Mavic Mini drone shot

[jamesp]

A bunch of fire pits from 100 feet up. Learning the drone.

[Pat]

You’ve been busy!! Impressive!

[jamesp]

Aug 23, 2020 19:54:48 GMT -5 Pat said:

You’ve been busy!! Impressive!

Having fun with the drone Pat.

[rockjunquie]

Cha Ching! Looks like a money shot.

[jasoninsd]

That looks like one of the last shots I'd get right before I crashed the drone! Good on ya for being able to take on this hobby/pastime!

[jamesp]

Aug 24, 2020 13:41:19 GMT -5 rockjunquie said:

Cha Ching! Looks like a money shot.

Stocking up incase the steel mills shut down rockjunquie.

[jamesp]

Aug 24, 2020 18:47:08 GMT -5 jasoninsd said:

That looks like one of the last shots I'd get right before I crashed the drone! Good on ya for being able to take on this hobby/pastime!

This Mavic Mini is a breeze to fly Jason.

[jamesp]

About to remove the propeller guard so drone can be taken higher than 100 feet.

various shots around farm at 100 feet up






1 story house addition started at end of March 2020. Got a ways to go for completion.
Old 2 story house is below red line.



showing buddy Ted how to fly

[jamesp]

Way far away on neighbors land. Dropped down to 8 feet to check out rock situation.
Will get closer when confidence increases...
Some types of rock hunting and artifact collecting would be made way easier using the drone. Saving lots of steps.

[RickB]

Install it with hound dog sound. Use it on a deer drive to herd them right to you.

[jamesp]

Aug 25, 2020 9:01:41 GMT -5 RickB said:

Install it with hound dog sound. Use it on a deer drive - herd them right to you.

An electronic deer dog Rick !

With all of the 30 to 300 acre tracts of land they are constantly clearing around Atlanta I could use this thing to survey for knapped white quartz chips by dropping down for a close ground inspection. You know, a dead ringer for a Native encampment for artifact collecting. Instead of walking to all the flat areas close to creeks and doing an on-foot chip inspection.

[pizzano]

Aug 25, 2020 5:56:40 GMT -5 jamesp said:

Way far away on neighbors land. Dropped down to 8 feet to check out rock situation.
Will get closer when confidence increases...
Some types of rock hunting and artifact collecting would be made way easier using the drone. Saving lots of steps.

Keep in mind, the further away from your base (position of controller), the more likely vertical depth readings will be compromised........! The smaller craft sensors can be fooled by outcroppings and surface temperatures. A rule of thumb, always calibrate to the horizon line of site and leave yourself a enough time and space to take over manually if the craft gets confused.........nothing more frustrating than having to hump the terrain, after taking some really good shots, to find a disabled craft, especially when your only guessing where it may have dropped if you can't save coordinates and are not familiar with the terrain........in your case, that may not be a problem where you're flying now.....for future reference.......We seldom fly lower than 6' at distances reaching the flight pattern limits.....and always have a second pair of eyes in the sky when we fly....!

[pizzano]

Here's all I have left of my personal UAV craft.........two have internal camera's installed, the yellow Tiger Moth and the little mini quad.......external antenna's not shown. I attach a GoPro on the bigger quad. All that hardware not shown. Still trying to get a sport flight video with the bigger quad to load here.

I'll add a vid here later............ (edit) Well, that won't be happening anytime soon.....every vid I have stored on this laptop and memory sticks, compatible to this and my third party website, are to large to format down for transfer....I don't use YouTube or any other public media vid app's........The files are large due to quality, length and size I prefer to record at......on older less capable equipment.

Another tid-bit of info........every UAV shown here, with exception of the tiny quad, do not have any craft remote, return to home or auto stabilization functions.......other than the little quad that has a hover stabilizing function for camera settings..........everything is dictated by the pilot..........When I attach the GoPro to the larger quad, the camera has remote ability to focus and adjust F-stop, clip speed and video field of view angle, all of which are programmed within my Spektrum controller switches.........Even though the larger quad is GPS calibrated, it only alerts me to elevation, speed and distance changes. Battery life is also relayed back to the controller and is set to an audio timer alarm..........the pilot controls damn near everything.

Nothing like what I use at work........which are sooooooooo much easier to fly and record. Here's what I'm currently using........:

bst.aero/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/surveying-mapping-with-fixed-wing-uas.pdf

www.sensefly.com/drone/ebee-plus-survey-drone/

Depending on the terrain and type of data collection required. We have an older DJI Phantom that requires the installation of external camera's but we only use it for stills and field scouting data collection.

[jamesp]

Amazing stuff pizzano. Interesting to learn the details you have experienced. Drone language is so new to me.
Distortion or poor signal is an ever present concern for many reasons just as with cell phones however much more forgiving ! The sensor distortion issue you mention is a surprise but makes sense.
I watched a video of an RC Tiger Moth, pilot was getting down on the stunts. Back in the old days it was gas engines, amazing how the electric motors perform in comparison. Flying a poor aerodynamic machine like a quad is testimony to electric power too.
Sounds like you adapted cameras to some of these machines. Perhaps they were not factory installed ? A camera on the winged Tiger Moth ? How doe that work for you ?
I can see why a real nice camera would be desirable cargo for a drone being such a high perch to shoot from and so stable.

ETA I see the links you added to the mapping software for engineering use. Am familiar with CH2MHill because of their involvement in wetland mitigation. Totally understand why this type of mapping would be of interest to them. Bet this type of software is constantly getting more user friendly as are the drones that support the cameras. I had a 900 foot long lot in Florida that sloped from (guessing) 6 feet above lake level to 3 feet above lake level. Building sites had to be 4.5 feet above lake level. Yep, I shot it with a transit manually to find the delineation line for the building set back for possible feasibility, then had to hire a surveying company to make it legitimate for the county to accept. Of course it sloped both to east and north and ended up being a long wiggly 4.5 foot elevation line. This 4.5 elevation line was also thick with Native artifacts. Those guys had no transits or drones lol.
The software involved in this mapping is intimidating. You must be brilliant to apply it.

[pizzano]

All three fixed wing craft are acrobatic capable....and so is/was their pilot........lol

The camera mounts on top and in the middle of the high wing Tiger Moth, all the wire harness stuff is hidden in the cockpit area, the camera has the brackets attached to it for ease of install & removal .......it's a 500 scale I built from kit. It has a modified motor and strut assembly to handle a palm sized digital weight and G-force attributes. Being a bi-plane, she'll fly low, slow and stable or ripe through air at over 60 knots or close to 70mph.

The other two fixed wings were kits as well, modified motor/prop, battery/esc for high speed acro maneuvers. I use to be solicited to show off at club events, but never competed, way to serious for my taste......I fly/flew for the fun of it.......until it stopped being fun..!......but it got me into the arena I enjoy now.

There are quite a few Civil Engineering outfits using drones and fixed wing UAV........the competition is remarkably healthy........one of the reasons why I don't elaborate or show much in the way of my line of work. My contracts include intellectual property restrictions that I adhere to religiously. We predominantly use fixed wing craft, due to their predictability, the lack of need for drastic elevation changes, longer flight times since we are not under a lot of power continuously, smaller/lighter more powerful cameras and the compatibility issue with programming flight/grid patterns in restricted air space........drones do not track as well and, quite frankly, are maintenance head aches....!.......they don't fly well in rain either.........lol

The software and crossover adaptability is constantly evolving..........just like everything related to GPS/CADD/infra-red/LiDAR, surface to air transmission, signal band widths, transponder communication, ect, ect, ect.........If one got into this when I did, the transitions taking place are not to bad to deal with. But today, if one's desire is to make a living at it, school is the only way to go. One of the local university's, Cal Poly Pomona CA, offers a minor in it associated to a BS degree in Civil Engineering. MIT's and the military have had the occupation available for many years now........Provo, UT has at least 8 schools now that offer the occupation as would be a trade school application.

Trust me, you don't have to be "brilliant" to do this, I'm a good example. But if one has an engineering aptitude and a good computer logic mentality, the profession is hot now and has sustainability.........but don't expect to get rich doing it.......lol

[jamesp]

This is a elevated view looking out over a large Texas ranch a mile from the Rio pizzano. Note low vegetation, bright conditions.
Limestone exposures, black cobble zones(pet wood/palm stands), larger sized cobble densities(big agates), hill top cobble density(many high spots are inside turns in the ancient river where the largest/dense cobbles accumulated), old gravel bars, etc.

It would take months to cover this area. An hour with a drone flying 10 to 30 feet zero to 1 mile out would send a collector to the best collecting areas in a jiffy saving 100's of hours. Tie the photos to the flight path.

There is enough agate/jasper/pet wood exposed in this photo here to fill every rock tumbler with killer material many times over.

[jamesp]

Aug 25, 2020 20:18:29 GMT -5 pizzano said:

All three fixed wing craft are acrobatic capable....and so is/was their pilot........lol

The camera mounts on top and in the middle of the high wing Tiger Moth, all the wire harness stuff is hidden in the cockpit area, the camera has the brackets attached to it for ease of install & removal .......it's a 500 scale I built from kit. It has a modified motor and strut assembly to handle a palm sized digital weight and G-force attributes. Being a bi-plane, she'll fly low, slow and stable or ripe through air at over 60 knots or close to 70mph.

The other two fixed wings were kits as well, modified motor/prop, battery/esc for high speed acro maneuvers. I use to be solicited to show off at club events, but never competed, way to serious for my taste......I fly/flew for the fun of it.......until it stopped being fun..!......but it got me into the arena I enjoy now.

There are quite a few Civil Engineering outfits using drones and fixed wing UAV........the competition is remarkably healthy........one of the reasons why I don't elaborate or show much in the way of my line of work. My contracts include intellectual property restrictions that I adhere to religiously. We predominantly use fixed wing craft, due to their predictability, the lack of need for drastic elevation changes, longer flight times since we are not under a lot of power continuously, smaller/lighter more powerful cameras and the compatibility issue with programming flight/grid patterns in restricted air space........drones do not track as well and, quite frankly, are maintenance head aches....!.......they don't fly well in rain either.........lol

The software and crossover adaptability is constantly evolving..........just like everything related to GPS/CADD/infra-red/LiDAR, surface to air transmission, signal band widths, transponder communication, ect, ect, ect.........If one got into this when I did, the transitions taking place are not to bad to deal with. But today, if one's desire is to make a living at it, school is the only way to go. One of the local university's, Cal Poly Pomona CA, offers a minor in it associated to a BS degree in Civil Engineering. MIT's and the military have had the occupation available for many years now........Provo, UT has at least 8 schools now that offer the occupation as would be a trade school application.

Trust me, you don't have to be "brilliant" to do this, I'm a good example. But if one has an engineering aptitude and a good computer logic mentality, the profession is hot now and has sustainability.........but don't expect to get rich doing it.......lol

A hobby transitioning into an income is a great life path. Stimulating a happy interested mind is much easier lol. It seems fun and interesting, a good(or bad) climate for competition. This type of education is so valuable in so many useful applications. Anytime a person is learning and applying software they are bettering themselves !

I can use simple high def photos of land to get many hours use of a drone. Just a pleasure guy. Being devious I may want to fly where I shouldn't. No need, plenty of legal places to fly. No need to ruin the freedoms we are given to fly.

The winged vehicles make sense for the reasons mentioned. What a way to see the world around you with out worrying about battery time.

[pizzano]

Yep.....very nice terrain to/for capture photography............if it's privately owned (permissible) property without flight restrictions.......and one could map it and stay out of harms way, why not go for it with a mini....I would.

But, I'm not in that type of environment out here...........I mentioned before, I used my quad out in the Mojave dessert with permission from the business that owned the land (it is a mining site), to only have one BLM agent and one armed irate adjacent property owner up my ass within 30mins of air time......written proof of permission I had on me and my license were the only things that kept me from losing my quad or being cited...........The agent gave me some BS about the limits of airspace surrounding the north half of the property.....I was flying the east quad. The adjacent property owner was a tweeker that had no business carrying a shotgun for that matter and lied to the BLM about my presence.........you can't escape crazy out here.

[jamesp]

Stunned at theses reactions pizzano. Why so much scrutiny ? Privacy must be guarded at extreme levels.
Well I live on 30 acres on rural land outside of Atlanta. Next door and south is 80 acres and 200 acres. We have romped on theses lands for 35 years except the 200 acres during deer season when the property was leased for 3 to 4 of those years. Behind those properties is 3500 acres owned by timber companies that we rarely have seen a soul on except during deer season. We drive ATV's all over these lands. I have arrowhead hunted on commercial land for 4 decades that is being cleared for urban projects like warehouses on weekends and never had a soul say a word. I would not think twice about flying a drone on these fresh clearings on the week ends when no work is occurring. But there is a trend of posting property more so recently. Liability issues are becoming a concern this day. Maybe drones are going to be an unexpected source of irritation to these land owners. I am 12 miles from the giant Atlanta airport. I may have elevation restrictions. I will find out when I remove the prop guard and this thing will be able to exceed 100 feet up.

"The default max flight height for your Mavic Mini is 120 m, which can be increased to 500 m by changing the settings in the DJI Fly app. The max takeoff altitude is 3000 m. But please be aware that the max flight height can change depending on the different rules and regulations" I have a place in the Appalachians that is at 2200 feet altitude and am excited to fly it around the surrounding mountains of the valley I am located at. This place is seriously desolate. Looks like I better get permission from some of the land owners. I know I could fly from my location over the adjacent National forest. My neighbors have not seen a ranger there in years. I rarely see a human up there !

[pizzano]

Rapid technological advancements, rare earth material mining expansion, mass production by China and Japan bringing costs way down, no longer a hobby for just the disposable income folks, social media like YouTube and corporate global advertisement and incentives.........and the bigger issue........ all most anyone with a couple of bucks in their pockets and an IQ of 90 and above can/could purchase these things and make/cause havoc all most anywhere..........Then along came 9-11.

The hobby self regulated for years and did a pretty good job.......but it grew to big to fast in the 80's and later. Enforcement and oversight became impossible to manage. Folks were leaving their day jobs in droves to jump on the money bandwagon, flooding the hobby market without concern for safety, intrusion, privacy.......bad guys and idiots were putting/using the UAV to spy, disrupt, blow shit up all over the world.........here in the U.S. in many metropolitan, heavily populated areas, started experiencing several emergency air traffic disruptions, commercial sporting event piracy issues, common privacy and intrusion issues........weekly...........much of which got swept under the rug by corporate money keeping the media silent.....but not YouTube or the internet.

Serious money (million $$$ law suits) started being filed by some very big guns against the Govt., for ignoring the issues and forgetting about (using the 9-11 attack) as the major precedent/incentive).........law suits (money) always get the major attention, to hell with safety and privacy..........Congress and Home Land Security got the message. Started working with the hobby authority (AMA), FAA, and local regulatory branches to find a practical /enforceable solution, which still is in the works..........It is good that the Govt. finally got involved, but like everything they do, it's overkill and stifling........just another way to funnel budget money (taxes) to an additional entity, which most local govt's have little resources.........So they hit us commercial use guys with most of the costs.

The biggest positive has been the Govt. regulations and enforcement at the manufacturing and distribution level that has taken place the last few years. Even though those corporations that have/had benefited from the hobby explosion are still processing their own laws suits against the regulations, at least foreign and domestic suppliers are now required to keep records, register, document and certify certain types of craft and equipment being distributed and sold here in the U.S........and all public and commercial sellers, purchasers and users of such are required to register themselves and equipment prior to taking purchase, with the FAA AMA branch that has been established for such.......Right now, the biggest enforcement issues are those internet sales and transfers being made by shell distributors and private parties that have been hard to track..........due to to the fact that those items have not and will probably not be in the system until someone is caught red handed breaking the law.........and that is happening slowly because idiots will be idiots and always make mistakes......lol