- Joined
- Mar 20, 2019
- Messages
- 49
- Reactions
- 35
well, not sure i'd call myself a pilot as of yet especially compared to the rest of you; my time in the air is very short but I've definitely got the bug so i just clicked 'buy' on the DJI website and my Mavic 2 Pro order is underway.
As i said my history is short, i have coworkers that are drone enthusiasts and even after talking with them, seeing their drones (grounded) it didn't really strike me as a hobby i'd be interested in, until, my wife and i were in our back yard and she pointed beyond, my house borders the everglades separated by a canal, "I wonder what it looks like back there".
So that started the thought process, i had no idea of the advancement of technology and my mind was stuck back to my childhood of 'cheap' RC copters flipping after 20 seconds of flight and after some reading, examples of communities such as this forum i had gained enough confidence to try it out.
I was looking through the daily deals on woot.com and found a pretty good deal for an eHang GhostDrone 2.0 VR. i read through the details, researched ratings, etc. and it was priced right @ 75% off of retail ($899 @ bestbuy). i figured, i could take a low financial risk to see what droning is all about and if i liked it, i could upgrade.
well my eHang experience was relatively short-lived; the product arrived with a bad battery, company wouldn't support it (nor the drone) because of how i bought it, regardless of it being new, in a sealed box. and further research online showed eHang recently closed a US based facility (for various reasons) and liquidated the product there for pennies on the dollar and it was a first come first serve in person event and apparently i bought one from someone who was there at that time, thus the price drop. additionally they are having a great deal of issues on batteries.
with that said, after i bought 2 more batteries directly from eHang i was able to get 5 flights in totaling 3 miles in coverage. The camera never recorded nor rendered a picture on the VR goggles so i finally asked Woot for a refund and shipped it back; still haven't gotten my money yet but fingers are crossed. and now i'm stuck with two batteries that cost $300 total but hoping to ebay those to at least recover half.
needless to say, i was bitten and nearly obsessed over getting the RIGHT drone, avoiding a china based company (due to my experience with eHang) (ironic right?) and all those hours lead me to DJI and the Mavic 2 so here i am. I got the whole enchilada; M2P, Smart Controller (on backorder), VR goggles RE, all the accessories i could find/read on this forum and made the 'click' today so now i'm anxiously waiting for it to arrive.
my intent is strictly enthusiast, pics for my own edification/use (although i said that with underwater photography and I've sold some prints in an amateur setting); i fly the drone and my wife wears the goggles and can see first hand what the 'glades look like and our surrounding areas like the close islands in the Florida keys, wind permitting of course.
Anyway, I've always been a better lurker than a community participant and i hope to change that here as this seems like a supportive community, I've been in technology for over 30 years and always on the bleeding edge (every function in my house is automated from my mobile devices), and i'd like to think no tech intimidates me, but will admit, i am a little with this; but i hope to learn quickly and share my experience.
--Cloudnine
As i said my history is short, i have coworkers that are drone enthusiasts and even after talking with them, seeing their drones (grounded) it didn't really strike me as a hobby i'd be interested in, until, my wife and i were in our back yard and she pointed beyond, my house borders the everglades separated by a canal, "I wonder what it looks like back there".
So that started the thought process, i had no idea of the advancement of technology and my mind was stuck back to my childhood of 'cheap' RC copters flipping after 20 seconds of flight and after some reading, examples of communities such as this forum i had gained enough confidence to try it out.
I was looking through the daily deals on woot.com and found a pretty good deal for an eHang GhostDrone 2.0 VR. i read through the details, researched ratings, etc. and it was priced right @ 75% off of retail ($899 @ bestbuy). i figured, i could take a low financial risk to see what droning is all about and if i liked it, i could upgrade.
well my eHang experience was relatively short-lived; the product arrived with a bad battery, company wouldn't support it (nor the drone) because of how i bought it, regardless of it being new, in a sealed box. and further research online showed eHang recently closed a US based facility (for various reasons) and liquidated the product there for pennies on the dollar and it was a first come first serve in person event and apparently i bought one from someone who was there at that time, thus the price drop. additionally they are having a great deal of issues on batteries.
with that said, after i bought 2 more batteries directly from eHang i was able to get 5 flights in totaling 3 miles in coverage. The camera never recorded nor rendered a picture on the VR goggles so i finally asked Woot for a refund and shipped it back; still haven't gotten my money yet but fingers are crossed. and now i'm stuck with two batteries that cost $300 total but hoping to ebay those to at least recover half.
needless to say, i was bitten and nearly obsessed over getting the RIGHT drone, avoiding a china based company (due to my experience with eHang) (ironic right?) and all those hours lead me to DJI and the Mavic 2 so here i am. I got the whole enchilada; M2P, Smart Controller (on backorder), VR goggles RE, all the accessories i could find/read on this forum and made the 'click' today so now i'm anxiously waiting for it to arrive.
my intent is strictly enthusiast, pics for my own edification/use (although i said that with underwater photography and I've sold some prints in an amateur setting); i fly the drone and my wife wears the goggles and can see first hand what the 'glades look like and our surrounding areas like the close islands in the Florida keys, wind permitting of course.
Anyway, I've always been a better lurker than a community participant and i hope to change that here as this seems like a supportive community, I've been in technology for over 30 years and always on the bleeding edge (every function in my house is automated from my mobile devices), and i'd like to think no tech intimidates me, but will admit, i am a little with this; but i hope to learn quickly and share my experience.
--Cloudnine
