and one that will give far greater pleasure to your camping trip. I used to be a flight instructor up in the Colorado Rockies and I can tell you that while out flying around, I would some times suddenly come upon a beautiful secluded lake down in a little divot on a mountain range. I would have had no idea it was there if I had not been flying and it would have taken me hours or days of hiking to suddenly find such a spot and that might have been by pure chance too.

So taking a quick hop up and just over the top of that outcrop of rocks, to see what's on the other side, is the best use of a drone I can think of, in your situation. Plus from there you can get some great shots of the landscape, without having to spend 2 hours climbing up there. So I am sure you will be having a great time doing what you intend with your new drone. Each camping adventure will turn out to be ten times more enjoyable with a drone, just make sure you are allowed to fly in the areas you might be thinking of. Fly safely and take care not to lose that drone and welcome to our fold. You have made a good decision and the right choice with the drone you have settled on.

 

[theDRONEranger]

If I may add to what the others posted.

Download and peruse the FAA’s Chart User’s Guide (CUG) and the Sectional Chart for your area. Also, before a visit to a favored recreational area, ensure you thoroughly investigate legalities for that particular area. You want to be able to arrive and fly legally. Know the difference between where you may take off, fly, and land. As example, with respect to a National Park (NP), you may take off, fly over an NP, and land outside the park. However, you may NOT take off or land (a crash is a landing) inside a NP. Know before you go, such as, does the BLM permit drone flight? Advanced knowledge goes a long way. Get as much practice in as possible in your local area before heading out. One of the last things you want is to be on site and not be familiar with i.e., actions for low flying aircraft, low battery when in flight, RTH (especially at a lower altitude than surroundings)! These are but a few considerations.

 

[hiflyer201]

Your idea of finding camping spots sounds like fun but ..it ain't going to work for all kinds of reasons..BUT..what you are going to find is that seeing the world in this brand new perspective is going to inspire you in ways you've never dreamed of. You are never going to regret buying a drone..trust me on this ..and Welcome to the Forum!

 

[Hyperjack]

You are likely to lose some connectivity as the trees will block your signal. You can fly higher to gain some of the lost signal, but then you give that up in range. It is somewhat of a trade off depending on the height of the trees, and where you are flying from. If your takeoff point is on a hill and you are flying above the trees, you won’t have range issues because your signal is not being blocked.

ok, i get it. i can improve my connectivity if i, myself, are at a vantage point that has fewer to no obstructions between the drone and myself. while i'm sure that ideals conditions like that may not always be available, i'll make sure that i'll always be on the lookout for positions like that.

thanks....i really appreciate all this feedback. i didn't expect this level at all.

thanks all!

 

[Hyperjack]

For what you have stated, such as being in a more dessert area, then what you have chosen is great. That is a great idea to use it for searching out a nice area to camp. I'm sure not everywhere is covered in a tree canopy, therefore, as long as you are high enough, you should have no problem with a blocked signal from trees. When at altitude, you can get a good idea on what might look like a nice spot to make your camp and being higher gives you a good perspective to see what the surrounding area looks like in order to choose an ideal spot.

Your next reason, to be able to fly off and take a closer look at that point of interest, is also a great idea and one that will give far greater pleasure to your camping trip. I used to be a flight instructor up in the Colorado Rockies and I can tell you that while out flying around, I would some times suddenly come upon a beautiful secluded lake down in a little divot on a mountain range. I would have had no idea it was there if I had not been flying and it would have taken me hours or days of hiking to suddenly find such a spot and that might have been by pure chance too.

So taking a quick hop up and just over the top of that outcrop of rocks, to see what's on the other side, is the best use of a drone I can think of, in your situation. Plus from there you can get some great shots of the landscape, without having to spend 2 hours climbing up there. So I am sure you will be having a great time doing what you intend with your new drone. Each camping adventure will turn out to be ten times more enjoyable with a drone, just make sure you are allowed to fly in the areas you might be thinking of. Fly safely and take care not to lose that drone and welcome to our fold. You have made a good decision and the right choice with the drone you have settled on.

thanks for the warm welcome and an all-around great post so nice to hear, especially from someone of your experience and background. finding if a camp spot is occupied or not is a nice use of this tech...finding a secluded spot that you'd never have found being on a dirt road? even better! i hope to get good enough at flying to be able to do that .....and to do it as safely as possible for all involved.

 

[Hyperjack]

If I may add to what the others posted.

Download and peruse the FAA’s Chart User’s Guide (CUG) and the Sectional Chart for your area. Also, before a visit to a favored recreational area, ensure you thoroughly investigate legalities for that particular area. You want to be able to arrive and fly legally. Know the difference between where you may take off, fly, and land. As example, with respect to a National Park (NP), you may take off, fly over an NP, and land outside the park. However, you may NOT take off or land (a crash is a landing) inside a NP. Know before you go, such as, does the BLM permit drone flight? Advanced knowledge goes a long way. Get as much practice in as possible in your local area before heading out. One of the last things you want is to be on site and not be familiar with i.e., actions for low flying aircraft, low battery when in flight, RTH (especially at a lower altitude than surroundings)! These are but a few considerations.

wow, again...good points. Rving in non-campground areas usually takes a lot of prep for a stress-free trip. you want to google map as many roads as possible to gauge whether your rig can make it down to your desired location....also, scoping out gas stations that can accommodate your size, low bridges, etc. so doing that extra bit of prep work is not something i'd shy away from. i'm hoping that an extra bit of effort, can let me use tech like this to make our trips more enjoyable.

thanks for mentioning this!

 

[Hyperjack]

Your idea of finding camping spots sounds like fun but ..it ain't going to work for all kinds of reasons..BUT..what you are going to find is that seeing the world in this brand new perspective is going to inspire you in ways you've never dreamed of. You are never going to regret buying a drone..trust me on this ..and Welcome to the Forum!

the more i hear from folks like yourself, the more i'm willing to believe that

other than the reasons already mentioned here, are there any others that let you believe that this won't work?

 

[lory]

You are going to love your drone. I just bought a mavic mini and will use it to scout in remote areas for gold. I am a private pilot and know what you can
see from the air that you could miss from ground search.
I also use google earth , binoculars ,and a trail bike but the drone will add more information.
I made sure the drone camera would look straight down so I could take a photo and get the latitude and longitude from the photo and then enter it into my
hand held and get to the area on foot.
You can also take many photos of area go back to camp and download them to PC and zoom in and if you find something interesting go back with drone and
take a closer look.
You will like your drone.

 

[Galeforce1]

hi all. i'm a newbie to the drone world.... so new that i haven't even received my drone yet. i just ordered a Mavic Air 2 bundle off of eBay a few hours ago. i just made this sound like an impulse buy, but ...rest assured....it's not. i've been actually thinking about this for a few years now.

so, the reason for my first post is this. while i've done a significant amount of research, i still have a few unanswered questions. questions that would help me figure out if i have any unrealistic expectations about drone ownership. here's what i expect out of all this ...or why i want to have a drone. it may sound silly to all of you out there....but, i can take the criticism. please feel free to tell me where i'm wrong or right.

to start, i bought a Mavic Air 2 bundle from an eBay store with a good rep. had a carrying case, extra battery, some software, a 32 gig memory card and a landing mat. i'm sure you're all familiar with bundles like these.

my first reason i wanted to own a drone was to scout camping sites when i'm out with an RV trailer. i thought it would be great if i could send a drone out to see if there were any unoccupied spots out in some BLM land before i took the time to drive down some winding dirt road that would be difficult to turn around from. seemed like use that would be a great big time and anxiety saver.

the other...and this may sound real corny .... was a great sense of freedom through flight. i know there are many restrictions on where, when and how you can fly....and i know there's a great danger of losing and damaging your drone as well....but , the idea of being able to check out a tall structure, skim above a body of water...get a closer look at things that were well out of your reach...has a huge appeal for me. i know it'll probably take a lot of practice, but i'm willing to put that time in if i could fly and do all those things.

taking pictures and video are all nice, but not my main reason to get a drone.

anyway, what do you think? do i have this all wrong? am i not getting what you can and can't do with a drone and should i just return the thing and move on? please let me know....and thanks in advance for your time.

Both are excellent reasons to buy and fly a drone. The 2nd one is probably the one that will give you the greatest pleasure. I used to fly light aircraft but can no longer afford it, so flying my drone (MPP) is the next best thing. I never, ever, get tired of seeing things from the air.

I think you will enjoy it enormously.

 

[vindibona1]

I know I'm late to this party, but to belatedly address the OP's thoughts...
In many ways I think I was where you were back some time ago. I remember well over a year ago I was searching for a birthday present for a teenage boy and suggested an inexpensive drone, reflecting on my own inner child. We bought him the drone, shipped it to him, but I was envious. It wasn't for another year when I couldn't take it any more and had to have one. I'll skip the whole story but I bought a Mavic Mini at the end of June. By the 2nd week of July I was hooked, wanting to make awesome aerial videos and photos. By the beginning of August I wanted and purchased a Mavic 2 Pro. On October 1st I took the FAA Part 107 test... and here we are.

This thing can be very addictive. And I think the Mavic Air 2 is not only the perfect starter drone, but competes with the more expensive Mavic 2's in many ways, but for a lot less money. Starting with this drone can save one from both buyers remorse as well as drone envy.

I have a friend who passed away over 20 years ago, but she coined a saying that started being both literal and cheeky at the same time, but metaphorically can have even more significance:
"Coffee leads to donuts. Donuts leads to ants". Vicki Johnson McIntosh

.... and here we are.

 

[Hyperjack]

apologies for the late replies here for all of you who continued to comment on my thread here. i had a crazy week at work. i'm here now to =answer those and to let you all know that i decided to go a different direction. i'll explain soon.

 

[Hyperjack]

You are going to love your drone. I just bought a mavic mini and will use it to scout in remote areas for gold. I am a private pilot and know what you can
see from the air that you could miss from ground search.
I also use google earth , binoculars ,and a trail bike but the drone will add more information.
I made sure the drone camera would look straight down so I could take a photo and get the latitude and longitude from the photo and then enter it into my
hand held and get to the area on foot.
You can also take many photos of area go back to camp and download them to PC and zoom in and if you find something interesting go back with drone and
take a closer look.
You will like your drone.

i'm sure i will. it's very cool to hear from all of you who use your drones for a variety of reasons. especially those of you who actually fly aircraft that you're in i really thought i must've been alone in how i'd use the drone in a novel way.

 

[Hyperjack]

Both are excellent reasons to buy and fly a drone. The 2nd one is probably the one that will give you the greatest pleasure. I used to fly light aircraft but can no longer afford it, so flying my drone (MPP) is the next best thing. I never, ever, get tired of seeing things from the air.

I think you will enjoy it enormously.

thanks...wow, another comment from a pilot, and one that talks about the joy of flying. thanks for letting me know that i'm not alone on this. like i said above, i've decided to go a different direction than the MA2. and a lot of that has to do with that 2nd reason i gave for buying a drone. again, thanks for the input!

 

[Hyperjack]

I know I'm late to this party, but to belatedly address the OP's thoughts...
In many ways I think I was where you were back some time ago. I remember well over a year ago I was searching for a birthday present for a teenage boy and suggested an inexpensive drone, reflecting on my own inner child. We bought him the drone, shipped it to him, but I was envious. It wasn't for another year when I couldn't take it any more and had to have one. I'll skip the whole story but I bought a Mavic Mini at the end of June. By the 2nd week of July I was hooked, wanting to make awesome aerial videos and photos. By the beginning of August I wanted and purchased a Mavic 2 Pro. On October 1st I took the FAA Part 107 test... and here we are.

This thing can be very addictive. And I think the Mavic Air 2 is not only the perfect starter drone, but competes with the more expensive Mavic 2's in many ways, but for a lot less money. Starting with this drone can save one from both buyers remorse as well as drone envy.

I have a friend who passed away over 20 years ago, but she coined a saying that started being both literal and cheeky at the same time, but metaphorically can have even more significance:
"Coffee leads to donuts. Donuts leads to ants". Vicki Johnson McIntosh

.... and here we are.

that is a great saying....there are quite a few places in life where i see that as such an apt comment...including here. i can see me getting hooked on this. hopefully not too much....and hopefully, it really works out as a great tool for us. i really can't wait to get good enough to fly this thing so i can find those great camping spots or , at least, stop us from going down a road that we'd have to turn around in.

 

[Hyperjack]

so, things have changed for me. i did receive a MA2 in the mail, and i did return it.

it's all because of the goggles. when i discovered being able to heighten the flying experience with FPV, i just couldn't let that go. it all became a little disappointing when i discovered the incompatibility with the MA2. i really wanted to keep that drone and i did try to find out about a workaround to make it all work. yeah, i could get the SC and connect that to the goggles but, that's not exactly the same experience as having that connect directly to the drone.....as you all know.

there's also another small addition as to why i decided to get into the drone thing that i never expressed in my original post. and that's my auntie. she's looked after me my whole life and now that she's well into her senior years she loves to get into the great outdoors. she's very much into all these youtube RV channels ...and if you've seen any of them, you'll see all the drone footage they use. to make a long story short, it would be an incredible experience for her to wear those goggles while i fly that drone.

knowing that we had to have those goggles, i just decided to bite the bullet and go with the Mavic 2 Zoom. initially, i wanted the pro, but i had to be honest with myself. while we love to have video and pics of our trips, i'm not going to be in post-production, making all these travel videos.......so having the capability to zoom while we're up these sounded like the better fit for us.

so, yeah, i have spent significantly more money than i planned to. i'm counting on loving this thing...and if i don't one of you out there are going to benefit from me unloading my equipment at great prices

here's what i got...

a refurbished ( from DJI) M2 zoom with a smart controller combo.... which went for 1550$
a new DJI goggles RE...for full retail at 550$
i do want to get the fly more kits that go for around 400$ ....now i'm not quite sure about this, because i just haven't had the time to read into this....but isn't there a DJI club you pay a fee for that offers some discounts on products? if it's worth that, i'd join and purchase the Fly More kit afterward. if i got that wrong, let me know.

i'll also get DJI care refresh. and any insurance i have to to protect this investment of joy.

there were quite a few great deals on DJI drones on eBay. one that had a M2 Pro, Goggles RE , fly more it ...all in. a hard case. he claimed he barely flew it and couldn't outside his home, so he was letting all go for 1750$ he had a 100% rating...as well as some other people....but i couldn't quite trust that. not as a beginner. i wanted all the warranties and protection, and peace of mind i can get...and it did cost me. oh well....

feel free to chime in with your thoughts, criticisms ...whatever. it's all good with me

 

[vindibona1]

so, things have changed for me. i did receive a MA2 in the mail, and i did return it....

here's what i got...

a refurbished ( from DJI) M2 zoom with a smart controller combo.... which went for 1550$
a new DJI goggles RE...for full retail at 550$
i do want to get the fly more kits that go for around 400$ ....now i'm not quite sure about this, because i just haven't had the time to read into this....but isn't there a DJI club you pay a fee for that offers some discounts on products? if it's worth that, i'd join and purchase the Fly More kit afterward. if i got that wrong, let me know.

i'll also get DJI care refresh. and any insurance i have to to protect this investment of joy.

there were quite a few great deals on DJI drones on eBay. one that had a M2 Pro, Goggles RE , fly more it ...all in. a hard case. he claimed he barely flew it and couldn't outside his home, so he was letting all go for 1750$ he had a 100% rating...as well as some other people....but i couldn't quite trust that. not as a beginner. i wanted all the warranties and protection, and peace of mind i can get...and it did cost me. oh well....

feel free to chime in with your thoughts, criticisms ...whatever. it's all good with me

There isn't anything wrong with th M2 Zoom if money isn't an issue, and apparently it isn't. Nothing wrong with that. The refurbished thing is awesome. If you're like me, you couldn't tell that what you got wasn't (purportedly) brand new/never used. Still... if you're new to flying take it easy until you have a feel for this.

About the fly-more kit... It's a tough one. Extra batteries are $150 each. That's $300 for two. Then you get extra props costing $30. A cute but useless bag (for this size drone). You certainly won't use it if you have a smart controller. There are some great semi-hard and hard shell cases between $40 and $60. And then there is the charger. If the size of the charger doesn't matter I would guide you a different way. The advantage of the DJI charging bank is that while it holds 4 batteries it only charges on at a time. I prefer the Hanatora charger that charges two simultaneously at full power then divides power equally when you charge more than the two batteries (up to four). You can charge all your batteries from drained to full in less than 2 hours while the DJI charger will take 4 hours if all the batteries are spent. The Hanatora charger also has a discharge and storage mode that the DJI charger does not have (though the batteries are set to self-discharged for preservation and storage if not used. The sole advantage of the DJI multi bank charger is that it is very compact. Hanatora multi charger

Bottom line: [All my personal experience and opinion having both the fly more kit and the Hanatora charger. I cut a deal for the fly more when I bought my M2 pro so it wasn't worth it not to buy it. While you will spend similar $$ for the accessories and extra batteries, you might be better off cherry picking what you buy rather than getting DJI's kit.

 

[dronerdave]

I had thought about using my MP to scout 4x4 trails but found it didn't work too well. Even in areas devoid of trees, the terrain is often steep and a challenge to operate a drone in, so scouting was usually a waste of time. Hard to tell if the road was even washed out or not unless I would drop low and then it often it put me BVLOS. To fly out a thousand feet or so to take a look was time consuming and it was quicker to just drive it. Keeping VLOS in hilly terrain at lower altitudes above ground level is difficult at times and a view from too high is like looking at google earth maps. With trying to find vacant camps, my luck would be by the time I fly back and head that way, somebody else grabbed it before I'm able to get there. I've found some good fishing holes on a few rivers with my quad though.

 

[Tentoes]

Hi Hyperjack Welcome to Mavic Pilots.
I know you have some good answers but I will add my usual New flyer advice anyhow.
Wide open space.
Slow & easy
Power-lines & trees are evil.
Don't forget to read the manual
Download Air 2 manual HERE

And don't expect RTH to save you in a tight place, like under trees.

 

[THE CYBORG]

And don't expect RTH to save you in a tight place, like under trees.

I should add that to my list

 

[vindibona1]

And don't expect RTH to save you in a tight place, like under trees.

That is absolutely right. And so there is a further take away from from there.…

Always try to launch from a nearby open area even if you’re standing a bit away from it. That way, if you get in trouble your RTH can save you. Another tip/trick is, if you are launching from a tight area you can locate a nearby open area, land your drone there, and relaunch. When you do that the home point will be updated to that spot and become your emergency landing spot in the event that you have to rely on RTH to get the drone back and down. Or, if launching from a tight area you can initiate the RTH and then cancel it when the drone is overhead and then manually land it.

But the best advice was given earlier. Go slow until you know you have full control. Learn to fly in open areas and stay as far away from obstacles and trees and anything else that you could run into. Don’t try to be a drone hero on your first day.