# Photography Drones!



## jo662 (Jul 27, 2010)

I have been looking at a drone to take away in the motorhome
and take photos of where we have been.
I dont want to get in an argument about them,Im just after 
some info off anyone who has got or has used them as I have 
never owned or flown one before!


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## Spacerunner (Mar 18, 2006)

I got one for Christmas!
I've only flown it in the front room and got severely bollocked for it.
It only cost £50 so no big deal if I write it off but it will give me something to learn on. It takes video at 720p onto a micro SD card, but you have to use a card reader (supplied) to watch the results.
It's a called a Recon Observation Drone but it's a generic model. Very light and 8minutes fly time. I'm looking forward to taking some scenic videos during our next trip down to Portugal.
What short flight time I've had proved it was easy to control, providing the ceiling, flowers and dog don't get in the way!!


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

It ALL depends on how much you want to spend!

I have a cheapie and it's not at all easy to fly or get a decent picture because it's so light so easily deflected by the lightest puff of wind, and the camera is fixed.

My son in law has a high end (£1200 worth) drone and it is simply awesome! It connects to an iPad or similar so you have a live feed from its on board, gimbal mounted and stabilised, camera. The picture quality is 4K and can be recorded on your iPad in real time!!

The camera can be controlled independently so it can pan around whilst drone is in motion. 

It can follow ground based objects such as cyclists AUTOMATICALLY yet avoid obstacles in its path, it knows where it took off from so can be set to "return home" and land! if the battery power gets low or it loses contact with the operator or if you just tell it to! (and avoid obstacles on its way back etc) it has a long flight time from each battery.

Fantastic, but expensive, bit of kit. I would love one but cannot justify the cost. I did see someone using an identical drone at the Pont Du Gard and I would think the footage would be simply incredible.

Drones are now used to get all of those awesome "flying" sequences we see on wildlife TV programmes.

So if you want one make sure you see whatever you are thinking of actually in action and that it will do what you want.

Andy


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## peejay (May 10, 2005)

Joe, I haven't got one but think they are great, been following this couples travels around Portugal and he's done some interesting droney stuff...

Pete

Y1UAh2rVzQ8[[/MEDIA]

Edit - Dunno if that worked but heres another link...






Pete


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## dghr272 (Jun 14, 2012)

Loads of tips on flying one on YouTube, this one is really good for first timers.
My advice would be to start with a cheap one.






Terry


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## jo662 (Jul 27, 2010)

peejay said:


> Joe, I haven't got one but think they are great, been following this couples travels around Portugal and he's done some interesting droney stuff...
> 
> Pete
> 
> ...


Thanks Pete.
I found there youtube videos and that is what has made me think of a drone.:smile2:
There videos are amazing but he does it proffessionally.
I would need something like he has which is a Phantom 4 I think,to get anything as 
good as that!:surprise:


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## jo662 (Jul 27, 2010)

dghr272 said:


> Loads of tips on flying one on YouTube, this one is really good for first timers.
> My advice would be to start with a cheap one.
> 
> 
> ...


That is a good video,thanks.:smile2:


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

We are in The Algarve tomorrow so will keep an eye out for any drones looking over our balcony????

Ray.


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Son in laws is a Phantom, like I said twelve hundred quids worth (but ****** awesome)

Andy


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

raynipper said:


> We are in The Algarve tomorrow so will keep an eye out for any drones looking over our balcony????
> 
> Ray.


Ray

I don't think my cheapie will make it that far (and back) from Marbella :wink2:

But I will probably take it once I have mastered NOT crashing!!!!

Andy


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## cabby (May 14, 2005)

What repercussions are there if the drone is shot down over private land.

cabby


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## jo662 (Jul 27, 2010)

Mrplodd said:


> Son in laws is a Phantom, like I said twelve hundred quids worth (but ****** awesome)
> 
> Andy


They definuetly look to be the best Andy!:smile2:


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## jo662 (Jul 27, 2010)

cabby said:


> What repercussions are there if the drone is shot down over private land.
> 
> cabby


Wont be planning on flying over private land unless with permission!


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## jo662 (Jul 27, 2010)

raynipper said:


> We are in The Algarve tomorrow so will keep an eye out for any drones looking over our balcony????
> 
> Ray.


What you got worth looking at then Ray?>>


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

The important thing to remember is that most will record/take still pictures but you don't have any link on a cheapie to SEE what it's recording, a more expensive version will allow you see what you are recording (and where the drone is!) 

Of course there is a price premium for that (to my mind vital) facility.

Same as always "You get what you pay for" and I simply cannot justify £1200 for one. Having said that it's not difficult to spend that sort of money on "just" a stills camera.

Andy


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## listerdiesel (Aug 3, 2012)

They seem to go to pretty high levels of kit, and prices!

£6k+ on ebay, and even higher if you get into the professional stuff.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172242363086

Peter


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## jo662 (Jul 27, 2010)

Mrplodd said:


> The important thing to remember is that most will record/take still pictures but you don't have any link on a cheapie to SEE what it's recording, a more expensive version will allow you see what you are recording (and where the drone is!)
> 
> Of course there is a price premium for that (to my mind vital) facility.
> 
> ...


I would want one that you can see what you are viewing and also one were
you can hit the back to home button.But perhaps be better to start with a 
cheaper version like Terry says until I learn to fly one!:smile2:


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## Spacerunner (Mar 18, 2006)

raynipper said:


> We are in The Algarve tomorrow so will keep an eye out for any drones looking over our balcony????
> 
> Ray.


:director2::3dglasses::signeek::eeeeek:


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Handy for flying to the next Aire or Stellplatz to see if its full. if it is you could buzz around for a bit then maybe a few would bugger off.


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

May I ask a 'Nerdy' Q?

What frequencies do these R/C machines work on? If it is somewhere in the VHF band then they have to be within line-of-sight, and since they have to operate below 400' (at least in the UK) that would be difficult to maintain at any distance, except maybe in The Fens or Netherlands.

Geoff


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Well I would say this footage which is excellent certainly goes out of line of site and over 400ft. The bloke operating it is sat in a car for a kick off. It even communicates (Waves) with people on the top of Blackpool Tower.


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

cabby said:


> What repercussions are there if the drone is shot down over private land.
> 
> cabby


The immediate repercussions would be on the shooters shoulder and ears:laugh:


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## dghr272 (Jun 14, 2012)

Frequency info here.......

http://www.jammer-store.com/drones-frequencies

Terry


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

Terry

Thanks, so it is line-of sight.



Barry 

The Blackpool tower was in line-of-sight from the time it took off from the car location on South Shore.


Geoff


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

jo662 said:


> I have been looking at a drone to take away in the motorhome
> and take photos of where we have been.
> I dont want to get in an argument about them,Im just after
> some info off anyone who has got or has used them as I have
> never owned or flown one before!


It's a shame you don't live up here, there is Drones direct in Huddersfield, where you can try them out, huge range, maybe there is somewhere similar near to you.

https://www.dronesdirect.co.uk/


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

nicholsong said:


> Terry
> 
> Thanks, so it is line-of sight.
> 
> ...


In line of who's sight though? Certainly not the owners when he is sat in a car and it was well over 400ft at one point.

I presume these things will have a limited range anyway due to battery life, it has to get back as well as.


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

barryd said:


> In line of who's sight though? Certainly not the owners when he is sat in a car and it was well over 400ft at one point.
> 
> I presume these things will have a limited range anyway due to battery life, it has to get back as well as.


I do not how you know he was sat in a car, but even so, if it was the car next to take-off point it was pointing at the Tower and the top of that would have been visible from the car, in my very very humble opinion, he grovels.:wink2: Work ot the angular elevation of height of tower (520ft over 5280ft, i.e. 1 mile) using Tan Theta - do not have my Log Tables to hand, but I am sure as an IT expert you can find a calculator on the internet.>

I am good at grovelling - one meets a better class of low-life down there. Please do not ask me to name the MHF or Fruitcake Members I have met there.:surprise:

Geoff


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

nicholsong said:


> I do not how you know he was sat in a car, but even so, if it was the car next to take-off point it was pointing at the Tower and the top of that would have been visible from the car, in my very very humble opinion, he grovels.:wink2: Work ot the angular elevation of height of tower (520ft over 5280ft, i.e. 1 mile) using Tan Theta - do not have my Log Tables to hand, but I am sure as an IT expert you can find a calculator on the internet.>
> 
> I am good at grovelling - one meets a better class of low-life down there. Please do not ask me to name the MHF or Fruitcake Members I have met there.:surprise:
> 
> Geoff


If you watch to the end the thing lands right next to his BMW and he gets out and retrieves it. If its going a mile down the coast then even if you had line of sight they are so small you would lose it surely. Anyway I think with these things you are looking at the screen not the drone anyway arent you? Also in the beginning it sets of pretty low along the front so would be out of sight probably if you were watching it. It flies all over the pleasure beach as well. He i clearly watching remotely though as when those on the tower wave at it the drone rocks from side to side waving back.


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## jo662 (Jul 27, 2010)

Kev_n_Liz said:


> It's a shame you don't live up here, there is Drones direct in Huddersfield, where you can try them out, huge range, maybe there is somewhere similar near to you.
> 
> https://www.dronesdirect.co.uk/


Yes seen them online,would be good to try before you buy!:serious:


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

I think there may be a repeater or something on the roof of the car too, maybe a booster of some kind.


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

barryd said:


> If you watch to the end the thing lands right next to his BMW and he gets out and retrieves it. If its going a mile down the coast then even if you had line of sight they are so small you would lose it surely. Anyway I think with these things you are looking at the screen not the drone anyway arent you? Also in the beginning it sets of pretty low along the front so would be out of sight probably if you were watching it. It flies all over the pleasure beach as well. He i clearly watching remotely though as when those on the tower wave at it the drone rocks from side to side waving back.


Barry

The expression 'line of sight' is one used about radio signals in the VHF and higher frequencies to indicate that the path from the transmitter, in this case the 'pilot's' control box and the receiver in the drone is not interrupted by hills, high buildings or in longer distances by the curvature of the earth, but can be transmitted through cloud without any sight being possible.

Lower frequencies in the High Frequency and Low Frequency and below range can follow the terrain without being in direct 'line of sight' and/or by being 'bounced' off the D,E and F layers of the atmosphere to achieve skip distances to remoter parts of the world, without requiring as much power as terrain following signals.Thus they can be used by amateur radio enthusiasts for communication over long distances.

We used to have HF sets in the Boeing 737 and with that we could be sitting on the ground at Rhodes airport and call to a BT-operated HF station in the West Country and be patched through on telephone landline to Monarch Operations at Luton in a matter of seconds, in order to solve any operational problems. Aircraft flying over the oceans have to use HF there to communicate with ATC due to the curvature of the earth.

The US Navy used to use very high powered transmitters operating as low as 2Hz to communicate with their submarines worldwide.

The drone operator is more restricted, needing 'line of sight' for the VHF frequencies and even trying to circle the Blackpool Tower below its top could lose the signal and control.

Geoff


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

The more expensive ones can be set to return to their take off point if they lose radio contact or the battery becomes depleted. 

My son in law has demonstrated both facilities to me on his by turning the transmitter off!

It can even detect obstacles in the way and fly round them on the return trip. Very cool!!

Andy


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

The gadget show featured some of the follow me drones, they didn't and got caught up in the winter branches, they reckoned if the trees had been in leaf it would have been okay, some of them were expensive, but I think all of the tested four failed the follow me test.


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Here is a newer one, which wasn't much better.


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## jo662 (Jul 27, 2010)

Kev_n_Liz said:


> Here is a newer one, which wasn't much better.


If he had set the height on the drones to be above the trees 
like any normal person they would of worked!

I know he was testing the avoidance senses but you got to 
give them a chance!:serious:


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

I think he said the first two didnt have object avoidance. So why take it own a road over run with trees and objects which oddly he described as a a clear road. I think it was set up to fail.


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## jo662 (Jul 27, 2010)

barryd said:


> I think he said the first two didnt have object avoidance. So why take it own a road over run with trees and objects which oddly he described as a a clear road. I think it was set up to fail.


Yes me too,makes you wonder if they have an agenda with 
product placement!:serious:


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## jo662 (Jul 27, 2010)

These are the best two I have seen so far if money was no object!:surprise:


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

If you watch the show, you would know that they attempt to find products weak points so A we don't buy them, and B they get improved, the whole show is sponsored by PC World I believe.


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