Mini 2 on a dive cruise

[Freddy K]

Hi everyone,

I am planning to take my Mini 2 on a dive cruise in Indonesia.
Mainly to take shots of the islands and around the boat (a wooden two-mast sail boat).
I have no intention of flying while the boat is moving, only when it is anchored in sheltered bays and when there isn't much wind.

I always do hand-landings so that already avoids the drone slipping off the deck when landing.
Obviously the return-to-home position should not be relied upon as the boat may have drifted sideways slightly.

Are there any more possible problems I should be aware of?

 

[edfrombama]

Good morning to all-
Sailboats of any kind have a lot of stays and shrouds which can present problems when landing or taking off. these supports often seem to be placed in the worst possible locations for drone landings. Just something to look out for.

good day to all- Ed

 

[Cymru]

Make sure radar and any high powered emitters are off.
Look out for wiring and other hidden bits of metal screwing up the compass (hand launch would solve this).
Remember even boats at anchor swing and move so take care the boat doesn't swing into the drone etc.

Id recommend always hand launching and recovering on a boat

 

[Aerophile]

Discuss with the boat operator before you start making plans. They may have something to say.

 

[Freddy K]

All good remarks, thank you.

 

[cheddar-man]

Make sure radar and any high powered emitters are off.
Look out for wiring and other hidden bits of metal screwing up the compass (hand launch would solve this).
Remember even boats at anchor swing and move so take care the boat doesn't swing into the drone etc.

Id recommend always hand launching and recovering on a boat

I don't think there is any evidence that Radar interferers with a Drone. I was flying at Point Nepean in Victoria, Australia recently where there is a high powered shipping radar system and it had no affect whatsoever on my Mini 2. Most small (yachts) Radars are X Band Radar systems and they operate at frequencies well above those of Drones, typically 9Ghz+ so that won't interfere with your Mini 2 Drone down in the 2.4GHz & 5.7GHz range.

Your biggest enemy on or near any boat is unpredictable magnetic fields which can seriously interfere with the drones compass. Even "wooden" boats have a lot of iron based metal on them and this can become magnetised as the boat passes through the water (earth's magnetic field).

We used to regularly Degauss the submarines I was on as they became powerful magnets as they traversed the world and this could be used by systems trying to detect them.

 

[Freddy K]

I don't see any high-power radar equipment mounted on the boat (this is the only picture I found on their web page).

I think hand launching and landing from the upper rear deck will be the safest option.

 

[Cymru]

I don't think there is any evidence that Radar interferers with a Drone. I was flying at Point Nepean in Victoria, Australia recently where there is a high powered shipping radar system and it had no affect whatsoever on my Mini 2.

Most of my day job involved operating off boats (small, 30m or so) and generally the high points were where the radar antennas were and launching was often within 2-4m of them.
Even X band produced harmonics. Most commonly i got video breakup but occasionally it manifested as a compass issue.

Inverse square law etc means the closer you are the more likely for issues.

 

[cheddar-man]

I don't think you'll have any problems there Freddy K. Don't see any radar on that.
Have a look here for more pictures.

 

[Freddy K]

I don't think you'll have any problems there Freddy K. Don't see any radar on that.
Have a look here for more pictures.

Hey, great. More pictures