Strobe-on-the-Butt Test --- Success!

[Chaosrider]

Mini-2. Putting a white strobe on top added almost zero value. Wrong angle.

So today, I put the red strobe on the back side of the battery hatch.

Success!!

I first tried it against the sky, and it helped, but not a lot. It increases my practical VLOS to 900 ft.

But against the trees and rocks on the other side of the canyon...awesome! It made a Yuge difference! Easy to keep in sight, easy to re-acquire if you briefly lose it. One time I lost visual lock on my target, Guardian Rock. I re-acquired the target by seeing the strobe on the drone, and then looking down.

I only tested it out to about 700 ft, because the battery started to run low, but I'll get 1000 ft VLOS out of that little butt-mounted strobe easy, against a tree background, easy.

Try it...you'll like it!





TCS

 

[maelstrom]

So today, I put the red strobe on the back side of the battery hatch.

Success!!

But that presupposes that the drone will always be pointing away from you. As soon as you turn the drone the single strobe will no longer be visible.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

But that presupposes that the drone will always be pointing away from you. As soon as you turn the drone the single strobe will no longer be visible.

True, I find this on the Spark where I have one on each side.
A simple turn is usually happening though, plus I'm not far away with the red / green on the relative sides.

I guess the OP can always fly home backwards to keep it in sight if needed.
Not much use for airspace awareness for other aircraft though, so doesn't meet night flight requirements, if that's a strobe need for a pilot.

 

[Greasy]

I used the firehouse mount on the bottom of mine and it good from all angles.

 

[Chaosrider]

But that presupposes that the drone will always be pointing away from you. As soon as you turn the drone the single strobe will no longer be visible.

True, but you can always just rotate it until you can see it, if you lose it.

For my testing I've always made sure there was a direct radial line from me to the Drone's Butt, with the head on the other side.

Drone's Butt...a bar, maybe...?

;-)

TCS

 

[Chaosrider]

True, I find this on the Spark where I have one on each side.
A simple turn is usually happening though, plus I'm not far away with the red / green on the relative sides.

I guess the OP can always fly home backwards to keep it in sight if needed.
Not much use for airspace awareness for other aircraft though, so doesn't meet night flight requirements, if that's a strobe need for a pilot.

I have become a Yuge fan of the RTH feature.

When you hit it, the drone rotates to face home, flies over the home point, and then descends.

You only need to "back-up" far enough to bring the drone back into your non-strobe VLOS range.



TCS