Ogre's Log 10/5/20

[SmilingOgre]

Today was pretty much a bust. Spent about two and a half hours working on things and came home with zero usable footage. This is not a complaint however, as some knowledge was obtained.

Found a great spot on a hill overlooking a wetland preserve. Fairly expansive area but the hill is high enough that signal held strong throughout the entire flight. It will take a few visits to get the "lay of the land" as the drone does disappear in the background from time to time. Pretty jagged crisscross flying this time. Surrounded by hardwoods so I anticipate some nice color coming up soon. Of course forgot to hit record again, I'm good at that. One problem is that the hill is bare with no shade. I think I may have found an answer. I bought an umbrella with a clamp from amazon. Gonna clamp that bugger right to my folding chair. Yup I'll look like a weird old man, but then, I am a weird old man.

Next step in the adventure was to take out my Ronin S. Oh boy, have I got some work to put in on that one. Low shots have my feet in them. Not at all used to the tilt, pan, roll settings and wanted to just grab the camera and point it many times. Things not in focus (sun again) hard to see the monitor. Maybe I can get a head band and clamp my umbrella to it. All good! I know what I need to work on.

 

[Gagey52]

Glad to hear that other people have similar issues with turning on that **** video. I don't think that it is an age thing. Is it.

 

[Skybuyer]

Thanks for sharing your adventure. As far as getting the lay of the land, so to speak, something that I've found extremely helpful is Litchi- whether you use it or not for actual flying or just for planning purposes is largely academic. The cool thing is that you can look at a map on their mission hub, create a mission and then fly it virtually with the help of the VLM app and Google Earth. To some extent it doesn't even matter if your drone can accept Litchi as you can use it solely to look over a plan before leaving home. I've got two missions stored and I'm not sure when I can get to fly them, but it's also helped me find some other interesting spots to fly without leaving my home office.

 

[Mazdaman323lx]

No even the best of use have forgotten to hit the record button , or in a rush to get up and running mistakenly double tapped it (Start-stop)

 

[SmilingOgre]

Glad to hear that other people have similar issues with turning on that **** video. I don't think that it is an age thing. Is it.

Could be, lol. Regardless, it is truly annoying. Not the first time either......

 

[SmilingOgre]

No even the best of use have forgotten to hit the record button , or in a rush to get up and running mistakenly double tapped it (Start-stop)

Thanks, appreciate knowing I'm not alone. Gonna staple a post it to my forehead.

 

[SmilingOgre]

Thanks for sharing your adventure. As far as getting the lay of the land, so to speak, something that I've found extremely helpful is Litchi- whether you use it or not for actual flying or just for planning purposes is largely academic. The cool thing is that you can look at a map on their mission hub, create a mission and then fly it virtually with the help of the VLM app and Google Earth. To some extent it doesn't even matter if your drone can accept Litchi as you can use it solely to look over a plan before leaving home. I've got two missions stored and I'm not sure when I can get to fly them, but it's also helped me find some other interesting spots to fly without leaving my home office.

I'll check that out. I have Litchi but am waiting for my MP2 to come home so I can try it. Doesn't work with the MA2. Sounds like a great idea. I'll check it out tonight.

 

[Dale D]

Today was pretty much a bust. Spent about two and a half hours working on things and came home with zero usable footage. This is not a complaint however, as some knowledge was obtained.

Found a great spot on a hill overlooking a wetland preserve. Fairly expansive area but the hill is high enough that signal held strong throughout the entire flight. It will take a few visits to get the "lay of the land" as the drone does disappear in the background from time to time. Pretty jagged crisscross flying this time. Surrounded by hardwoods so I anticipate some nice color coming up soon. Of course forgot to hit record again, I'm good at that. One problem is that the hill is bare with no shade. I think I may have found an answer. I bought an umbrella with a clamp from amazon. Gonna clamp that bugger right to my folding chair. Yup I'll look like a weird old man, but then, I am a weird old man.

Next step in the adventure was to take out my Ronin S. Oh boy, have I got some work to put in on that one. Low shots have my feet in them. Not at all used to the tilt, pan, roll settings and wanted to just grab the camera and point it many times. Things not in focus (sun again) hard to see the monitor. Maybe I can get a head band and clamp my umbrella to it. All good! I know what I need to work on.

It looks like I am the right company here! I have done a lot of those things. This week I have been working an my new project, soon to be released, volume 4 of Miami River. Of course I had a wonderful shot approaching a major bridge, artery into the city. Had it beautifully framed and lined up. On my way back (drone coming home to me) I realized I had not turned on the record video button. So I turned the bird around and re-shot the entire sequence. Luckily, there was plenty of battery remaining. I did not slap my forehead, but I should have. Other things I have done more than once, is (1) to forget my big iPad and have to depend on my phone, (2) forget the connecting cable between the iPad and the remove controller.

As I have said before, I would take a check list, but I would forget the check list.

 

[SmilingOgre]

It looks like I am the right company here! I have done a lot of those things. This week I have been working an my new project, soon to be released, volume 4 of Miami River. Of course I had a wonderful shot approaching a major bridge, artery into the city. Had it beautifully framed and lined up. On my way back (drone coming home to me) I realized I had not turned on the record video button. Crap! So I turned the bird around and re-shot the entire sequence. Luckily, there was plenty of battery remaining. I did not slap my forehead, but I should have. Other things I have done more than once, is (1) to forget my big iPad and have to depend on my phone, (2) forget the connecting cable between the iPad and the remove controller.

As I have said before, I would take a check list, but I would forget the check list.

I had to literally laugh. All I can say is "me too". I'm hoping some day I can calm down but for now I'm still nervous beginning every flight. I can feel myself getting tense. What clearance do I need? What distance can I obtain? What obstacles could I be missing? Are there people around and do they look concerned about what I am doing? Are all my parameters set correctly and do they make sense for what I going to try to do? What is the app trying to tell me now?

Then......


I forget the record button.....

 

[Chetk7677]

Yup.....been there, done that.....

 

[SmilingOgre]

Ogre's log 10/6/20 (why not keep it in one place kinda like a diary.

UPS sent me an email and I can see my little baby is about 4000 feet from my house right now. Per DJI all fixed up and rarin to go. To celebrate, I ordered a Zoom H2n recorder. Something I can just set on a mini tripod and get ambient sound while flying. We'll see how that works out. Should be convenient enough. Tiny little unit. Not home today, so no flying but will be at home the next two days. Predicting gorgeous weather. Sun and mild temps. It's gonna be hard to get through today.

 

[Skybuyer]

I'll check that out. I have Litchi but am waiting for my MP2 to come home so I can try it. Doesn't work with the MA2. Sounds like a great idea. I'll check it out tonight.

You know, you can start planning missions before you get your MP2. They'll stay saved in your mission hub. I have several designed that I want to fly when the time and weather is right... Waiting for permission, while probably unnecessary for another. Have you downloaded the VLM program yet (and Google Earth)?

 

[SmilingOgre]

You know, you can start planning missions before you get your MP2. They'll stay saved in your mission hub. I have several designed that I want to fly when the time and weather is right... Waiting for permission, while probably unnecessary for another. Have you downloaded the VLM program yet (and Google Earth)?

Thank you. I picked up on that and have two missions saved on the hub. My little buddy is coming home today and I have the next two days at home. I'm hoping to try those missions if I get the nerve up. Do you know if the "Pause" button on the controller will halt the execution of a mission? That would give me a little more confidence. My fingers must not store a lot of electrical potential. Sometimes I can poke at the cellphone screen three four times before it responds. I have a heck of a time answering calls, lol.

 

[Skybuyer]

Thank you. I picked up on that and have two missions saved on the hub. My little buddy is coming home today and I have the next two days at home. I'm hoping to try those missions if I get the nerve up. Do you know if the "Pause" button on the controller will halt the execution of a mission? That would give me a little more confidence. My fingers must not store a lot of electrical potential. Sometimes I can poke at the cellphone screen three four times before it responds. I have a heck of a time answering calls, lol.

While I haven't tested it, I'm pretty sure the pause button will stop the mission and hover. I think you can hit the RTH button on the remote to stop the mission and begin the RTH. I don't recall having used either of them. Did you watch the Phantom Film School tutorial?

One great thing about the M2 (in most cases) are the sensors. They saved me on one Litchi mission where I used the published altitude of a building as to calculate the RTH alt... but the published height of the building was only 80 feet lower than actual. Another lesson (or two) learned is, as a failsafe always double-check your RTH height and nearby obstacles. Also, I make sure that my home point and the end of the mission has a direct line of sight that does not go over a structure if it can be avoided. One way to do that is indicated, in the settings, you can set to "reverse" if it helps bring the quad back closer to home point or where there is a direct bee-line back without crossing obstacles.

 

[Mazdaman323lx]

Smiling Ogre , also remember that even though you may have not gotten the footage you wanted , anything that gets you out of the house and off the couch is a good thing . I've been places and seen some beautiful scenery , places that I probably would never haver bothered visiting had i not had the drone .

 

[SmilingOgre]

@vindibona1 Great stuff!!! Very appreciated. I'm going to start with nothing i am interested in filming. Just something safe to see what happens. Your writing gives me a lot of good direction to do this.

 

[SmilingOgre]

Smiling Ogre , also remember that even though you may have not gotten the footage you wanted , anything that gets you out of the house and off the couch is a good thing . I've been places and seen some beautiful scenery , places that I probably would never haver bothered visiting had i not had the drone .

You know it my friend!!!

 

[hiflyer201]

Yup.....been there, done that.....

I just don't take it so bad anymore...

 

[SmilingOgre]

My baby is home!!! Updated everything to latest and greatest. Went through calibrating the IMU, GPS, Controller. Set things like RTH rule, max height, max distance, video format, etc. By then the battery was low. Tomorrow I'll set the photograph settings and review all of the control settings. Maybe even go for a flight!!!

 

[SmilingOgre]

Ogre's log 10/7/20....

Not sure what they sent me. As if the drone were new there were stickers everywhere on the thing. I had a label with my FAA license number on my drone and it is no longer there. The drone has a new serial number. I was charged to replace two cowlings and one gimbal arm. Is this my original drone? Is this a replacement refurbished drone? Is this a new drone? No idea. It's really academic as long as the thing flies right. Still, an interesting muse.