Drones

[Maddie]

Very little relation here, but, we just got back from Florida. While at a park I looked up and saw a drone passing over us. Pointed it to DH and he said 'No Way'. But after looking at it we both concluded that it was one.  Wasn't the least worried as I'm sure we'll see a lot more.

I had to laugh;  it will be like the first time great granddad saw a plane flying over!

 

[catblaster]

Maddie...glad you posted that about the drone. We were in the yard this week, heard a strange sounding plane overhead and someone said "that's a strange looking plane" I replied "it's a cardassian warship" everyone else thought I meant  Kardashian. I hadn't realized what it was until you posted that comment.

 

[Tom]

Talking about drones, our photo club leader mentioned over lunch yesterday that he'd read an article on how to make your own drone. I didn't pay too much attention or take any notes, but he's a gadget freak, and I'm sure he'll have his own drone in the near future.

 

[SeilerBird]

I think we are all going to have our own drones in a few years. They are going to be big, very very big.

 

[Maddie]

Well, especially since Amazon is thinking about using them to deliver goods.  Now, THAT'S service!

 

[Tom]

I don't plan to have my own drone 

 

[SeilerBird]

I don't plan to have my own drone 

Did you plan on having an RV forum to administer? Did you plan on having a computer that fits in your pocket and has more power than a 1970s mainframe?

 

[Tom]

I don't trust myself flying a drone.

 

[Maddie]

Tom, I don't think you're supposed to sit on it.  Just saying....

 

[Tom]

If I sat on it, it would never get off the ground  :-[

 

[Maddie]

Based on the one I saw, it would be very iffy for me, too! 

Actually it was bigger than what I expected. Maybe 12' long and wingspan the same. I think of them as 4' or so. I guess they come in all flavors.

It was probably monitoring if I picked up my dog poop.

 

[Lowell]

You know what they say about Amazon drones delivering packages. " Skeet with presents"

 

[SeilerBird]

Back in the 70s when I was wiring houses for a living my rich boss took flying lessons. So every time a plane passed overhead someone would always say something like "Get busy, Connie (our boss) is checking up on us".

 

[PancakeBill]

One of the guys here has one of the hexacoptors, Pretty cool, has a forward facing camera that transmits video to some sort of goggle so he can see where he is flying it plus a goVideo to record.  He has been up to record Old Faithful, has to be careful about getting close. 

Has a gps, so if it gets out of range it has an auto return to take-off.  Pretty amazing 'toy'.

 

[Jeff]

Dan Wainright had his flying at QZ but doesn't have a camera yet.

 

[Bob Buchanan]

Dan Wainright had his flying at QZ but doesn't have a camera yet.

This one seemed to be working OK . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OFw7JvJsI4

 

[PancakeBill]

This was run by some Hams, and that brings me to a question, wondering the freq used and whether they require a ham license.  The guy I mentioned uses some sort of transmitter to broadcast the image back to his glasses.  I am guessing by the size of these units the antennas will be quite small, which equates to at least VHF and likely UHF.  Most transmitting in this range requires a license.

 

[PancakeBill]

OK, looks like the goggles are in the 900 mhz range, which is part of the ham band, but possibly below the power level where a license is required.  I remember that  a tech license was required for some functions in the RC airplane days.

 

[JPete]

The video downlink requires a Ham cert as it operates in the Ham band. I fly a Quadcopter with video downlink and a onboard HD video camera. Much fun.

 

[vmax1]

I have one with a video camera built in, lots of fun around the RV resort