Drone Experience

[dodge man]

The couple of drones I’ve seen flown and flown a little bit held their location and altitude automatically using GPS. In other words they fought the wind without you having to do anything, the just held a hover.

 

[ovrszd]

My Drone is pretty steady. Won't hover without small amounts of corrective behavior. The Gimbal is amazing. If I am hovering while videoing and accelerate forward you might catch a slight glimpse of the forward props because the platform tips that far. But the picture remains stable. Pretty impressive.

 

[ovrszd]

The couple of drones I’ve seen flown and flown a little bit held their location and altitude automatically using GPS. In other words they fought the wind without you having to do anything, the just held a hover.

Yes. One of the first things to learn is if you get confused or lose perspective in relevance to what you want the Drone to do, let go of the joysticks. It will immediately stop all movement and hover.

When I land I don't set down on the ground. I bring the Drone within a few feet of me and hover about 6ft off the ground. Release both sticks. Then I walk to the Drone and take ahold of one landing runner. Then push forward on one stick and the Drone shuts down. I prefer this method rather than landing in the dirt.

I launch off the carrying case setting on the ground to avoid the dirt also.

To launch I push a button to activate the props at idle. Then push the launch button. Drone speeds up props, lifts to a predetermined height, in my case 6ft, then hovers. It then tells me the home point has been established. Then I elevate above any nearby obstacles and begin my flight.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I don't quite understand the effect GPS has on hovering. Yes within the tolerance of the GPS but it would have no role in keeping it rock steady.

I see more and more drone footage in videos, but I have to say, that rock steady, high up, image impresses me the most. You can study a still image infinitely better than moving video.

 

[jbrumberg]

My DJI flight controller held a "hover" fairly well in the wind. I rarely used RTL. My original KKII board would only hold level. The the advancements and current drone technology really amazes me.

 

[Industrial Toys]

How high can a consumer grade drone go?

 

[Ortimber]

How high can a consumer grade drone go?

The FAA limit is 400ft from the point of take off, however, I have had mine much higher before I knew about the 400ft limit.

 

[Industrial Toys]

So how big a property could you take a picture of and are the lenses suitable? I mean if one wanted a straight down image of 100 acres . I'm guessing you still need an aircraft or satalite.

 

[dodge man]

You are probably correct, I doubt the on board GPS would allow it to hover that well. Most likely has tilt sensors also or some other method to hold the hover. You can see the drone lean into the wind in a hover.

 

[ovrszd]

I don't quite understand the effect GPS has on hovering. Yes within the tolerance of the GPS but it would have no role in keeping it rock steady.

GPS drives everything about the Drone's flight system. I always have at least 10 satellites controlling my Drone. Most times it's 15.

So the Computer is constantly reflecting signals from all those satellites. It knows when one is closer or farther away. Down to less than an inch. By analyzing 15 different signals from 15 different directions the computer speeds up/slows down the props individually to maintain course or hover. By compiling all those angles it can easily sit in one position.

With that said, my Drone will not hover motionless. Zero wind, it will still "wiggle" a couple inches. But it's easily steady enough for me to "catch" it while it's hovering. And then add the sensitivity of the Gimbal and you get solid, steady video, even when the Drone is actively moving.

If you view some of my videos, all the jerkiness you'll see is if I rotate the Drone too suddenly or change the vertical angle of the lense too quickly.

I've got an Internet friend in France that records movie quality video with no jerkiness at all. He's a true Drone Pilot.