Sand quarries and smoke haze

[bunyip]

We live on the flat near Westernport Bay (in case anyone wants to look it up) and are surrounded by hills, took the DJI Mavic Pro up for a look at the sand quarries that operate around us, the drone is about 1km from home at about 400', late afternoon as the shadows tell.
This time of year the temperatures are mild and slight wind conditions so all the forests inthe hills are burnt off to prevent bushfires next summer, the smoke lingers for several days much to the delight of asthma sufferers.
Contrary to the operating guides of CASA I managed to look away briefly and lost sight of the drone so had to rely on 'return to home' which it did admirably, a small grey drone on a hazy day is a challenge to spot and I had done well.
The RTH is a great function and has saved me a couple of times and it lands almost precisely from where it took off within a couple of inches.
The cattle do not worry about the drone overhead (and once at about 100' it is hard to hear) but the horses hate it and run for cover.

Home 1 on Vimeo

 

[Wagtail]

The horses probably think that it's the biggest bot-fly they've ever seen/heard!

 

[bunyip]

Probably although we haven't seen many for a couple of years, we look for the eggs but they have been clean, maybe regular rolls in the sand gets rid of them, I'll guarantee if we lose the bot knife they will turn up again.

 

[mddorange]

Great video.

 

[cqaigy2]

Thanks for the video.

 

[bunyip]

We often see a mob of Kangaroos bounding through the cattle but of course never when you want to see them.
The cattle will chase them off when they see them.

 

[mscheeer772]

bunyip,
I have no experience operating a drone. Are they hard to fly?
Did you have experience operating other drones prior to your DJ1 Mavic Pro. Remote controlled cars. Flying experience?

 

[oosik]

That's a great video. The "system" must have a fairly sophisticated stabilization function. I've never operated a drone but for many years I flew model airplanes. You look away - look back and can't locate your little airplane - Mother Nature likely will have a surprise for you. There was no - return home safely on a model airplane.

 

[bunyip]

I tried flying the cheap drones and succeeded in hitting everything I was trying to miss, veery fickle gadgets then I got the Mavic.It is brilliant and very eassy to fly, has auto take off which takes it up 4' then just will hover until you take over or the battery goes flat.
Also landing is simple as it takes over at 4' and gently lands itself.
Flying is really simple, I was surprised at how easy it was but there is a lot happening on board with electronics and guidance systems as well as gps.
The camera gimble is very ssimilar to my newish sony system, the lens seems tp float and is not affected by jerky movements or vibrattion, it is suspended on little rubber bands which are replaceable, it works that's all I know.
Has forward collission avoidance and two cameras underneath to assist with landing.
Every control is programmable to suit your needs and has a cinematography mode to make all actions smooth.
In short we love it and are planning a wheat silo trip which i will put up when it is done which I hope will show the capabilities of the camera.
Unfortunately the uploaded video loses a lot but at home the 4k resolution on our 65" 4k TV is stunning.
Can you fly one? if you mess it up you have really done something horribly wrong, is similar to the Phhantom range but so very compact.
Forgive the spelling errors but i am lying in bed with a tablet which is challenging.

 

[TractorGuy]

That is a very sharp, steady video.

RTH almost failed on my neighbors $1700 drone. It came over the trees and down across my field by the house about 10 ft off the ground then went up and hovered for several minutes. I went in and grabbed my shotgun but it was hovering just out of range. If I had a 28" full choke instead of a 26" improved Cyl I could have probably brought it down.