Volunteering as eyes in the skies, need advice

[Dbez1]

Being retired, I am in the process of beginning to volunteer with local VFD’s and the Department of Public Safety to help with search and rescue, brush fires, and basically anything they’ll find a drone’s view helpful with. I fly an Air2 with 3 batteries, a 10.5” iPad, a strobe for nighttime flying, have my Part 107, and completed the ICS100 and IS-700B training. I live near a small town where LE and VFD’s are too small to afford a large expensive drone dedicated to these needs, and my volunteer services have been enthusiastically received by emergency authorities. I’m sure some of you have been volunteering also and I would welcome advice from your experience. In particular, I’m wondering how many batteries you have and how many you keep fully charged in case of an emergency. I know it’s not ideal to keep them fully charged, but I was thinking if I rotate 1 fully charged and 2 at 50%, that would be adequate for most situations? Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Good on you, certainly a productive way to keep busy and return something valuable to the community.

One thing I would do totally before anything is check out insurances, do you need your own cover for public liability, personal injury, or will operating under a city dept see you protected by their insurances ?

Also, check what you sort of approvals you can get for BVLOS flights for S&R and airspace no fly zones for emergencies like fires, accidents sites, etc.

Batteries, I would set to 3 or 4 days auto discharge (if possible in Fly ??).
Yes you would always have a couple charged, maybe rotate through maybe 6 batteries allowing 2 to discharge as usual (might take a day extra to what's set), and 2 discharged ready to pop 2, 3, or all 4 others on when something comes up.

Look for a charging station with power to run a charger on site that can charge quickly, you might manage such a rotation of batteries with 6 or 8 batteries, to maintain the ability to keep the bird in the air for a decent amount of time.
That will have to experimented with to determine what's needed to keep a bird aloft for ideally say a couple of hours min.

Personally, I think the city should spring for an M30T for you to use, with ample batteries / support gear, the cameras and FLIR will be a real boon for assisting all emergency type services, a big step up from mere aerial observation.
You simply won't see much / well enough in many types of operations, nor be able to fly when you may need to.
RTK, laser range finder with ability to obtain gps co-ordinates.
S&R without FLIR is really not going to be that useful, for fire fighters too . . . also rain hail shine, strong winds.
The city will get a real return on investment when it is needed, might even be useful for their building inspections / thermal data etc.

Possibly that would be a big ask initially for an unproven benefit and need.
Maybe after an trial type period of 6 months or so, and an obvious potential being visible, supported by various departments, you could go down that line with the city.

All the best with it.

 

[Dbez1]

Good on you, certainly a productive way to keep busy and return something valuable to the community.

One thing I would do totally before anything is check out insurances, do you need your own cover for public liability, personal injury, or will operating under a city dept see you protected by their insurances ?

Also, check what you sort of approvals you can get for BVLOS flights for S&R and airspace no fly zones for emergencies like fires, accidents sites, etc.

Batteries, I would set to 3 or 4 days auto discharge (if possible in Fly ??).
Yes you would always have a couple charged, maybe rotate through maybe 6 batteries allowing 2 to discharge as usual (might take a day extra to what's set), and 2 discharged ready to pop 2, 3, or all 4 others on when something comes up.

Look for a charging station with power to run a charger on site that can charge quickly, you might manage such a rotation of batteries with 6 or 8 batteries, to maintain the ability to keep the bird in the air for a decent amount of time.
That will have to experimented with to determine what's needed to keep a bird aloft for ideally say a couple of hours min.

Personally, I think the city should spring for an M30T for you to use, with ample batteries / support gear, the cameras and FLIR will be a real boon for assisting all emergency type services, a big step up from mere aerial observation.
You simply won't see much / well enough in many types of operations, nor be able to fly when you may need to.
RTK, laser range finder with ability to obtain gps co-ordinates.
S&R without FLIR is really not going to be that useful, for fire fighters too . . . also rain hail shine, strong winds.
The city will get a real return on investment when it is needed, might even be useful for their building inspections / thermal data etc.

Possibly that would be a big ask initially for an unproven benefit and need.
Maybe after an trial type period of 6 months or so, and an obvious potential being visible, supported by various departments, you could go down that line with the city.

All the best with it.

Thanks for your quick and thorough insight.
1. I’ll be insured through the VFC and they’ve set up a meeting with me.
2. So you think a fourth battery will be needed. I was thinking the same thing.
3. I’ll figure out a way to charge in the field. Possibly a power inverter?
4. I think your point about proving the value of a drone for a period of time before asking them to spend the big bucks is wise. If the VFC finds it useful, they may be the ones doing the asking. Probably more clout than me anyway.
Thanks again! Any others?

 

[ScottNH]

Thanks for your quick and thorough insight.
1. I’ll be insured through the VFC and they’ve set up a meeting with me.
2. So you think a fourth battery will be needed. I was thinking the same thing.
3. I’ll figure out a way to charge in the field. Possibly a power inverter?
4. I think your point about proving the value of a drone for a period of time before asking them to spend the big bucks is wise. If the VFC finds it useful, they may be the ones doing the asking. Probably more clout than me anyway.
Thanks again! Any others?

Re: power in the field, I would think most of the situations in which you'd be deploying the drone would have a Command Center that's powered, but if not, an inverter like the Honda EU2200i (or one of the better clones) is affordable (compared to the overall "drone" effort), portable, super quiet, and would provide a charging source for more than just the batteries. Hardly takes up any room at all, and keeps you independent.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

2. So you think a fourth battery will be needed. I was thinking the same thing.
3. I’ll figure out a way to charge in the field. Possibly a power inverter?

Yes, 4 (or even 3) would be a good start, obviously it wouldn't provide a full fly out and get the first one recharged by the end of available flight time, but that will give you a decent, reliable hour and a half flight time in most light wind conditions.
That could / should be enough time to cope with a lot of emergency assistance, especially if doing flights with small breaks for ground crew assessments, planning, etc.

Of course as soon as the first battery was depleted, you'd pop that on a charger and probably be at least partly charged by the time you finished the other 3.

The Air 2 normal mains charger is supposed to be around 1hr 40mins charge time (from a quite low % state I imagine), not sure how accurate that would be in real life.

One thing I do recommend, is try and set up a 12v charging system, preferably with a hub if possible.

Now, in saying this, I'm not sure ALL 12v chargers are the same as far as time goes, but from extensive 4x4 touring experience over years with the drones, the 12v charger is a lot faster with my M1P and Spark batteries than on the mains.

Of course, with a DJI hub it's going to cycle charging multiple batteries, so not your typical aftermarket multiple battery charger that can do several simultaneously, but that first battery can be really turbocharged on a 12v charger.

It would be good to have both, to get that first battery up again fast, and something that can charge multiple batteries at once, which perhaps could be more beneficial especially if running say 6 batteries, where time to fly out 5 would then enable one to fully recharge, then it'd be a close call to recharge for an 8th time, but 7 batteries worth of flights would be a good 2-3/4 to 3 hours of flight time.

Once again, starting with 3 batteries, or 4, is a good way to get things rolling.
With good use of the drone it still gives you a lot of time airborne and a sitrep developed on whatever it is you are helping with.

 

[Rich QR]

Regarding power, certainly talk to the people you'll be serving. My guess is if you're called out for a job that will require more than a couple of batteries, there will always be at least an idling vehicle with a heavy duty alternator where you can plug a charger or inverter into a lighter outlet. They'll be needing to power their radios, and probably lights. They may set up a portable 120VAC generator if the effort lasts a long time or grows large.

But if my guess is wrong, or if you just want to maintain some independence, there are fairly simple ways to do that, too.

The Honda EU2000 style inverter generator already mentioned would do a super job, but 2000 watts is way more than you need for charging drone batteries. A gasoline powered generator is heavy, expensive, and it requires maintenance, and must be transported upright to avoid spilling gas and oil. You've got to safely transport gasoline for it. The nice thing is that with just an occasional replenishment of gasoline, it will run forever. I have an EU2000i and have used it to power my refrigerator during a week-long power outage, and of course it kept a lot of other small things running, as well.

For keeping your drone ready to fly, it's probably simpler and cheaper to use a big 12V battery, and either use a charger that works directly from 12V, or use an AC powered charger with a small inverter to convert battery power to AC. I've used a 300W BESTEK inverter, but there are many brands and models.

As for what kind of big 12V battery to get, the most capacity per dollar will come from AGM batteries. You can get group U1 batteries, about 35Ah capacity, from many sources. They're widely used for mobility scooters, among other things. They weigh about 25 pounds apiece, so they're not too hard to carry. AGM batteries are sealed and spill-proof, but you should keep them in a battery box to avoid having metal objects come in contact and short out their terminals. Keep a couple on trickle chargers at home and you'll be ready to go anytime.

Better than AGM in every way except price are Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries, abbreviated LiFePO4. They are much lighter weight for a given capacity, smaller, hold their charge longer, and will last through many more years of charge/discharge cycles. But the purchase price is significantly higher. Bionenno is one good supplier of these.

With any sort of rechargeable battery, be sure and use a charger designed for the battery type and size. Lead acid batteries can have their lifetime shortened by using the wrong charger, and lithium batteries can suffer "thermal runaway", the battery industry's euphemism for going up in flames.

Any of these "big battery' solutions will themselves need to be charged up eventually. So if you're contemplating this, make sure your local emergency crews know approximately how long you'll be able to fly before they'll need to provide a generator or other power source.

 

[iglou7]

How many search and rescue, brush fires has there been in the last 10 years? I would be careful not to invest too much.
success
Keep up the good job.

 

[mobilehomer]

Being retired, I am in the process of beginning to volunteer with local VFD’s and the Department of Public Safety to help with search and rescue, brush fires, and basically anything they’ll find a drone’s view helpful with. I fly an Air2 with 3 batteries, a 10.5” iPad, a strobe for nighttime flying, have my Part 107, and completed the ICS100 and IS-700B training. I live near a small town where LE and VFD’s are too small to afford a large expensive drone dedicated to these needs, and my volunteer services have been enthusiastically received by emergency authorities. I’m sure some of you have been volunteering also and I would welcome advice from your experience. In particular, I’m wondering how many batteries you have and how many you keep fully charged in case of an emergency. I know it’s not ideal to keep them fully charged, but I was thinking if I rotate 1 fully charged and 2 at 50%, that would be adequate for most situations? Thanks in advance for your advice.

I wouldn't worry about batteries being charged. Charge them 100%, they will discharge slowly on their own. I would highly recommend one of these. https://smile.amazon.com/Hanatora-B...r&qid=1648995649&sprefix=hanat,aps,405&sr=8-1

 

[DavidT_ NZ]

Being retired, I am in the process of beginning to volunteer with local VFD’s and the Department of Public Safety to help with search and rescue, brush fires, and basically anything they’ll find a drone’s view helpful with. I fly an Air2 with 3 batteries, a 10.5” iPad, a strobe for nighttime flying, have my Part 107, and completed the ICS100 and IS-700B training. I live near a small town where LE and VFD’s are too small to afford a large expensive drone dedicated to these needs, and my volunteer services have been enthusiastically received by emergency authorities. I’m sure some of you have been volunteering also and I would welcome advice from your experience. In particular, I’m wondering how many batteries you have and how many you keep fully charged in case of an emergency. I know it’s not ideal to keep them fully charged, but I was thinking if I rotate 1 fully charged and 2 at 50%, that would be adequate for most situations? Thanks in advance for your advice.

I would suggest that you just keep it simple at the start. Buy a 12v car socket inverter for your power requirements that will charge the multiboard for the Air 2 plus a laptop and a DJI 12v car adapter that will charge a single battery for the Air 2 is also not very expensive. If you keep your 3 batteries charged every few days you should get over an hour of flying at any time in between which may be ample for some rapid S&R or fire hot spot detection. Put the camera in “down” mode and use the map and screen visuals to record lots of video. Then drop that onto a good laptop and flash drive (for others to view and examine). Simply having that film could be perfect for S&R assistance, especially if a ground signal has been placed or if a person is missing off shore (e.g. tidal rip or boat capsize). Fly at a height to give coverage and clarity. And also see if there are other drone users in your area and perhaps create a networking connection. There may be others, which could save you a lot of added outlay on spare batteries. One place to enquire would be via a Facebook page. I am currently looking at offering a similar assistance in my home city after an elderly gent went missing a couple of years ago and was later found deceased on a walking track by a stream near my Mum’s home. Unfortunately I was leaving there on the day that I read about him being overdue and the idea of using my drone over the stream did occur to me as he was known to walk in that area. He was not found for about 6 months. I am sure the drone would have helped. The Air 2 is a very reliable drone and the digital zoom would be useful, too. Cheers and good luck

 

[bcfd29]

This has nothing directly to do with your hardware questions, but you may wish to take a look at a standard that has been created specifically for public safety users, that addresses training, certification, skills, equipment maintenance, mission planning, etc. The document is: "NFPA 2400: Standard for Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) Used for Public Safety Operations".

It is a consensus based standard published by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and developed by public safety stakeholders specifically for the purposes you are indicating that you wish to take part in. The current version is from 2019, and a new edition is currently being developed as a revision (these docs get updated around every three years or so).

One of the best ways to minimize risk, as well as your and any other participants liability, is to adopt and adhere to standards like these, which create a baseline of knowledge, skills, abilities and help better define scope of practice and essentially level the playing field and define expectations for those engaged in public safety support activities using UAS systems.

The document can be read and reviewed online here: NFPA 2400: Standard for Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) Used for Public Safety Operations and if you are interested and want to enter a comment for the next edition ANYONE can do that by following the links provided.

For anyone else interested, the skills sections contain some good stuff with respect to developing your piloting proficiency and being able to safely and efficiently handle different situations that may occur during a mission.

I am fortunate enough to be involved in the process of writing and revising this and several other public safety related standards for NFPA and its members/customers and welcome any questions. As a long time public safety practitioner, training and certification service provider, and end user, these documents can be both a blessing and a curse but for the most part are an excellent resource to define training goals. Although compliance is voluntary, these documents often carry the weight of law (both in the US and internationally).

Best of luck in your decision to become involved in serving your community, very cool way to share your love of flying and your skills with people who need these resources!

 

[BigAl07]

I've been doing this for several years. I'll throw some tidbits out there (I have NOT read all previous posts so I may repeat things)

A) Be self sufficient before you leave the house. SAR can be grueling. Someone mentioned Command Center... while that is the IDEAL situation that isn't the NORM, at least not at first on an incident. Have your own Food, Water, Appropriate Clothing, First Aid and so forth. When I get called out I can self serve for the first 24-36 hours including shelter (not COLD weather). I'm one of the first dispatched once UAS services are requested.

B) Power - I had a dedicated power outlet hardwired in my service vehicle so I can plug in a 110V inverter in the back. I can charge 4 batteries, multiple USB devices and much more from my vehicle. It's amazing how often I use this setup even outside of Emergency Services.

C) Someone mentioned additional waivers for BVLOS etc. Those will have to be done at the Agency Level and would likely require an Agency Owned aircraft. That's something you'll want to approach much later down the road as it requires a lot of approvals etc, attorneys, and a crap load of paperwork.

D) Keep in mind that any incident you arrive on could "become Criminal" and any data you create become evidence and can't leave the scene. This includes SD cards and Cell Phones so anything you use be prepared to surrender at least temporarily. That's why I never use my Cell Phone with the UAS on-scene. Always carry extra SD Cards just in case you have to leave any you've used on the scene. I've had this happen a couple of different times so be prepared.

If you have any questions feel free to drop me a note.

Allen

 

[sar104]

I've been doing this for several years. I'll throw some tidbits out there (I have NOT read all previous posts so I may repeat things)

A) Be self sufficient before you leave the house. SAR can be grueling. Someone mentioned Command Center... while that is the IDEAL situation that isn't the NORM, at least not at first on an incident. Have your own Food, Water, Appropriate Clothing, First Aid and so forth. When I get called out I can self serve for the first 24-36 hours including shelter (not COLD weather). I'm one of the first dispatched once UAS services are requested.

B) Power - I had a dedicated power outlet hardwired in my service vehicle so I can plug in a 110V inverter in the back. I can charge 4 batteries, multiple USB devices and much more from my vehicle. It's amazing how often I use this setup even outside of Emergency Services.

C) Someone mentioned additional waivers for BVLOS etc. Those will have to be done at the Agency Level and would likely require an Agency Owned aircraft. That's something you'll want to approach much later down the road as it requires a lot of approvals etc, attorneys, and a crap load of paperwork.

D) Keep in mind that any incident you arrive on could "become Criminal" and any data you create become evidence and can't leave the scene. This includes SD cards and Cell Phones so anything you use be prepared to surrender at least temporarily. That's why I never use my Cell Phone with the UAS on-scene. Always carry extra SD Cards just in case you have to leave any you've used on the scene. I've had this happen a couple of different times so be prepared.

If you have any questions feel free to drop me a note.

Allen

One slight clarification. BVLOS waivers, at least the SGI kind that are normally used, require an agency request but are not limited to agency aircraft. The request form requires the aircraft and pilots to be listed but they can be volunteers as long as they are under agency supervision - i.e. the SAR IC. Every SGI waiver request that I've submitted over the last few years has been for volunteer search and rescue pilots.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Note if using a stand alone 13v battery, be it lead acid, AGM, or Lifepo4, check the 12v charger input requirements in volts.
Many DJI charger needs are up around 13.1v, and need to be hooked up to a motor vehicle alternator system of charging, and the motor of that vehicle running.
It doesn’t take long for the battery to drop to ‘resting’ state of well below that, resting charge voltage is usually around 12.7v and won’t run the 12v chargers reliably.
A step up converter does solve this eg some like mine are 11.0v - 13.8v and are easy to rig up to connect to an 2nd vehicle battery or stand alone battery.

 

[BigAl07]

Note if using a stand alone 13v battery, be it lead acid, AGM, or Lifepo4, check the 12v charger input requirements in volts.
Many DJI charger needs are up around 13.1v, and need to be hooked up to a motor vehicle alternator system of charging, and the motor of that vehicle running.
It doesn’t take long for the battery to drop to ‘resting’ state of well below that, resting charge voltage is usually around 12.7v and won’t run the 12v chargers reliably.
A step up converter does solve this eg some like mine are 11.0v - 13.8v and are easy to rig up to connect to an 2nd vehicle battery or stand alone battery.

Maybe I got lucky but this has not been an issue when running my Inverter directly off my car system. I've charged for a couple of hours at a time with no issues keeping the UAS and accessories charged. I do turn the Inverter OFF and start the vehicle after a couple of hours but I only do that to top off the car system. I've been tempted to do a test to see how long I can go before the battery goes too low but I know 2 hours doesn't do it.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Maybe I got lucky but this has not been an issue when running my Inverter directly off my car system. I've charged for a couple of hours at a time with no issues keeping the UAS and accessories charged. I do turn the Inverter OFF and start the vehicle after a couple of hours but I only do that to top off the car system. I've been tempted to do a test to see how long I can go before the battery goes too low but I know 2 hours doesn't do it.

An inverter may be ok Al, think they convert anything to mains level power.
It's the power needs just running some DJI 12v chargers . . . the M1P 12v charger for example . . . the Spark 12v plug could charge from an resting battery voltage without issue.

Not sure what the air 2 12v charger needs are, but should be on the unit specs sticker.

Inverters can be really power hungry though, and not terribly efficient with power losses.

In my 4x4 travels remote, I just stuck with full 12v systems through my 4WD, sometimes off grid for 4 - 5 weeks with fridge, led lighting, water pump, air compressor, and charging phones / ipads / drone batteries all thought that.

If running an inverter or simply a 12v charger off a 12v battery from a motor vehicle, one would have to watch the charge to start the vehicle wasn't drained too much to affect starting, but I feel this would take a lot of batteries charged when not turning over the motor / alternator for some time.

I would charge on the move usually because we'd be stopping and flying during the trip / days, but no problems charging a few in camp without problems (M1P mostly).

 

[BigAl07]

An inverter may be ok Al, think they convert anything to mains level power.
It's the power needs just running some DJI 12v chargers . . . the M1P 12v charger for example . . . the Spark 12v plug could charge from an resting battery voltage without issue.

Not sure what the air 2 12v charger needs are, but should be on the unit specs sticker.

Inverters can be really power hungry though, and not terribly efficient with power losses.

In my 4x4 travels remote, I just stuck with full 12v systems through my 4WD, sometimes off grid for 4 - 5 weeks with fridge, led lighting, water pump, air compressor, and charging phones / ipads / drone batteries all thought that.

If running an inverter or simply a 12v charger off a 12v battery from a motor vehicle, one would have to watch the charge to start the vehicle wasn't drained too much to affect starting, but I feel this would take a lot of batteries charged when not turning over the motor / alternator for some time.

I would charge on the move usually because we'd be stopping and flying during the trip / days, but no problems charging a few in camp without problems (M1P mostly).

Yes using a Power Inverter is terribly inefficient to say the least. It's ironic I'm taking 12V, going up to 110V and back to roughly 12V again. But it works and it works well for the way I work and fly

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Yes using a Power Inverter is terribly inefficient to say the least. It's ironic I'm taking 12V, going up to 110V and back to roughly 12V again. But it works and it works well for the way I work and fly

And the inverter does allow use of existing mains chargers etc, or even better, the aftermarket multi chargers so batteries can be charged simultaneously, rather than singular, in turn on a DJI hub.

 

[BigAl07]

And the inverter does allow use of existing mains chargers etc, or even better, the aftermarket multi chargers so batteries can be charged simultaneously, rather than singular, in turn on a DJI hub.

Bingo
We use a single DJI charger and a pair of 3rd party multichargers so we can charge many at a time.

 

[sar104]

And the inverter does allow use of existing mains chargers etc, or even better, the aftermarket multi chargers so batteries can be charged simultaneously, rather than singular, in turn on a DJI hub.

I use one of these with my M2EA and M2P aircraft, powered by a Honda EU2200i. With 6 batteries (4 would probably suffice) it allows for continuous operations:

Home | Colorado Drone Chargers

coloradodronechargers.com

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I use one of these with my M2EA and M2P aircraft, powered by a Honda EU2200i. With 6 batteries (4 would probably suffice) it allows for continuous operations:

Home | Colorado Drone Chargers

coloradodronechargers.com

Oh yeah, that is nice
If you need to be in the air a while, that is a great way to manage it.