Metal interference - would you fly lower in here (see photo)?

rabidhyena · Dec 19, 2017

MadValley said:
Oh! You're not flying it from outside. That may be less of an issue since your antennas won't have metal between them and the MP. BTW... Where in the world do you live that you can just walk up a structure like that? Here in the U.S. if I did anything like that they'd send the black helicopters after me, confiscate my drone, and stick me someplace where the gaps between the bars are significantly less than that gas tank!

Lol. I'm in the UK. Annoyingly you can't just walk up. You have to be stealthy and avoid camera's etc. I have done some stuff in the US as well

VARSITY · Dec 19, 2017

Bunny Too said:
What is a gasometer .

A gasometer or gas holder stores gas in times of low use, and allows the stored gas to be used at times of high usage, A bit like water tower. The steel frame you see is a guide for telescopic tank sections that rise and fall with the gas stored. One has just been declared a listed building in England, giving it preservation status

Bunny Too · Dec 19, 2017

VARSITY said:
A gasometer or gas holder stores gas in times of low use, and allows the stored gas to be used at times of high usage, A bit like water tower. The steel frame you see is a guide for telescopic tank sections that rise and fall with the gas stored. One has just been declared a listed building in England, giving it preservation status

So is the telescopic tank submerged in the water now? Thank you for the lesson @VARSITY. Also howdy from Wyoming VARSITY, welcome to the community, plenty of fine folk and excellent information here.

Bunny Too · Dec 19, 2017

rabidhyena said:
Lol. I'm in the UK. Annoyingly you can't just walk up. You have to be stealthy and avoid camera's etc. I have done some stuff in the US as well

You have CCTV everywhere there, right?

LazyBoot · Dec 19, 2017

Callum · Dec 20, 2017

Bunny Too said:
You have CCTV everywhere there, right?

Shhhhhhh, they are listening as well.

Callum · Dec 20, 2017

rabidhyena said:
Lol. I'm in the UK. Annoyingly you can't just walk up. You have to be stealthy and avoid camera's etc. I have done some stuff in the US as well

Do you post your pics and videos online mate?
Interested to see some more.

rabidhyena · Dec 20, 2017

I have a gallery.
Most of it is handheld DSLR though. I try to add in some aerial shots to compliment.
Kinza Gallery

Auspete · Dec 20, 2017

I’d be very careful. Metal structures can effect the compass.
From recollection you should get a warning on the screen if there is interference

hqm · Dec 23, 2017

Robert Mitchell said:
I saw a video once where a guy simply got behind a metal truss bridge with a Mavic and the thing went berserk.

Just saying.

I lost my Mavic flying under the Marine Park Bridge in New York.
I was pretty far away (out of direct line of sight, blocked by a sand dune) and the Mavic lost signal when it was under the bridge
and sadly it went home by flying up into the bridge. Return to home altitude got me I think.

Ricapoody · Dec 23, 2017

rabidhyena said:
Hi,
I was climbing up this gasometer today.
I was tempted to go down low from this shot but then panicked about metal and compass interference.
Do you think it would be safe? It's obviously a huge structure and so I wouldn't be that close to metal if I went down in the centre.View attachment 27008

Great shot, but watch out for magnetic interferance. Recently launched MP within a metre of a wall. Ascended to metal roof and guttering height and hovered. No reaction to any inputs. Tried moving it away with broom handle and hand catching it from a ladder. It sensed my approach, ascended out of reach and returned to initial hover point. Twenty two minutes later it self landed due to low battery. Another launch fail from wooden picnic table was the result of interferance from metal table frame and bolts securing timber. Moved two metres -all systems go.

coldduck22 · Dec 23, 2017

I know it's not the same scenario, but here is my first and ONLY experience flying around/in metal structures.

. My first mavic now lives in a beautiful flowing creek off the Richardson Hwy. in Alaska!

hackeron · Dec 24, 2017

coldduck22 said:
I know it's not the same scenario, but here is my first and ONLY experience flying around/in metal structures. . My first mavic now lives in a beautiful flowing creek off the Richardson Hwy. in Alaska!

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

View attachment 27239

Oh no, that's terrible

- did you have DJI care?

Cut.Aussie · Dec 24, 2017

Interesting Fact, there are 2 Gasometers near the approach path to London Heathrow airport. In very big letters painted on the side are the words, YES and NO to remind pilots on approach they have sighted the correct landmark

Callum · Dec 24, 2017

Cut.Aussie said:
Interesting Fact, there are 2 Gasometers near the approach path to London Heathrow airport. In very big letters painted on the side are the words, YES and NO to remind pilots on approach they have sighted the correct landmark

I remember hearing of that years ago.

Was back in the day before GPS and ILS an airliner landed at the much smaller RAF Northolt instead of Heathrow.

Trying to find some photos but can't find anything.

Edit - found a good account here The Southall Gasholder | North West Air News

dronerdave · Dec 24, 2017

One of the guys at work flew a Phantom into a high voltage transmission line doing an inspection. Wasn't sure if it was the tower or the high voltage itself that caused it to spin abruptly and crash into the line. So much for that experiment. I've flown close to a few distribution transformers without trouble but I can see that causing compass issues if you get too close. Bridges have yet to give me any problems. I'd like to go back and walk through the bridges with a good compass to see how much magnetic interference is actually there. Anyway I'm re-thinking flying inside steel structures. I've also thought about flying low above RR tracks but wonder about those too.

I did have a battery alarm go off while flying inside this bridge. I almost just landed it on the bridge to get it back but was able to make it out. Sorry for the poor video, still learning.

Cyberd · Dec 25, 2017

Hi, don't know where this is, I've one near Huddersfield, England I've been eying up with the same question. We call them cooling towers, seem to be the same.
I was going to to see if I could get close and see if it effected the mp.

coldduck22 · Dec 30, 2017

hackeron said:
Oh no, that's terrible - did you have DJI care?

No, I didn't have it on that mavic. I wasn't able to recover it anyway so it would have been useless in my situation. I do have it on my current mavic though!