2 Pro The early bird!

KingRat · May 2, 2021

It was mighty cold first thing. After sticking my head out of the door at 01.30 I grabbed a couple of hours sleep and then back out the door by 05.15. Scraped the ice off the windscreen and let the car warm up while I grabbed a coffee and checked the batteries were all fully charged and cards were in.... 1 battery inside my fleece as I drive the 5 miles or so to my chosen spot.... get everything ready in the car, nice and warm and hop out to launch. Within 20 seconds of getting everything linked up the 'LOW BATTERY' warning flashes up, I had 30%. The cold had killed it. It was -2 and the sun was only just about to pop over the horizon. So I had to be circumspect, the shot I was going to get had to be abandoned for another day, it was too far to fly, get the shots and get back again. In fact I doubt it would have got there even. I spun her round and lined up for this one, just for myself, sometimes you have to feed your soul as opposed to the bank account. I got the shot and dropped her back to me with the battery shouting critically low! Sometimes you just have to push the boundaries, within reason.

Back in the car with the battery in under my fleece again, within 20 minutes it had come back up and was showing 4 lights! Be careful the cold plays havoc with these batteries.

Jack43 · May 2, 2021

Hi KingRat,
wow a very atmospheric and beautiful shot ???
cheers Paul

cgmaxed · May 2, 2021

Nice shot. Reminds me of my place in florida. The fog in the morning looks exactly like that. It blankets the canals, water inlets and swampy areas creating a surreal effect.

Barbara · May 2, 2021

Very nice photo.

I'm surprised your battery went down so fast. Even at -12 C I've managed better than 10 minutes flying(M2Z) and landed with more than 30% battery left.

Dale D · May 2, 2021

KingRat said:
It was mighty cold first thing. After sticking my head out of the door at 01.30 I grabbed a couple of hours sleep and then back out the door by 05.15. Scraped the ice off the windscreen and let the car warm up while I grabbed a coffee and checked the batteries were all fully charged and cards were in.... 1 battery inside my fleece as I drive the 5 miles or so to my chosen spot.... get everything ready in the car, nice and warm and hop out to launch. Within 20 seconds of getting everything linked up the 'LOW BATTERY' warning flashes up, I had 30%. The cold had killed it. It was -2 and the sun was only just about to pop over the horizon. So I had to be circumspect, the shot I was going to get had to be abandoned for another day, it was too far to fly, get the shots and get back again. In fact I doubt it would have got there even. I spun her round and lined up for this one, just for myself, sometimes you have to feed your soul as opposed to the bank account. I got the shot and dropped her back to me with the battery shouting critically low! Sometimes you just have to push the boundaries, within reason.

Back in the car with the battery in under my fleece again, within 20 minutes it had come back up and was showing 4 lights! Be careful the cold plays havoc with these batteries.

View attachment 128408

Wonderful shot. I definitely think this was worth it.
Dale
Miami

Dale D · May 2, 2021

KingRat said:
It was mighty cold first thing. After sticking my head out of the door at 01.30 I grabbed a couple of hours sleep and then back out the door by 05.15. Scraped the ice off the windscreen and let the car warm up while I grabbed a coffee and checked the batteries were all fully charged and cards were in.... 1 battery inside my fleece as I drive the 5 miles or so to my chosen spot.... get everything ready in the car, nice and warm and hop out to launch. Within 20 seconds of getting everything linked up the 'LOW BATTERY' warning flashes up, I had 30%. The cold had killed it. It was -2 and the sun was only just about to pop over the horizon. So I had to be circumspect, the shot I was going to get had to be abandoned for another day, it was too far to fly, get the shots and get back again. In fact I doubt it would have got there even. I spun her round and lined up for this one, just for myself, sometimes you have to feed your soul as opposed to the bank account. I got the shot and dropped her back to me with the battery shouting critically low! Sometimes you just have to push the boundaries, within reason.

Back in the car with the battery in under my fleece again, within 20 minutes it had come back up and was showing 4 lights! Be careful the cold plays havoc with these batteries.

View attachment 128408

I am wondering the following;
What if you used a rubber band to affix a hand warmer around the body near the battery with the bulk of the hand warmer touching the under side of the battery? It would certainly add a bit of weight but would keep the battery warmer. Just a thought. I'd like to hear opinions.

I will not hesitate to use a throwaway hand warmer around my camera lens when I go from my cool air conditioned house or car to a warm, humid environment. Otherwise, my lens will

cloud up with condensation.

Chrislaf · May 2, 2021

Nice shot. You ended up getting a good shot after anyway so all the effort was not in vain.

Where were your flight batteries prior to your flight? The key is to keep them warm right up until you insert them in the drone. Once in the air they will heat up and stay warm. I fly in cold weather all the time (often in temps below -15C) and most of my flying locations are hiked to, snowshoed to, or skied to so I have to keep my batteries warm in my pockets or by using a battery warmer (Turnigy). If you keep your batteries warm prior to flight they should perform as normal.

Chris

Chrislaf · May 2, 2021

Dale D said:
I am wondering the following;
What if you used a rubber band to affix a hand warmer around the body near the battery with the bulk of the hand warmer touching the under side of the battery? It would certainly add a bit of weight but would keep the battery warmer. Just a thought. I'd like to hear opinions.

I will not hesitate to use a throwaway hand warmer around my camera lens when I go from my cool air conditioned house or car to a warm, humid environment. Otherwise, my lens will View attachment 128426 View attachment 128426 View attachment 128426 cloud up with condensation.

I would not use a hand warmer directly against a flight battery as you cannot control their temperature and they get pretty hot especially if they are in an enclosed space. I have used them on the outside of the pockets that store the battery in my case. The same applies if I need to keep my DSLR lens from fogging up on a cold night, I will put a hand warmer in a sock and attach it to the lens with an elastic band. The obvious difference is that the lens is not a battery that in itself can possibly be heated up too much by a hot hand warmer.

Chris

Jko480 · May 2, 2021

KingRat said:
It was mighty cold first thing. After sticking my head out of the door at 01.30 I grabbed a couple of hours sleep and then back out the door by 05.15. Scraped the ice off the windscreen and let the car warm up while I grabbed a coffee and checked the batteries were all fully charged and cards were in.... 1 battery inside my fleece as I drive the 5 miles or so to my chosen spot.... get everything ready in the car, nice and warm and hop out to launch. Within 20 seconds of getting everything linked up the 'LOW BATTERY' warning flashes up, I had 30%. The cold had killed it. It was -2 and the sun was only just about to pop over the horizon. So I had to be circumspect, the shot I was going to get had to be abandoned for another day, it was too far to fly, get the shots and get back again. In fact I doubt it would have got there even. I spun her round and lined up for this one, just for myself, sometimes you have to feed your soul as opposed to the bank account. I got the shot and dropped her back to me with the battery shouting critically low! Sometimes you just have to push the boundaries, within reason.

Back in the car with the battery in under my fleece again, within 20 minutes it had come back up and was showing 4 lights! Be careful the cold plays havoc with these batteries.

View attachment 128408

Good job! What an awesome pic!!!!

bmeek11 · May 2, 2021

You know it is a great photo when it is still spectacular when blown up. When looking at a blown up view you have a perfect reflection of the tree on the water in the bottom right. I would recommend making a crop photo using it.

Capt KO · May 2, 2021

Suitable for framing. Heck of a flying camera fer sure

danny_2020 · May 3, 2021

It looks absolutely beautiful there, an amazing shot!!!

KingRat · May 3, 2021

Chrislaf said:
Nice shot. You ended up getting a good shot after anyway so all the effort was not in vain.

Where were your flight batteries prior to your flight? The key is to keep them warm right up until you insert them in the drone. Once in the air they will heat up and stay warm. I fly in cold weather all the time (often in temps below -15C) and most of my flying locations are hiked to, snowshoed to, or skied to so I have to keep my batteries warm in my pockets or by using a battery warmer (Turnigy). If you keep your batteries warm prior to flight they should perform as normal.

Chris

Chrs, this is why I was so surprised, they were under my armpit - the one I was going to fly with. The other was in a pocket inside my fleece.... for later.

Chrislaf · May 3, 2021

KingRat said:
Chrs, this is why I was so surprised, they were under my armpit - the one I was going to fly with. The other was in a pocket inside my fleece.... for later.

Strange. Did you get a warning from DJI GO4 or whatever flight software you were using? If the battery is too cold the software should warn you and if below a certain threshold (can't remember what it is off-hand) will not allow you to take off. I have had this happen to me on really cold days - the battery cools faster than I can get everything set-up and have had to warm my battery up again before GO4 would allow me to take off. Once in the air, I hover and monitor the battery temps until the temps come up a bit before resuming the flight.

Chris