drone drone drone

frank · Post by **frank** » Fri May 15, 2015 12:40 pm

any drone expert in the crowd????

i'm starting to look into a waterproof drone and there's plenty coming out now and shortly.

any recommendation/experiences??

i'm now looking at :

The older(2014) Mariner: http://www.ambientreallife.com/product/ ... c-version/ or http://fpvfactory.com/
the Splash drone: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ur ... ideo_share

The Lily: https://www.lily.camera/

aquacopters: http://www.aquacopters.com/

obviously the +/- 350-500$ price tag is easier to justify to the family!!!

don't want to" invest" too much money as i think big progress is still on the way.

cheers

downwind dave · Post by **downwind dave** » Fri May 15, 2015 1:31 pm

i just saw that "Lily" video the other day, looks insane!
nobody shows how these things cope with a ton of wind though- not sure how they will cope with wind sports. or kite lines.

juandesooka · Post by **juandesooka** » Fri May 15, 2015 3:45 pm

Lily ad says it can handle 20 mph. ...pretty limited for wind sports.

Tempting price....the $499 is half regular. Doesn't ship until 2016 though! !

Stammy · Post by **Stammy** » Fri May 15, 2015 10:18 pm

Hey frank, I fly a dji phantom 3 and had it stable in 25 knots of wind. I was hoping to go up to nitinat with it this weekend but now with the weather might only go Monday.

Stammy · Post by **Stammy** » Fri May 15, 2015 10:21 pm

You would need to be kiting alone with a Lilly because it can't be flown manually, it simply follows the kiter with the transponder.

frank · Post by **frank** » Sat May 16, 2015 8:08 am

ya, i see that as a big problem not able to drive the Lily on manual mode!

but that could be a good line chopper to create a "safety zone" in congested areas!!!...just sharpen the blades a bit!!

can the phantom be waterproofed? i saw a video of it landing in breaking waves getting rolled a few times a take off again!!???
aren't you afraid to crach it in water with a feeak gust or else!???
but indeed the phantom seems to be the reference...

wind wise , under 2000$, max wind seems to be in the 20-25knts. should be ok for surfing and sailboat action , but for wind action borderline.

i kind of like the old Mariner , which is first generation of the newly Splash drone, for price and features.

but maybe i should wait a bit to let product evolve more.

any other waterproof drone you guys know about?

heffe222 · Post by **heffe222** » Sat May 16, 2015 6:33 pm

I flew a Phantom 2 at Nitinaht in about 15 knots wind, which for my first filming over the water seemed like a lot of wind to handle. The drone held position very well on its own, until I panned the drone to follow the windsurfer dude and then the wind drift totally took over... he just about clipped the drone with the top of the mast as he sailed by! That would have been the end of the drone, as it wouldn't have survived a dip in the salt water.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBM9ulF3I9k

The Lily looks like a better option for general over water shots, and better peace of mind if it should go down, as it floats. It should be able to hold a relative position to the person carrying the transponder in up to 15 knots of wind.

With more practice I could probably film with the Phantom 2 in up to 20 knots of wind, as that is close to the drone's maximum speed, but until I get set up with First Person Viewing capabilities, it is tricky to really know what the camera is actually seeing. Flying control would be more intuitive with the FPV set up too, I should think.

At the moment I need a replacement battery to get back to the promised 20 minutes of flying time. Important for over water flights!

winddoctor · Post by **winddoctor** » Sat May 16, 2015 8:07 pm

Nice, Heffe!

Lots of great potential!

frank · Post by **frank** » Sun May 17, 2015 5:03 am

thanks all, good feedbacks.

and great footage, that made me quite nostalgic of the island!!!?

i found the phantom waterproof video...it's sees like it needs a dip in Liquipel>.
http://droneflyers.com/talk/threads/wat ... azing.386/

KUS · Post by **KUS** » Mon May 18, 2015 11:06 am

frank wrote:thanks all, good feedbacks.

and great footage, that made me quite nostalgic of the island!!!?

c'mon home Frank. Finding the Nat super fun again for some reason, probably just the friendly faces there n sun/wind while breathing damp cool clean forest air. Hug a tree today, love to get a drone shot of the top of one of the sitkas 😃

JL · Post by JL » Mon May 18, 2015 12:19 pm

Nice one heffe222

This from google: http://www.bestquadcopterreviews.org/waterproof/ http://www.geekbuying.com/item/Mariner- ... 31214.html

nanmoo · Post by **nanmoo** » Mon May 18, 2015 10:39 pm

I have no idea what model they were using, but last month at Ho'okipa Kauli had his reality-TV show crew filming him on the water with a drone when I was lit on a 4.3, so I am guessing somewhere around 30 knots. They didn't seem to have any trouble with it.

rvanderbyl · Post by **rvanderbyl** » Mon May 18, 2015 10:57 pm

My brother just picked up this DJI Inspire 1. His remote does have the holder for the ipad unlike in this video. Seems to be able to handle a lot of wind too. Not to sure if he'd be willing to fly it over the water yet but I'll work on him about it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgMv2ucuRa0

frank · Post by **frank** » Tue May 19, 2015 5:53 am

ya Heffe, ...batteries quite important, the LiLy has a non replacable battery, meaning the unit might be dead/non-servicable in +/-18months!! ..disposable $500 drone!?

JL, indeed the Mariner looks like a good buy, truly waterproof and fully customable...have you ever bought something from that chinese outfit!!??
here a complete package for $600 :
http://www.geekbuying.com/item/Mariner- ... eed_342195

tbrown · Post by **tbrown** » Sat May 23, 2015 11:55 am

instead of FPV, just carry the camera with you?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bfa9HrieUyQ

obviously it's water proof... some mixing of terms, hoverboard / hovercraft... Anyhow, doesn't fit the drone subject line, but wouldn't be out of place in quad-copters -Tom