Is not recommended fly the drone straights up of you. Is better keep it at front. This video can explain better. Check the minute 1:17.
VLOS rules question
- Thread starter mallga00
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Good info!Ok this thread is about VLOS fairly close, for sunny situations, not 100% sure if you are after the same strobe advice, or if you want advice for longer VLOS for you the pilot, or VLOS for aircraft to see you day or night.
It probably matters not too much which it is though ?
You really won't find anything smaller, lighter, good battery life (4 x battery easy worth of flights, maybe 6), and low in profile than the Dual or ARCII. Back for buck light output . . . the Vifly strobe looks good, but can't comment on the reliability or comparison to FHT.
I just googled Firehouse Technology Dual strobe, trying to find you a source, and found them still tucked away on their website. (The FHT website is not that good for finding things !)
DJI Strobe Light
Fully self contained high intensity drone DroneUAS strobe light for quadcopters hexcopters uas rc and uav use.www.firehousetechnology.com
While the FHT ARCII or original ARC are tiny themselves, weight maybe 4 or 6 gms (?) can't recall precisely, the Dual is about 3/4 the size again, and still very visible.
View attachment 138826
For general nearby attaining VLOS, I would place 1 Dual or ARCII on each side, with velcro, only in the white led.
You will see in the video below that after a short distance away, the colours aren't even very discernible, I think at 500m or so colours don't really stand out clearly in daytime, night is a little different.
White is by far the most visible light (day or night) . . . and ARCII on the back of my Mavic Pro, this one a combo 2 red / 2 white led, you can see these photos showing none strobing on, the red, then the white, and how obviously more visible white is.
View attachment 138836View attachment 138834View attachment 138835
Here is my Spark, with a red Dual on the left, a green Dual on the right . . .
View attachment 138831View attachment 138832View attachment 138833
In that video, you can clearly see them strobing on the sides during those gentle turns, even when facing you or pointing away from you.
The ARCII would be so much stronger again, as too if they were white Duals.
I only use velcro to mount strobes, Dual or ACRII, never an issue with these sizes / weights, and you can mount them on the arms / legs of a Mavic no problems.
Here's my Mavic Pro with ARCIIs mounted with velcro, front arm close up red shown, rear the red / white combo.
The latter red / white combo as seen in the photos above with std rear M1P light and each of the strobe colours.
View attachment 138827View attachment 138828View attachment 138829View attachment 138830
Ha, you might notice I love strobes, or at least having them for flights I feel they will be useful to quickly spot my drone up to maybe 500m to 700m away.
I generally don't go further, once or twice in my 4-1/2 years on the sticks.
If you have any questions about the way I mount mine, or thoughts on other aspects of these 2 types of FHT strobes, feel free to ask.
I looked at the Dual, and it's a little physically bigger than I'd like, but might work. It's a dim-bulb though--only 300 lumens.
The Arc V is specified at 1000 lumens.
What I haven't been able to find is the lumen count for the basic Arcs that I currently use:
Drone UAS UAV Quadcopter LED Strobe Light
Fully self contained high intensity drone DroneUAS strobe light for quadcopters hexcopters uas rc and uav use.
www.firehousetechnology.com
Does anyone know the lumen count of the basic Arc?
I'll just note in passing that these weigh 5 grams...
;-)
Thx!
TCS
I should mention that I fly Mini-2s, which makes the mounting issue a bit more challenging.Ok this thread is about VLOS fairly close, for sunny situations, not 100% sure if you are after the same strobe advice, or if you want advice for longer VLOS for you the pilot, or VLOS for aircraft to see you day or night.
It probably matters not too much which it is though ?
You really won't find anything smaller, lighter, good battery life (4 x battery easy worth of flights, maybe 6), and low in profile than the Dual or ARCII. Back for buck light output . . . the Vifly strobe looks good, but can't comment on the reliability or comparison to FHT.
I just googled Firehouse Technology Dual strobe, trying to find you a source, and found them still tucked away on their website. (The FHT website is not that good for finding things !)
DJI Strobe Light
Fully self contained high intensity drone DroneUAS strobe light for quadcopters hexcopters uas rc and uav use.www.firehousetechnology.com
While the FHT ARCII or original ARC are tiny themselves, weight maybe 4 or 6 gms (?) can't recall precisely, the Dual is about 3/4 the size again, and still very visible.
View attachment 138826
For general nearby attaining VLOS, I would place 1 Dual or ARCII on each side, with velcro, only in the white led.
You will see in the video below that after a short distance away, the colours aren't even very discernible, I think at 500m or so colours don't really stand out clearly in daytime, night is a little different.
White is by far the most visible light (day or night) . . . and ARCII on the back of my Mavic Pro, this one a combo 2 red / 2 white led, you can see these photos showing none strobing on, the red, then the white, and how obviously more visible white is.
View attachment 138836View attachment 138834View attachment 138835
Here is my Spark, with a red Dual on the left, a green Dual on the right . . .
View attachment 138831View attachment 138832View attachment 138833
In that video, you can clearly see them strobing on the sides during those gentle turns, even when facing you or pointing away from you.
The ARCII would be so much stronger again, as too if they were white Duals.
I only use velcro to mount strobes, Dual or ACRII, never an issue with these sizes / weights, and you can mount them on the arms / legs of a Mavic no problems.
Here's my Mavic Pro with ARCIIs mounted with velcro, front arm close up red shown, rear the red / white combo.
The latter red / white combo as seen in the photos above with std rear M1P light and each of the strobe colours.
View attachment 138827View attachment 138828View attachment 138829View attachment 138830
Ha, you might notice I love strobes, or at least having them for flights I feel they will be useful to quickly spot my drone up to maybe 500m to 700m away.
I generally don't go further, once or twice in my 4-1/2 years on the sticks.
If you have any questions about the way I mount mine, or thoughts on other aspects of these 2 types of FHT strobes, feel free to ask.
I'd like to just use the 3M double sided tape, which might work fine. I'm just concerned about whether there's enough surface area on a Mini-2 leg to hold tight with the 3M.
I suppose there's really only one way to find out...
;-)
Again, thanks!
TCS
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I'm almost certain the Dual is 600 lumen (was your figure per led ?), it's bright though, and plenty for close by VLOS assistance.
The FHT site is confusing, they don't list lumen often, when they do they seem to put other strobe lumen on other strobe pages for comparison :/
I threw that around at quite a distance in sports mode end of that video, the white overcast sky, it's very visible.
Don't think you will get brighter out of anything smaller / lighter, with a small lipo it's just about the best I've seen for all round close VLOS.
Maybe you can build your own ?
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Is the mini leg about same size as M1P ?
I have about 6mm (1/4") usable on the front legs, kind of wrap around a little, so I can angle outwards a bit (avoid any camera probs).
I only just discovered a short while ago, I'm using industrial velcro hook and loop.
I'm going to change soon to 3M Dual Lock, which is same both sides, and holds best I believe.
I'm not much of a DIY guy...I'm almost certain the Dual is 600 lumen (was your figure per led ?), it's bright though, and plenty for close by VLOS assistance.
The FHT site is confusing, they don't list lumen often, when they do they seem to put other strobe lumen on other strobe pages for comparison :/
I threw that around at quite a distance in sports mode end of that video, the white overcast sky, it's very visible.
Don't think you will get brighter out of anything smaller / lighter, with a small lipo it's just about the best I've seen for all round close VLOS.
Maybe you can build your own ?
5w Cree Led - Lights & Lighting - AliExpress
High power led, bulbs, green energy saving and environment friendly. Also shop for lights & lighting at best prices on AliExpress!
I sure wish I could find out the lumen rating of the basic Arc (4 strobe) Firehouse that I've got. Looking at the incomplete data that I've seen, I'd guess around 800 lumens. What I'm thinking of doing is getting one of the Arc Vs, and swapping it in for one of the basic Arcs that I have now, to see if there's any difference.
That would leave me with two of the basic Arcs (I got a 4-pack initially) to put on the legs of the Mini-2. My main concern would be the change in the balance, which is why I'd prefer to use four of them.
Has anyone put two strobes on Mini-2 legs? Any issues?
Thx,
TCS
The Mini-2 legs a roughly that size, a little smaller but not a lot, perhaps.
The 3M tape works great!
TCS
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Don’t sweat balance with 2 on front or rear legs, the motor revs will adjust to cope (negligible difference) and probably wouldn’t even be discernible.
Yeah, that's probably true. The weight will increase the power usage slightly. It's possible that the weight on just two legs would cause uneven motor wear, but that's probably in the noise.
Guess I gotta try it...
;-)
Thx!
TCS
1TenaciousG
Well-Known Member
I picked up a set of those led lit Landing Gear for my Mini 2, for VLOS, at height. Easy and cheap way to aid with location.
The 400 foot is the maximum permissible altitude. That in no way infers you must go to that altitude. Some folks, in my case make that many, have much keener eyesight than others. I envy them! Strobes may help, even in daylight. Spotters, use them when available to assist you.
Remember, you are still responsible to yield to manned A/C when necessary.
Test various altitudes with/out visual aids such as strobes. Test on different cloud/less/cover days to find your sweet spot. Nothing in the rule book says you have to go to 400’ alt. That’s just the max permitted (US). Even with different skins, the sight picture becomes much smaller as distance is increased. Experiment. Then come back and revisit to let us all know how you did. Tell us what worked, and what didn’t. May you have many, many happy flights!
Remember, you are still responsible to yield to manned A/C when necessary.
Test various altitudes with/out visual aids such as strobes. Test on different cloud/less/cover days to find your sweet spot. Nothing in the rule book says you have to go to 400’ alt. That’s just the max permitted (US). Even with different skins, the sight picture becomes much smaller as distance is increased. Experiment. Then come back and revisit to let us all know how you did. Tell us what worked, and what didn’t. May you have many, many happy flights!
I just ordered a set of add-on "landing gear" for my Mini-2 on Amazon. 9 bucks. In the picture they look pretty cool, but my main motivation is that they might make an excellent mounting platform for a forward -facing strobe, which I very much want.
Has anyone else seen or tired these?
I'll report back after I get them.
Thx,
TCS
absolutely! that said, i am always shocked at how many people are out there(and many on this forum), flying far off, clearly out of VLOS. seems so irresponsible to me.
I thought military tries to use paint schemes that are HARD to see, not the inverse.
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"most RAF training aircraft are painted black."
My guess is they want training aircraft visible for the safety / instruction benefits it might offer, like big L plates on a car for learners
Sorry, I missed the ‘training’ part. Lol, I guess trainers watching their trainees would want to be able to see them in the air."most RAF training aircraft are painted black."
My guess is they want training aircraft visible for the safety / instruction benefits it might offer, like big L plates on a car for learners
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