Drone suggestion

[Rock Crawler]

Here's a pic of my Drone. It will give you an idea of size. My Drone does not fold up so I transport it in it's hard case. Maybe Bunyip can post a pic of his mini drone.

If you want screen view capability my Drone requires the use of your cell phone or a tablet. I tried my phone but couldn't see it well enough for controlled flight. So I bought a 7x9 tablet. I like it a lot better.

Understand, once you launch you quit looking at the Drone and fly strictly by viewer. That's where experience comes into play. You have tunnel vision. My camera can only rotate up/down. It doesn't swivel. To see to the right, rotate the drone to the right. To see behind you, rotate the drone 180 degrees. Very common to be flying sideways, backwards, etc. That's tricky. If flying in trees it's easy to lose track of obstacles....

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Funny. I had an Autel Robotics X-Star Premium (actually 2 of them) and a 2006 Rhino Sport Special Edition with the factory liquid metal vinyl wrap. We have similar taste!

I now would STRONGLY recommend to you guys wanting to see livestock that the DJI Mavic 2 Zoom is the one. The Mavic 2 Pro has a slightly better camera (so the camera geeks say.... I can not tell) but the Mavic 2 Zoom has an amazing mechanical zoom lense that actually allows you to view things from a much further distance. Think... not scaring the crap out of the cows, instead being curiously away and using the zoom to reach in.

Range... compared to my old Autel Robotics is staggering! The X-Star would struggle at 2 miles, the DJI Mavic 2 struggles at 5 miles!

Battery life on the Mavic 2 is consistantly in the 25 minute range unless your hot-rodding it. And the Autel does not monitor distance vs battery to determine return to home needs, but the DJI does this and shows you at all times as well as it will automatically take over and return to home if the battery level/distance/wind direction tells it that you MUST go back now. The Autel allows you to screw yourself up if your dumb enough to risk the machine.

The DJI flight control, speed, air brakes, and camera functions are the best in the industry. They are the Honda Generator of drones. Everyone else is some level below...

The Mavic 2 Zoom is a game changer.

 

[ovrszd]

Funny. I had an Autel Robotics X-Star Premium (actually 2 of them) and a 2006 Rhino Sport Special Edition with the factory liquid metal vinyl wrap. We have similar taste!

I now would STRONGLY recommend to you guys wanting to see livestock that the DJI Mavic 2 Zoom is the one. The Mavic 2 Pro has a slightly better camera (so the camera geeks say.... I can not tell) but the Mavic 2 Zoom has an amazing mechanical zoom lense that actually allows you to view things from a much further distance. Think... not scaring the crap out of the cows, instead being curiously away and using the zoom to reach in.

Range... compared to my old Autel Robotics is staggering! The X-Star would struggle at 2 miles, the DJI Mavic 2 struggles at 5 miles!

Battery life on the Mavic 2 is consistantly in the 25 minute range unless your hot-rodding it. And the Autel does not monitor distance vs battery to determine return to home needs, but the DJI does this and shows you at all times as well as it will automatically take over and return to home if the battery level/distance/wind direction tells it that you MUST go back now. The Autel allows you to screw yourself up if your dumb enough to risk the machine.

The DJI flight control, speed, air brakes, and camera functions are the best in the industry. They are the Honda Generator of drones. Everyone else is some level below...

The Mavic 2 Zoom is a game changer.

My Autel monitors the battery, distance and conditions and will take over and try to come home when the battery is getting low. You can over ride that function and continue if your dumb enough to risk the machine. The farthest I've been away from mine is 3 miles. That was just to test it. Most times I'm within a mile.

The zoom lense would be a definite plus. Autel builds a compact version similar to the Mavic, can't remember it's name and don't know if it has zoom.

 

[Rock Crawler]

My Autel monitors the battery, distance and conditions and will take over and try to come home when the battery is getting low. You can over ride that function and continue if your dumb enough to risk the machine. The farthest I've been away from mine is 3 miles. That was just to test it. Most times I'm within a mile.

The zoom lense would be a definite plus. Autel builds a compact version similar to the Mavic, can't remember it's name and don't know if it has zoom.

When I had the next star premium you could set a percentage of battery level that you wanted it to do an auto return to home, but it was not able to use software to evaluate the battery versus the distance and the wind speed. That's one thing that the autel didn't do that the DJI does very well.

Another thing that the earlier autel software did not do was airbrake well, the autel if you were going full speed and left off of the throttle input, it would drift many feet before it stopped often into a building or tree unless you manually applied full reverse thrust. The DJ I can be going 30 miles an hour in a direction and if you lift off of the commands it will flip itself sideways and fully thrust the opposite direction to stop motion. it will only drift a few feet before it's back in a rest, much more responsive.

 

[ovrszd]

When I had the next star premium you could set a percentage of battery level that you wanted it to do an auto return to home, but it was not able to use software to evaluate the battery versus the distance and the wind speed. That's one thing that the autel didn't do that the DJI does very well.

Another thing that the earlier autel software did not do was airbrake well, the autel if you were going full speed and left off of the throttle input, it would drift many feet before it stopped often into a building or tree unless you manually applied full reverse thrust. The DJ I can be going 30 miles an hour in a direction and if you lift off of the commands it will flip itself sideways and fully thrust the opposite direction to stop motion. it will only drift a few feet before it's back in a rest, much more responsive.

Hmmm. I can preset battery condition in my Autel and as I said earlier, it will take over and come home when the computer thinks it needs to. A friend has had to go find his Mavic twice because he was flying at a long distance away and it couldn't make it back.

For those that might not understand, higher end Drones are very smart. It is constantly monitoring battery level and displays that on the screen. When it reaches a preset critical level it will take over the controls and either try to "come home" or land itself so it doesn't crash. Very good technology to have. It will also tell you how far away it is, how high it's flying, how fast it's traveling and what direction it is from "home". If you lose track of where you are you can hit the "come home" button and let go of the controls and it will return to the spot it launched from and land itself with no input.

The compact Drones definitely react to speed or direction changes quicker. They are a sportscar in that regard. If you are into hotdogging that's the way to go.

I've never went full speed toward a building or tree to within a few feet and then let off to see what the Autel would do. I think I'll pass on that one.

Friend of mine has the first edition Mavic which is slightly newer technology than my Autel. Him and I have flown together several times. We have raced, tested climb rate, tested stop rate, etc. In a couple mile run the Autel will outrun the Mavic by 30 seconds to a minute depending on wind. Climb rates were the same. Stop test the Mavic was considerably quicker due to it's smaller size and weight as I described above.

As with any technology the offerings are endless. And especially important, you get what you pay for. High end results require high end expenditures. Also check the accessories that come with a Drone package. Most only have the Drone, Props, one battery and a charger. So check prices on additional batteries and chargers if you plan to fly much.

I would be hesitant to buy a Drone that wasn't equipped to take care of itself as in "critical land" when battery is low or know how to "come home".

 

[Rock Crawler]

Hmmm. I can preset battery condition in my Autel and as I said earlier, it will take over and come home when the computer thinks it needs to. A friend has had to go find his Mavic twice because he was flying at a long distance away and it couldn't make it back.

For those that might not understand, higher end Drones are very smart. It is constantly monitoring battery level and displays that on the screen. When it reaches a preset critical level it will take over the controls and either try to "come home" or land itself so it doesn't crash. Very good technology to have. It will also tell you how far away it is, how high it's flying, how fast it's traveling and what direction it is from "home". If you lose track of where you are you can hit the "come home" button and let go of the controls and it will return to the spot it launched from and land itself with no input.

The compact Drones definitely react to speed or direction changes quicker. They are a sportscar in that regard. If you are into hotdogging that's the way to go.

I've never went full speed toward a building or tree to within a few feet and then let off to see what the Autel would do. I think I'll pass on that one.

Friend of mine has the first edition Mavic which is slightly newer technology than my Autel. Him and I have flown together several times. We have raced, tested climb rate, tested stop rate, etc. In a couple mile run the Autel will outrun the Mavic by 30 seconds to a minute depending on wind. Climb rates were the same. Stop test the Mavic was considerably quicker due to it's smaller size and weight as I described above.

As with any technology the offerings are endless. And especially important, you get what you pay for. High end results require high end expenditures. Also check the accessories that come with a Drone package. Most only have the Drone, Props, one battery and a charger. So check prices on additional batteries and chargers if you plan to fly much.

I would be hesitant to buy a Drone that wasn't equipped to take care of itself as in "critical land" when battery is low or know how to "come home".

Okay your autel does what mine did, where you preset a condition in the battery at say 35% it will always return home. That's not what I'm talking about with the newer DJI products. what day do is monitor what kind of amperage is being pulled to run against the wind, what the battery percentage is remaining at any given time, what distance you are away at any given time, and it is calculating how many amp hours of battery life it will require and it will constantly adjust the return to home amount of battery required and whenever you cross the threshold that it needs to react it will automatically take over and bring the drone home. on yours if you set your battery to return to home at 30% remaining, and you drive the entire 70% of the battery away from you with the wind, your drone is not going to make it anywhere near back to you. That's what the DJI does differently, the DJI realizes that the ground speed is much too high since the wind is at its back and the amperage draw is much too low for the given ground speed. So it can backward calculate what the wind speed would be and how much battery power it would take to get it back. So as your distance is changing the battery percent required to return to home is going up on your display, as the wind affects the unit the battery amount required to bring it home goes up or down, so everything is being calculated so that no matter the distance the wind the speed or anything else the machine is constantly calculating and correcting the return to home battery remaining critical amount. It is in live time being changed right in front of you.

 

[bunyip]

This is a short video which shows the stability
Iain Lamond on Vimeo

Be very aware that return home is the takeoff point and not the controller and it takes the drone to its maximum altitude for the trip.
Sound is my lute I finally tuned.

 

[ovrszd]

Okay your autel does what mine did, where you preset a condition in the battery at say 35% it will always return home. That's not what I'm talking about with the newer DJI products. what day do is monitor what kind of amperage is being pulled to run against the wind, what the battery percentage is remaining at any given time, what distance you are away at any given time, and it is calculating how many amp hours of battery life it will require and it will constantly adjust the return to home amount of battery required and whenever you cross the threshold that it needs to react it will automatically take over and bring the drone home. on yours if you set your battery to return to home at 30% remaining, and you drive the entire 70% of the battery away from you with the wind, your drone is not going to make it anywhere near back to you. That's what the DJI does differently, the DJI realizes that the ground speed is much too high since the wind is at its back and the amperage draw is much too low for the given ground speed. So it can backward calculate what the wind speed would be and how much battery power it would take to get it back. So as your distance is changing the battery percent required to return to home is going up on your display, as the wind affects the unit the battery amount required to bring it home goes up or down, so everything is being calculated so that no matter the distance the wind the speed or anything else the machine is constantly calculating and correcting the return to home battery remaining critical amount. It is in live time being changed right in front of you.

Hmmmm... Why did my friend have to go find his twice?

 

[cqaigy2]

This is a short video which shows the stability
Iain Lamond on Vimeo

Be very aware that return home is the takeoff point and not the controller and it takes the drone to its maximum altitude for the trip.
Sound is my lute I finally tuned.

Very nice! Those paintings are pretty cool too. Someone had a tall ladder.

 

[bunyip]

Very nice! Those paintings are pretty cool too. Someone had a tall ladder.

Or a long arm
I've had mine for about three years I think, still on the original props but you can buy quieter ones, the latest Mavics come with the quiet props, Richard was the one who led me on this slippery slope and I was impressed with the Autel quality but, always a but, we can't get them here but the other big names have an established presence.
The rules here are much the same as your FAA, ours is CASA, 400 foot ceiling, no flying over people or events, no flying over emergency scenes, the list goes on, most is common sense but you see it being breached all the time.
I haven't had it out for a while and I forget how to calibrate the compass but if it needs doing it won't take off and will prompt me how to do it, I also like the auto take off, just leaps to 4' and just sits there waiting for further instructions, impssible to crash land, just push the down control and it will drop to 4' then land itself gently, they are pretty much idiot proof but some manage to prang them, the collision avoidance turns off in sport mode but I have never used it.
At about 50' you barely hear them, at 100' you wouldn't know it was there, you are supposed to keep eye contact but they are easy to lose sight of but the camera helps you navigate home until you hear and see it again.
A bit of practice gives you smoother control unlike my first video (DJI 004 on the link) and you can adjust how smooth you want it to be, the aperture on the camera is fixed but you can get ND filters for really bright days and polarising filters, I think I paid about $100 for a set which are ND4-8-16 and polarising.
The latest Mavic has a longer flight time than mine but only about 3-4 minutes which in the scheme of things is not much.
I discovered one day it has a high wind warning, I was up about 200' and it was being buffeted around something shocking and I was alerted that wind was exceeding 60kph, drone was not happy and couldn't stabilize in the gusts but came down safely.

 

[Rock Crawler]

Hmmmm... Why did my friend have to go find his twice?

I'm guessing older/earlier versions?

The Mavic 2 has sonar and visual cameras facing up, down left and right to "see" obstructions, and it can see forward 3 dimensionally to work out paths around, over or under an object. I had 2 if the Autel units, and they were fantastic back when new. But they are very dated today. I actually gave mine away to the daughter of a work buddy. She's still flying it.

But the lastest and greatest.... It's like comparing a 2 generations old car/truck to a most recent and modern generation. Everything has changed, and everything is better and smarter.

I loved the Autel at first, but the companies horribly slow updates and false support.

But these.... Cameras front, back, sides and down. Sonar all over. Cameras pans from level like yours and down, but also up, left and right.

Aluminum main body and aluminum arms. Not the Autel cracky plastic.

I was a huge anti DJI and a huge Autel fan boy for a couple years. But that time passed for me. The Autel was a great unit though, and for it's time it had a fantastic camera!