A little tip

[jleone15022]

I have come across a quick little tip that everyone should be doing before they start flying. It's a little bit of work but it will save your day somewhere along the line.

Scout out the area you are planning on flying. Not just using the apps to see if the weather is right or if there is any restrictions. I mean actually check it out. Use Google maps or something like that and if necessary, scout it out physically. Look for things like trees, power lines, fences, or other potential obstacles.

This little tip could make all the difference of having a good time and getting some cool shots or having a bad day and losing or crashing your drone.

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[wyx087]

While you are scouting, also plan your shots, think about cool ways you can use the trees/objects in the flight path, areas of interest.

 

[jleone15022]

While you are scouting, also plan your shots, think about cool ways you can use the trees/objects in the flight path, areas of interest.

That's a very good one. I kinda lost my train of thought while typing. I was gonna say this one too but you beat me to it. [emoji106]

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[Buddy411]

Very good advice. Something elese to think about when scouting: If things go sideways, where are safe landing areas that I can access if I need to go get it?

 

[jleone15022]

Came up with another tip today after my first "holy s@$t" moment with the Spark. Was about 200 feet up and about 300 feet out when it suddenly went into ATTI mode. No GPS. The wind was carrying it away. Fortunately for me, this wasn't my first rodeo with drones. I've flown a ton of different types some with and some without GPS or altitude hold. I immediately took control of the situation and brought it down manually and carefully. After a reboot and re-calibration of the compass, "boom." Back to the skies. It was a scary thing to hear the device tell me this and most people would probably crap their pants and panic. That leads to crashes. I kept my cool and just eased it down to the ground. I think I booted up the Spark a little too close to my car and that's what caused the problem. When I re-booted and took off from my usual spot after a re-calibration, all was well so....

Lesson learned.

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[Dave]

.....After a reboot and re-calibration of the compass..... I think I booted up the Spark a little too close to my car and that's what caused the problem....

Did you recalibrate the compass just as a precaution since you couldn't be certain it was just the car? If it was just the car, you would just need the new safer location to take off, not the recal, correct?

 

[jleone15022]

Did you recalibrate the compass just as a precaution since you couldn't be certain it was just the car? If it was just the car, you would just need the new safer location to take off, not the recal, correct?

I knew it was the car because earlier I wasn't parked in the same spot. I moved it when I came home from work. (Did some flying before work too in the morning) I did the re-calibration as a precaution anyway. When I switched spots and did the calibration, I had no other issue so just by trial and error I figured that was the problem. I'll double check my findings tomorrow as it's dark now and I'll try at a different area all together tomorrow to test my theory. Also it seems that my current location, (my home) has become air traffic control central or something. I've lived here for 3 years, been flying for 2 years and have NEVER seen so much air traffic as I have lately and I don't even live close to any type of airport or anything.

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[Lastrexking]

I like to film in my local park. It's fairly large and has a wide range of terrain and uses (fields, natural meadows, woodland, play areas, farm land). It has a Facebook group, so I find it hand to always go and post there beforehand if I'm doing any kind of filming. People seem to like the 'warning' and it actually gets folk interested and I've has a few requests from people wanting to see how my gear works. I think it's best to try and get people on board and show that we as a community are friendly and really are aren't up to anything harmful.

 

[jleone15022]

I like to film in my local park. It's fairly large and has a wide range of terrain and uses (fields, natural meadows, woodland, play areas, farm land). It has a Facebook group, so I find it hand to always go and post there beforehand if I'm doing any kind of filming. People seem to like the 'warning' and it actually gets folk interested and I've has a few requests from people wanting to see how my gear works. I think it's best to try and get people on board and show that we as a community are friendly and really are aren't up to anything harmful.

I totally agree with you there. I do the same when I'm out. A lot of the neighborhood kids come around when I'm flying. They love it. I get A lot of questions from the grown ups too. The Spark is so small and not as intimidating as something bigger. I also have a Parrot Bebop 2 with FPV. The kids love it too!! They ask tons of questions and I try to answer them all to best of my knowledge. I even get questions from the local police. They love it too. I had 1 cop almost fall down when he put on the FPV for the first time. Being up so high and it looking down a little made him dizzy. He sat down and was fine and told me to keep flying. It was fun. But the Spark gets the most attention from everyone because of what it's capable of. It's good to get people interested and not frightened by the drones as they are becoming so much more common now.

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[wyx087]

Be careful flying from balconies when without GPS lock.

I launched from a 3rd floor balcony in OPTI mode (I think). It was hovering stable due to downwards positioning sensor. But as soon as I moved it out of balcony it started to drift wildly, one time it came within cm of crashing into our building.

Luckily I had avoided the crash by manual intervention. I then lowered the Spark to regain downward positional sensor functionality while waiting for GPS lock. In the end, I had to landed it into an empty parking spot while waiting for GPS lock (tall mountains surrounded the town, so less satellites)

In short, I would not recommend launching from balcony in OPTI/ATTI mode, wait for GPS lock.

 

[Dronason]

There are GPS, OPTI and ATTI mode. This is shown on top of screen.

 

[wyx087]

You are right, my post has been corrected.

May I ask what's the difference between OPTI and ATTI? Is it just a case of at lower height where the downwards sensor is operational it is OPTI?

GPS mode is obviously preferred.

 

[Dronason]

Yes, OPTI is ATTI mode + camera bellow. It use the image to keep in position. There is a minimum of light needed and also some visible pattern for this mode to work. ATTI mode is just keeping altitude and angle of Spark after it start to move you will have to brake for him. ATTI mode is the flight mode that need the most flying skill level.