Air 2s Shorter days and 30 F° mornings

[Jagerbomb52]

Will not be to long before the snow will blanket the landscape. No pretty leaves left to photograph.

View attachment DJI_0059.jpg

 

[Prop Wash]

Beautiful Pano!!!

I don't know if you change the time where you are (someplaces don't), but here in the US, November 7th, we get to roll our clocks back which will make for less light in the evenings. Although, it could open some possibilities for some sunrise shots. Where I live, we don't usually get down to 30° except for the occasional 'cold' front that comes through maybe 2-3 times in the winter.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

Thanks
Yes we will be changing the clocks at the same time. Some provinces have said enough of this bouncing back and forth with the time change. Many studies have found it is just a useless thing we do each winter LOL
30° is nothing compared to what will be coming Minus 30° in December. It will be time to bring out the winter mitt for my controller and old hands.

 

[Prop Wash]

@Agustine - Nice!!! That looks like it will keep the digits warm so they don't freeze trying to fly the quad!

The current US law states you can leave the clocks on standard time or switch in spring/winter. There are many states who are petitioning the Congress to add staying at DST all the time. You'd have 3 choices instead of 2. Like some of your provinces, there are some who want to pick standard or saving time and quit switching. I think in our modern day, the switching has out-lived its usefulness.

 

[Tufargon]

Will not be to long before the snow will blanket the landscape. No pretty leaves left to photograph.

View attachment 136960

Very very nice.

 

[slozukimc]

Thanks
Yes we will be changing the clocks at the same time. Some provinces have said enough of this bouncing back and forth with the time change. Many studies have found it is just a useless thing we do each winter LOL
30° is nothing compared to what will be coming Minus 30° in December. It will be time to bring out the winter mitt for my controller and old hands.





View attachment 136961

I like that. Only problem is my M1P controllers mount the display below the controller. I could stick a little handwarmer pouch in there and be good to go otherwise. Hmmmmmm.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

I like that. Only problem is my M1P controllers mount the display below the controller. I could stick a little handwarmer pouch in there and be good to go otherwise. Hmmmmmm.

I have found the plastic will fog over and adding a hand warmer solves the problem. There used to be heat strips that ran off a small Lipo battery but from what I can tell the product is no longer available.

 

[Chrislaf]

I have one of those transmitter mitts too but have really only used it on really cold and windy days (below -25C) when the wind chill will get my hands cold even in gloves. I mostly use hand warmers as I find they keep my hands warmer. The transmitter mitt comes in handy when there is heavy snowfall or wet snow as it keeps the transmitter dry.

@Agustine I would be interested in how you find the Air 2S gimbal behaves in sub zero temps (below 0C) as my Spark gimbal will start to stick and will have trouble pitching up and down initially and automated functions like panos will fail (needed in very cold weather). My Phantom on the other hand has no problems in the cold. The reason I am asking is I am considering the A2S and it is not rated for sub zero weather.

Chris

 

[Jagerbomb52]

I will let you know when the cold weather sets in.

 

[Droniac]

Will not be to long before the snow will blanket the landscape. No pretty leaves left to photograph.

View attachment 136960

Truly pretty. Thanks for the share. Godspeed, Droniac

 

[Lets Fly]

Will not be to long before the snow will blanket the landscape. No pretty leaves left to photograph.

View attachment 136960

Nice picture, but the snow will be beautiful also. Here in Florida I'll be looking forward to those pictures.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

I have one of those transmitter mitts too but have really only used it on really cold and windy days (below -25C) when the wind chill will get my hands cold even in gloves. I mostly use hand warmers as I find they keep my hands warmer. The transmitter mitt comes in handy when there is heavy snowfall or wet snow as it keeps the transmitter dry.

@Agustine I would be interested in how you find the Air 2S gimbal behaves in sub zero temps (below 0C) as my Spark gimbal will start to stick and will have trouble pitching up and down initially and automated functions like panos will fail (needed in very cold weather). My Phantom on the other hand has no problems in the cold. The reason I am asking is I am considering the A2S and it is not rated for sub zero weather.

Chris

So after a few flights out in the very cold ( -24°C\-10°F ) I have started to notice tilted horizon sometimes when panning left or right. Really have not noticed any other problems but then again I am not spending much time outside testing at those temps.

 

[Chrislaf]

Thanks for reporting back on this. Does the horizon stay tilted or does it just take extra time for the gimbal to return to horizontal due to the cold weather?

One other thing that I am interested in is how well the automated flight features work in very cold weather. For example do the automated panos work properly or do they fail? Trying to shoot a pano manually in temperatures around -24C even with a small wind chill is next to impossible with bare hands (I don’t use gloves because they are too cumbersome).

One thing I am wondering about, to fly a hyperlapse do you have to manually fly the route and mark your points or can you pre-plan them beforehand without the drone connected similar to a waypoints mission. Again in very cold weather having to manually fly the drone and mark points or do it on the ground while the drone is powered on and the battery is getting cold is not practical.

Sorry for all the questions but it will help me decide on my next drone.

Chris

 

[Jagerbomb52]

The tilt seemed to improve slightly but it was very slow to respond. I had to straighten it out in post.
I don't use the automated flight features so I cannot answer that other then using a 360 pano but have yet to do one in this cold weather.
The hyperlapse needs to be flown first marking your waypoints but you can save it for later. If you plan on doing one I suggest waiting for warmer weather as it will take most of your battery to complete and standing outside for 20 oe so minutes will just suck at those temps.

 

[Chrislaf]

Good to know about the gimbal tilt. I suspect the automated panos would also fail too, especially if the gimbal cannot stabilize itself horizontally. I know that with my Spark the automated panos will fail in very cold weather and the gimbal will not pitch it’s entire range.

I rely much more on automated features and programmed functions in very cold weather because it means I don’t have to have my hands out of my mitts for long and as you know it only takes a few second’s especially with a brisk wind for exposed skin to freeze at temperatures we are talking about. My transmitter mitt helps but my hands still get cold in it at those temps.

We are expecting a low of -23C tomorrow and -26C on Tuesday. I do hope to get out on one of those days.

Chris

 

[Jagerbomb52]

Chris
I had a battery charged up from two days ago and the wind just has not died down so I figured a short flight in the back yard to discharge the battery and do a couple of 360 panos to see if the cold temps affected the gimbal. I'm happy to say I did two 360 and one wide angle and all worked just fine. Other then I forgot to take off the ND filter
Here is the weather for this morning I was flying in.

 

[Chrislaf]

Good to hear, thanks. I’m still leaning towards the M3 as an upgrade. Just waiting to see what the firmware update will bring and whether some of the kinks will be worked out before I decide.

Chris