Why a follow me drone would be great to have...

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RonK
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Re: Why a follow me drone would be great to have...

Postby RonK » Tue Nov 08, 2016 8:14 pm

Yes, I looked up the CASA regulations for Flying drones or model aircraft recreationally and the NZ CAA regulations for RPAS, UAV, UAS, Drones and Model Aircraft long before I decided to buy one.

Both seem straightforward and commonsense. I don't think they would much constrain my use of a drone for touring video and photography.
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Re: Why a follow me drone would be great to have...

Postby RonK » Tue Nov 08, 2016 8:30 pm

Could have been better edited I think but the perspective and scenery is stunning.

Last edited by RonK on Wed Nov 09, 2016 11:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Why a follow me drone would be great to have...

Postby RonK » Tue Nov 08, 2016 8:34 pm

Double post deleted
Last edited by RonK on Wed Nov 09, 2016 11:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Why a follow me drone would be great to have...

Postby RonK » Tue Nov 08, 2016 8:38 pm

Perhaps the rules are less strict in the Netherlands, or maybe this clip was made commercially (or illegally).

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Re: Why a follow me drone would be great to have...

Postby CKinnard » Tue Nov 08, 2016 8:49 pm

Casey Neistat is the King of drones on Utube some say. He's rapped in the Mavic Pro.

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Re: Why a follow me drone would be great to have...

Postby RonK » Tue Nov 08, 2016 8:53 pm

There is quite a lot touring video shot by drone on Youtube now. Some could do with better editing though.

Here is some more stunning New Zealand MTB footage.

Ya gotta feel sorry for the poor bloody dog...

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Re: Why a follow me drone would be great to have...

Postby BenGr » Wed Nov 09, 2016 9:17 am

Knowing when to use drone footage, and for how long is something a lot of people need to learn. The Andorra video is a good example as a lot of the footage doesn't show much more than a ground shot would, where as the NZ footage is used to show the lay of the land bringing a bit more immersion to the riding.

Really its about cinematography. These guys do a good job.

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Re: Why a follow me drone would be great to have...

Postby Aushiker » Fri Nov 18, 2016 6:35 pm

Andrew

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Re: Why a follow me drone would be great to have...

Postby RonK » Fri Nov 18, 2016 7:30 pm

Yes, the Mavic's mix of features and portability wins over even the drone experts


Meanwhile, the hapless (hopeless) Gopro Karma has met the same fate as the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 - recalled and likely buried.

It was totally outclassed by the Mavic anyway. Perhaps Gopro should stick to making cameras and leave the drones to those who know what they are doing.
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Re: Why a follow me drone would be great to have...

Postby rifraf » Thu Nov 24, 2016 3:31 pm

Now for the folk in here droning on about wanting something lighter and more pannier suitable, has anyone spotted:

https://www.dpreview.com/news/282413088 ... ickstarter

:lol: :lol: :wink:
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Re: Why a follow me drone would be great to have...

Postby RonK » Thu Nov 24, 2016 5:58 pm

:lol: :lol: :lol: $USD249? With only 3 minutes flight time? :roll:

I'd give that one a miss.

A selfie stick would be a better investment.
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Re: Why a follow me drone would be great to have...

Postby rifraf » Fri Nov 25, 2016 12:37 pm

RonK wrote::lol: :lol: :lol: $USD249? With only 3 minutes flight time? :roll:

I'd give that one a miss.

A selfie stick would be a better investment.
Whoops :lol: :lol: :lol:

I really must start making a point of actually reading stuff before offering a link :oops: :idea: :roll:
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Re: Why a follow me drone would be great to have...

Postby Aushiker » Fri Dec 09, 2016 5:13 pm

DCRainmaker has a review published on the DJI Mavic Pro. Expect an in-depth look at the drone.

Image
Source: DCRainmaker
Andrew

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Re: Why a follow me drone would be great to have...

Postby rifraf » Mon Dec 26, 2016 5:54 pm

Did you get a drone for Christmas? Know the law before you take to the skies

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-26/k ... es/8148604
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Re: Why a follow me drone would be great to have...

Postby RonK » Mon Dec 26, 2016 6:34 pm

Yeah, I know all that - I posted links to the Australian (and New Zealand) regulations at the top of this page. :D

As it happens I have cancelled my Massdrop drone order. It could not be fulfilled before Xmas as I'd hoped, and there remains ongoing uncertainty over the likely delivery date.

I will consider re-ordering once all the back orders have been fulfilled, likely this will take several months.
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Re: Why a follow me drone would be great to have...

Postby uad782 » Mon Dec 26, 2016 7:30 pm

Ron,

How would you charge it on the road? Does the Mavic have USB charging? LiPo's are hard to balance charge without a proper charger and a reliable 12v source.

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Re: Why a follow me drone would be great to have...

Postby RonK » Mon Dec 26, 2016 7:58 pm

uad782 wrote:Ron,

How would you charge it on the road? Does the Mavic have USB charging? LiPo's are hard to balance charge without a proper charger and a reliable 12v source.
The Mavic Pro has a claimed flight time of 27 minutes - double that with a spare battery. Given that a 15 second video clip is a long one, a battery is good for a lot of video.

No, it does not have USB charging. So an occasional stay in a campground will be in order. Won't that be a hardship. :wink:
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Re: Why a follow me drone would be great to have...

Postby uad782 » Mon Dec 26, 2016 9:40 pm

It sounds great. I have an old ar drone which I crashed so many times I retired it. It is nowhere near the likes of the mavic which sounds awesome. One hour of flying time is unbelievable.

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Re: Why a follow me drone would be great to have...

Postby trailgumby » Mon Dec 26, 2016 10:29 pm

I have to say that I go mountain biking to get away from the built environment. A drone and the attendant noise would be a major intrusion.

On the upside it's probably nothing that a well-timed handful of stones lobbed in the right direction couldn't fix.

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Re: Why a follow me drone would be great to have...

Postby RonK » Mon Dec 26, 2016 10:48 pm

trailgumby wrote:I have to say that I go mountain biking to get away from the built environment. A drone and the attendant noise would be a major intrusion.

On the upside it's probably nothing that a well-timed handful of stones lobbed in the right direction couldn't fix.
You go mountain biking to get away from the built environment? That is a laugh. If you were serious about getting away from the built environment you would be walking, not riding a bicycle.

But this is the touring forum - the discussion has nothing to do with mountain biking.

Good luck with your stones but it's unlikely there will be anyone else in the locations I would plan to use it.
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Re: Why a follow me drone would be great to have...

Postby rifraf » Tue Dec 27, 2016 2:53 pm

RonK wrote:Yeah, I know all that - I posted links to the Australian (and New Zealand) regulations at the top of this page. :D

As it happens I have cancelled my Massdrop drone order. It could not be fulfilled before Xmas as I'd hoped, and there remains ongoing uncertainty over the likely delivery date.

I will consider re-ordering once all the back orders have been fulfilled, likely this will take several months.
Sorry, I should have elaborated.

I offered the link for those who weren't so clear of owners obligations and not those who'd been following the evolution of the new technology closely like you have RonK. :D
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Re: Why a follow me drone would be great to have...

Postby trailgumby » Tue Dec 27, 2016 6:25 pm

I have to retract my comments to some degree. There was a kid using a drone at the local park - some Aldi thing.

I was pleasantly surprised - it was actually much quieter than I expected, but then the aerial performance was rather lame as well. Higher performance drones will naturally have more propeller noise.

Looking at CASA's rules it would appear a "follow me" drone contravenes them. They expect you it seems to keep it in unaided line of sight, and the implication is fairly clear that you should be controlling it visually and in real time. If you are looking where you are riding, and relying on a homing device for it to follow you, you are not doing that.

Mind you, this is from the CASA video published on the SMH site today. As with the road rules, the actual regulations will trump any bureaucrat's interpretation of them in a video, so I could be incorrect.

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Re: Why a follow me drone would be great to have...

Postby RonK » Tue Dec 27, 2016 6:35 pm

trailgumby wrote:If you are looking where you are riding, and relying on a homing device for it to follow you, you are not doing that.
That may be your interpretation, but it is not mine.
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Re: Why a follow me drone would be great to have...

Postby Warin » Tue Dec 27, 2016 6:40 pm

RonK wrote:
trailgumby wrote:If you are looking where you are riding, and relying on a homing device for it to follow you, you are not doing that.
That may be your interpretation, but it is not mine.
And then there will be an interpretation by some 'inspector'. If someone then takes it to court there will be a court interpretation too. ($$$ on costs :cry: )

If enough people protest then maybe the pollies will react and make yet more rules. At least these would be federal - no fighting it in each state/territory.

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Re: Why a follow me drone would be great to have...

Postby RonK » Tue Dec 27, 2016 6:45 pm

If you take the trouble to read the CASA regulations you will see that they are not particularly onerous at all.

A link is posted at the top of this page.

But to make it easy, I'll post a link to the link.

These regulations only came into effect on 29 September 2016. I doubt they will be changed again anytime soon.

As I have previously posted, it's unlikely there will be anyone else in the locations I would plan to use it.

But even if there were, and should anyone make a complaint, I'll be long gone by the time any inspectors reach the scene.
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