Mavic 2 flying in the middle of nowhere

[Nightthunder]

This summer my wife and I are travelling to Tahiti to get on a sailing cruise ship that has been booked to intersect a solar eclipse in the middle of the Pacific ocean. Here's what the ship looks like:



Question: We will be out of all cell connectivity, the exact location we are going to is not known (weather dependent) and is just a bunch of open ocean anyway with NO cell connectivity (I am hoping I will get Satellites though otherwise it won't work regardless). On eclipse day I want to park the Mavic sideways to the ship and pointed at the eclipsing sun and create a movie of the event. My concern is that the Geo lock and/or lack of a map may prevent me from doing that. Can I get this done with the Mavic 2? Without caching a map? Or whatever?

Thanks.

 

[msinger]

I am hoping I will get Satellites though otherwise it won't work regardless

You should have no trouble getting a good GPS connection since the sky will be wide open. You won't be able to see the map (since it won't be cached), but you can certainly fly without it.

 

[Meta4]

Question: We will be out of all cell connectivity, the exact location we are going to is not known (weather dependent) and is just a bunch of open ocean anyway with NO cell connectivity (I am hoping I will get Satellites though otherwise it won't work regardless).

Your Mavic has it's own GPS receiver and receives GPS satellite data directly from the satellites in space completely independent of your cell service.
The G in GPS stands for Global because the satellites circle the earth to provide Global coverage.

 

[AMann]

This summer my wife and I are travelling to Tahiti to get on a sailing cruise ship that has been booked to intersect a solar eclipse in the middle of the Pacific ocean. Here's what the ship looks like:

View attachment 64135

Question: We will be out of all cell connectivity, the exact location we are going to is not known (weather dependent) and is just a bunch of open ocean anyway with NO cell connectivity (I am hoping I will get Satellites though otherwise it won't work regardless). On eclipse day I want to park the Mavic sideways to the ship and pointed at the eclipsing sun and create a movie of the event. My concern is that the Geo lock and/or lack of a map may prevent me from doing that. Can I get this done with the Mavic 2? Without caching a map? Or whatever?

Thanks.

If you have never seen a total eclipse before, DO NOT mess with a drone, especially if on a moving ship. You are paying way too much money to miss enjoying those few short minutes of a wonderful sight to be worrying about where your drone went in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. I was camping in Idaho with a 600mm/f4 lens and a solar telescope to watch the total eclipse and totally stopped using any of them when totality hit for I was overcome with simple amazement at the thing and just held my wife’s hand and watched it in silence instead. It was totally amazing!

Anyways, if you are set on doing it, keep in mind that since you will be most likely on a moving ship, as it will be more stable underway for the passengers, so the drone will need constant adjustments and wont just hover along with the ship as if it’s staying still- you may have to watch it and move it accordingly the entire time. Also, does the ship allow drones to be flown from it? Many do not, I suspect most sailing ships wouldn’t either.

 

[Nightthunder]

If you have never seen a total eclipse before, DO NOT mess with a drone, especially if on a moving ship. You are paying way too much money to miss enjoying those few short minutes of a wonderful sight to be worrying about where your drone went in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. I was camping in Idaho with a 600mm/f4 lens and a solar telescope to watch the total eclipse and totally stopped using any of them when totality hit for I was overcome with simple amazement at the thing and just held my wife’s hand and watched it in silence instead.

We saw the 2016 eclipse in Wyoming near Riverton overlooking a plain with mountains off in the westerly direction . It was truly life altering. I totally agree with you about not paying attention to the drone. At least the ship will not be under sail and will attempt to do station keeping. I just want to get it in position and forget about it. 30 minutes (ok 20 minutes) of flight time will probably not be enough time but I will have a chance to practice with it on the day before. That said i may not even be allowed to fly. It's just a dream right now. Just knowing it may be possible will keep me dreaming!

BTW: Both my Wife and I started crying when we saw it. It was so beautiful.

Thank you all for your replies.

 

[AMann]

We saw the 2016 eclipse in Wyoming near Riverton overlooking a plain with mountains off in the westerly direction . It was truly life altering. I totally agree with you about not paying attention to the drone. At least the ship will not be under sail and will attempt to do station keeping. I just want to get it in position and forget about it. 30 minutes (ok 20 minutes) of flight time will probably not be enough time but I will have a chance to practice with it on the day before. That said i may not even be allowed to fly. It's just a dream right now. Just knowing it may be possible will keep me dreaming!

BTW: Both my Wife and I started crying when we saw it. It was so beautiful.

Thank you all for your replies.

Cool- we shared the same experience and I know exactly how you felt, too. I did manage to take one photo as totality hit, that’s when I quit and just watched.

I have the bug to chase them now too, and will be at the next one in Texas in 2024!

 

[Nightthunder]

I think your picture is upside down! The solar flare was in the lower right corner when I saw it, not the upper right.

We will also be at the 2024 eclipse. Will be renting an RV (did that last time) so we can pick up and move easily depending on the weather.

Back to business. Based on what was said here I feel much more confidant in buying a Mavic 2 (haven't quite settled on the zoom or Pro). Working on my part 107. This will be a great new hobby!!!

 

[Thomas B]

Be sure to study the types of controller connections available... likely WiFi is best... and study the limits/range... practice to ensure you don’t send it to Davy Jones’ locker.
You might also want to experiment with imaging the sun before you go so you get the best images/movies once you’re there and know what settings to use as auto may not be the best for this use. Being practiced and familiar will keep you from missing a once in a lifetime event.

 

[BD0G]

Ya know. Most cruise ships specifically ban the use of drones so all your planning and foresight might be all for naught. Just because of a simple rule or regulation.

 

[AMann]

I think your picture is upside down! The solar flare was in the lower right corner when I saw it, not the upper right.

We will also be at the 2024 eclipse. Will be renting an RV (did that last time) so we can pick up and move easily depending on the weather.

Back to business. Based on what was said here I feel much more confidant in buying a Mavic 2 (haven't quite settled on the zoom or Pro). Working on my part 107. This will be a great new hobby!!!

There were prominences at 2, and between 7 to 8o’clock, we were watching them on my Ha scope... but anyways, definitely get a M2, if you like landscape photography, the M2P is the better choice IMHO.

I just passed my 107 too, get those different airspaces down! . I suggest buying a paper sectional map to practice with too- so much information and uou can carry it with you everywhere to study from. Ask uourself questions like what latitude and longitude is so and so airport and what airspace is it, what is the AGL level of the tower 5nm NE of so and so airport and how high over it can you fly if the cloud base is at 1350’ MSL...

Good luck, and see you in Texas 2024!

 

[787steve]

If you have never seen a total eclipse before, DO NOT mess with a drone, especially if on a moving ship. You are paying way too much money to miss enjoying those few short minutes of a wonderful sight to be worrying about where your drone went in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. I was camping in Idaho with a 600mm/f4 lens and a solar telescope to watch the total eclipse and totally stopped using any of them when totality hit for I was overcome with simple amazement at the thing and just held my wife’s hand and watched it in silence instead. It was totally amazing!

Anyways, if you are set on doing it, keep in mind that since you will be most likely on a moving ship, as it will be more stable underway for the passengers, so the drone will need constant adjustments and wont just hover along with the ship as if it’s staying still- you may have to watch it and move it accordingly the entire time. Also, does the ship allow drones to be flown from it? Many do not, I suspect most sailing ships wouldn’t either.

Totally agree. You can find plenty of pics/vids on line. The rare opportunity to observe the totality with your own eyes is not to be missed.

 

[Marko9219]

I was in Idaho Falls, Idaho for the last one. A drone is the wrong tool for filming an eclipse. You've spent too much money to waste even a minute messing with a drone during this event. The video will be totally anti-climatic. Besides that, the eclipse happened straight up, over our heads. Unless you've taught your Mavic to fly upside down, you'll not be able to film up at that angle.

 

[davemgood]

If you have never seen a total eclipse before, DO NOT mess with a drone, especially if on a moving ship. You are paying way too much money to miss enjoying those few short minutes of a wonderful sight to be worrying about where your drone went in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. I was camping in Idaho with a 600mm/f4 lens and a solar telescope to watch the total eclipse and totally stopped using any of them when totality hit for I was overcome with simple amazement at the thing and just held my wife’s hand and watched it in silence instead. It was totally amazing!

Anyways, if you are set on doing it, keep in mind that since you will be most likely on a moving ship, as it will be more stable underway for the passengers, so the drone will need constant adjustments and wont just hover along with the ship as if it’s staying still- you may have to watch it and move it accordingly the entire time. Also, does the ship allow drones to be flown from it? Many do not, I suspect most sailing ships wouldn’t either.

I'll agree. The focal length of either the Zoom or the Pro will make the eclipse look like a dot in the sky. Just enjoy it with your own two eyes.

 

[Maviac]

If you have never seen a total eclipse before, DO NOT mess with a drone, especially if on a moving ship. You are paying way too much money to miss enjoying those few short minutes of a wonderful sight to be worrying about where your drone went in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. I was camping in Idaho with a 600mm/f4 lens and a solar telescope to watch the total eclipse and totally stopped using any of them when totality hit for I was overcome with simple amazement at the thing and just held my wife’s hand and watched it in silence instead. It was totally amazing!

Anyways, if you are set on doing it, keep in mind that since you will be most likely on a moving ship, as it will be more stable underway for the passengers, so the drone will need constant adjustments and wont just hover along with the ship as if it’s staying still- you may have to watch it and move it accordingly the entire time. Also, does the ship allow drones to be flown from it? Many do not, I suspect most sailing ships wouldn’t either.

Totally agree. I saw the one in 2017 as it passed over Georgia and was all set up with a good camera and long lens. As soon as totality hit I just decided to forget about it and watched it with my own eyes. There were adults around crying just because of how amazing it was. It’s impossible to describe to anyone who’s only seen pictures, but it really was like being in another world.

 

[Nightthunder]

Jennifer and I cried too. I am lucky to have a wife who gets all this and supports me!

The idea was to capture the moon's shadow speeding across the ocean surface with the ship in the foreground to give it some perspective and the Sun near the horizon. Where we will be the sun will only be at 18 degrees. If the drone is up at 400 ft it will push the horizon out a bit and a movie of shadow coming at us could be a really nice shot. That said, I agree that an eclipse is amazing and I don't want to waste even a second of totality messing with stuff. My idea may be hair brained and the ship DOES have a anti drone policy and probably will not allow me to fly anyway thereby saving me from myself.

I've decided on the M2P since I plan on doing mostly landscapes and I like the idea of longer flight time which will help in keeping me out trouble. Currently practicing with a cheap E58 no GPS drone to learn flying skills. It's not exactly easy flying the stupid thing but I am getting better at it. Should make the transition the M2P less scary. May even buy a really cheap drone with GPS to practice on before going for flying the M2P. Need to learn how to fly the little bugger in wind. Ocean beaches are only 3 - 4 hours away. Lots of YouTube make flying a drone look easy but as a newbie I am leery of that. Also there are lots of YouTube videos showing crashes where most seem to be caused by loss of situational awareness. I'll be doing my best to not make the same mistakes.

As part of this trip we will be in Tahiti, Bora Bora and Morrea for several days each and will probably only fly there and probably not that much since there is so much else to do. Lots of ocean so the M2P will be wearing "waterwings" so it won't sink and I will have some chance of recovering from my mistake which put it there. I know this will cut down on flight time and I'll have that down before we leave as I will practice with that configuration before we leave.

There are plenty of places to fly around the islands but a heck of a lot ocean. I've checked out the rules for drone flying in French Polynesia and it is very doable. My flying motto is fly safe, follow the rules, don't bother others, don't fly close to obstacles, especially trees, maintain VLOS and above all stay above the water!

I am so looking forward to this trip!!! Once in a lifetime... I really appreciate the civility of you all and treating a newbie with respect. Wish the rest of the internet was that grown up.

 

[Nightthunder]

Be sure to study the types of controller connections available... likely WiFi is best... and study the limits/range... practice to ensure you don’t send it to Davy Jones’ locker.
You might also want to experiment with imaging the sun before you go so you get the best images/movies once you’re there and know what settings to use as auto may not be the best for this use. Being practiced and familiar will keep you from missing a once in a lifetime event.

Occusync 2.0! And no Davey Jones for me. I'll trade flight time for "waterwings". Just hope my M2P doesn't end up adding to all the floating plastic in the Ocean!

I totally agree with you.

 

[Meta4]

Currently practicing with a cheap E58 no GPS drone to learn flying skills. It's not exactly easy flying the stupid thing but I am getting better at it. Should make the transition the M2P less scary. May even buy a really cheap drone with GPS to practice on before going for flying the M2P. Need to learn how to fly the little bugger in wind. Ocean beaches are only 3 - 4 hours away. Lots of YouTube make flying a drone look easy but as a newbie I am leery of that.

You'll find that the Mavic is much easier to fly than you imagine and much easier than the toy drone you've bought.
When you take your hands off the sticks, it's like hitting a pause button.
Just do your early flying in a large, open area, well away from trees, buildings and other obstacles.
If there's nothing to hit, it's hard to get into trouble.

 

[AMann]

You'll find that the Mavic is much easier to fly than you imagine and much easier than the toy drone you've bought.
When you take your hands off the sticks, it's like hitting a pause button.
Just do your early flying in a large, open area, well away from trees, buildings and other obstacles.
If there's nothing to hit, it's hard to get into trouble.

He isn’t kidding, it has cruise control and autonomous steering! (Sort of). If you don’t push it, its darn steady and very reliable.

I would just assume waterwings are for care refresh body recovery- don’t purposely land on water with it expecting to fly away safely.

Sounds like a great trip!