Drones - worth it or a five minute wonder?

dogbox · Guru

RE: Drones - worth it or a five minute wonder?

iana · Guru

One of the problems I see with having a (good quality) drone, is that you need to fly it often, to keep in practice. OK if you just going to go up and down and around a bit and you are watching the drone when flying it, that's a different ball game to having the drone out of sight, and just using the screen to fly. I maybe wrong here but the DJI mini 2 that I have has a range of 10km, can fly up to 500m (CASA limit I think), but has a service ceiling of 4,000m and a speed in sports mode of 16m/s, of course there are settings to restrict and control, you just have to refer to the manual, which I might add is something like 64 pages of foolscap, not something you will memorize in one night.
Then there is the problem of where can you fly it without upsetting the locals and invading privacy. There are many functions to learn and be aware of, but if serious it can take some very good pictures.

markf · Senior Member

iana wrote:
One of the problems I see with having a (good quality) drone, is that you need to fly it often, to keep in practice. OK if you just going to go up and down and around a bit and you are watching the drone when flying it, that's a different ball game to having the drone out of sight, and just using the screen to fly. I maybe wrong here but the DJI mini 2 that I have has a range of 10km, can fly up to 500m (CASA limit I think), but has a service ceiling of 4,000m and a speed in sports mode of 16m/s, of course there are settings to restrict and control, you just have to refer to the manual, which I might add is something like 64 pages of foolscap, not something you will memorize in one night.
Then there is the problem of where can you fly it without upsetting the locals and invading privacy. There are many functions to learn and be aware of, but if serious it can take some very good pictures.

Max altitude is 120 metres above ground level and the drone must remain in visual line of sight at all times. CASA's drone rules are here.

iana · Guru

If those are the rules, I see no point, I can't see it anyway, I have to wear glasses to see the screen clearly. Not worth the trouble.

Mike Harding · Guru

iana wrote:
If those are the rules, I see no point, I can't see it anyway, I have to wear glasses to see the screen clearly.

Don't give them ideas or they'll want an eyesight test and probably a note from your mum stating you've been a good boy....

Whenarewethere · Guru

Mike Harding wrote:
iana wrote:
If those are the rules, I see no point, I can't see it anyway, I have to wear glasses to see the screen clearly.
Don't give them ideas or they'll want an eyesight test and probably a note from your mum stating you've been a good boy....

Eyesight issues!

'From his own position, Nelson, Parker's second-in-command, could see the battle turning his way. When the Commander-in-Chief hoisted his instruction, Nelson purposefully put his telescope to his blind eye and exclaimed, 'I really do not see the signal!' He fought on until the Danish surrendered'

iana · Guru

'From his own position, Nelson, Parker's second-in-command, could see the battle turning his way. When the Commander-in-Chief hoisted his instruction, Nelson purposefully put his telescope to his blind eye and exclaimed, 'I really do not see the signal!' He fought on until the Danish surrendered'

A nice way to bend the rules. I fly it using the screen, if I don't and sneeze (bumping the controls, it takes me 10 minutes to find the dam thing. But I would not go and spend &seriously the one I have is very small, but a serious piece of gear, to use the feature one would need constant practice.

Mine was given to me by my brother inlaw who had not long to live, but I would not go and spend $700 on the unit and another $800 on an Ipad just to have it go up and down for neck exercise, which it seems those CASA regs limit you to do.

iana · Guru

'From his own position, Nelson, Parker's second-in-command, could see the battle turning his way. When the Commander-in-Chief hoisted his instruction, Nelson purposefully put his telescope to his blind eye and exclaimed, 'I really do not see the signal!' He fought on until the Danish surrendered'

A nice way to bend the rules. I fly it using the screen, if I don't and sneeze (bumping the controls, it takes me 10 minutes to find the dam thing. But I would not go and spend the amount of money these cost & seriously the one I have is very small, but a serious piece of gear, to use the feature one would need constant practice.

Mine was given to me by my brother inlaw who had not long to live, but I would not go and spend $700 on the unit and another $800 on an Ipad just to have it go up and down for neck exercise, which it seems those CASA regs limit you to do.

-- Edited by iana on Thursday 20th of May 2021 09:17:44 AM

Bobdown · Guru

markmack wrote:
Mike... Did a quick check and currently going at $150 with three batteries.. In grey,black and orange from banggood... The instructions say to fly out in the middle of an oval for your first three days of flying, and this is good advise... The drone has all the good things . Auto return when battery is getting low, one button take off and landing.. While you are getting the hang of flying within eyesight it can be flown without the phone connection.. When you are ready, connect the phone and open up a whole new experience..

Very interesting thread, I have been hinting to the missus to get one for a while now, the answer has always been No.

Mark, I had a look at banggood, saw one for $154 with only one battery or lots more than that price, which one did you get? At that price, I can say it's for Fathers day............ha ha.

Cheers Bob

markf · Senior Member

Bobdown wrote:
markmack wrote:
Mike... Did a quick check and currently going at $150 with three batteries.. In grey,black and orange from banggood... The instructions say to fly out in the middle of an oval for your first three days of flying, and this is good advise... The drone has all the good things . Auto return when battery is getting low, one button take off and landing.. While you are getting the hang of flying within eyesight it can be flown without the phone connection.. When you are ready, connect the phone and open up a whole new experience..
Very interesting thread, I have been hinting to the missus to get one for a while now, the answer has always been No.
Mark, I had a look at banggood, saw one for $154 with only one battery or lots more than that price, which one did you get? At that price, I can say it's for Fathers day............ha ha.
Cheers Bob

I ended up buying a real cheap one to start with figuring that I'd probably crash it a few times and possibly destroy it before I got the hang of it. I didn't but the camera was absolute rubbish with poor colour rendition, exposure management, etc. as well as loads of barrel distortion. It also only had a single axis gimbal. It's now sitting on a shelf unused.

About the time I started looking for a more capable drone a mate who runs a survey company was in the process of upgrading his fleet and let me have a DJI Phantom 3 Advanced for a pretty keen price.

If I was starting out now I'd be looking at a used (but not abused) DJI Mini 2 with a view to possibly upgrading in the future but the Mini 2 has a three axis gimbal and a thoroughly competent camera. There's loads of results from a Mini 2 on Facebook that are quite stunning without any post processing.

Bobdown · Guru

markf wrote:
Bobdown wrote:
markmack wrote:
Mike... Did a quick check and currently going at $150 with three batteries.. In grey,black and orange from banggood... The instructions say to fly out in the middle of an oval for your first three days of flying, and this is good advise... The drone has all the good things . Auto return when battery is getting low, one button take off and landing.. While you are getting the hang of flying within eyesight it can be flown without the phone connection.. When you are ready, connect the phone and open up a whole new experience..
Very interesting thread, I have been hinting to the missus to get one for a while now, the answer has always been No.
Mark, I had a look at banggood, saw one for $154 with only one battery or lots more than that price, which one did you get? At that price, I can say it's for Fathers day............ha ha.
Cheers Bob
I ended up buying a real cheap one to start with figuring that I'd probably crash it a few times and possibly destroy it before I got the hang of it. I didn't but the camera was absolute rubbish with poor colour rendition, exposure management, etc. as well as loads of barrel distortion. It also only had a single axis gimbal. It's now sitting on a shelf unused.
About the time I started looking for a more capable drone a mate who runs a survey company was in the process of upgrading his fleet and let me have a DJI Phantom 3 Advanced for a pretty keen price.
If I was starting out now I'd be looking at a used (but not abused) DJI Mini 2 with a view to possibly upgrading in the future but the Mini 2 has a three axis gimbal and a thoroughly competent camera. There's loads of results from a Mini 2 on Facebook that are quite stunning without any post processing.

Sorry Markf, I was quoting markmack and his check on banggood for a cheap drone.......Thanks anyway Bob

Are We Lost · Guru

I would not recommend getting a real cheapie to see if you like it.

My partner knew I was interested in drones and gave me one as a gift (approx $100 I believe). While it was interesting to fly it, it really was a toy and useless as anything else. It was also far harder to control than the DJI Spark I eventually bought. A better drone will use GPS to hold it's position regardless of wind, and senses objects to avoid bumping into them. Typically it will also have a "home" function so if you lose sight of it, you can get it to return to the takeoff point and land automatically. The cheapie I was given had none of these.

So, it you want to try first, get a reasonable used one, and then resell at hardly any loss if you want something better.

gdayjr · Senior Member

My DJI Mavic pro will fly 7 km from where i launch it.

I know the rules say it has to be kept within eye sight, but i have indeed tested it around where i live in Sydney, and 5 km is easily obtained.

I get around 20 solid minuets of flight time per battery, and i have three batteries.

There are so many programable, and auto options on these things they pretty well fly, and land themselves.

Not cheap, my fly more kit was around $2200 5 yrs ago, so not a cheap toy.

I did do some work with it for some local real estate agents. there are now plenty of profeional companys that do that.

Takes photography to a new level. 4k stills and video.

I rarley use my Nikon Camera now, the camera on my Nokia S20 has far better resolution than the Nikon.

I find its the software, and editing that is the hardest part of using these.

They do take up a fair bit of your time to get a finished product on the video side of things, but thats what rainy days are for!

markmack · Veteran Member

bobdown.. checked. google L900 drone. it's one of the first listed on banggood. $118.00. when you select grey with three batteries and the carry case it comes up at $157.00. add $2.25 delivery. I looked long and hard through many and I came back to this one.. ticked so many boxes.. flying time real time is around 18 minutes but for what this drone does is what it was brought for. learning.. auto take off and landing.. low battery auto return. way out of sight flying, and when panic sets in press a button and here she comes back .. three flying speeds .. twin cameras and I find the quality of pictures is good. there are tunes that you can have as backing for your flying videos.. this drone will keep you busy learning all the many functions that it has. far exceeded my expectations.

gdayjr · Senior Member

You will need at least three batteries, or more.

So much fun to be had, and that seems to be a very capable little unit.

-- Edited by gdayjr on Friday 21st of May 2021 10:34:42 AM

-- Edited by gdayjr on Friday 21st of May 2021 10:36:26 AM

rgren2 · Guru

Do these drones return to launch position or to the controller? Just thinking that they could be useful for locating fish whilst in the boat.

iana · Guru

Launch position. DJ will insure your unit and will replace, if you supply the damaged unit, but if you loose the unit over water then that's it.

Bobdown · Guru

markmack wrote:
bobdown.. checked. google L900 drone. it's one of the first listed on banggood. $118.00. when you select grey with three batteries and the carry case it comes up at $157.00. add $2.25 delivery. I looked long and hard through many and I came back to this one.. ticked so many boxes.. flying time real time is around 18 minutes but for what this drone does is what it was brought for. learning.. auto take off and landing.. low battery auto return. way out of sight flying, and when panic sets in press a button and here she comes back .. three flying speeds .. twin cameras and I find the quality of pictures is good. there are tunes that you can have as backing for your flying videos.. this drone will keep you busy learning all the many functions that it has. far exceeded my expectations.

Thanks Markmack, all good info , just a query that it does not have a SD card. Is that ok?

Cheers Bob

markmack · Veteran Member

bobdown... some of the more expensive drones have sd cards.. the images are captured on the card and then you download them from the card onto your laptop and so on.. This drone sends the photos back to your phone and then when you have landed your photos and videos are there in the phone and can be viewed instantly.. SWMBO has an ipad tuned into the same frequency and is able to collect photos while I am flying. just by pointing the ipad in the direction of the drone.. when first learning the phone was not conected and during this time is when you get used to the feel of the controller.. there is a little lady on youtube ( type in L900 ) and that girl shows you some of the things that this drone will do and the commentary comes straight from the factory.. I would say not to try flying it in the house for a while.. take it to an open area as it will move faster the moment you take your eyes off it.. and on take off jump it up off the ground just above head height and this will avoid drone to ground turbulance which seems to be the main cause of take off crashes...

rgren2 · Guru

iana wrote:
Launch position. DJ will insure your unit and will replace, if you supply the damaged unit, but if you loose the unit over water then that's it.

Ive seen them following vehicles, so, do they have to go back to start point to pick them up?

Bobdown · Guru

Thanks Markmack, looking quite good atm.

Cheers Bob

markmack · Veteran Member

rgen2.. if you have calibrated the drone and you press " return" it will be back at camp before you can turn your car around.. driving down the beach the drone can be set to follow the phone and anytime that you are ready, stop the car and land the drone ..

rgren2 · Guru

Great, would hate to loose a toy.

markmack · Veteran Member

rgren2... this drone has an arch on the controller when connected to your phone that shows in which direction it is and which direction it is facing, also has distance and altitude measures in metres. now I really hope that I never have to use these functions to find the drone.. at a glance you know where it is , which way it is facing also how far away and how high you are flying.. low battery warning beeper lets you know that it is time to come in... if you have calibrated the drone and say flying from camp it will return to camp on it's own and you can continue to fly within a twenty metre range for a period of time then will land itself when the battery reaches low -low. The lights for landing at night well that is something else.

rgren2 · Guru

Was thinking of using it from a boat. Often am far from land and would prefer not to lose it in the ocean.

gdayjr · Senior Member

rgren2 wrote:
iana wrote:
Launch position. DJ will insure your unit and will replace, if you supply the damaged unit, but if you loose the unit over water then that's it.
Ive seen them following vehicles, so, do they have to go back to start point to pick them up?

If i press the return home button on my Mavic, it will return to the exact place i launched it from, at a pre determined height to avoid obstacles.

I can also tell it to land anywhere i like, including on a moving boat.....but it must have enough batery reserve to do that.

It knows exactly how much battery power it need to return to base and will never land on its own.

I have crashed it a few times out of eye sight, and they are very easy to find with the on board software, it practicle lets you walk right up to it. Including in a tree.

They pretty much make them idiot proof.

markmack · Veteran Member

rgren2.. If the boat was sinking you have two options as I see it. 1. get some good footage for the insurance claim. 2. send the drone back to base with a note for SWMBO I don't know anybody that has a boat big enough for me to try landing the drone on just yet and the navy is out of town so I will just have to be happy landing on the ground.. the pitch of the boat would be something I would have to consider and my experience does not extend that far ,yet.. I have met people out on the road that have brought drones for several thousands of dollars and have not taken them out of the box yet because they are worried about that first "crash" Learning to fly on an oval between goal posts is a great place to practice control .. flying between the posts while you are watching is one thing.. turn yourself around and then fly by just watching the screen..

Are We Lost · Guru

markmack wrote:
I don't know anybody that has a boat big enough for me to try landing the drone on just yet and the navy is out of town so I will just have to be happy landing on the ground.

As far as I know, any of the DJI and no doubt other brands will detect your outstretched hand and land on that. At least my basic DJI Spark does.

Nevertheless, I would be a bit apprehensive about using it from a boat.

markmack · Veteran Member

Are We Lost .. Looks like another journey into the instruction manual.. I watched the gumleaves fly when I flew my drone into a low branch one day and since then I have paid a lot more attention in keeping my fingers clear... yes I have seen people catch their drones and just thought that will come with more practice..

Possum3 · Guru

Great story on Landline today - if you get a chance watch it when it reruns. Drones and feral pests both well covered.