Drones For Prospecting?

[MSC]

Drones sound like a fun way to play but need to do the hard work to actually go to test the spots to know for sure. Love play with drones though. 

[chrisski]

As a drone user of a lower end 4k 3 axis gimbal with electronic image stabilization, ( the HS720 drone), it is wholly unsuited for any prospecting work.

I can’t see any value added to a good google map survey or actually walking the few hundred extra feet from where your flying would bring to you.

Higher end drones with better cameras and surveying/mapping, maybe.

I’ve attached a photo from a jasper and obsidian bearing area and the time would be better spent walking around boots on the ground.

 

[dig4gold]

For me the use of a drone is for searching for old timer workings in steep rugged country for gold detecting purposes. That saves me the effort of walking into such terrain only to find I wasted my time & energy if nothing is there. I often just do a Google Earth fly over but a drone you have control over for closer, clearer footage pin pointing spots & also access into those spots. You just need to be careful you don't drop the drone out of sight down a gully because if you cant have line of sight of the drone then the drone cant see you & you can/will lose signal & could be bye bye drone. Crash & burn. Return to base may kick in & save you, or not.

D4G

 

[TTT2866]

yes! I use my phantom 3 to scope beaches sometimes. Though limited to only about 350 meters it's extremely handy. The first time I used it to locate an offshore washout I found a ring that sold for $2400. 

 

Keep in mind that you generally need direct line-of-sight with most models. Maybe exempt for the more expensive ones? A DJI Phantom 4 would be super handy for what I do.

 

I've only used it once to scope out a property for old ruins and it was really good as well. Also to check out an island about 100 meters off-shore which ended up being an old bottle dump that proved to have some cool finds. 

[Lead Detector]

On 3/20/2024 at 6:38 AM, TTT2866 said:

yes! I use my phantom 3 to scope beaches sometimes. Though limited to only about 350 meters it's extremely handy. The first time I used it to locate an offshore washout I found a ring that sold for $2400. 

 

Keep in mind that you generally need direct line-of-sight with most models. Maybe exempt for the more expensive ones? A DJI Phantom 4 would be super handy for what I do.

 

I've only used it once to scope out a property for old ruins and it was really good as well. Also to check out an island about 100 meters off-shore which ended up being an old bottle dump that proved to have some cool finds. 

I used to get 2.5 miles out of my phantom 3. Seems with every software update,  it got less. I can still get a mile out of it though.  My mini 2 se has the new oculus tech that will go 6 miles.   You can definitely get some detailed lay of the land in a hurry.

[TTT2866]

On 3/22/2024 at 4:28 PM, Lead Detector said:

I used to get 2.5 miles out of my phantom 3. Seems with every software update,  it got less. I can still get a mile out of it though.  My mini 2 se has the new oculus tech that will go 6 miles.   You can definitely get some detailed lay of the land in a hurry.

Whaaaaaaaaaat! I can get 500 meters on a good day 😅 I try not to get past 300m in case the silly thing goes in to ATTI mode and shoots off again hahaha. Thats about where i lose signal anyway.