Mavic 2 (Pro or Zoom) bottom mounted strobes?

[Thomas B]

Yes... I was very disappointed in LumeCubes, even dual mounted. Never use them now... should sell them.
Be sure to use landing gear to keep the strobe off the ground at landing or hand catch.

 

[BigAl07]

I got these today:

Now i see why those mounts are so important:
Its going to be frustrating to use these without some kind of way to put these together. . weigh 0.2 ounces

Thomas B has the right idea; But i like the idea of the bottom mount so there not
so alarming or attention getting.

They are much brighter than the small lume cube .

I got mine in this evening and have them all charged up. I've mounted (bottom mount) the ARC V "white" and a tail mounted ARC XL "red". I've got several construction sites to document tomorrow and Thursday so I look forward to doing some "daylight" evaluations. I used the Hook-n-Loop fasteners for ease of removal and adjustability. See images below:

 

[BigAl07]

I was able to "test" these yesterday and I'm very pleased. Even during a bright sunny (cloudless) day I could easily see the small form of the Mavic 2 Pro much more quickly with the strobes. My intent isn't to increase my flight distance in the least but to increase the ease of locating the aircraft (for myself and VO) when you take eyes off the craft for a moment. In certain light conditions (grey skies, grey trees in background etc) the aircraft just blends in and these will make a HUGE difference.

 

[scoble08]

I was able to "test" these yesterday and I'm very pleased. Even during a bright sunny (cloudless) day I could easily see the small form of the Mavic 2 Pro much more quickly with the strobes. My intent isn't to increase my flight distance in the least but to increase the ease of locating the aircraft (for myself and VO) when you take eyes off the craft for a moment. In certain light conditions (grey skies, grey trees in background etc) the aircraft just blends in and these will make a HUGE difference.

I agree! They can really help in easing the stress of losing vlos temporarily when checking app telemetry/video, or when your app crashes and you don't have any info on the screen.

 

[Maviac]

I was able to "test" these yesterday and I'm very pleased. Even during a bright sunny (cloudless) day I could easily see the small form of the Mavic 2 Pro much more quickly with the strobes. My intent isn't to increase my flight distance in the least but to increase the ease of locating the aircraft (for myself and VO) when you take eyes off the craft for a moment. In certain light conditions (grey skies, grey trees in background etc) the aircraft just blends in and these will make a HUGE difference.

I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on some of these myself. Are these still working well for you?

 

[BigAl07]

I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on some of these myself. Are these still working well for you?

Very well indeed. I have WHITE on the bottom and RED on the rear of the UAS. I use them EVERY flight now with sometimes 40" flights a week.

I highly recommend them.

 

[sydh]

My first question on this forum. Hi. I have a single Ulanzi DR01 strobe. It is too big to mount under the M2Pro and seems pointless on top. If I mounted it on the front of a front leg, will this unbalance the drone or will the drone make suitable in flight adjustments? I realise one each side would be better but I just want to see what the DR01 is like in daytime flying.

 

[BigAl07]

My first question on this forum. Hi. I have a single Ulanzi DR01 strobe. It is too big to mount under the M2Pro and seems pointless on top. If I mounted it on the front of a front leg, will this unbalance the drone or will the drone make suitable in flight adjustments? I realise one each side would be better but I just want to see what the DR01 is like in daytime flying.

First off WELCOME to the forum.

I'm not familiar with that exact light but unless it's VERY heavy it shouldn't make a lot of difference. Ideally it would be placed on the center of gravity of the aircraft but honestly I doubt many people in our industry even know what that is anymore.

The further you mount it FROM the CoG the more effect it has on the weight distribution but the onboard Flight Controller will compensate for a good bit of off-balance without you even knowing it. So long as it's not much weight (in proportion to the aircraft's weight and power level).

 

[sydh]

First off WELCOME to the forum.

I'm not familiar with that exact light but unless it's VERY heavy it shouldn't make a lot of difference. Ideally it would be placed on the center of gravity of the aircraft but honestly I doubt many people in our industry even know what that is anymore.

The further you mount it FROM the CoG the more effect it has on the weight distribution but the onboard Flight Controller will compensate for a good bit of off-balance without you even knowing it. So long as it's not much weight (in proportion to the aircraft's weight and power level).

That was quick. Thanks for the reply. The weight is 15g. If it is bright enough for me, I shall buy another so that red and green can then be shown.

 

[BigAl07]

That was quick. Thanks for the reply. The weight is 15g. If it is bright enough for me, I shall buy another so that red and green can then be shown.

If I'm online I reply pretty quick

Hopefully it works great and helps a lot.

 

[Maviac]

I was able to "test" these yesterday and I'm very pleased. Even during a bright sunny (cloudless) day I could easily see the small form of the Mavic 2 Pro much more quickly with the strobes. My intent isn't to increase my flight distance in the least but to increase the ease of locating the aircraft (for myself and VO) when you take eyes off the craft for a moment. In certain light conditions (grey skies, grey trees in background etc) the aircraft just blends in and these will make a HUGE difference.

I also finally got a chance to test mine (same lights installed exactly the same as BigAl). Overall, they're great. I decided the red one doesn't really do a lot, since I rarely fly far enough away that I can't tell orientation. I might chose the standard red/green aviation colors down the road, but it's not really necessary right now.

During the day, they were a little less noticeable than I'd hoped, but still easier to keep my eyes on (I started keeping the landing light on on my M2P to make it easier to see at distance). But at night, they were almost blinding. No doubt they were visible for 3 miles. I'm sure folks driving nearby (since I was 100-200 ft.) were wondering what the heck was going on. I flew over a local landmark and got some amazing shots, though; they've already been published on a local government page.

Downsides to these lights: The Firehouse Arc 5 is small, but the M2P is low-profile enough that the light hits the ground. Mine got a little scratched up. I'm thinking of putting a tiny dollop of hot glue on it or something. No big deal. But on level ground the light is tall enough it props up the drone and the front arms are off the ground.

Second, really a non-issue, but in the camera-down position, the strobe flashes off the camera. Freaked me out the first night flight; I thought I'd hit a bird or something. But the light placement I copied from BigAl is basically the best place to put them, so I got used to it.