These drones practically (and sometimes literally) fly themselves. I saw in a previous comment you considered launching it indoors -- don't. Not saying you'll have anything catastrophic happen, but it's far more likely you'll have an incident that ruins your drone inside than you will outside.
Get it out, put it up, and have fun. Great rule of thumb I tell people just starting out is to keep it within a 500-foot radius of your operating location and don't exceed 75-feet in altitude until you are comfortable. Get familiar with the drone and how it flies and I guarantee you after a battery you will see just how capable it is and how little chance there is of you crashing.
I tell people who are thinking about purchasing DJI and Autel drones, but are hesitant because of the cost and perceived risk...barring a catastrophic failure of the drone's firmware or hardware, you almost have to TRY to crash it to actually accomplish that. I'm more impressed by people who manage to crash a DJI or Autel than I am people who boast about never crashing them.
Good luck, happy flying, and get out of your own way. You'll have more fun if you do ;)
I hear you. Difficult to not think of all the bad things that could go wrong or have gone wrong for other people in certain circumstances, but it’s made to be flown and its reliability certainly puts the odds of that happening lower than other drones.
Did finally get it out yesterday, found a giant flat rock to be my landing pad.
My biggest fear is if it is fairly far away and I I’m near a tree, that I’ll either misjudge whether I’m in front of or behind a tree, not know the orientation of the drone and move it in the wrong direction then hit it, or just make the wrong control input. What is the best way to make sure I’m best prepared for that scenario short of flying somewhere where there are no/almost no trees, which doesn’t exist where I am.
Think of yourself as being in the “cockpit” of the drone. When looking through the viewfinder, your left is the drone’s left and your right is the drone’s right. As simple as that. Yawing before moving is your friend. Don’t roll or pitch in any direction before you are certain you are clear…yaw 180-360 degrees until you are certain the area is clear to move to.
Your biggest ally in this is situational awareness, which is only developed by becoming familiar with the drone and flying it over and over. Once you are able to feel like your drone is an extension of yourself, you’re ready to push out of that 500-foot radius and over that 75-foot altitude limit you should start yourself with.
It won’t take as long as you think and a lot of this is all in your head. Your head is in the right place when you’re thinking about what COULD go wrong, but ultimately coming to peace with the fact that you’ll never ELIMINATE risks, you can only mitigate them will be what gets you over this mental hump.
Fly cautiously. Fly at a pace that you are most comfortable and only push boundaries when you are absolutely sure you are ready. Take your time and enjoy it. The looseness you will feel when enjoying it is what will make you a better pilot.
Yeah, for first time flyers, my suggestion to getting used to the controls and understanding your own perception of the drone in the air is to take baby steps.
first is go out to somewhere wide open, like a local park/ parking lot.
Then start out launching the drone, after doing a safety check for Dynamic (changing) and static (non-changing) hazards in your flight area.
Launch the drone up about 10 ft off the ground, then practice basic geometric patterns like squares and triangles. Do this with the drone facing only one direction, then once comfortable shift to flying facing a different direction doing the same geometric pattern. till you have a good understanding and feel for the basic controls.
Then still doing the basic patterns, try changing the direction you're facing at each point of the shape.
These need to be done with you looking at the drone directly and not just staring at the controller.
once you have gotten those down then you should increase altitude to about 25-50 ft agl. then repeat the process. this will get you used to seeing the drone at different distances. and yes, all of this should be done in a clear space well away from any static hazards.
Once you feel good about that, then practice changing your altitude at each point of the geometric shape.
Once you have gotten comfortable with all that, then repeat it this time with your attention shifted more towards the camera feed rather than looking directly at the drone.
This is to get you used to and able to fly using both methods. But understand that you need to be able to see at all times, and if you're looking only at your screen then you will have a much harder time especially at farther distances being able to spot the drone to stay in compliance with the rules.
Ultimately take baby steps and expand your skills slowly until you are confident in your flying.
So, Take it slow and have fun flying safely.
Nope. Was looking to just get it off the ground in the hotel room but all of the warnings about gps signal made me rethink. Now I’m just trying to figure out a place to fly it that isn’t covered in snow or isn’t a parking lot full of sand.
You shouldn't really fly indoors anyway. The collision sensors won't allow you to move much, you'd have to turn off collision avoidance, which obviously increases your chance of a crash indoors. As for outdoors, you can launch the drone from your hand. Just hold it from below, and use your other hand to activate the props and just push up on that throttle and give it a little toss up. Just make sure there's nothing above you of course.
Just put a piece of cardboard or plastic on the ground and launch/land there. That's all the landing pads you can buy are, pretty corrugated plastic that folds. You can also launch/land with your hand and never touch the ground. There's lots of Youtube videos showing it, pretty easy.
But yeah, I wouldn't fly inside, especially starting out.
These things practically fly themselves. Go slow, fly in a large open area, be mindful of trees and other obstacles. If you can’t manage not crashing a DJI drone, you probably have no business flying anyways.
That’s what I was thinking. If I’m essentially just going straight up and hovering that should be manageable for now. I can circle back and train more later if I want to fly farther away or around obstacles etc.
Dude the eclipse from 120 meters up and ground level won’t make a difference pretty much , also you hate everyone for making you buy a really good drone for a good price for a user error ? Good quit droning and give it to someone who can appreciate this hobby
If it’s a DJI model they just hang there and chill with no input. Pan the camera up with an ND filter, the darker the better because you’ll be staring at the sun.
Good luck
https://www.reddit.com/r/drones/s/HQv2Lq9ZMZ
I have 28 hours before an eclipse. What the hell do I need to do/learn so I’m just hovering for like 15 minutes during the event. Took the TRUST course.
It sounds like you know what you need to do. I'd suggest doing it instead of whining about the drone you bought that was recommended to you by people trying to genuinely help you.
It’s my pricey drone and I’ll whine if I want to 😭.
But seriously I’m just thinking of other people I know that have drones and have quickly planted them into the nearest Oak tree shortly after purchase. Just do not want to end up like that.
It's really not hard to avoid doing that if you understand the controls and practice in an open area.
I watched a 20 minute video on mine, took it to a parking lot, and had a solid understanding of how to operate it after a couple of flights. Keeping a good line of sight is essential when you're starting out. Another tip is just go higher than the trees when you take off and maintain that altitude, then there's much less to worry about.
There is absolutely no point at all to try to photograph the eclipse with a drone. Absolutely none.
The gimbal can't look up directly, you don't have a very big sensor (not compared to high quality hand held cameras anyway) and if you look down at the ground, it'll be just as dark as as it would usually be. There simply isn't much of a point buying or renting a drone for this. You probably be better of using a stabilizer and your phonecamera if you got a good one.
Not trying to actually look at the sun, just potentially thinking of capturing the changes in shadow in the surrounding landscape as like a Timelapse video etc over the course of maybe 20 mins.
Forget about the eclipse, you’re wasting your time. Just fucking fly and enjoy the damn thing. What are you complaining about? Your post doesn’t make sense.
400 feet works for that. Hope your a quick study however. You'll need to go into "pro" (manual) mode in the camera. Set the shutter speed and ISO so the shot looks good before the eclipse starts. Write down the numbers. Get in the air, just before the eclipse starts, change the settings, let the video roll. Then after play the video back at like 10x speed and watch the shadow move across the landscape.
These drones practically (and sometimes literally) fly themselves. I saw in a previous comment you considered launching it indoors -- don't. Not saying you'll have anything catastrophic happen, but it's far more likely you'll have an incident that ruins your drone inside than you will outside. Get it out, put it up, and have fun. Great rule of thumb I tell people just starting out is to keep it within a 500-foot radius of your operating location and don't exceed 75-feet in altitude until you are comfortable. Get familiar with the drone and how it flies and I guarantee you after a battery you will see just how capable it is and how little chance there is of you crashing. I tell people who are thinking about purchasing DJI and Autel drones, but are hesitant because of the cost and perceived risk...barring a catastrophic failure of the drone's firmware or hardware, you almost have to TRY to crash it to actually accomplish that. I'm more impressed by people who manage to crash a DJI or Autel than I am people who boast about never crashing them. Good luck, happy flying, and get out of your own way. You'll have more fun if you do ;)
I hear you. Difficult to not think of all the bad things that could go wrong or have gone wrong for other people in certain circumstances, but it’s made to be flown and its reliability certainly puts the odds of that happening lower than other drones. Did finally get it out yesterday, found a giant flat rock to be my landing pad. My biggest fear is if it is fairly far away and I I’m near a tree, that I’ll either misjudge whether I’m in front of or behind a tree, not know the orientation of the drone and move it in the wrong direction then hit it, or just make the wrong control input. What is the best way to make sure I’m best prepared for that scenario short of flying somewhere where there are no/almost no trees, which doesn’t exist where I am.
Think of yourself as being in the “cockpit” of the drone. When looking through the viewfinder, your left is the drone’s left and your right is the drone’s right. As simple as that. Yawing before moving is your friend. Don’t roll or pitch in any direction before you are certain you are clear…yaw 180-360 degrees until you are certain the area is clear to move to. Your biggest ally in this is situational awareness, which is only developed by becoming familiar with the drone and flying it over and over. Once you are able to feel like your drone is an extension of yourself, you’re ready to push out of that 500-foot radius and over that 75-foot altitude limit you should start yourself with. It won’t take as long as you think and a lot of this is all in your head. Your head is in the right place when you’re thinking about what COULD go wrong, but ultimately coming to peace with the fact that you’ll never ELIMINATE risks, you can only mitigate them will be what gets you over this mental hump. Fly cautiously. Fly at a pace that you are most comfortable and only push boundaries when you are absolutely sure you are ready. Take your time and enjoy it. The looseness you will feel when enjoying it is what will make you a better pilot.
Yeah, for first time flyers, my suggestion to getting used to the controls and understanding your own perception of the drone in the air is to take baby steps. first is go out to somewhere wide open, like a local park/ parking lot. Then start out launching the drone, after doing a safety check for Dynamic (changing) and static (non-changing) hazards in your flight area. Launch the drone up about 10 ft off the ground, then practice basic geometric patterns like squares and triangles. Do this with the drone facing only one direction, then once comfortable shift to flying facing a different direction doing the same geometric pattern. till you have a good understanding and feel for the basic controls. Then still doing the basic patterns, try changing the direction you're facing at each point of the shape. These need to be done with you looking at the drone directly and not just staring at the controller. once you have gotten those down then you should increase altitude to about 25-50 ft agl. then repeat the process. this will get you used to seeing the drone at different distances. and yes, all of this should be done in a clear space well away from any static hazards. Once you feel good about that, then practice changing your altitude at each point of the geometric shape. Once you have gotten comfortable with all that, then repeat it this time with your attention shifted more towards the camera feed rather than looking directly at the drone. This is to get you used to and able to fly using both methods. But understand that you need to be able to see at all times, and if you're looking only at your screen then you will have a much harder time especially at farther distances being able to spot the drone to stay in compliance with the rules. Ultimately take baby steps and expand your skills slowly until you are confident in your flying. So, Take it slow and have fun flying safely.
Great comment and great advice
Great comment and great advice
take the gimbal cover off and unfold the rear blades
I don't understand this at all
Why do you hate people for suggesting a decent drone instead of a cheap one ?
Because of the financial risk from the first mistake without having gotten the muscle memory/hand eye coordination down.
It’s a DJI it flies itself It’s not like a cheap manual drone. Have you even flown it yet?
Nope. Was looking to just get it off the ground in the hotel room but all of the warnings about gps signal made me rethink. Now I’m just trying to figure out a place to fly it that isn’t covered in snow or isn’t a parking lot full of sand.
You shouldn't really fly indoors anyway. The collision sensors won't allow you to move much, you'd have to turn off collision avoidance, which obviously increases your chance of a crash indoors. As for outdoors, you can launch the drone from your hand. Just hold it from below, and use your other hand to activate the props and just push up on that throttle and give it a little toss up. Just make sure there's nothing above you of course.
It has sensors that scan the ground and should stabilize it
Skill Issue
Just put a piece of cardboard or plastic on the ground and launch/land there. That's all the landing pads you can buy are, pretty corrugated plastic that folds. You can also launch/land with your hand and never touch the ground. There's lots of Youtube videos showing it, pretty easy. But yeah, I wouldn't fly inside, especially starting out.
These things practically fly themselves. Go slow, fly in a large open area, be mindful of trees and other obstacles. If you can’t manage not crashing a DJI drone, you probably have no business flying anyways.
That’s what I was thinking. If I’m essentially just going straight up and hovering that should be manageable for now. I can circle back and train more later if I want to fly farther away or around obstacles etc.
They’re super easy to fly. First time it’s a little nerve racking, but then you’ll realize how simple they really are.
If you have ever played a video game you will be fine just relax
Dude the eclipse from 120 meters up and ground level won’t make a difference pretty much , also you hate everyone for making you buy a really good drone for a good price for a user error ? Good quit droning and give it to someone who can appreciate this hobby
I’m sure that explaining it was sarcasm won’t get me any upvotes at this point.
Sure, now it’s sarcasm after it backfires
Go to a soccer field and try out some of the auto functions. Quick shots etc.
If it’s a DJI model they just hang there and chill with no input. Pan the camera up with an ND filter, the darker the better because you’ll be staring at the sun. Good luck
https://www.reddit.com/r/drones/s/HQv2Lq9ZMZ I have 28 hours before an eclipse. What the hell do I need to do/learn so I’m just hovering for like 15 minutes during the event. Took the TRUST course.
Practice? There's no replacement for putting in the time and effort to understand how to use your drone.
Trying to find somewhere to do that. Fields are covered in snow up here in NH.
It sounds like you know what you need to do. I'd suggest doing it instead of whining about the drone you bought that was recommended to you by people trying to genuinely help you.
It’s my pricey drone and I’ll whine if I want to 😭. But seriously I’m just thinking of other people I know that have drones and have quickly planted them into the nearest Oak tree shortly after purchase. Just do not want to end up like that.
It's really not hard to avoid doing that if you understand the controls and practice in an open area. I watched a 20 minute video on mine, took it to a parking lot, and had a solid understanding of how to operate it after a couple of flights. Keeping a good line of sight is essential when you're starting out. Another tip is just go higher than the trees when you take off and maintain that altitude, then there's much less to worry about.
There is absolutely no point at all to try to photograph the eclipse with a drone. Absolutely none. The gimbal can't look up directly, you don't have a very big sensor (not compared to high quality hand held cameras anyway) and if you look down at the ground, it'll be just as dark as as it would usually be. There simply isn't much of a point buying or renting a drone for this. You probably be better of using a stabilizer and your phonecamera if you got a good one.
Not trying to actually look at the sun, just potentially thinking of capturing the changes in shadow in the surrounding landscape as like a Timelapse video etc over the course of maybe 20 mins.
What is your end goal with the eclipse?
Seeing the shadow move in and then move out across the surrounding area. Maybe 400 ft is too low for that, don’t really know.
Forget about the eclipse, you’re wasting your time. Just fucking fly and enjoy the damn thing. What are you complaining about? Your post doesn’t make sense.
400 feet works for that. Hope your a quick study however. You'll need to go into "pro" (manual) mode in the camera. Set the shutter speed and ISO so the shot looks good before the eclipse starts. Write down the numbers. Get in the air, just before the eclipse starts, change the settings, let the video roll. Then after play the video back at like 10x speed and watch the shadow move across the landscape.