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Which drone (or drone software) will meet my needs?

farmerflyer

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Hello everyone, first post on the forums. I am trying to find the least expensive DJI drone that will meet my needs.
I currently own a Holy Stone 720E. This is a feature full drone for the price point (it was about $250) when it was purchased (it is now much more expensive). But, alas, the drone does not support all of the features I need. Also, the Holy Stone 720E software is a bit less refined.

Required Features:
1. 20+ minute flight time.
2. Ability to fly to a user defined GPS coordinate (this is the feature I am having a hard time finding).
3. GPS accuracy within 1 meter. My guess is that most drones meet the criteria, but seeing as how I have only owned/used 1 drone before, I realize that I shouldn't assume this to be true. My own experiements with GPS have shown that many devices claim to have very accurate GPSs, but in reality those claims are often incorrect.
4. Less than $1000 (new or used)
5. No apple devices required (I have a windows laptop and multiple android devices).

Desired Features:
1. A way to display the current GPS accuracy.
2. Less than $500 (new or used).
3. SDK Support (I have some programming skills and I also would like the ability to use 3rd applications in the future)
4. No fancy, time consuming, or expensive FAA registration requirements (I have already registered the HS720E under the recreational exception)

Unacceptable Solutions:
1. I have seen youtube videos in which people take a photo using a Mavic Mini 2 drone and then offline pull the GPS data out of the photo's metadata. This would be too tedious for me.
2. 3rd party apps that are poorly implemented and will put my drone in danger. I am not against using a high quality 3rd party solution, but that solution would need to be well vetted and highly rated for its robustness.

The task I need the drone to be able to complete:
I own a heavily wooded property with a rectangular property line. Currently, only 2 sides of the property are fenced. Handheld GPS devices under the tree canopy are not working (those devices have very poor accuracy, greater than 3 meters, which contradicts the accuracy their software claims). I am 99% confident I can use a drone to mark my property line. Since the drone is above the tree canopy, its GPS accuracy should be quite good. The more accurate I can mark out my property line, the less trees and brush I need to clear to run my fence. The HS720E does not have a way to enter a GPS waypoint, nor does it seem to have a way to see the drone's current GPS coordinate.
 
I think that GPS accuracy isn't going to be common enough.

Even my mini 2 won't land at the same spot when doing RTH.
A few questions:
1. On average, how far away is home from where it was originally?
2. In the worst case scanario, how far away is home from where it was orignally?
3. Do you wait for the maximum amount of satillites to be detected before taking off? My concern is that if you typically take off pretty fast before giving the drone 5 or so minutes to find all of the satillites, you might have low GPS accuracy at take-off, but very high accuracy during RTH.
 
Last edited:
Hello everyone, first post on the forums. I am trying to find the least expensive DJI drone that will meet my needs.
I currently own a Holy Stone 720E. This is a feature full drone for the price point (it was about $250) when it was purchased (it is now much more expensive). But, alas, the drone does not support all of the features I need. Also, the Holy Stone 720E software is a bit less refined.

Required Features:
1. 20+ minute flight time.
2. Ability to fly to a user defined GPS coordinate (this is the feature I am having a hard time finding).
3. GPS accuracy within 1 meter. My guess is that most drones meet the criteria, but seeing as how I have only owned/used 1 drone before, I realize that I shouldn't assume this to be true. My own experiements with GPS have shown that many devices claim to have very accurate GPSs, but in reality those claims are often incorrect.
4. Less than $1000 (new or used)
5. No apple devices required (I have a windows laptop and multiple android devices).

Desired Features:
1. A way to display the current GPS accuracy.
2. Less than $500 (new or used).
3. SDK Support (I have some programming skills and I also would like the ability to use 3rd applications in the future)
4. No fancy, time consuming, or expensive FAA registration requirements (I have already registered the HS720E under the recreational exception)

Unacceptable Solutions:
1. I have seen youtube videos in which people take a photo using a Mavic Mini 2 drone and then offline pull the GPS data out of the photo's metadata. This would be too tedious for me.
2. 3rd party apps that are poorly implemented and will put my drone in danger. I am not against using a high quality 3rd party solution, but that solution would need to be well vetted and highly rated for its robustness.

The task I need the drone to be able to complete:
I own a heavily wooded property with a rectangular property line. Currently, only 2 sides of the property are fenced. Handheld GPS devices under the tree canopy are not working (those devices have very poor accuracy, greater than 3 meters, which contradicts the accuracy their software claims). I am 99% confident I can use a drone to mark my property line. Since the drone is above the tree canopy, its GPS accuracy should be quite good. The more accurate I can mark out my property line, the less trees and brush I need to clear to run my fence. The HS720E does not have a way to enter a GPS waypoint, nor does it seem to have a way to see the drone's current GPS coordinate.

I doubt you will find a drone for less than $1,000 that exceeds the GPS accuracy of the Mavic Air 2 since it uses both GPS and GLONAAS, and per the link below the GPS accuracy WHILE HOVERING is +/- 1.5 meter. You could expect it to be less while moving.

 
I doubt you will find a drone for less than $1,000 that exceeds the GPS accuracy of the Mavic Air 2 since it uses both GPS and GLONAAS, and per the link below the GPS accuracy WHILE HOVERING is +/- 1.5 meter. You could expect it to be less while moving.

I had to check the DJI product page, but every single Mavic drone supports GPS and GLONASS. The Air 2S and the Mini 2 support GPS, GLONASS, and GALILEO.

MAYBE the Air 2S or Mini 2 have better precision?!? But, I think it is likely the Air 2 and the Mini 1 have the same absolute precision.

Additionally, all of the drones have a horizontal accuracy of 0.5 meters when using GPS. This is very good! (The 1.5 meter accuracy was for vertical accuracy, which doesn't matter to me)
 
MAYBE the Air 2S or Mini 2 have better precision?!? But, I think it is likely the Air 2 and the Mini 1 have the same absolute precision.
You are going to get the same positioning accuracy with any drone using consumer GPS.
It's not like some are flaky and others are more accurate.
And the quoted hovering accuracy is how well the drone can hold position, not how accurate it's GPS is.
 
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2. Ability to fly to a user defined GPS coordinate (this is the feature I am having a hard time finding).
For this you need a drone that can run Litchi, which can display GPS location data on the screen
3. GPS accuracy within 1 meter. My guess is that most drones meet the criteria, but seeing as how I have only owned/used 1 drone before, I realize that I shouldn't assume this to be true. My own experiements with GPS have shown that many devices claim to have very accurate GPSs, but in reality those claims are often incorrect.
Unless you pay big $$ you won't find any GPS with <1metre accuracy
Consumer GPS has a variable inaccuracy, most of the time the location given will be within 2.5 metres, but sometimes it can be more.
That's just the nature of consumer GPS.
5. No apple devices required (I have a windows laptop and multiple android devices).
I'm not aware of any drones that can only run with Apple phones or tablets
1. A way to display the current GPS accuracy.
You cannot display the GPS accuracy
Just accept that the GPS will be reasonably accurate.
3. SDK Support (I have some programming skills and I also would like the ability to use 3rd applications in the future)
You would need this for the drone to be able to run Litchi.
4. No fancy, time consuming, or expensive FAA registration requirements (I have already registered the HS720E under the recreational exception)
If you've already registered with the FAA for recreational use, that covers all the drones you care to use recreationally, with no need to re-register anything.
1. I have seen youtube videos in which people take a photo using a Mavic Mini 2 drone and then offline pull the GPS data out of the photo's metadata. This would be too tedious for me.
It's not tedious at all, but How would you use the GPS location data for the drone to help down on the ground, where you've said that you can't get a good fix?
Handheld GPS devices under the tree canopy are not working (those devices have very poor accuracy, greater than 3 meters, which contradicts the accuracy their software claims).
No manufacturer is going to claim accuracy when you use the GPS in an environment where it can't get good satellite reception.
I am 99% confident I can use a drone to mark my property line. Since the drone is above the tree canopy, its GPS accuracy should be quite good
I'm not.
I'm wondering how you intend to mark things at ground level from a drone high in the sky??
 
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Hello everyone, first post on the forums. I am trying to find the least expensive DJI drone that will meet my needs.
I currently own a Holy Stone 720E. This is a feature full drone for the price point (it was about $250) when it was purchased (it is now much more expensive). But, alas, the drone does not support all of the features I need. Also, the Holy Stone 720E software is a bit less refined.

Required Features:
1. 20+ minute flight time.
2. Ability to fly to a user defined GPS coordinate (this is the feature I am having a hard time finding).
3. GPS accuracy within 1 meter. My guess is that most drones meet the criteria, but seeing as how I have only owned/used 1 drone before, I realize that I shouldn't assume this to be true. My own experiements with GPS have shown that many devices claim to have very accurate GPSs, but in reality those claims are often incorrect.
4. Less than $1000 (new or used)
5. No apple devices required (I have a windows laptop and multiple android devices).

Desired Features:
1. A way to display the current GPS accuracy.
2. Less than $500 (new or used).
3. SDK Support (I have some programming skills and I also would like the ability to use 3rd applications in the future)
4. No fancy, time consuming, or expensive FAA registration requirements (I have already registered the HS720E under the recreational exception)

Unacceptable Solutions:
1. I have seen youtube videos in which people take a photo using a Mavic Mini 2 drone and then offline pull the GPS data out of the photo's metadata. This would be too tedious for me.
2. 3rd party apps that are poorly implemented and will put my drone in danger. I am not against using a high quality 3rd party solution, but that solution would need to be well vetted and highly rated for its robustness.

The task I need the drone to be able to complete:
I own a heavily wooded property with a rectangular property line. Currently, only 2 sides of the property are fenced. Handheld GPS devices under the tree canopy are not working (which those devices have very poor accuracy, greater than 3 meters, which contradicts the accuracy their software claims). I am 99% confident I can use a drone to mark my property line. Since the drone is above the tree canopy, its GPS accuracy should be quite good. The more accurate I can mark out my property line, the less trees and brush I need to clear to run my fence. The HS720E does not have a way to enter a GPS waypoint, nor does it seem to have a way to see the drone's current GPS coordinate.
Id recommend the Mavic Pro or the Mavic Pro Platinum. It’s rock solid and you can find great deals on used ones.

You can either write your own program or you can use Litchi to make waypoints with precise GPS coordinates. You can also see the coordinates on the screen during flight.

Like was already mentioned idk if it will be 1 meter accurate but in your price range it is gonna be as good as it’s gonna get.
 
I had to check the DJI product page, but every single Mavic drone supports GPS and GLONASS. The Air 2S and the Mini 2 support GPS, GLONASS, and GALILEO.

MAYBE the Air 2S or Mini 2 have better precision?!? But, I think it is likely the Air 2 and the Mini 1 have the same absolute precision.

Additionally, all of the drones have a horizontal accuracy of 0.5 meters when using GPS. This is very good! (The 1.5 meter accuracy was for vertical accuracy, which doesn't matter to me)
The Air 2s and mini 2 don’t have waypoint support so don’t look at those models
 
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