Installed Strobe Lights on Mavic Pro

[Reelman67]

I flew last night and as I surmised, the lights impacted the camera. Back to square one. I think I will try mounting the front LEDs to front landing gear extensions. They will be lower and slightly angled outwards, away from the camera. Maybe this will work? Anyone ever tried it? Nice part about this method, they will be easily detachable. I've had concerns from the beginning that there is little clearance from the ground to the drone body.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Leg extensions would possibly help, I have the polar pro type, which has the same slightly angled outwards leg face, and there is the brace part that MIGHT give you a little more angle outwards if needed.
Some black urethane adhesive would make the velcro mount pretty solid there.

I think at night any sort of light out front (that doesn't turn off for camera work like the oem leds) is going to be problematic.




Maybe the later raptor skids (below) that are out now might be good too, especially if they can also be used to catch land a drone more safely / easier.
Made for MP and M2P by the looks of their images online.
They are angled down same as front legs, so if low enough may keep light less problematic.





I'm just not sure if ANYTHING that puts light out front is going to be ok for night filming, they are 2 things that perhaps just won't work together.
Maybe night flights you should have white on the back and just do a turn to find it ??
The whites are a lot brighter than the red / green, possibly fit red, green on rear left and right outer arms, and a white on the back centre ?

For daytime VLOS whites on the front legs should be ok unless any air particles are present in low light.

 

[Reelman67]

The front leg extensions I ordered are not like those shown, however they will provide a surface to mount my front LEDs. Truth be told, I really am not in to night photography. I did note last evening (before the light was lost), the lights were impacting the camera. Maybe by placing the LEDs just a bit lower and slightly off, I will largely eliminate the daylight video interference. My night flights will just be for pleasure flying pretty much.

 

[Thomas B]

Aerial Pixel mounts work fine with the PolarPro retractable landing gear. The mounts are flexible so easy on and off. The FH strobes are slightly angled out when I mounted this way. Plus you can leave them in the mounts for charging and storage... plus your bird stays clean without sticky stuff on it.

 

[redserv]

guys i think i saw someone on the forums that installed strobes facing towards the front on the back legs of the mavic. I am hoping that will eliminate the light from the camera. See pic i may try this, what you guys think?

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

@redserv that’s thinking outside the box !
Could easily work as it would be very hard to imagine those positioned leds ever being obscured in flight.
It’s worth a couple of velcro tabs on the back arms lightly to test that, for anyone having night or low light issues seeing the strobing.

 

[Aikidoamigo]

They are seem great, I want to get a set but why oh why are they so **** ugly?! Surely the company could 3D print some basic housings for them.

 

[WAXMAN]

Here are a few pics of the lights installed. View attachment 69345View attachment 69346

What colors are you using?

 

[Reelman67]

@redserv that’s thinking outside the box !
Could easily work as it would be very hard to imagine those positioned leds ever being obscured in flight.
It’s worth a couple of velcro tabs on the back arms lightly to test that, for anyone having night or low light issues seeing the strobing.

I think placing the strobes on the back arms, facing forwards is a great idea. I will try it on my next dusk flight. The clips which came supplied with the Mavic Pro light kit work well for attachment (with Velcro added). Soon as weather permits, I will try it and see if the camera is affected.

 

[Reelman67]

What colors are you using?

Red and Green forward facing (improved lateral presence when mounted on the rear arms), white rear facing, as was suggested earlier by a forum member.

 

[Rmv221]

I installed the strobe light kit from Firehouse Technology on my Mavic Pro this morning. They're not ARC2 but are they ever bright! I am looking forward to my first illuminated flight soon. It's raining now, will have to wait. ? Should help VLOS flying greatly.

I looked around for strobes lights too and I bought this one. The reason I like it is that it has 3 different light flashes, compact, and is contained. I attach it with Velcro so I can use it on my Spark tooIt’s the Funton Cree light strobe on Amazon. Here are few pictures.

 

[Chris-KC]

Maybe it's just me, but if the strobes are blocked by the holder, isn't it negating the flash into one specific corridor instead of a wide angle? In a few of the images of your set up, it would appear that the holder protrudes beyond the led.

I had the same thought and did some light trimming of the aerial pixel holders with an xacto knife where I thought it wouldn’t hurt. It’s a rubbery material and easily trimmed.

 

[NITEWULF]

I had the same thought and did some light trimming of the aerial pixel holders with an xacto knife where I thought it wouldn’t hurt. It’s a rubbery material and easily trimmed.

That's why I went with the open mount on the side of the body. I wanted the least added weight with the most visibility. I also wanted it off the side and rear to help with orientation as only one color will be the brightest.

 

[Azzopat]

Where can I purchase ? I'm in Sydney Australia.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Where can I purchase ? I'm in Sydney Australia.

This was the prelude thread to this one by Reelman67 . . .

Just ordered 2 ARC II lights with mounts

It explains in detail how my inquiries have gone finding them here.
You CAN get them from Drone Shop Perth, but very $$$, they do have a lot of costs getting them here and through customs, as the owner there explained to me. (not sure if they might have old batch, faulty see below, they got theirs in as the members here had issues).

I am getting them direct, FHT won't ship direct here to Australia, but refer you to Drone Shop Perth !!
Was making sure any problems with recent batch has been sorted out, don't want to order faulty ones !!
For sure I'll email FHT again and ensure they send me new ones that are all ok now.

I'll be ordering soon directly, going to get them delivered to my nieces place on the east coast US, then my brother will pick up for me and bring back on an upcoming trip to bring back.
Not in a hurry, as I just want them to help improve VLOS especially for when these new regulations come in . . . yes, I know VLOS is in the rules now, but think it'll be more important to be able to see your bird into the future.

 

[Thomas B]

They are seem great, I want to get a set but why oh why are they so **** ugly?! Surely the company could 3D print some basic housings for them.

Try Aerial Pixel.... this area, on one of the pages should have what you want. I use FH ARC2 strobes in Aerial Pixel mounts on my Spark, MPP, and M2P.

Home

Products by drone pilots for drone pilots. In 2013 we started Aerial-Pixel as a drone photography and videography service. Since then we have grown to also provide vinyl graphics, apparel and 3D printed products for the drone industry.

www.aerial-pixel.com

 

[Sharky7487]

Pictures! Send pictures of the new set up

Hi

As a pilot with a professional licence and used to flying through cloud on takeoff’s and landings, here is something to think about. If you adopt the placement and strategies as in commercial aircraft where the red and green nave lights are static but only visible to a fixed angle and fit the white strobes on the rear and sides but have a cover limiting the light emitting from the strobes then you will almost eliminate your glare from mist and fog and your aircraft will be easier to keep track off at night. Aircraft never have a strobe glare problem in cloud which is due to the angle of light being clipped. Ie no light facing forward. Coupled with static red and green you have orientation lighting.

 

[NITEWULF]

Hi

As a pilot with a professional licence and used to flying through cloud on takeoff’s and landings, here is something to think about. If you adopt the placement and strategies as in commercial aircraft where the red and green nave lights are static but only visible to a fixed angle and fit the white strobes on the rear and sides but have a cover limiting the light emitting from the strobes then you will almost eliminate your glare from mist and fog and your aircraft will be easier to keep track off at night. Aircraft never have a strobe glare problem in cloud which is due to the angle of light being clipped. Ie no light facing forward. Coupled with static red and green you have orientation lighting.

See my posts above with pictures, I did exactly what you are saying and the exact reason why. I guess some people didn't pick up on the where and why reasoning.

 

[Reelman67]

I flew last evening (with light), and am pleased with the final outcome. I placed my strobes on the back legs and the resulting video is clear of any light effect. Since I do not fly in fog or rain, it should suffice. Perhaps I will try some night flying in the future, who knows?

 

[redserv]

I flew last evening (with light), and am pleased with the final outcome. I placed my strobes on the back legs and the resulting video is clear of any light effect. Since I do not fly in fog or rain, it should suffice. Perhaps I will try some night flying in the future, who knows?

Awesome Reelman thanks for the feedback. I am definitely going to put mine on the back in the event I want to take some night video it should not pick up in the camera