Mavic Mini noise warning during lockdown.

[OldGuy]

I have read a few posts recently about neighbour’s complaints so I thought I would mention what happened to me the other day.
I have been flying drones from my garden for the last 3 years without problems. I have about 1 acre of land with a garden and trees etc. Now we are in lockdown I thought it an ideal time to continue flying around my place with the Mavic Mini.
The other day I was flying when someone shouted “stop flying that drone or I will call the police”. I immediately landed to investigate. It turned out to be a neighbour some 100 m away on a lower level and across the other side of the main road. A short conversation soon settled the issue. The gentleman in question thought my drone was being piloted by thieves who were using drones to survey properties before breaking into them!? When I said that I was just flying around my place he was relieved and said "no problem".
Unfortunately everything is so quiet with the lockdown. There is little or no traffic noise so the Mavic Mini can be heard literally miles away. In the past I have flown my M2Z and the Mini from my property without any problems.
The familiar high pitched buzz of a drone is especially noticeable when it’s so quite and does attract attention. As the general public thanks to many years of negative publicity do not like drones I am expecting more problems in the future if I keep flying from home during this lockdown!

 

[old man mavic]

what you could do is print some letters to you closest neighbour's and drop them through their letter boxes, explaining that you will be flying from your home during lockdown,and you apologise for the noise your drone makes in advance, and say that you fly within the rules

 

[Gkinghrn]

possibly also suggesting you arent recording footage of their property or them ....

what about flying at sunrise when people are generally in bed ... put it up high until you clear the houses to minimise the noise too ... its what i do from my apartment (and i bring it back in reverse in order not to film into my fellow apartment owners properties as well should anyone spot it )

 

[OldGuy]

what you could do is print some letters to you closest neighbour's and drop them through their letter boxes, explaining that you will be flying from your home during lockdown,and you apologise for the noise your drone makes in advance, and say that you fly within the rules

Unfortunately not possible during this lockdown at least here in Spain. When things ease off a little I will do just that. Meanwhile I hate not being able fly my MM around my place as this is the main reason for buying it.
Thanks for your help.

 

[old man mavic]

i admire your restraint and respect for others,but i am sure that the MM is perfect for flying atlow level as long as you keep it within your boundaries even if it means just stooging around in C mode do it before siesta or after siesta just one battery it will help with your well being as well ,and if your neighbours complain then stop if you feel uneasy about it

 

[OldGuy]

possibly also suggesting you arent recording footage of their property or them ....

what about flying at sunrise when people are generally in bed ... put it up high until you clear the houses to minimise the noise too ... its what i do from my apartment (and i bring it back in reverse in order not to film into my fellow apartment owners properties as well should anyone spot it )

I was thinking like you to go straight up to around 100 m and then take it from there. I would need to get to this height as I live on a steep hill and there are housed higher up than mine.
As the strict rules begin to ease off and things return to normal I should be able to fly again without disturbing anyone.
I would be reluctant to fly at sunrise as it would be even quieter than it is now.

 

[OldGuy]

i admire your restraint and respect for others,but i am sure that the MM is perfect for flying atlow level as long as you keep it within your boundaries even if it means just stooging around in C mode do it before siesta or after siesta just one battery it will help with your well being as well ,and if your neighbours complain then stop if you feel uneasy about it

I’m an expat retired down here in Spain so I am very careful about upsetting anyone especially the locals. As mentioned I bought the MM exactly for flying low around my place. It’s the ideal drone for this kind of activity. Until the lockdown it was quiet enough not to disturb anyone but now it is too loud.
I may try going straight up to a 100 m to where I cannot hear it myself but I won't get much fun out of doing this I suspect. I would prefer as you say just stooging around at low level mainly to keep my hand in, use the gear and have some fun.

 

[Bill_H]

Seems just a real bad idea flying around the neighbourhoods here. I'm lucky as I've got vast open spaces to be taking my MM drone (although the interest level for scenery drops off somewhat). good practice for me atanyway.

 

[Zbip57]

I'm lucky as I've got vast open spaces to be taking my MM drone (although the interest level for scenery drops off somewhat).anyway.

Wow. I was going to say I recognize that place. But then I realized it's actually across the Strait from where we were. A few years ago I got to do some flying over the tidal flats near Parksville on Vancouver Island. Spectacular country!

Those strange alien mounds in the video are the remains of sand castles from the day before. I flew a long mission to record the kids building those sand castles, but discovered only later when going to edit the video that I had once again forgotten to press the button to start the camera recording. D'oh!

 

[PBDawg]

Seems just a real bad idea flying around the neighbourhoods here. I'm lucky as I've got vast open spaces to be taking my MM drone (although the interest level for scenery drops off somewhat). good practice for me atView attachment 100485anyway. View attachment 100484

Boundary Bay near Tsawwassen, right? I used to live in Ladner, so it's a place I've visited often (living in Victoria now).

 

[II-INFIDEL-II]

I have read a few posts recently about neighbour’s complaints so I thought I would mention what happened to me the other day.
I have been flying drones from my garden for the last 3 years without problems. I have about 1 acre of land with a garden and trees etc. Now we are in lockdown I thought it an ideal time to continue flying around my place with the Mavic Mini.
The other day I was flying when someone shouted “stop flying that drone or I will call the police”. I immediately landed to investigate. It turned out to be a neighbour some 100 m away on a lower level and across the other side of the main road. A short conversation soon settled the issue. The gentleman in question thought my drone was being piloted by thieves who were using drones to survey properties before breaking into them!? When I said that I was just flying around my place he was relieved and said "no problem".
Unfortunately everything is so quiet with the lockdown. There is little or no traffic noise so the Mavic Mini can be heard literally miles away. In the past I have flown my M2Z and the Mini from my property without any problems.
The familiar high pitched buzz of a drone is especially noticeable when it’s so quite and does attract attention. As the general public thanks to many years of negative publicity do not like drones I am expecting more problems in the future if I keep flying from home during this lockdown!

just ignore them.. The mini is at least 50% less decibels quieter then drones like mavic air 2 and above drone frame size's. 50-60 feet away, the drone noise starts to dramatically disappear. 100 feet its silent under heavy load/wind. I fly all my drones at 200 feet away from public objects and busy bodies to always be on the safe side to avoid confrontation. But yeah, when they appear outa the woodwork or on the edge of my property I just tell them to F themselves and go back to the hole they came from. This is a kids toy 249 grams of fun! Bright side though, since the launch of the mini Master AirScrew is working on Stealth blades for the mini, rumor is on the last quarter this year they will be ready for sale. DJI Mavic Air STEALTH Upgrade Propellers - x4 Black these blades will cut the noise down by 20% - 50%. BTW there are hundreds of YouTube videos on the sound level testing on the mavic mini that will give you an idea what you are working with. Hope this helps enjoy your day. From a infidel in Canada, Cheers!

 

[Photoman phil]

I have read a few posts recently about neighbour’s complaints so I thought I would mention what happened to me the other day.
I have been flying drones from my garden for the last 3 years without problems. I have about 1 acre of land with a garden and trees etc. Now we are in lockdown I thought it an ideal time to continue flying around my place with the Mavic Mini.
The other day I was flying when someone shouted “stop flying that drone or I will call the police”. I immediately landed to investigate. It turned out to be a neighbour some 100 m away on a lower level and across the other side of the main road. A short conversation soon settled the issue. The gentleman in question thought my drone was being piloted by thieves who were using drones to survey properties before breaking into them!? When I said that I was just flying around my place he was relieved and said "no problem".
Unfortunately everything is so quiet with the lockdown. There is little or no traffic noise so the Mavic Mini can be heard literally miles away. In the past I have flown my M2Z and the Mini from my property without any problems.
The familiar high pitched buzz of a drone is especially noticeable when it’s so quite and does attract attention. As the general public thanks to many years of negative publicity do not like drones I am expecting more problems in the future if I keep flying from home during this lockdown!

I noticed your in Spain not the uk
I haven't had any problems like that, i wounder if anyone else has had a smiler thing happen to them?

 

[New England Droning]

Wow. I was going to say I recognize that place. But then I realized it's actually across the Strait from where we were. A few years ago I got to do some flying over the tidal flats near Parksville on Vancouver Island. Spectacular country!

Those strange alien mounds in the video are the remains of sand castles from the day before. I flew a long mission to record the kids building those sand castles, but discovered only later when going to edit the video that I had once again forgotten to press the button to start the camera recording. D'oh!

It makes me happy to know that I'm not the only one who has forgotten to hit the record button... ;-)

 

[Zbip57]

It makes me happy to know that I'm not the only one who has forgotten to hit the record button... ;-)

I've forgotten far too often. Most of the time I just regret being so stupid, as there's no opportunity to go back to get the same shots again. But this next one was actually quite embarrassing.

I've posted this one somewhere before. Sorry if you've already seen it.

My neighbour is a long distance swimmer. For training he swims a full lap around our lake everyday. He asked me to take some aerial footage of him doing his last swim of the season. It was late October, with nice fall foliage on the trees, but already icy cold water.

He said, in order to stay warm, once he gets going he can't stop. So don't ask him to repeat any shots or hold poses or whatever. Fine, no problem.

I chased him all the way around the lake using my Phantom 3 Pro getting lots of great footage. He was almost back to the dock when I had to land to change batteries. That's when I noticed that, once again, I had forgotten to press record. D'oh!

He climbs out the water and asks, How was that? And I had to confess I got nothing recorded at all. I felt like a pile of ?.

No problem, he says. He'll just jump in and swim another lap. The guy's an Ironman.