Drones!

[Dockhead]

I was inspired to watch a few more Delos clips, by another thread on here.

I was really impressed at the high quality of the imagery on there -- they obviously work hard it.

And I was also impressed by the shots they are getting with some kind of drone. Really, what an interesting point of view, seeing things we can't see ourselves. Great shots also of the boat itself under sail.

Makes me think about acquiring such a device before leaving for the Baltic again in May.

Any of you folks using these things?

Here's one I found at a reasonable price:

Buy Phantom 3 Advanced | DJI Store

But I can't find any reference to the device's maximum airspeed. I wonder if you could just lose it, if you tried to get a shot of your boat sailing hard upwind? It would need to be able to make 20 or 30 knots of true airspeed to keep up with you.

[Kenomac]

We looked into this quite extensively 18 months ago, and the result of our efforts... until a truly waterproof, retrievable drone is available we're not interested.

It would be very sad to see a non-waterproof drone land in the ocean or watch your drone fly off into the distance, then go out of range, fall in and essentially drown. It happens all the time.

There's a fellow down in the Caribbean who sells an upgraded waterproof version that he seems to have almost perfected for around $2000 complete with a Gopro gimbaled system. After he first gets some other buyers to be his lab rats, we will look again into buying one.

[44'cruisingcat]

This one looks faster, (although looks may be misleading) they claim 25 mph top speed. So only light air windward sailing videos...


https://www.lily.camera/


IP 67 waterproof too.

[CrustyChief]

Tons of video on U tube, several that can operate in the water.

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

SNIP

Any of you folks using these things?

SNIP

I call these things multirotor platforms as technically they may not conform to the historical definition of a drone, the term which first appeared in pre WWII Great Britain during work done by the military there.

In in any case I have an older Phantom. Also have an Inspire made by DJI. Also have a SplashDrone mentioned below as a waterproof quadcopter and two HexH2o hexcoptors.

There is a wealth of information about all these, and other, flying platforms at the rcgroups site. There are also facebook groups for all the platforms I have mentioned as well as some general aerial photography groups.

Standard advice is to get a simulator for your computer/tablet/cell phone and don't fly the real thing till you can take off and land ten times in a row with crashing. If you have an android device I recommend this one.

I have flown my Inspire in 20knot winds with no problems. The Inspire is significantly heavier than the Phantom and not blown around by winds as much. Also costs significantly more. I had nothing but trouble with my Splashdrone, hard to control and the water proof case for the camera leaked out of the box when I tested it with tissue paper before putting a camera in it.

The HexH20 is water proof and a big solid six motor (hexcopter) as opposed to the others which are four motor (quadcopter). It does not have the great firmware/software/ease of use the Inspire does, but still is nice. Here is a link to the web site. Check out the videos and the facebook group for them. Compare how happy the HexH2O and QuadH2O users are compared to how happy the Mariner/Splashdrone users are. Also check out the number of videos from HexH20 users on facebook as opposed to the number of videos from Splashdrone users.

While I really like the Inspire I need to point out the US has recently created rules requiring UAV operators to register with the FAA. DJI which makes the Phantom has modified their firmware to create no fly zones and DJI products warn you when you get close to a no fly zone, and if you continue the platform simply lands. Other countries have, or will be, doing the same thing. The Bahamas are currently creating rules. The rcgroups site has current information about other countries rules.

Here is an example of what I did with my Inspire. Note the movement of the palm fronds at about the 1:10 mark

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Evr3...on_object_map=

[998221403524435]&action_type_map=[%22og.shares%22]&action_ref_map=[]

[StuM]

Originally Posted by tomfl

Standard advice is to get a simulator for your computer/tablet/cell phone and don't fly the real thing till you can take off and land ten times in a row with crashing. If you have an android device I recommend this one.

You seem to be missing a link. Pleeeaaasssseee? :0

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by StuM

You seem to be missing a link. Pleeeaaasssseee? :0

Sorry, but I did have lots of links in that post, just not the one you wanted.

Quadcopter FX simulator

I also have RealFlight on my PC. One thing to keep in mind is RCs are controlled with what is called a controller, which is basically a device with two joysticks normally adjusted with the thumbs or thumbs and forefingers; but there other options.

RealFlight comes with a controller very similar to the real thing. Realflight also has the best physics of all the simulators and a price some folks think is too high. The Nvidia Shield has a controller as an option that is fairly good. There are lots of Bluetooth controllers for cell phones and tablets. Bottom line is you need to practice with a controller as close to the one you will be using with your real platform.

[Pegu Club]

Did you mean a RC helicopter with a camera on it? could not help myself.....

The perspective is a nice addition to outdoors adventure vids.

That turtle seemed more than happy to get away from those humans....

[44'cruisingcat]

RC helicopters are generally more expensive than drones, and take a LOT more skill and practise to fly. They need pretty good radio gear too.


Generally though, they are much more powerful and far better performers than the drones.


There's almost no limit to what a REALLY talented pilot can do with a helicopter:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W170zszmkWk

As one with a few hundred hours flying RC choppers, the level of skill and co-ordination in this video is almost incomprehensible.


Edit; just watched again. It's not almost incomprehensible, it's COMPLETELY incomprehensible!

[Wakey]

Drake Paragon has some excellent videos on his second channel. Here is a trailer.

http://youtu.be/Hbb7xKV2fdI


Posted from my buggy iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum app

[Nolan]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

This one looks faster, (although looks may be misleading) they claim 25 mph top speed. So only light air windward sailing videos...


https://www.lily.camera/


IP 67 waterproof too.

Want it. So cool thing for me. But i think it need water resistance for protection.

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

I was inspired to watch a few more Delos clips, by another thread on here.


SNIP

The key word being "clips".

One term I hear a lot in terms of producing videos using a air born platform is a tripod in the sky. Anyone with a photography background knows how important it is to have a tripod that does not shake if high image quality is the goal.

Basic physics teaches us the heavier something is the less it will shake. While most modern cameras have some type of image stabilization multirotor platforms also have firmware/software to make the platform as stable as possible. So to get the best image quality you need a platform designed to maximize stability with firmware/software combined with a gimbal to maximize stability combined with a camera with good image stabilization.

As an aside I also have flown gassers, the helis shown in a video above. Just as in boats a gas engine have more power than those with an electric engine. But most boaters have experienced vibration from a gas engine. I am not aware of any gasser being set up for aerial photography. Electric powered multirotor platforms dominate but there are also some fixed wing craft that can produce nice results.

I have recently contacted these guys and may get one of these bad boys. They are some what of a new entry but look interesting.

https://vimeo.com/91537229

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by tomfl

The key word being "clips".

One term I hear a lot in terms of producing videos using a air born platform is a tripod in the sky. Anyone with a photography background knows how important it is to have a tripod that does not shake if high image quality is the goal.

Basic physics teaches us the heavier something is the less it will shake. While most modern cameras have some type of image stabilization multirotor platforms also have firmware/software to make the platform as stable as possible. So to get the best image quality you need a platform designed to maximize stability with firmware/software combined with a gimbal to maximize stability combined with a camera with good image stabilization.

As an aside I also have flown gassers, the helis shown in a video above. Just as in boats a gas engine have more power than those with an electric engine. But most boaters have experienced vibration from a gas engine. I am not aware of any gasser being set up for aerial photography. Electric powered multirotor platforms dominate but there are also some fixed wing craft that can produce nice results.

I have recently contacted these guys and may get one of these bad boys. They are some what of a new entry but look interesting.

https://vimeo.com/91537229

That is very cool!!

That might have a better chance of keeping up with a boat sailing to windward.

Anyone know it's cruising speed?



Sent from my D6633 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

That is very cool!!

That might have a better chance of keeping up with a boat sailing to windward.

Anyone know it's cruising speed?



Sent from my D6633 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

Maybe not as easy a question as to answer as you think. More or less 50mph. If you spend time on the site you will notice there are three basic kits, the high powered one, the standard one, and the you build it like you want one. The nominal power is two 5000mAh lipos, but the high powered one has 5200mAh batteries and upgraded motors. If you buy just the basic frame you can use even larger batteries and bigger better motors. I know of one guy who cut a whole in the frame and put in a 7800mAh lipos and really upgraded both the motors and props the motors spin. There is also some level of skill in flying the thing and some guys are faster than others.

Kinda like saying how fast will a boat sail, depends on the rig, how many sails up, and the skipper.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by tomfl

Maybe not as easy a question as to answer as you think. More or less 50mph. If you spend time on the site you will notice there are three basic kits, the high powered one, the standard one, and the you build it like you want one. The nominal power is two 5000mAh lipos, but the high powered one has 5200mAh batteries and upgraded motors. If you buy just the basic frame you can use even larger batteries and bigger better motors. I know of one guy who cut a whole in the frame and put in a 7800mAh lipos and really upgraded both the motors and props the motors spin. There is also some level of skill in flying the thing and some guys are faster than others.

Kinda like saying how fast will a boat sail, depends on the rig, how many sails up, and the skipper.

"More or less 50 mph" is a quite adequate answer. It means the device can keep up with a sailboat going hard upwind, which was all I wanted to know.

So, that looks perfect, except that it will be hard to stow it.

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