Night Trip

[MrsTreat]

I am going to attempt a night flight and I don’t expect much trouble after reading a lot about it. I’ve practiced in daylight, turning off bottom sensors, and so far I think I’m doing ok.

My question is how much light is enough for my bottom sensors to work correctly? Although it will be dark I’ll be taking off from under a particularly bright street light. So maybe I can just leave my bird in normal mode - all sensors on. Or will that cause an issue some time during the flight? Thoughts?

Thanks,
T

 

[Jacknet007]

At night it gives an alert that the ambient light is too low. It just won't be able to avoid obstacles and no precision landings but otherwise it works. Prob have to set video camera to 3200 ISO to see anything. The front lights will turn off while recording but if you need a visual sighting turn off recording and you will see 2 haunting red bright lights in the sky to show you where it is!

 

[Top Hat]

Also expect slight drifting and elevation fluctuations, be ready for that and don't panic.

 

[msinger]

My question is how much light is enough for my bottom sensors to work correctly? Although it will be dark I’ll be taking off from under a particularly bright street light. So maybe I can just leave my bird in normal mode - all sensors on. Or will that cause an issue some time during the flight?

When flying at night, it would be safest to turn the sensors off in most cases. They will not be very useful if they are not providing the proper feedback. If you're able to fly in a space that is free of obstacles, you could certainly keep them on and see what happens in your lighting conditions.

 

[lisadoc]

My question is how much light is enough for my bottom sensors to work correctly? Although it will be dark I’ll be taking off from under a particularly bright street light. So maybe I can just leave my bird in normal mode - all sensors on. Or will that cause an issue some time during the flight? Thoughts?

You can do precision landing with downward sensors in street lamp lighting. I do it all the time. Otherwise, the sensors aren't worth much during the rest of the flight. I don't don't bother to turn them off during night flights though and notice no real ill effects.

 

[L.L.]

I fly at night often but only in my home areas where the terrain is very familiar to me so the sensors aren't really important in terms of obstacle avoidance. Some areas within a 2k ft radius is pitch black so the "ambient light too low" warning is something I see pop up often and I ignore it with no ill effects.

As far as I can tell, there is no difference in stability between night and daytime flights thus far. As Jacknet mentioned above, ISO3200 is a must if you want to see anything on the tablet or phone. You can record good footage with decent exposures at lower ISO but to see anything on the screen while flying is impossible at lower ISO settings. The most important thing is to beware of overhead lines/wires. They are practically invisible at night!

 

[Pathogen]

Here is a helpful post made some time ago, hope it helps!

Here's how to shoot night video...