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Topic: Aerial Drone & PT 623 |
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Roy Forbes
TOP BOSS
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Posted on: Jun 22, 2014 - 11:41am
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I know this is way off the message board subject but I thought I would shed some light on the drone that filmed PT 658. It was a basic DJI Phantom with a Go-Pro hard mounted to the bottom. These can be purchased for around $500 minus the camera. They require a constant systems check through a computer program that is connected to the drone before each flight and a serious start-up procedure that must be followed before each flight as well. As some of you already know, I purchased one of these on steroids last November and was going to use it to film the next edition of the on-going PT 623 mission saga. The subject was going to be an attack on the 623 only from the perspective of the attacking Zero pilot. You might also recognize the locations below where the Barge Hunting missions were filmed. WOW, so far so good. Mine was outfitted with much stronger motors and carbon fiber props. Add to that a gimbal controlled by the on-board computer system that kept the camera level no matter what the yaw of the drone was and also gave me the ability to tilt the camera 90 degrees looking straight down by R/C. The control system was upgraded to an R/C helicopter unit giving me a 1 mile range, 2000 foot ceiling and it was flown using a live streaming video link and HUD system display back to a monitor on a tripod. It also was using the new 4K Go-Pro to capture video and still photos at the same time.
All was fine for the first 20 or so flights but the day after the shots below were taken, there was a major system failure that caused the digital magnetic compass, the GPS module and the NAZA command module to "disconnect" In other words, it had no idea where it was, how high it was or where home was. Fail Safe and Return to Home was unusable. Very bad for my blood pressure as this drone was way way north of the basic $500. I did manage to land it in one piece just before the batteries died.
The unit went back the next day and I have discovered that this is a common problem affecting 30% of these Phantoms so far. So for now I am drone-less and in drone withdrawal. Need to come up with a new idea for this years PT mission.
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Jeff D
Moderator
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 Posted on: Jun 22, 2014 - 4:02pm
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That is SO cool Roy, I'm jealous. Thanks for the info and images, and I hope you get back in the air soon.
I look forward to your next movie.
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bubbletop409
MASTER
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Posted on: Jun 24, 2014 - 11:05am
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Great aerial pictures of Pirates Cove, I was there with our boat a few times.
Larry
62 Bel-Air
260 Eagle EXP
79 Cole TR-2 |
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Roy Forbes
TOP BOSS
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Posted on: Jun 26, 2014 - 7:48am
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Glad you liked the photos Jeff. I'm going to wait until somebody comes out with a more reliable command module, but I just saw that the military looses one of their drones every 2 weeks.
Larry, that is a very fun location, especially on the Holiday weekends if you can stand the heat. Are you from AZ or CA ?
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bubbletop409
MASTER
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Posted on: Jun 27, 2014 - 8:30pm
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I'm from NorCal, just south of Oakland CA.
Larry
62 Bel-Air
260 Eagle EXP
79 Cole TR-2 |
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Roy Forbes
TOP BOSS
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Posted on: Jun 28, 2014 - 10:22am
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Roger that. To bad your not closer to the cove.
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Roy Forbes
TOP BOSS
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Posted on: Jul 9, 2014 - 9:13pm
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WOW Jeff that was awesome. He also had the gimbal to control the camera angle but I was amazed he still had the standard RC system flying at that distance.
You are not helping with my withdrawl !!
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Andy Small |
MASTER
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Posted on: Jul 10, 2014 - 7:23am
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Incredible! Thanks for sharing and getting me thinking about yet another new hobby!
Cheers,
Andy
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David Waples
TOP BOSS
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Posted on: Jul 10, 2014 - 5:46pm
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Awesome perspective! I have to tell you though, as a pilot all these drones make me just a little nervous.
Dave
David Waples |
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