Quick video flying close to powerlines

[Jbax]

I wanted to see how Mav was close to powerlines so I hit record and made a little vid.

Handled great, has anyone had any issues near powerlines?

I’d have no fear after getting this close, don’t think I’d want to go closer

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

You were game flying over water during the test flight
Will have to give this a go sometime myself to see how mine goes.

 

[Mossiback]

Don't get too close. I believe the problem is that the power lines can mess with the compass.

 

[Simmo]

Personally, I think you were very much tempting fate.....

The strongest magnetic fields are usually emitted from high voltage transmission lines — the power lines on the big, tall metal towers. To be sure that you are reducing the exposure levels to 0.5 milligauss (mG) or less, a safety distance of 700 feet may be needed.

emfinfo.org/guidelines-distance.html

 

[Dabrain]

I fly over power lines every time I fly from my house. Usually above them by 100' but have been as close as 30'. Have never flown under them, I consider that to risky for lots of reasons. Haven't noticed any problems or any messages from Go4 or RC.

 

[N_S_Mavic]

Thumb up for you. But i dont want to challenge my drone that way. Lol

 

[Keule]

At one instance, i hovered diagonally at a distance of approx. 50m in height and distance of the power lines, the RC lost connection to the AC while doing a pano (5 bars signal strength).
The connection came back after a few seconds and i flew back home safely.

Another day, another place, near a power line, the video feed crashed completely. RC and AC had connection. Flying away from the power lines, video feed was back to normal.

So, I tend to stay away from power lines.

 

[Jbax]

I did take some time first making sure everything felt okay before heading over the water.
I have flown near lines before without incident, I once flew over a large substation and also had no problems. Always a little cautious of these places though.

 

[2nckayakers]

I have seen videos of guys flying a lot closer than that doing power line inspections with a Phantom so I wouldn't worry too much about flying with the separation that you have in the video.

 

[Brojon]

I have never had issues with power lines or microwave towers except when they're between me and the drone when it can cause video issues.
The one that really seems to mess mine up is construction sites. We have one next to where I work where they're building a 24 story hotel. It has one of those ginormous cranes and I think it's that thing that makes it spit out a steady stream of bad video, jerky controls and a stream of "Warning! High Interference - fly with caution" or something to that effect. If I get 50 m away it clears up. Needless to say I just don't go there much as I'd love to film the construction.

 

[Bunny Too]

I have never had issues with power lines or microwave towers except when they're between me and the drone when it can cause video issues.
The one that really seems to mess mine up is construction sites. We have one next to where I work where they're building a 24 story hotel. It has one of those ginormous cranes and I think it's that thing that makes it spit out a steady stream of bad video, jerky controls and a stream of "Warning! High Interference - fly with caution" or something to that effect. If I get 50 m away it clears up. Needless to say I just don't go there much as I'd love to film the construction.

What do you suppose construction site have that messes up the reception, two way radios?

 

[BIGDAVE]

I wanted to see how Mav was close to powerlines so I hit record and made a little vid.

Handled great, has anyone had any issues near powerlines?

I’d have no fear after getting this close, don’t think I’d want to go closer

I live right next to the same kind and they go behind and alongside my home. I NEVER GET CLOSE but always wondered what's up with that. I've read a lot of people are losing connections lately and thought that was the cause. Now I've got to figure out this bug. It never ends does it. Now I know thanks!!!?

 

[2nckayakers]

A lot of steel will cause interference and splotchy video. I have had the same thing happen around steel bridges.

 

[Brojon]

What do you suppose construction site have that messes up the reception, two way radios?

My guess - and it is a guess - is that huge crane that is embedded into the actual framework of the hotel. It has to draw a huge amount of power and I'm sure it's fed with big unshielded power cables acting like a 250 ft antenna - which is how high it sits right now.
Then there's the myriad small power tools and as mentioned 2 way radios...

 

[f3honda4me]

I have personally seen at least two crashes caused by power lines on these forums after users posted the DAT files and we dug into everything that happened. So, it's a risk. Might be fine, might not be.

 

[bunzik]

Tried to takeoff near powerlines
Didn't get enough saterlight
And tried several time to calibre compes with no success

 

[mark.sear]

I wanted to see how Mav was close to powerlines so I hit record and made a little vid.

Handled great, has anyone had any issues near powerlines?

I’d have no fear after getting this close, don’t think I’d want to go closer

Yes, it does indeed affect the compass. Try flying under the powerlines. I did this with a highly modified Q500, surrounded by a triangle of domestic power lines, it went crazy flying in circles with no stick input until it dive bombed me before crashing into grass. It was truly spooky!

 

[Wakesetter101]

How are power lines affecting the radio? Power lines are at 60hz while the radio is operating at 2.4 GHz. It should have no affect I would think. I can understand how it could cause compass issues with the large metal towers and current flow.

 

[Brojon]

How are power lines affecting the radio? Power lines are at 60hz while the radio is operating at 2.4 GHz. It should have no affect I would think. I can understand how it could cause compass issues with the large metal towers and current flow.

It is nevertheless a strong EM field and can swamp the smaller signal from the aircraft. Result would be a signal loss.
Folks mentioning the compass need to realize that the compass only affects heading - not position which is the province of the GPS, nor the height which is controlled by the barometer.

 

[Dw911]

I wanted to see how Mav was close to powerlines so I hit record and made a little vid.

Handled great, has anyone had any issues near powerlines?

I’d have no fear after getting this close, don’t think I’d want to go closer

Its not ideal to fly too close, on some you can, and as you proved, and have no issues.
But you could as easily go to another set of lines fly the same distance as you did on this set of lines and find you lose control, why, its all down to noise on the lines, the more noise on the lines the greater the risk of it interfearing with the signal between your controller and your mavic.

You should never risk flying your mavic under the lines, although you could recharge you mavic battery from under the lines if you had a few bits with you