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Flying Around Cell Towers?
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<blockquote data-quote="James Lummel" data-source="post: 69010" data-attributes="member: 11795"><p>We've done quite a few cell tower surveys professionally using the Phantom 4 Advanced (2.4g only) and Inspire 2 and while we typically don't see any problems when near the cell emitters at the top, we've noticed problems with the round microwave dishes that a lot of towers have. We also use UHF radios onsite for communicating while doing the surveys and have had failures of the radios due to interference (had to go up to the higher power to be reliable), but we've only had problems with the quad when near the microwave dishes and that resulted in some butt-clenchers while we got the craft under control.</p><p></p><p>Looking at the logs afterwards on Airdata is pretty scary though! Some site are worse than others, with the worst being the sites that gave us problems with the UHF radios. But if you pull up the Notifications highlights it's pretty scary how often control was lost and then regained when near these cell towers, and for how long! But even so, wind is our greatest challenge more than interference. We carry insurance so that if we crash into an cell emitter or a microwave dish we are covered, but it can get really hairy up there!!</p><p></p><p>You need to be careful when flying near things like cell towers and windmills as these can be classified as infrastructure and you could be entering a no-fly zone because of that. There's still a lot going on with the FAA on issues like this, but with the recent FAA re-authorization that was just signed into law they have a LOT more authority to go after recreational fliers!</p><p></p><p>James</p><p></p><p>PS- I bought the Spark to be able to do the initial scout some of the sites we fly, though we use the better equipment to do the surveys themselves as the Spark's camera is not adequate for that. But I'd rather lose a $300 spark than a $1300 P4A or $4000 Inspire 2, and the Spark is much easier to deploy for a quick look. Luckily the scouting doesn't require we get close to the tower as the signal for the Spark is only enhanced WiFi and is not Lightbridge 2 like the P4A and the I2, so is less immune to any interference near a tower.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="James Lummel, post: 69010, member: 11795"] We've done quite a few cell tower surveys professionally using the Phantom 4 Advanced (2.4g only) and Inspire 2 and while we typically don't see any problems when near the cell emitters at the top, we've noticed problems with the round microwave dishes that a lot of towers have. We also use UHF radios onsite for communicating while doing the surveys and have had failures of the radios due to interference (had to go up to the higher power to be reliable), but we've only had problems with the quad when near the microwave dishes and that resulted in some butt-clenchers while we got the craft under control. Looking at the logs afterwards on Airdata is pretty scary though! Some site are worse than others, with the worst being the sites that gave us problems with the UHF radios. But if you pull up the Notifications highlights it's pretty scary how often control was lost and then regained when near these cell towers, and for how long! But even so, wind is our greatest challenge more than interference. We carry insurance so that if we crash into an cell emitter or a microwave dish we are covered, but it can get really hairy up there!! You need to be careful when flying near things like cell towers and windmills as these can be classified as infrastructure and you could be entering a no-fly zone because of that. There's still a lot going on with the FAA on issues like this, but with the recent FAA re-authorization that was just signed into law they have a LOT more authority to go after recreational fliers! James PS- I bought the Spark to be able to do the initial scout some of the sites we fly, though we use the better equipment to do the surveys themselves as the Spark's camera is not adequate for that. But I'd rather lose a $300 spark than a $1300 P4A or $4000 Inspire 2, and the Spark is much easier to deploy for a quick look. Luckily the scouting doesn't require we get close to the tower as the signal for the Spark is only enhanced WiFi and is not Lightbridge 2 like the P4A and the I2, so is less immune to any interference near a tower. [/QUOTE]
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Flying Around Cell Towers?