Strobes during the day.

[jac1957]

Is it worth putting strobes on your drone for day light flying?

 

[Starz]

May make it easier to see depending on distance.
I don’t use them during daylight.

 

[bumper]

I seriously doubt it. When LED light development progressed enough to provide 100 lumens per watt, they became practical for aircraft landing lights. I put them on my Husky A1-B, (AeroLEDs 45 watt 4950 lumen), and wired them with a wig-wag option for better collision avoidance. I also installed their LED strobes at the same time. Note that these lights are far more powerful, and in the case of landing lights, more focused than the small battery operated lights one might put on a drone.

In testing, with a friend flying east over the south end of Lake Tahoe, and me flying west toward him, I spotted his plane when he was 3 miles away (my corrected vision is 15/20) and I can normally spot other small aircraft at 2 to 3 miles. When I first spotted hime, I could barely discern his AeroLEDs. As he drew closer, I kept looking away and then back to re-acquire him to see if and when the landing lights became a real factor in attracting my attention in my peripheral vision. They finally did, but at a much closer distance than I expected. (We were communicating on the radio during the test).

In daylight, strobes, especially against a light background, such as sky are not all that noticeable. We've tried them on gliders with the same so-so results in bright sky conditions. Aircraft at night or in waning light, a whole 'nuther story, very effective.

 

[Starz]

Agreed. That’s why I used the word”May”.

 

[Thomas B]

Is it worth putting strobes on your drone for day light flying?

In my opinion, yes. With colored strobes you can see it (maintain VLOS) MUCH farther out ...and if it crashes or goes down strobes will flash for hours making it easier to find.
I use an ARC2 on each arm in colors as on manned aircraft. At dawn or dusk easily can see my drone at least a mile out... under controlled conditions in my testing much farther.

 

[wjkrysak]

I fly with a Firehouse strobe white cree LED. Lightweight and rechargeable. I find great benefit at dusk and dark. Daylight is dependent on background, where I may catch a glimpse (flash). If that glimpse helps with my orientation and prevents a problem, yep, worth it. I have yet to find any harm with a daylight strobe, except blindspotting when I accidently look directly at it when I turn it on

 

[caplanner]

I fly with a Firehouse strobe white cree LED. Lightweight and rechargeable. I find great benefit at dusk and dark. Daylight is dependent on background, where I may catch a glimpse (flash). If that glimpse helps with my orientation and prevents a problem, yep, worth it. I have yet to find any harm with a daylight strobe, except blindspotting when I accidently look directly at it when I turn it on

Do you use them on your MM?

If you do, do you fly with the payload setting on? How much of a difference, if any, do the lights make during flight?

My order for the Firehouse strobes should be arriving this week. I ordered 4 strobe mounts - two front and two rear - but may only use the front two.

Looking for what other people are doing. I planned to have red on port and green on starboard. Then white on the rear.

I'm certain flashing strobes would have helped me the other day when it was not quite dusk and the background was brown to gray.

 

[Starz]

Velcro is a simple choice for me as it allows me to remove the lights and return the aircraft back into the case easily. As long as you use a good quality Velcro, it does hold well. Also allows for placement of the light wherever you choose.

 

[old man mavic]

i have white ones on the front arms of my MPP not so much for VLOS but for orientation at distance ,it saves having to look at the screen to see which way i am flying and means i can keep the drone in sight easier they are good for around 600ft distance but not a lot of use if it is very sunny and bright of course in low light conditions they come into there own and really improve VLOS

 

[jac1957]

So I guess my next question about strobes is, where to mount them on the MM.

 

[lannes]

anything that improves the visibility of the AC in any small way is a good thing, might also assist in finding it in the event of a crash or flyaway e.g. getting caught up in a tree

 

[G Saunders]

The strobes don't help me much in the daytime.

The completely un-natural neon orange, yellow, and green wraps from wrapgrade.jp help me a _lot_ and my Mavic 2s and Platinum have been wrapped with them for several months since they somehow got my attention.

Wrapgrade recently added wraps for the Mavic Mini and they're fine. I like them better than MightySkins or DecalGirl. Wrapgrade cuts the panels so they overlap a bit and make neat job if you follow their little map when sticking them on.

I got one of their fancy metallic finishes thinking it would be easy to spot in the sky, but it wasn't. Although it looks spectacular in good light close up, it's just grey at a distance.

WrapGrade's neon colors are the best I've found for increasing visibility...

 

[wjkrysak]

I use one on the tail end of my MM, attached with velcro. 6gms weight. I can do a 360 to get a glimpse of orientation, if needed. I also use the larger Firehouse with multi light color strobe on my MA, velcro on top rear, as it has adequate lights on the arms.

 

[Deleted member 93449]

While not as much as at night I have found the white strobes to be a help even during the day.

 

[Mrveronn]

Velcro is a simple choice for me as it allows me to remove the lights and return the aircraft back into the case easily. As long as you use a good quality Velcro, it does hold well. Also allows for placement of the light wherever you choose.

I agree with Starz, I have five pairs of 3M Dual Lock strips coming from Amazon.ca. They are about 1" square which matches my Firehouse Dual strobes size quite well. Cost was about $9 CDN.

I am planning on mounting a strip on the bottom of the MM and another on the battery door of my MM. I have two of the Dual strobes...so could mount both strobes or just one when flying. The 3M strips are light enough to leave on all the time, and also easy enough to remove if I change my mind later. I also have two Aerial-Pixel mounts for the rear legs so have a few mounting options...

 

[wjkrysak]

I agree with Starz, I have five pairs of 3M Dual Lock strips coming from Amazon.ca. They are about 1" square which matches my Firehouse Dual strobes size quite well. Cost was about $9 CDN.

I am planning on mounting a strip on the bottom of the MM and another on the battery door of my MM. I have two of the Dual strobes...so could mount both strobes or just one when flying. The 3M strips are light enough to leave on all the time, and also easy enough to remove if I change my mind later. I also have two Aerial-Pixel mounts for the rear legs so have a few mounting options...

Those 3m strips should hold your LED quite snugly.
Considering your placement, as I mentioned in post (#13), I have placed one LED on my tail, battery door. I had considered the bottom, but was not sure of any potential impact/influence the strobe might have on the MM bottom sensors. Maybe none, but I was not sure? Perhaps someone with more knowledge can weigh in.
I also had the same consideration with my MA, which is loaded with sensors, and therefore placed the sensor on top of it and away from any that might be impacted by a strobe. Just a thought (?)
BTW: On both aircraft, they are visible in the locations that I have placed them. Enjoy your flying.

 

[fRog2]

I use one on the tail end of my MM, attached with velcro. View attachment 88682 6gms weight. I can do a 360 to get a glimpse of orientation, if needed. I also use the larger Firehouse with multi light color strobe on my MA, velcro on top rear, as it has adequate lights on the arms.

That looks almost identical to my setup, and yes with the mini on a plain sky it can make the difference in daylight, particularly if you take your eyes off the drone for a few seconds.

 

[CareyL]

Is it worth putting strobes on your drone for day light flying?

I always use strobes. Firehouse 4 white on bottom and 4 green on battery door all with velcro. Know where your gps is before you mount anything on top!

 

[wjkrysak]

I find a strobe helpful for orientation and safety (if needed). Weight to benefit ratio is worth it to me. Happy New Year.

 

[bheiser1]

I haven’t been using my Firehouse strobes in bright sunlight, but I do when it’s cloudy, and of course around sunset. They do help, even during daylight, and especially when flying with a background of rock/dirt/trees where the M2 would otherwise blend in.