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Recommendations for Search and Rescue drone?

Tourmax

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Hello all. I’ll start off by saying I have pretty much “0” experience with drones of any type.

Currently, I’m a member of the local ground search team. I’m a recently retired flight engineer (RCAF)and I flew choppers for 28 years in SAR. Here’s my last aircraft:

71296

Came a point where I was just so injured, I just couldn’t conduct flight ops any longer. So they pensioned me off medically and now I’m full time retired.

But SAR gets in the blood, so I joined the local ground search teams. Since I’m busted up pretty good, I use my Argo (amphibious 8x8 ATV) to search trails and such:

71297

That’s an older pic from when I first bought it. It’s been fairly extensively reworked since then for SAR use.

But being a former aviator, I know there’s nothing like an arial view for seeing objects down through the trees. Very often, it’s difficult to impossible to see very far off the trail due to the density of the forests around here and you see things in an arial view you would drive right by on the ground.

So I was thinking a drone might be a good addition to our search capabilities, using the Argo as a “mothership”. Ie: launch the drone to look just a bit further off the trail when the trees get too thick.

As to what would work best, I’m lost. Extensive reading on the subject has become “information overload” at this point.

So here’s what I think I would need:

1. Range: doesn’t need to be far. 1-2 kms would probably do. More is better, but absolute range can be sacrificed for the next item.
2. Flight time: obviously, more is better here. But somewhere in the 7-8 minute range would prob work. I can always keep a couple spare batteries on hand.
3. Video: recording isn’t really needed, but the operator needs to “see” the feed in “real time” to locate the search object.

Not sure what else would be needed.

Auto-return would probably be a useful feature.
Height would only be a couple hundred feet at best. Trees top out around 60-70 feet here, so 100-150 would prob work. Higher would allow you to see a larger area, but would probably sacrifice some of the detail on the ground.

Now the most restricting criteria: cost.

There is no organization budget to speak of. It’s a provincially run volunteer group. So this is on my dime. A couple hundred bucks would be ideal, but that seems to limit me to retail stuff, which all seems to be more “toys” than anything else and highly likely to be next to useless for my purposes.

I’m not adverse to buying something in kit form and assembling it. I’m more than capable, both mechanically and electronically.

I actually used to build and fly RC helicopters, but that was a long time ago. My last heli was a thunder tiger raptor 30. Nitro, FM, etc. Still have it on the shelf in the garage, although it hasn’t turned a rotor in more than a decade.

So I’m not new to RC flight, but drone stuff is all new to me.

Anyone want to take a stab at a recommendation for my purposes?

Cheers

Ps: my apologies if this isn’t posted in the right place.
 
First off THANK YOU for your service to others. Welcome to the forum and the addiction we call flying drones/sUAS.

I think about ANY sUAS is better than no sUAS but it really depends on your budget. You can get into SAR drones using a $500 unit or you can go All In with a Custom Built system designed for Public Safety from the ground up with a price tag over $80K.

The current options are many (thank goodness) and increasing every day. We fly a Yuneec H520 (has thermal and RGB camera) and a Mavic Platinum for SAR operations. These are what I'd call on the low end for SAR but they do help our SITU a lot. If you want to go bigger you could opt for the DJI Matrice 210 V2 but you're probably going to spend around $25K to get the high resolution cameras, spotlights etc.

The Mavic 2 Entrerprise DUAL is an excellent aircraft that includes thermal (low resolution though) and RGB sensors and some other neat "extras" for Public Safety and it has a palatable price point of around $3K IIRC.
 
Hello all. I’ll start off by saying I have pretty much “0” experience with drones of any type.

Currently, I’m a member of the local ground search team. I’m a recently retired flight engineer (RCAF)and I flew choppers for 28 years in SAR. Here’s my last aircraft:

View attachment 71296

Came a point where I was just so injured, I just couldn’t conduct flight ops any longer. So they pensioned me off medically and now I’m full time retired.

But SAR gets in the blood, so I joined the local ground search teams. Since I’m busted up pretty good, I use my Argo (amphibious 8x8 ATV) to search trails and such:

View attachment 71297

That’s an older pic from when I first bought it. It’s been fairly extensively reworked since then for SAR use.

But being a former aviator, I know there’s nothing like an arial view for seeing objects down through the trees. Very often, it’s difficult to impossible to see very far off the trail due to the density of the forests around here and you see things in an arial view you would drive right by on the ground.

So I was thinking a drone might be a good addition to our search capabilities, using the Argo as a “mothership”. Ie: launch the drone to look just a bit further off the trail when the trees get too thick.

As to what would work best, I’m lost. Extensive reading on the subject has become “information overload” at this point.

So here’s what I think I would need:

1. Range: doesn’t need to be far. 1-2 kms would probably do. More is better, but absolute range can be sacrificed for the next item.
2. Flight time: obviously, more is better here. But somewhere in the 7-8 minute range would prob work. I can always keep a couple spare batteries on hand.
3. Video: recording isn’t really needed, but the operator needs to “see” the feed in “real time” to locate the search object.

Not sure what else would be needed.

Auto-return would probably be a useful feature.
Height would only be a couple hundred feet at best. Trees top out around 60-70 feet here, so 100-150 would prob work. Higher would allow you to see a larger area, but would probably sacrifice some of the detail on the ground.

Now the most restricting criteria: cost.

There is no organization budget to speak of. It’s a provincially run volunteer group. So this is on my dime. A couple hundred bucks would be ideal, but that seems to limit me to retail stuff, which all seems to be more “toys” than anything else and highly likely to be next to useless for my purposes.

I’m not adverse to buying something in kit form and assembling it. I’m more than capable, both mechanically and electronically.

I actually used to build and fly RC helicopters, but that was a long time ago. My last heli was a thunder tiger raptor 30. Nitro, FM, etc. Still have it on the shelf in the garage, although it hasn’t turned a rotor in more than a decade.

So I’m not new to RC flight, but drone stuff is all new to me.

Anyone want to take a stab at a recommendation for my purposes?

Cheers

Ps: my apologies if this isn’t posted in the right place.

Welcome you are in the correct place. Your budget is a little slim for a truly reliable machine which I would assume is the biggest concern in a SAR operation but if you are willing to stretch just a little you can get really good deals on a Mavic Pro fly more combo right now which would meet all your criteria and more.

Staying in your budget the DJI Spark is probably the best option. It meets all your criteria but is much more limited in flight time over the Mavic Pro and will struggle a bit in higher winds but meets all your criteria.
 
Sadly, a couple hundred bucks won't do it. You mentioned dense forests and for that you would need a decent thermal camera to find someone under a canopy, and these cameras are not inexpensive. Even in the open a person is pretty small on the viewing screen and can be easily missed. Also at 1 to 2 kms in a forest you will need a strong/reliable RC connection (trees tend to scatter/absorb signal) which you will not get with an inexpensive craft. As mentioned by @BigAl07 the M2E Dual would satisfy your requirements but at a cost of ~$3,000 US. There is the Parrot Bebop-Pro Thermal drone for half the price that would be worth looking at. It is an entry-level unit but better than nothing. The bottom line is if this is for SAR where lives are at stake, you would want the best IR camera on a reliable platform and neither are inexpensive.

Whatever you get, you should also attach a Marco Polo type device to it. With some kind of tracker attached it will be much easier to find it should it go down in a forest.
 
Sadly, a couple hundred bucks won't do it. You mentioned dense forests and for that you would need a decent thermal camera to find someone under a canopy, and these cameras are not inexpensive. Even in the open a person is pretty small on the viewing screen and can be easily missed. Also at 1 to 2 kms in a forest you will need a strong/reliable RC connection (trees tend to scatter/absorb signal) which you will not get with an inexpensive craft. As mentioned by @BigAl07 the M2E Dual would satisfy your requirements but at a cost of ~$3,000 US. There is the Parrot Bebop-Pro Thermal drone for half the price that would be worth looking at. It is an entry-level unit but better than nothing. The bottom line is if this is for SAR where lives are at stake, you would want the best IR camera on a reliable platform and neither are inexpensive.

Whatever you get, you should also attach a Marco Polo type device to it. With some kind of tracker attached it will be much easier to find it should it go down in a forest.


The only thing I would add is... a Dense Forest Canopy pretty much blinds a thermal camera. It is the thermal camera's weak spot...
 
The only thing I would add is... a Dense Forest Canopy pretty much blinds a thermal camera. It is the thermal camera's weak spot...
True, although it depends on the type of canopy and quality of the thermal camera.
 
The only thing I would add is... a Dense Forest Canopy pretty much blinds a thermal camera. It is the thermal camera's weak spot...

What you guys need is one of these bad boys.
71314
71315
 
Welcome to the forum! Great advice has been given already but I'd like to add a thought. We have some great vendors here and maybe the M2E Dual has been out long enough that there is a slightly used M2E Dual available at a discount? Or check with DJI on a refurbished unit with a Refresh plan. Keep us posted on your progress. Good luck and thank you for your service!
 
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The marvic pro looks pretty good.

The 30 min flight time is a big plus.

But, cheapest place in Canada (online) lists at 1299.00 plus tax.

Thats 1500 cad and mostly above my personal budget. I may look for used see if anyone offers a discount for someone intending to use it for use benefiting the public vice personal.

Flir isn’t going to happen. I just don’t have that kind of money to spend on it. I’m retired and this is all on my dime.

I’m just looking to increase my existing capbablity to make my coverage more effective. If it was a corp or gov’t operation, price would be no object, but this is all coming out of my personal wallet so funds are somewhat limited.

But I’m not going to spend money on junk. Thats just pointless. Helps no one and just makes me poorer...
 
The marvic pro looks pretty good.

The 30 min flight time is a big plus.

But, cheapest place in Canada (online) lists at 1299.00 plus tax.

Thats 1500 cad and mostly above my personal budget. I may look for used see if anyone offers a discount for someone intending to use it for use benefiting the public vice personal.

Flir isn’t going to happen. I just don’t have that kind of money to spend on it. I’m retired and this is all on my dime.

I’m just looking to increase my existing capbablity to make my coverage more effective. If it was a corp or gov’t operation, price would be no object, but this is all coming out of my personal wallet...

A Mavic Pro shouldn’t cost $1299 US. Man they are a lot more in Canada! Jeez. Check out the US store and see how much it would cost to send it to Canada(bet not much)

DJI Mavic Pro 4K Quadcopter with Remote Controller, 2 Batteries, with 1-Year Warranty - Gray Amazon.com : DJI Mavic Pro 4K Quadcopter with Remote Controller, 2 Batteries, with 1-Year Warranty - Gray : Camera & Photo

This one is $900 US which is ~ $1200 CAD and this is just the first one I saw and comes with extra batteries and goodies. I’m sure you can find some for even less. So unless it cost $300 to ship to Canada you are better off looking in the US store.
 
The marvic pro looks pretty good.

The 30 min flight time is a big plus.

But I’m not going to spend money on junk. Thats just pointless. Helps no one and just makes me poorer...
I really like my MP! I don't know if you have anything like Craigslist up there but I picked up my MP for less than half that from a local seller - new sealed in the box. I asked for the serial number, set up a chat w/ DJI to be sure it was legitimate and check if Refresh would be able to be added to it. I bought it - added Refresh and love the little bug!
 
Hello all. I’ll start off by saying I have pretty much “0” experience with drones of any type.

Currently, I’m a member of the local ground search team. I’m a recently retired flight engineer (RCAF)and I flew choppers for 28 years in SAR. Here’s my last aircraft:

View attachment 71296

Came a point where I was just so injured, I just couldn’t conduct flight ops any longer. So they pensioned me off medically and now I’m full time retired.

But SAR gets in the blood, so I joined the local ground search teams. Since I’m busted up pretty good, I use my Argo (amphibious 8x8 ATV) to search trails and such:

View attachment 71297

That’s an older pic from when I first bought it. It’s been fairly extensively reworked since then for SAR use.

But being a former aviator, I know there’s nothing like an arial view for seeing objects down through the trees. Very often, it’s difficult to impossible to see very far off the trail due to the density of the forests around here and you see things in an arial view you would drive right by on the ground.

So I was thinking a drone might be a good addition to our search capabilities, using the Argo as a “mothership”. Ie: launch the drone to look just a bit further off the trail when the trees get too thick.

As to what would work best, I’m lost. Extensive reading on the subject has become “information overload” at this point.

So here’s what I think I would need:

1. Range: doesn’t need to be far. 1-2 kms would probably do. More is better, but absolute range can be sacrificed for the next item.
2. Flight time: obviously, more is better here. But somewhere in the 7-8 minute range would prob work. I can always keep a couple spare batteries on hand.
3. Video: recording isn’t really needed, but the operator needs to “see” the feed in “real time” to locate the search object.

Not sure what else would be needed.

Auto-return would probably be a useful feature.
Height would only be a couple hundred feet at best. Trees top out around 60-70 feet here, so 100-150 would prob work. Higher would allow you to see a larger area, but would probably sacrifice some of the detail on the ground.

Now the most restricting criteria: cost.

There is no organization budget to speak of. It’s a provincially run volunteer group. So this is on my dime. A couple hundred bucks would be ideal, but that seems to limit me to retail stuff, which all seems to be more “toys” than anything else and highly likely to be next to useless for my purposes.

I’m not adverse to buying something in kit form and assembling it. I’m more than capable, both mechanically and electronically.

I actually used to build and fly RC helicopters, but that was a long time ago. My last heli was a thunder tiger raptor 30. Nitro, FM, etc. Still have it on the shelf in the garage, although it hasn’t turned a rotor in more than a decade.

So I’m not new to RC flight, but drone stuff is all new to me.

Anyone want to take a stab at a recommendation for my purposes?

Cheers

Ps: my apologies if this isn’t posted in the right place.
Hi and welcome.
Won’t re-cover what’s said but just my two cents.
I also have a Phantom so I am on that forum as well. Just for an extended opinion maybe post there as well?
Is there a network in the SAR community? You may find someone had already gone through this process. They may even have contacts for cheap drones.
I’m a fan of you get what you pay for. If you go really cheap then it won’t last or will break etc. Don’t want that happening in the field.
The rescue chopper here in NZ is heavily sponsored, including by a TV network. One if the criteria for them is that they get footage for the news. You don’t want commercial interests over riding the purpose (finding people) but it maybe an avenue. Can’t hurt to ask.
Well done for your work in this field. Although i’ve never hunted/tramped in the US, I do so regularly in NZ. I support SAR whenever I can as you guys do a great job. Thanks.
 
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Hi and welcome.
Won’t re-cover what’s said but just my two cents.
I also have a Phantom so I am on that forum as well. Just for an extended opinion maybe post there as well?
Is there a network in the SAR community? You may find someone had already gone through this process. They may even have contacts for cheap drones.
I’m a fan of you get what you pay for. If you go really cheap then it won’t last or will break etc. Don’t want that happening in the field.
The rescue chopper here in NZ is heavily sponsored, including by a TV network. One if the criteria for them is that they get footage for the news. You don’t want commercial interests over riding the purpose (finding people) but it maybe an avenue. Can’t hurt to ask.
Well done for your work in this field. Although i’ve never hunted/tramped in the US, I do so regularly in NZ. I support SAR whenever I can as you guys do a great job. Thanks.

That’s not a bad point. The Phantom may actually better suited for SAR due to its size and stability. The Mavic Pro is much more portable but since you have that truck/boat already maybe that isn’t it much concern. You could get a great deal on any older model Phantom! May not have as good of a camera as the newer ones but should get the job done at a much lower cost. The narrower FOV might be helpful as well.
 
That’s not a bad point. The Phantom may actually better suited for SAR due to its size and stability. The Mavic Pro is much more portable but since you have that truck/boat already maybe that isn’t it much concern. You could get a great deal on any older model Phantom! May not have as good of a camera as the newer ones but should get the job done at a much lower cost. The narrower FOV might be helpful as well.

The Mavics have the narrower FOV.
 
Tourmax: have you considered using Go Fund Me to finance this (very worthwhile) drive? I feel certain that the public would support your work this way. Even a few donations would probably get you what you need.

Somehow, “gofundme” has never seemed “right” to me.

Maybe it my “pay your own way” mentality.
 
Hi and welcome.
Won’t re-cover what’s said but just my two cents.
I also have a Phantom so I am on that forum as well. Just for an extended opinion maybe post there as well?
Is there a network in the SAR community? You may find someone had already gone through this process. They may even have contacts for cheap drones.
I’m a fan of you get what you pay for. If you go really cheap then it won’t last or will break etc. Don’t want that happening in the field.
The rescue chopper here in NZ is heavily sponsored, including by a TV network. One if the criteria for them is that they get footage for the news. You don’t want commercial interests over riding the purpose (finding people) but it maybe an avenue. Can’t hurt to ask.
Well done for your work in this field. Although i’ve never hunted/tramped in the US, I do so regularly in NZ. I support SAR whenever I can as you guys do a great job. Thanks.
Small point: Canada, not USA.

Not a lot of difference in terrain really. At least not compared to the northern states. I’m in Nova Scotia, which is very similar to Maine.
 
Somehow, “gofundme” has never seemed “right” to me.

Maybe it my “pay your own way” mentality.

I can understand that, but SAR is worthy endeavor, and really the funding is about them not just you! Maybe SAR itself would be willing to sponsor a GFM on your behalf. Just a thought. From other posts in this thread, it sounds like they have other venues for getting a good drone into your hands for their benefit as well.
 
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