Strobe Positioning Air 2S

[Hidden]

Hello!
I've looked at the various post on strobes and none answer my question.
Here goes, I purchased an Arc 5 for the top to meet the night flying requirement.
I also purchased a couple strobes which I want to use for navigation lighting, so I can see them at night.
Where would be a good spot to mount them for me to see, 1) on the front legs, 2) the front of the front arms, 3) bottom of the front arms? I would be using Velcro on the arms, or the rubber bands supplied on the legs.
Thanks

 

[MA2 317]

Hello!
I've looked at the various post on strobes and none answer my question.
Here goes, I purchased an Arc 5 for the top to meet the night flying requirement.
I also purchased a couple strobes which I want to use for navigation lighting, so I can see them at night.
Where would be a good spot to mount them for me to see, 1) on the front legs, 2) the front of the front arms, 3) bottom of the front arms? I would be using Velcro on the arms, or the rubber bands supplied on the legs.
Thanks

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I have four ARC V's, two white, one red, one green.

I have the mounts that mount on the arms.

They also have one for a top mount strobe.

Good luck.

.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I put my red and green FHT dual strobes on the left and right sides respectively.
That's on my Spark, as it's easier to mount on the body just under the arms.
The A2s would be similar in space availability there I'm sure.

I could have put them on the arms with velcro, but on the sides I can general see them one way of the other when in the sky, and a white on the back.

Here's the side ones, mounted with 3m dual lock velcro.

 

[Hidden]

I put my red and green FHT dual strobes on the left and right sides respectively.
That's on my Spark, as it's easier to mount on the body just under the arms.
The A2s would be similar in space availability there I'm sure.

I could have put them on the arms with velcro, but on the sides I can general see them one way of the other when in the sky, and a white on the back.

Here's the side ones, mounted with 3m dual lock velcro.

View attachment 131084 View attachment 131085 View attachment 131086

I'll have a look at my drone.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I'll have a look at my drone.

What strobes did you buy for the nav lights ?
Duals, ARCIIs, or larger ones ? (ArcXL or Arc5 ?)
The Air2 body is fairly larger than my Spark / Mini etc, so could take perhaps the ARCII in that position.

 

[Hidden]

What strobes did you buy for the nav lights ?
Duals, ARCIIs, or larger ones ? (ArcXL or Arc5 ?)
The Air2 body is fairly larger than my Spark / Mini etc, so could take perhaps the ARCII in that position.

Tomat

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Tomat

They look quite large compared to some of the earlier Dual and ACCII from FHT, that's looking at those fitted to the MP2 in the photos.

1) on the front legs, 2) the front of the front arms,

Either of these should be ok for the A2s, underneath might be best as most of the time you'll be flying reasonably well above your TOP ?

 

[Hidden]

They look quite large compared to some of the earlier Dual and ACCII from FHT, that's looking at those fitted to the MP2 in the photos.

Either of these should be ok for the A2s, underneath might be best as most of the time you'll be flying reasonably well above your TOP ?

The Tomat strobe is 1.25 inches long, .75 inches wide, and just a hair under .5 inches high.
It fit well on the forward front sides. I'm thinking of putting them on the front of the arms. I'm sure at night the side positions would be fine at night, not so much I think during the day. The top strobe will be the FH Arc 5. I ordered a third Tomat for the bottom. I will mount it forward, just behind the gimbal.

 

[LostInDark]

Here is how I mounted.

 

[Drone alone.]

What strobes did you buy for the nav lights ?
Duals, ARCIIs, or larger ones ? (ArcXL or Arc5 ?)
The Air2 body is fairly larger than my Spark / Mini etc, so could take perhaps the ARCII in that position.

Mate have a look at a brand called Ulanzi. Very good price online. Very discreet when on the drone body[I have mounted them on either side just under battery slot. ] They are rechargeable by usb and they flash white red or green,your choice. They also have good quality velcro attachment.Also Faa Accredited. look them up. they took about 7-10 days by post,but I live in a regional area of Western Australia. Cheers.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Mate have a look at a brand called Ulanzi. Very good price online. Very discreet when on the drone body[I have mounted them on either side just under battery slot. ] They are rechargeable by usb and they flash white red or green,your choice. They also have good quality velcro attachment.Also Faa Accredited. look them up. they took about 7-10 days by post,but I live in a regional area of Western Australia. Cheers.

Ah yes, that's the DR-02 mentioned in anther recent thread here.
Good to know the actual size.

I already have plenty of various FHT ARCII and Dual strobes, as well as some of their Spark strobes.
They are small and velcro on pretty much anywhere.

I'd only really use them in perhaps 10% of my flights, when drone and background make it easy to lose.

Thanks for the tip, will keep them in mind in the future or when others here in Oz ask, getting FHT into Australia isn't easy, or economical locally.

 

[Hidden]

Mate have a look at a brand called Ulanzi. Very good price online. Very discreet when on the drone body[I have mounted them on either side just under battery slot. ] They are rechargeable by usb and they flash white red or green,your choice. They also have good quality velcro attachment.Also Faa Accredited. look them up. they took about 7-10 days by post,but I live in a regional area of Western Australia. Cheers.

I will check them out now. Yep, 28 US dollars and change on Amazon.

 

[projectarjun]

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Everything you need is here...

Home

Products by drone pilots for drone pilots. In 2013 we started Aerial-Pixel as a drone photography and videography service. Since then we have grown to also provide vinyl graphics, apparel and 3D printed products for the drone industry.

www.aerial-pixel.com

I have four ARC V's, two white, one red, one green.

I have the mounts that mount on the arms.

They also have one for a top mount strobe.

Good luck.

.

That would interfere with extendable legs, not sure is velcro is entirely safe bet,
Overtime the sticky part will dry out

 

[MA2 317]

That would interfere with extendable legs,

I hear ya.

I started with the Spark in 2017 and quickly realized that there isn't a lot of room for accessories on the airframe and had to get creative with the strobe mounting.

You may have to sacrifice one item for another and be satisfied.

not sure is velcro is entirely safe bet,

I never used the strips that came with them, I used the Scotch brand of fasteners for my earlier strobes (Cree 1, 2, 3 leds).

The constant installation / removal of the strobes to the aircraft flexed the circuit board to the point of failure.


The ARC V's are enclosed in it's own case and the Aerial-Pixel mounts allows me to have options when flying with the prop guards or the life jacket.


Fly safe.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

not sure is velcro is entirely safe bet,
Overtime the sticky part will dry out

I too wouldn't trust any sort of tape backing adhesive for years upon years, so I added a tiny spot of black urethane adhesive to the middle of the loop and hook tabs, so they stay in place.

 

[il Padrone]

I will check them out now. Yep, 28 US dollars and change on Amazon.

Just looked this up - $A28 from TomTop, a Chinese supplier. Free shipping to Australia.

 

[karlblessing]

If you don't have least one on top, then it kind of defeats the purpose of alerting manned aircrafts to your presence.

 

[il Padrone]

If you don't have least one on top, then it kind of defeats the purpose of alerting manned aircrafts to your presence.

Where I live and fly, if there are any manned aircraft about, I am legally required to land the drone (if within 5.5km of any uncontrolled airport or heliport) as soon as I become aware of any aircraft, at any altitude. Flying at night is illegal so a light on top is kind of meaningless.

 

[karlblessing]

Where I live and fly, if there are any manned aircraft about, I am legally required to land the drone (if within 5.5km of any uncontrolled airport or heliport) as soon as I become aware of any aircraft, at any altitude. Flying at night is illegal so a light on top is kind of meaningless.

Kind of pointless completely if you can only stick to daytime operations and maintain VLOS, better not to add anything at all then.

 

[il Padrone]

Kind of pointless completely if you can only stick to daytime operations and maintain VLOS, better not to add anything at all then.

A bright light, placed underneath the drone, can greatly enhance VLOS, both in distance and when flying against any concealing background (eg. vegetation and valley walls if flown from a gorge). I have found the drone disappears to clear view, even at 400-600m range in broad daylight, and hence a strobe flashing would keep it much more visible. It is on my bucket-list now along with some more spare prop blades, including low-noise versions.