We do quite a bit of hiking in the Adirondack Mountains and I'd like to be able to take off at the base of some of them and fly up towards the peaks. It's not really possible with the 400' altitude limit, is there a away to unlock it?
The altitude you see stays relative to the home position that you take off from.If that were the case if I take off and hover at 100 feet then fly forward and eventually over a 50 foot drop the altitude on my screen should change to 150 feet or the quad should drop 50 feet, nether of those things happen. Or am I missing something?
If you are flying up from the base of the mountain, you'd need to maintain a distance of no more than 400 feet above whatever ground you were over, all the way up, and same on the way down. Its really that simple. So fly up above yourself 100 feet, then start your way up the mountain, using your FPV and line of sight to to ensure you are close enough to the grade that you are safe. The metrics are not going to make a lot of sense as you get higher. The software wont measure the distance from the drone to the ground.
The altitude you see stays relative to the home position that you take off from.
How would it know that I'm 100 feet off the ground on the side of a mountain vs my home point if it doesn't adjust for or show that I've gone over a 50 foot drop?
How would it know that I'm 100 feet off the ground on the side of a mountain vs my home point if it doesn't adjust for or show that I've gone over a 50 foot drop?
Guys, you’re talking about two separate issues. Staying 400ft above ground level is the legal requirement. The drone doesn’t have the concept of AGL. The drone just knows the altitude relative to its takeoff altitude.
You either make an educated questimate or you spend some time reading maps and interpolating what your "indicated" altitude will be at certain locations and try to remain within those parameters.How would it know that I'm 100 feet off the ground on the side of a mountain vs my home point if it doesn't adjust for or show that I've gone over a 50 foot drop?
Set max height and fly, your area will not have any air traffic or an FAA inspector. You may want to even go higher than you thought, it's not an issue. Get the shot you want and fly. Use common sense and battery management.
You don’t say which drone you are flying, but I know that my Mavic Air and my friends Mavic Pro show both altitude above takeoff and AGL, but the AGL doesn’t work at large altitudes. If my memory serves me right the AGL reading comes from the downward sensors which don’t have a long range.
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You don’t say which drone you are flying, but I know that my Mavic Air and my friends Mavic Pro show both altitude above takeoff and AGL, but the AGL doesn’t work at large altitudes. If my memory serves me right the AGL reading comes from the downward sensors which don’t have a long range.
That leaves the question of how to know that you are 400’ or less from the ground as you climb or descend the mountain. One way is to fly a Litchi mission. This tool gives you the option to set waypoints with AGL. After you have done so, you should fly this mission with Virtual Litchi using Google Earth Pro and will see how close to the ground you are getting.
That said, you need to be careful with a Litchi mission to chose your waypoints carefully. Imagine that you have picked 2 100’ AGL waypoints on either side of a 200’ ridge as you climb. When you fly the virtual mission you will see your drone crashing into that ridge. It is better to put your waypoint on top of that ridge. The other thing to watch for is that Google Earth Pro isn’t perfectly accurate for features like trees, towers and power lines. You might need to inspect your route carefully before you launch your mission and correct it accordingly.
Have fun flying the mountain.
We do quite a bit of hiking in the Adirondack Mountains and I'd like to be able to take off at the base of some of them and fly up towards the peaks. It's not really possible with the 400' altitude limit, is there a away to unlock it?