Drones

[Norvic]

Crikey, we`ll have to have anti-aircraft guns installed on our detectors.

[auminesweeper]

Crikey, we`ll have to have anti-aircraft guns installed on our detectors.

Might Have to Give Uncle Bruce A Call and see what he has got in the Laser Guided DVT SETA Line of  Scud Products, lol

[tvanwho]

And these drones were Science Fiction not so long ago? How do the guys get 20 miles range? I'd be happy with 500 feet or so. Heck, when I used to do Radio Control model boats, after a few hundred feet, you cannot tell what direction the boat is facing and its almost impossible to control, much less control a RC jet plane doing 100 miles an hour or a drone.

Being able to see on your transmitter what the drone sees would be what I want? Whats the cheapest drone to do that? Do unexpected wind gusts toss these little machines around? I'd sure like to fly over creek areas, looking at potential dredging spots I can't get to on foot.

-Tom V.

[jasong]

tvanwho:

 

In FPV you fly using a HUD (heads up display) in a similar fashion as pilots use them to fly aircraft (or military drones) with limited or no sight. It gives you roll, pitch, bearing, elevation, distances, etc and you can navigate by that without seeing anything else. They are pretty useful even within sight range, and actually kinda fun to learn and fly with them, it's like a flight simulator except more real.

 

You usually have to add the HUD yourself, DJI makes one.The video monitor is more to just give you a sense of what you are around, you can point it in any direction you want though, and its not high enough resolution to make out fine detail with. Though you can fly by it but its easy to get disoriented. Some quadcopters come with this setup, but it's was much cheaper to build it myself when I bought mine, dunno about now though.

 

To fly 20 miles out you'd need to go to custom radios, antennas, and high power FPV tx/rx's that operate on lower frequencies like below 1ghz. Again, not legal anymore in the US. But on the frequency subject, usually what legitimate setups use today (and what my personal setup contains) are 2.4GHZ for your radio and 5.8ghz for your FPV system. Two things: those are also frequencies that many consumer devices use (routers, phones, etc) so you get a lot of reduced range and noise near cities. Second, these high frequencies are basically line of sight, especially 5.8ghz, so in forests or areas with lots of trees your range could be greatly reduced and you'll lose your drone. I'm lucky in that all the areas I prospect and live are either praries or deserts without trees. But if you are standing in the forest and flying up and out then you won't be going very far.

 

Different powers of transmitters and different styles of antennas all greatly increase the ranges as well. A good antenna is the cheapest way to boost range, but most of the high gain ones are also highly directional, so keep that in mind. Some have quite narrow like 5-10 degree fields, fly out of that and your HUD is gone, bam. This is one reason why the FAA enacted line of sight flight only, it makes sense, we don't want drones falling out of the sky onto our heads.

[flakmagnet]

hey jasong

 

Once again you have made something that can be fairly complex

seem understandable and possible for us ordinary folks to take on.

 

You have been doing this on a number of subjects for years. 

I have been and remain, impressed with your willingness and ability to communicate.

Thanks.

[jasong]

Thanks Flak and Jim, I like talking about tech related stuff, my first thought when I encounter something new is generally "how can I use this for prospecting or mining".    Always glad if it's something others find interesting too. 

[tvanwho]

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_333BEBOPRB/Parrot-Bebop-Drone-Bundle-Red.html

 

$750 dollar built in camera drone with 1 mile + range and you can dock it with a tablet or smartphone for flying as if you were in the drones pilot seat.

My dream drone. Now ,if the price would just drop to the under $500 range.....since I need/have a use for a tablet pc now too

 

Too bad the reviews are so poor tho, almost sounds like vaporware...big promises but poor delivery..and I hear the FAA now requires all drone pilots to get a license and max altitude of 400 feet...

[chickenminer]

Drones are going to be a very useful tool to the miner/prospector. Here in Alaska satellite imagery resolution of most areas is extremely poor. With the regulating agencies now calling for aerial photos of our operations for permitting purposes it becomes an even more valuable tool.

That's why I bought a DJI Phantom 3 Pro.

Unfortunately there are some inherent limits to the drones now (like battery life) and I can see increased rules coming for sure.

Let's hope the idiots don't ruin it for us all.

It's a tool, like any other tool it can be abused.

[jasong]

Commercial use is banned and they now require all owners to register with the FAA or face criminal/civil penalties as of a few days ago.

 

https://www.faa.gov/uas/registration/

 

Just a heads up, they do consider use of the drone with anything at all involving business to be illegal without their permit (including just flying around your yard and posting your vids to Youtube if there are ads on the page), I spent some time looking in to it a while back and gave up. Idiots already ruined it a few years ago, it's inevitable. You get people flying in NY and crashing from 500 ft up over a crowded city, interfering with EMS and firefighting operations, etc. 

[chickenminer]

The courtroom fighting begins...

 

 http://www.adn.com/article/20160113/can-drones-just-hover-over-your-home