My nephew just got one, I don't know what brand it is but he said his woman paid $400 for it at Best Buy. The video is really nice and I think it has a 2+ mile range. He said if it's out where you can't see it and the battery starts to get weak it will bring itself back to your location to be charged without being told. Do these do the same?
These look pretty cool and I've been thinking about getting one for a while now.
ETA: Just texted him, it's the Mavic mini so I guess they do.
I got the Mini 2 so I can carry it in a day pack. It's very small and light. The larger ones can go a lot farther and faster but they can get pretty bulky.
“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” ― George Orwell
It's not over when you lose. It's over when you quit.
A word of caution............ I bought a Mavic pro and could not get it to take off from my house. Turns out it will fly too high because I live in a flight path of the airport that is 2 miles away.......... Nice toy that I have to take somewhere else to learn how to fly.
A word of caution............ I bought a Mavic pro and could not get it to take off from my house. Turns out it will fly too high because I live in a flight path of the airport that is 2 miles away.......... Nice toy that I have to take somewhere else to learn how to fly.
FWIW,
I shoot Canon.
Although I luv my Mavic 2 pro, a Tamron G2 150-600 Or Sigma of the same, Super-Telephoto lenses would be more practical.
Unless things have changed,
If your Drone weighes over 1/2 lb, it has to be registered with the FAA. and according to the rules you must keep a copy of that registration in your wallet/on your person any time you have your drone in your possession. Also your registration number must be visible on the drone plus be in the battery compartment.
Don't know if it is the same now, but before I could turn on my Mavic, I had to take a test and pass before the software would let me fly.
No where did I find out how to turn it on. I guess I'm a dummy but I'd bet I invested 20 hour in figuring out how get licensed, take the test to allow me to fly, download the DJI Go sofware and do all the software updates to fly the danged thing.
It took me a good while to figure out how to turn on both the craft and the controller and get them to pair. Finally I figured out you had to push down on both the drone battery and the controller for 1 second, release, and then hold down for three or four seconds in order to turn each on.
Another limiting factor, one is severely limited to where you can fly. Most resorts and time-shares have on their web pages, "NO DRONES" allowed on the premises. In Texas, you cannot legally operate a drone in City or State parks or WMA's. Flying Drones in National Parks is also verboten.
It is illegal to fly over areas where there are congregations of people, or sporting events.
Getting licensed is a beotch, and exposes you to all kinds of rules that a non-licensed operator hs to contend with.
This is what I think of them flying over anything but their own property or that which they have permission to fly over.
Do passenger flights and conventional aircraft flying over your place cause you concern as well?
No, those don't hover around scoping out folks backyards at 50' above ground level either. Where I live, they're generally at 25k' or higher. Sometimes the medevac chopper flies by within sight, probably at 500', on the way to the hospital and back.
Neither do the Air National Guard jets that fly over every few days bother me.
To me, the drones are no different than putting a camera on a pole to reach over a privacy fence to look at the neighbor's teen daughters sunbathing.
I certainly do wish they had made and enforced rules for them to stay only over places they had permission to fly.
Just because something is legal, doesn't mean it's ethical.
The desert is a true treasure for him who seeks refuge from men and the evil of men. In it is contentment In it is death and all you seek (Quoted from "The Bleeding of the Stone" Ibrahim Al-Koni)
This is what I think of them flying over anything but their own property or that which they have permission to fly over.
Do passenger flights and conventional aircraft flying over your place cause you concern as well?
No, those don't hover around scoping out folks backyards at 50' above ground level either. Where I live, they're generally at 25k' or higher. Sometimes the medevac chopper flies by within sight, probably at 500', on the way to the hospital and back.
Neither do the Air National Guard jets that fly over every few days bother me.
To me, the drones are no different than putting a camera on a pole to reach over a privacy fence to look at the neighbor's teen daughters sunbathing.
I certainly do wish they had made and enforced rules for them to stay only over places they had permission to fly.
Just because something is legal, doesn't mean it's ethical.
A word of caution............ I bought a Mavic pro and could not get it to take off from my house. Turns out it will fly too high because I live in a flight path of the airport that is 2 miles away.......... Nice toy that I have to take somewhere else to learn how to fly.
Studying for the part 107 license is an eye opening experience. Once you understand how to read a sectional chart you’ll be amazed at how much controlled air space there is in this country. If you’re using the DJI app it has even more restrictions in it.
Someone in our area thinks it's a good idea to use theirs to play chicken with the cars on the local interstate. I just barely evaded one coming through my windshield at 70 MPH last weekend while working. To say it caught me by surprise as it was coming towards me would be the understatement of the year.
The Mavik Air2 seems to be the cats meow for the everyday guy that wants one to use for amateur pictures and that will have good flight time. I have been going to get one but the better half thinks we need new carpet more than I need a drone.
Writing from the gateway to the great BluMtns in southeastern Washington.
Just remember, "You are the trailer park and I am the tornado". Beth Dutton, Yellowstone.
Another reason to get a Mini or Mini 2. It's 1 g. under the weight limit for registration so none of the above is necessary. They designed it specifically for that reason and they're selling a bunch of them. Just go fly it. I'm also near the flight path for an airport but I'm good under 400' altitude. I'll get a warning but no flight restrictions. I've never had it that high, though. It gets pretty windy up there. One place I did get a flight restriction was last fall during a wild fire. I was several miles from the fire but the FAA had put temporary flight restrictions all around it. I couldn't even take off. They don't want people flying drones around where there might be tankers flying, of course, but this extended well away from that area. It has to pick up the restrictions through the GPS satellites. It's not receiving any other signals that I know of.
Speaking of altitude: you set the RTH altitude (return to home). If your battery gets weak or you lose the signal. It will stop where it is, climb to the preset RTH altitude, and come back. You set the altitude high enough to avoid anything that might be in the way of it's return. If there are tall trees or buildings that could be in the way, you might consider setting it at 150' or more. The trick is that it uses the takeoff point for the zero point and goes up from there, not from the ground where it is at the time. If you're flying in the hills, and it has to RTH, you have to think about the elevation of those hills so you don't crash it. Quite often you'll be flying in the hills and the takeoff point will be from the bottom. You have to consider those hills when you set the RTH altitude. If you're flying up a narrow valley, you need to clear those hills if it RTH's. If you've lost the signal, often when it gets up the RTH altitude or gets a little closer to you, you'll regain the signal and can take over again. You can cancel the RTH command any time that you have a signal. You can also change the RTH altitude setting while it's in flight so if you discover something taller than you anticipated, you can avoid it.
“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” ― George Orwell
It's not over when you lose. It's over when you quit.
This is what I think of them flying over anything but their own property or that which they have permission to fly over.
Do passenger flights and conventional aircraft flying over your place cause you concern as well?
No, those don't hover around scoping out folks backyards at 50' above ground level either. Where I live, they're generally at 25k' or higher. Sometimes the medevac chopper flies by within sight, probably at 500', on the way to the hospital and back.
Neither do the Air National Guard jets that fly over every few days bother me.
To me, the drones are no different than putting a camera on a pole to reach over a privacy fence to look at the neighbor's teen daughters sunbathing.
I certainly do wish they had made and enforced rules for them to stay only over places they had permission to fly.
Just because something is legal, doesn't mean it's ethical.
100%
I try to observe the Dwight Yokum rule......
I typically only fly mine when ...........
ya!
GWB
good on you GWB
The desert is a true treasure for him who seeks refuge from men and the evil of men. In it is contentment In it is death and all you seek (Quoted from "The Bleeding of the Stone" Ibrahim Al-Koni)
He said if it's out where you can't see it and the battery starts to get weak it will bring itself back to your location to be charged without being told. Do these do the same? .
If it has enough juice. If not, it will land where ever it's about to run out. Which can be very bad, because it doesn't care where that is. (over water, in traffic lol)
The Mini's don't have collision avoidance, so it's very easy to fly it into things. You can do that even with the ones that do, but with the Mini's it's easier still.
![[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]](https://i.imgur.com/cL0ZYP7.png)
![[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]](https://i.imgur.com/PVDTUpO.png)
..This my first flight around the house. 
