Question About Drones

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IowaNomads

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Many of the RVers I watch own drones for aerial videos of where they are. Looking at them on Amazon and Ebay I see there is a wide range of prices. Can somebody tell me what I should expect to pay for a descent quality drone? I want to avoid getting something that doesn't take quality videos or still images. Thank you in advance.
 
This could be a long post as there is a lot of information to learn, there are FAA rules now on UAS (Unmanned Aerial System) is the official designation which covers airplanes, helicopters, and Quadcopters and anything that has not been designed yet. To simplify this you will most likely be non-commercial so the rules are simpler but the one biggest issue to all is Airspace. I'll post link below for the rules. What people don't understand is these are not toys and can do quite a bit of damage to person and property, yes they are fun.

To answer your question, which is the best will be different for everyone but the best to date that I have experience with is this one (no I do not have one at the moment),  http://store.dji.com/product/mavic-pro  The flight controller uses your phone and has auto everything, yes it is expensive but it also solves the airspace problem as if you are in a restricted area it will not launch and notify you of the problem, It has to updated on a schedule they provide or it won't fly so pretty much will cover you on airspace. By the way, Sams Club has these for sale, might be a couple of bucks less.

Here is the reference material:  https://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/news_story.cfm?newsId=20516

Non commercial:  https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started/
 
Buy a cheap one. Drones are a good target for many people. Fly over their house and a BB gun can take them out pretty easy. Police don't seem to spend a lot of time looking for the shooter and I don't blame them.
 
SkateBoard said:
Buy a cheap one. Drones are a good target for many people. Fly over their house and a BB gun can take them out pretty easy. Police don't seem to spend a lot of time looking for the shooter and I don't blame them.

I'm not supporting anyone doing anything nefarious, but this is actually a federal offense.  If I were operating one (I don't have one) and I wasn't doing anything but flying it around legally, and it was shot down, my call would be to the FBI. 

At the moment, they're still considered aircraft, and shooting at an aircraft, manned or not, is a federal offense. 
 
Ya, I guess they didn't get the memo. Drones were big for a little while here until people started to shoot their $1,000 toys out of the sky. Now? No more drones. If I had someone flying over my place and hovering I would sit back in my Lazy Boy, open the slider and a few shots with my Beeman and bye bye drone.
 
Not exactly the arguement I was expecting. I want something to send up over landscapes I'm camping at to give shots of where I'm staying. lol. I can't pay $1000 for one but would be leary of a $20 one.
 
IowaNomads said:
Not exactly the arguement I was expecting. I want something to send up over landscapes I'm camping at to give shots of where I'm staying. lol. I can't pay $1000 for one but would be leary of a $20 one.

A very very cheap one would do fine. They ALL have high quality cameras in them. Your flight time may only be 12 minutes with a cheap one but other then that it will do the job. My buddy paid $89 for his and it's pretty cool
 
I seriously considered the Phantom 3 (about $500), however now that the new regs went in to place I wouldn't be able to fly in 100% of the federal parks and a fair number of state parks. My interest was take it out, launch, take pictures, put it away. At the moment can't justify it if I can't fly it half the time.

I tried a lesser expensive one and it took pretty good pictures and video, but it was a bear to fly and batteries only lasted about 7 minutes. Sold it on eBay about a week after I bought it.
 
A friend gave me a $90 drone for a gift.  It took quite of bit of practice to get it to fly and was very difficult to keep in trim.  I eventually got reasonably good with it and even captured some video, but it was virtually impossible to fly with any wind.  I had it up at about 150 ft near my home when a gust of wind took it into a tree and all the control that I applied couldn't stop it from being treed.  That was the last I saw of that drone.  The next big windstorm took it somewhere. 

I saw a $900 drone, perhaps the same one as in the link, being flown where I was camping and was quite impressed at how stable it was hands free and how well stabilized the camera remained.  It also returned almost exactly to the center of the landing target hands free.

Anyone who owns a drone to be extra sensitive to where it is being flown.  I found it very annoying to find one hovering over me on a golf course.  It is great that this unit keeps track of forbidden airspace, but still a user needs to think clearly about other places it has no business flying.
 
I may not be popular with this opinion, but I just hate these things! They have an annoying whine and they are very distracting to people around them. They were banned from National Parks and many State Parks because people were disturbing animals and buzzing hikers. Right now there is a fire in a populated canyon near me, and at least one idiot was flying a drone to get pictures, thereby keeping fire retardant and water aircraft from flying to the area (another thing against the law).
 
JoelP said:
A friend gave me a $90 drone for a gift.  It took quite of bit of practice to get it to fly and was very difficult to keep in trim.  I eventually got reasonably good with it and even captured some video, but it was virtually impossible to fly with any wind.  I had it up at about 150 ft near my home when a gust of wind took it into a tree and all the control that I applied couldn't stop it from being treed.  That was the last I saw of that drone.  The next big windstorm took it somewhere. 

I saw a $900 drone, perhaps the same one as in the link, being flown where I was camping and was quite impressed at how stable it was hands free and how well stabilized the camera remained.  It also returned almost exactly to the center of the landing target hands free.

Anyone who owns a drone to be extra sensitive to where it is being flown.  I found it very annoying to find one hovering over me on a golf course.  It is great that this unit keeps track of forbidden airspace, but still a user needs to think clearly about other places it has no business flying.

My kids have some toy versions.  The best probably a little step below your $90 one.  The worst maybe two steps down.  Yes, nearly impossible to get usable point of view video or photos.  The cheaper ones end up lost quick.  Fun to goof around with though.
I know a couple folks with DJI quads very stable and quite fun to get a different perspective.

As an inactive cessna pilot, I would love to get one....not so much to take photos, but to get my fix every now and then of the view from above.  I think I might really enjoy some casual drone racing too.....
I'm afraid though my options would be very limited since most public places I go would either be off limits, or I would be concerned about attracting yet more attention to the hobby from those folks out there with negative bitter perspectives of it. 

I'll admit that the first time the kids came running in to report that some unknown neighbor was flying a quad around the yard....but that was only because they pulled my leg saying that it was flying low enough to touch it.....like window level  My reaction to that was get a bat or a BB gun.... but when they fessed up that they were kidding and when I went outside and saw it hovering maybe 150-200 ft above my head....who cares.  No big deal, not hurting anyone and all in good fun.
 
To capture quality video with a drone, you really need to spend around $1000. Thats the price point where they are stable, reliable in various wind conditions, and capture decent video quality for 1080P HD playback. Buying one used you could get away with only spending around $500-$750, but less that, well, you get what you pay for?

As with anything, there will always be the few people that do what they want regardless of the laws. Anyone flying a drone responsibility will largely go unnoticed in the air. If they are flying illegally or for unsavory purposes, nail them to the wall and set them on fire :)

But don?t assume just because they are flying a drone its for spying on people, they are peeping toms, or doing something nefarious. We don?t assume everyone driving a car is doing so drunk, gun owners are all serial killers, etc. Most drone owners are photographers creating beautiful videos for their enjoyment and that of others. Many others are technology hobbyists having fun learning new technologies. Or some just like the act and science of flight.

So yea, if they are hovering 20? over your house, thats one thing. But if they are 50? up and passing by, or circling to capture a panoramic view of the area, whats the harm. Besides, homeowners have no say in the airspace over their homes over the highest tree top. Typically the courts use 82? based on a previous lawsuit court decision. Above that is the FAAs playground.

Also consider that a drone around 50-100? in the air with their wide angle camera lenses, people show up as small dots in the video. They don?t have high power zoom lenses to zoom in on people. Those drones are far more expensive, much larger, and very noticeable.

If we want people to be supportive of our hobbies, we need to be supportive of theirs as well. We need to coexist.
 
UTTransplant said:
I may not be popular with this opinion, but I just hate these things! They have an annoying whine and they are very distracting to people around them. They were banned from National Parks and many State Parks because people were disturbing animals and buzzing hikers. Right now there is a fire in a populated canyon near me, and at least one idiot was flying a drone to get pictures, thereby keeping fire retardant and water aircraft from flying to the area (another thing against the law).

I think this is a very popular opinion -we are at a quiet campground and got to listen to one for 20 minutes, it was loud and annoying. when we are hiking I don't want to hear them either. 
 
ip076 said:
I'm not supporting anyone doing anything nefarious, but this is actually a federal offense.  If I were operating one (I don't have one) and I wasn't doing anything but flying it around legally, and it was shot down, my call would be to the FBI. At the moment, they're still considered aircraft, and shooting at an aircraft, manned or not, is a federal offense.

Probably better off calling the FAA as they have jurisdiction over anything in the air at a certain height. It probably isn't a federal crime that the FBI would be involved unless certain aspects warranted. Local law enforcement would be my first choice.
 
SMR said:
I think this is a very popular opinion -we are at a quiet campground and got to listen to one for 20 minutes, it was loud and annoying. when we are hiking I don't want to hear them either.

Amazon drone delivery is currently very heavily funded and will be a reality far sooner than most people can imagine.  If you find this sound annoying I am afraid that you will be even unhappier in the not too distant future when you begin seeing these heftier version of drones showing up in your neighborhood.
 
JoelP said:
Amazon drone delivery is currently very heavily funded and will be a reality far sooner than most people can imagine.  If you find this sound annoying I am afraid that you will be even unhappier in the not too distant future when you begin seeing these heftier version of drones showing up in your neighborhood.

was referring to campgrounds..................
 
SMR said:
was referring to campgrounds..................

Yes SMR, I understood your point, especially for national parks and campground in very peaceful locations, but with a 4-12 hr delivery time let's see if they won't be delivering to campgrounds that are closer to populated areas.
 
I work in Norwood, MA and I'm pretty sure we will be an ideal candidate for drone delivery from Amazon. We are 7 miles from a major Amazon distribution center. Just about everything I get at work and at home in NH comes from there.
 
There was a piece on the national news tonight about the problems with amateur drones flying in emergency no fly zones, such as those over forest fires, keeping emergency aircraft grounded. As I recall, they mentioned there were about 50 such incidents in the past two years alone. At least one drone owner was identified and served 30 days in jail for it.
 

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