New Member

[Avandriver]

Hello Guys

Just dropping in to say Hi. I have been an amateur photographer for quite a few years, seeing pictures from a higher viewpoint has encouraged me to buy a drone and have a go myself.

Completely new to a drone (I am almost sixty you know) so I could be asking lots of questions.


Steve

 

[GFields]

Greetings from Birmingham Alabama USA, welcome to the forum!

 

[MA2 317]

Hello from the Crossroads of America Avandriver.

Welcome to the Forum.

 

[LoudThunder]

Completely new to a drone (I am almost sixty you know) so I could be asking lots of questions.

Welcome from the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, USA. We have a Member's Map in the Upper Right of the Title Bar. Click "Members", then "Member's Map"… Check it out and you might find some new flying friends. I clicked on the Bolton area and you've got a lot of company…

Member Map

mavicpilots.com

Since you live in the UK, there are specific laws and rules for you to follow, please check to ensure these are current.

Drone Laws in The UK [Updated March 19, 2024]

According to CAA, drones are allowed in the UK, subject to CAA regulations. Read on for more details.

drone-laws.com

Even if you may have flown Drones before, here is some Good Old Fashion Advice…

Do not let the excitement of the moment get the best of you. When you are going out to fly, do it slowly and deliberately. Get used to a set procedure and even practice it.

There are so many things I could write but these are the highlights that I feel need mentioning.

Plug in your phone/tablet into your controller; turn on the Controller and DJI Fly App (if it does not start on its own…). On the Drone, open the front legs, then open the back legs, then remove the Gimbal Cover.

The Gimbal is the most delicate item on the Drone and banging or bumping can damage it. I also fastened a short "Remove Before Flight" ribbon to the cover so it's more noticeable and I do not forget to remove it…

Turn on the drone and watch it come to "life." Watching the Gimbal go through its self-check is almost like watching a kitten or puppy opening its eyes for the first time…

Place the drone down (preferably on a Landing Pad) while it finishes its self-test (collecting satellites, etc…).

Check your battery status (Phone, Drone, and Controller), check the Signal Strength, by now the Controller should have reported it updated the Home Point.

Lift off, 4-5 feet (1-1/2 meters) or so, hover a bit, check the controls (move the drone a bit forward, back, left, right, yaw left and right). By now, your Controller will probably report again, Home point Updated.

If you go out in a rush and race thru your start up and take off before the drone has finished it prep, it may update its Home Point over that pond or that old tree you are flying over and in your excitement, you'll fly the drone long past it Low Battery point and when it engages Return to Home and lands in the pond or in a tree; it will be all on you…

Now go have fun, learn to fly the drone by sight before you try to fly it out a distance depending on the video feed, FPV.

I would also advise you to use YouTube and watch a lot of the Videos on flying and setting up the Drone. When it is too dark, too cold, or too wet, you can "fly it vicariously" through YouTube. Also watch some of the Blooper Drone Videos and learn how not to fly your "New Baby."

Tell us what you are flying and we might be able to hook you up with some great Web Links…

Happy Droning…

 

[Avandriver]

Welcome from the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, USA. We have a Member's Map in the Upper Right of the Title Bar. Click "Members", then "Member's Map"… Check it out and you might find some new flying friends. I clicked on the Bolton area and you've got a lot of company…

Member Map

mavicpilots.com

Since you live in the UK, there are specific laws and rules for you to follow, please check to ensure these are current.

Drone Laws in The UK [Updated March 19, 2024]

According to CAA, drones are allowed in the UK, subject to CAA regulations. Read on for more details.

drone-laws.com

Even if you may have flown Drones before, here is some Good Old Fashion Advice…

Do not let the excitement of the moment get the best of you. When you are going out to fly, do it slowly and deliberately. Get used to a set procedure and even practice it.

There are so many things I could write but these are the highlights that I feel need mentioning.

Plug in your phone/tablet into your controller; turn on the Controller and DJI Fly App (if it does not start on its own…). On the Drone, open the front legs, then open the back legs, then remove the Gimbal Cover.

The Gimbal is the most delicate item on the Drone and banging or bumping can damage it. I also fastened a short "Remove Before Flight" ribbon to the cover so it's more noticeable and I do not forget to remove it…

Turn on the drone and watch it come to "life." Watching the Gimbal go through its self-check is almost like watching a kitten or puppy opening its eyes for the first time…

Place the drone down (preferably on a Landing Pad) while it finishes its self-test (collecting satellites, etc…).

Check your battery status (Phone, Drone, and Controller), check the Signal Strength, by now the Controller should have reported it updated the Home Point.

Lift off, 4-5 feet (1-1/2 meters) or so, hover a bit, check the controls (move the drone a bit forward, back, left, right, yaw left and right). By now, your Controller will probably report again, Home point Updated.

If you go out in a rush and race thru your start up and take off before the drone has finished it prep, it may update its Home Point over that pond or that old tree you are flying over and in your excitement, you'll fly the drone long past it Low Battery point and when it engages Return to Home and lands in the pond or in a tree; it will be all on you…

Now go have fun, learn to fly the drone by sight before you try to fly it out a distance depending on the video feed, FPV.

I would also advise you to use YouTube and watch a lot of the Videos on flying and setting up the Drone. When it is too dark, too cold, or too wet, you can "fly it vicariously" through YouTube. Also watch some of the Blooper Drone Videos and learn how not to fly your "New Baby."

Tell us what you are flying and we might be able to hook you up with some great Web Links…

Happy Droning…

Thank you for the welcome and the advice .

I always spend some time researching new stuff so I am well aware of the regulations and restrictions . I have done the “online test “ and acquired all the relevant permissions to fly.

Although the test was a bit of a farce making the £10 cost of the registration seem more like a tax on having a hobby.

I have not purchased a drone yet but I will be very soon . I don’t have a great deal of disposable income so I will be keeping it cheap and easy . A DJI mini 2 looks like a great starter drone so that is the one I will go for .

looking forward to getting airborne and sharing my pictures and video .

steve

 

[Lykus]

Thank you for the welcome and the advice .

I always spend some time researching new stuff so I am well aware of the regulations and restrictions . I have done the “online test “ and acquired all the relevant permissions to fly.

Although the test was a bit of a farce making the £10 cost of the registration seem more like a tax on having a hobby.

I have not purchased a drone yet but I will be very soon . I don’t have a great deal of disposable income so I will be keeping it cheap and easy . A DJI mini 2 looks like a great starter drone so that is the one I will go for .

looking forward to getting airborne and sharing my pictures and video .

steve

Welcome to the forum. It's great to expand into camera drones while you have already known something about photography. Mini 2 is a great choice to start with. You'll find yourself eventually move up to a higher level drone. Enjoy!

 

[LoudThunder]

A DJI mini 2 looks like a great starter drone so that is the one I will go for . looking forward to getting airborne and sharing my pictures and video .

I fly the Mini 2 and I love it. I have friends with the Mini 3 and the Phantom P4, both are more sophisticated than mine, but I did not spend anywhere near as much. Here is in the States you can get a Mini 2 for about $440 (use google to figure your cost…). The mini 2 can shoot 4K video and 12 MB photos. As for me, I like to shoot Photospheres. I've linked on below that I shot yesterday and published on Google Earth and Google Maps.

Hampton Air Power Park from 200 Feet…

A Photosphere is more than just a photo, but a complete 360 degree "look around" You can scroll all over the place, Up, Down, Left and Right, and even Zoom in...

If they offer the DJI Care Refresh in the UK, buy it instead of any other insurance that might be offered by the dealer. The DJI Care Refresh covers crashes and Flyaways… These other policies offered by non-DJI are really great policies if you bought a Camera, a computer, a tablet, but they do not cover crashes nor a drone that went out of control and flew away…

Just in case you do go for the Mini 2… below is the link to all of the downloads offered by DJI for the Mini 2, including the User Manual.

After you read the Manual, read it again, you will be surprised what you missed the first time and you will be better prepared for that first "scary moment…"

DJI Mini 2 - Download Center - DJI

At DJI Download Center, Learn aboutDJI Mini 2

www.dji.com

Happy Droning…

 

[dirkclod]

Welcome to the forum.
Please and do be sure you have read our guidelines.
I hope you will find our site helpful and look forward to any input , photo's/video's you might post .
Don't be shy and ask anything if you can't find it by searching .

 

[Drone Master]

Welcome to Mavic Pilots! Enjoy the forum!

 

[Gagey52]

Greetings Steve, welcome to the forum from the outback of Australia. Look forward to your input on the forum.
Regards

 

[Kendallfordguy]

Welcome from Wisconsin!

 

[Tarmactripper]

Welcome to the forum, your a baby lol I'm 73 and i love my mini 2

 

[YVRGUY]

Hello Guys

Just dropping in to say Hi. I have been an amateur photographer for quite a few years, seeing pictures from a higher viewpoint has encouraged me to buy a drone and have a go myself.

Completely new to a drone (I am almost sixty you know) so I could be asking lots of questions.


Steve

Welcome from across the pond The Mini 2 is a great bird, you’ll really enjoy it.

BTW, we’d have you carbon dated but some ( a good number of us) broke the **** calibration setting on the machine. The results have all of us pegged at 20 years old (in our minds) and the rest is history…a great amount of history.

Have fun…be safe

 

[wjkrysak]

Welcome to the forum. We look forward to your participation and your view of the world.

 

[chopperguy]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[old man mavic]

welcome to the forum

 

[lensimages]

Hello Guys

Just dropping in to say Hi. I have been an amateur photographer for quite a few years, seeing pictures from a higher viewpoint has encouraged me to buy a drone and have a go myself.

Completely new to a drone (I am almost sixty you know) so I could be asking lots of questions.


Steve

Age is no barrier, I’m 81 still flying still learning, welcome to the forum, cheers Len

 

[Lastrexking]

Hello from Yorkshire

 

[lensimages]

Hello from Yorkshire

Hello Yorkshire, hope you enjoy the forum, cheers from Len in South Wales

 

[djwak59]

Hello Guys

Just dropping in to say Hi. I have been an amateur photographer for quite a few years, seeing pictures from a higher viewpoint has encouraged me to buy a drone and have a go myself.

Completely new to a drone (I am almost sixty you know) so I could be asking lots of questions.


Steve

Hello from Indiana U.S.A.
There’s lots of very knowledgeable flyers here and tons of insight. I’m hope all the rules and regulations you’ll encounter don’t put too much of a damper on your enjoyment of flying. Good luck to you !