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Power lines and the cosmic vortex?

judging by some of the replies appearing now ,it seems that this thread has become somewhat of a joke ,can we keep it on topic please
Ahh... boys just want to have fun.. Or something like that.. but thanks for your concern.. it could get out of hand in a hurry!
 
I have a 260’ cell tower ~0.25 miles from the house. I was flying and in a climb ~175’ AGL when a warning flashed up on my screen stating “Warning, Radar in the area, fly with caution!” (Or words to that affect)... The only thing I can think of is the cell tower... There is no radar in the area!!
 
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Hey... A.O. ... thats me!:D

Not sure you would want to get any closer anyway..
Yea I didn’t need to I got what I wanted. Our power has been flickering on and off during wind lately and after reading in this I figured I could see what would the Pro would do close and check my wires at the same time.
 
Well that was kind of scary cool... but... it showed that the lines had no effect on the control of your drone, and I have no where near that many lines here... Thanks.
Yeah, but generally stay away from them anyway. They are friggin' annoying.
 
This issue comes up frequently, and the answers remain the same. The magnetic effects are minimal because the magnetic field reverses itself 60times a second, essentially acting as a demagnetizer.

In terms of radio interference, the radio signals are very low frequency, far far away from the frequencies used by drones. They will not interference with drone to controller communications.

A frequent source of problems are other WiFi transmissions from home routers. They do operate in the frequency bands used by drones, and will cause big problems.

Any other signal in the 2.5 - 5 ghz range will also cause problems.
 
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I agree that power lines at the low frequency they operate should not interfere with the RC/AC radio signal.

Its also true that contacting one line in general will do nothing.

But there's more to consider than loss of radio signal or making a direct path of dangerous current.

If you're close enough to the tower which is grounded when you touch a line, and the voltage is high enough, electricity can arc through the air, through the AC, and then to ground. Just Google videos of kites getting too close to the lines and see how far the electricity arcs.

Also with the high current, a strong alternating magnetic field can be generated which can mess with the compass, and also generate unwanted current in the AC circuits and motors. After all, that is how transformers work.

It's just best to stay a good distance away for many existing and potential issues, including physical, electrical and magnetic.
 
I agree that power lines at the low frequency they operate should not interfere with the RC/AC radio signal.

Its also true that contacting one line in general will do nothing.

But there's more to consider than loss of radio signal or making a direct path of dangerous current.

If you're close enough to the tower which is grounded when you touch a line, and the voltage is high enough, electricity can arc through the air, through the AC, and then to ground. Just Google videos of kites getting too close to the lines and see how far the electricity arcs.

Also with the high current, a strong alternating magnetic field can be generated which can mess with the compass, and also generate unwanted current in the AC circuits and motors. After all, that is how transformers work.

It's just best to stay a good distance away for many existing and potential issues, including physical, electrical and magnetic.
I plan to stay a good distance, it was more of a" what if" question... in case I needed to go over there for some reason.
 
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I plan to stay a good distance, it was more of a" what if" question... in case I needed to go over there for some reason.
Agreed. Chances are low that a problem will develop, but not that improbable. 100ft or more distance should be sufficient.

Anyone remember the topic where a Mavic's gimbal caught a transmission line, flipped the gimbal back where it got clamped onto the line? I believe it was the original Mavic or a Platinum.
 
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@A.O. if anything can be gleaned from this thread ,whether you are flying a drone on earth, or something from a Star.Trek episode then its probably the fact that powerlines ,of any sort are best avoided if at all possible ,due to what they may or may not do to our drones or our wallets if we damage them
 
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The electro magnetic field around power lines will be relatively weak as it depends on the current flowing, which for large voltage lines, is small, hence the very high efficiency in AC power transmission. So you are pretty safe as long as you don't get real close to the lines.
 
Strange thread name but thats how I get you to look.

So, question.. I have a set of high power lines going through my property, no not sure of the voltage. It the "trunk line"? for the household power in the area mostly rural.
Do power lines like this effect my drone flying in any way? I know the obvious part about running into them but do they disrupt the radio waves or anything like that if I were to fly under them or around them or anything?

Thanks
I have them across our property. I have heard from the power company when they have accessed the property (sadly, they have a huge right-of-way across the land) that they are 330,000 volts. I fly right up next to them, just above them, and the only time I get into trouble is when I almost hit them. Oddly, I tried to get some photos of a new office being built for my medical practice, and a much more typical power line near the office (I am told those are 4,800 volts) really affects the signal, totally making the Mavic Air 1 that I own fly in really jerky motions and making me scared that it wasn't going to ever get back to me from 300 feet away. I do not understand the science of this at all.
 
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DJI_0708.MP4.00_00_58_14.Still001.jpg

That's where the zoom function comes in handy, you can stay back a little farther...
 
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Zoom? How?
FN button and the gimbal wheel or onscreen with the app by touching the screen and the slider appears on the right side in video in certain modes. 2X at 4k and 4X at 1080P. It will zoom at 2.7k as well, I just can't remember if it's 2X or 4X. This was a screen grab from a 2.7k video file.
 
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FN button and the gimbal wheel or onscreen with the app by touching the screen and the slider appears on the right side in video in certain modes. 2X at 4k and 4X at 1080P. It will zoom at 2.7k as well, I just can't remember if it's 2X or 4X. This was a screen grab from a 2.7k video file.
I’ll try it out
 
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I have a 260’ cell tower ~0.25 miles from the house. I was flying and in a climb ~175’ AGL when a warning flashed up on my screen stating “Warning, Radar in the area, fly with caution!” (Or words to that affect)... The only thing I can think of is the cell tower... There is no radar in the area!!
1. DJI drones don't have any warning about radar
2. The cell tower wasn't the cause of whatever the warning was about.
 
Strange thread name but thats how I get you to look.

So, question.. I have a set of high power lines going through my property, no not sure of the voltage. It the "trunk line"? for the household power in the area mostly rural.
Do power lines like this effect my drone flying in any way? I know the obvious part about running into them but do they disrupt the radio waves or anything like that if I were to fly under them or around them or anything?

Thanks
I have lines around my land and no total difference in commutation, but very deceiving to fly around so be very careful
 
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