Drone?

[jwax]

Who has experienced these remarkable gadgets so far?
Picked up a used DJI Phantom 2 Vision, and can't help but be impressed by the technology-
5.8 GHz drone control, 2.4 GHz video link, fly autonomously between waypoints, GPS, Return Home, and HD video recording. Way cool!
John

[dacflyer]

i have a IRIS+ great quad-copter, has a lot fo the same features as the DJI, i believe that most of the higher end quads have just about all the same features.. love the way mine looks. i got mine at a great deal, it was a fixxer upper.
the previous owner crashed it. got the replacement parts, and then found it was beyond his abilities. so it was easy for me.
and a great price.. i got the video monitor kit and the gimbal for the gopro camera (got that at a great deal also and modified it to get rid of the fish-eye issue ) even got a few 3D made parts to improve the Gimbal and a different mount to hold the video screen.
but i am happy with it..

[jwax]

Ha! Similar story here dacflyer- The DJI was crashed into a building, and "broke" the camera gimbal so it would not tilt up/down. I bought it cheap, as a broken drone, but fixed it quickly. The tilt simply had its limit tang jammed over the stop. I "unjammed" it, and it's fine.
I'm still learning how to control it in the air- and as you know, it takes some practice!
It is still a wild and wonderful application of many technologies!

[dacflyer]

practice makes perfect.. if you look in your program ( not sure what DJI uses ) mine uses a program called mission planner. and it has all my settings ( firmware - calibrations and settings, and mission planner ) there is many setting there to help you fly safer too,, like beginner mode etc.
also known as simple mode and super simple mode..lol

[dacflyer]

here is a picture of my set up..

[jwax]

Very nice, dacflyer!
Having trouble getting GPS satellites. Need 6 satellites to get good GPS lock, but I'm only getting 4 or 5, depending on location. There's a 1 inch square ceramic antenna that some folks say can be replaced with one with gain. Looking over Digikey, and find there's a selection:
http://www.digikey.com/product-search/e ... s=931-1016
Thinking I need the one with most gain, but the 931-1016 is recommended.
This 1.5 GHz zone is weird. Guess I'll buy a few a see which works best. This little 1.5 inch round PCB with antenna retails for $160!

[dacflyer]

early ever had any GPS issues.. mine has to have a min of 8, but you can adjust that in the settings, but it is not recommended. the antenna on mine has a copper shield under it to help shield it from the electronics under it.
i have picked up as many as 12 SATs.
my GPS clock at the house works great indoors, it was a 29.00 GPS UBLOX "NEO-6"
like this one here..
http://tronixlabs.com/arduino/shields/g ... australia/

[Lenp]

Eagle intercepts drone!
No fear here with the sacred bird!
http://www.wired.com/2016/02/so-dutch-c ... unt-drones

[dacflyer]

i heard something about that in the news this morning that they are going to train birds to take out drones ( Tech Bytes / bites )
but i think that is kind of dumb, them propellers can inflict some real harm on them...

http://www.engadget.com/2016/02/01/eagles-vs-drones/

[Lenp]

They could fly in from the rear, below the drone, perform an Immelman and grab the underside of the drone. Maybe it's weight would cause it to drop, or, do another Immelman, while still holdng the drone, turning it upside down, and fly away.

And, if that doesn't work.....well maybe we will just have more 'bald' eagles

[jwax]

Hard to imagine an eagle not getting whacked by a blade during capture. The drone will do lots of throttling of its motors to maintain level, including flipping upside down. Feathers would fly!

[dacflyer]

this is a much safer method / idea..

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... tcher.html

[haklesup]

I saw the video and that Eagle had Eagle eyes and seemd to know instinctively how to avoid the props. He came in over the top and popped the center of the drone with its claws and carried it to a perch in the corner of the room. When disrupted in that way, the drones control system would to extreme things with the engines to try and right itself. they may even stop momentarily.

Many drones aren't that big and the props are made to break or stall when they hit a surface. I'm sure they selected a safer model for this demonstration. However a pro model drone might have more powerful engines and stiffer props. I hope the trainers exercise some restraint on what they unleash the eagle on. BTW, AFAIK, none have actually been deployed to law enforcement.

Sure the bird could be injured but so too can a police dog in the line of duty. Presumably it would not be deployed unless it was necessary and other backups were in place. Lets see what happens over the superbowl this weekend. Can't be worse than Dolphins as mine sweepers. Can't be much worse than Enrique Iglesias catching a drone on stage, he survived I think.

I think the drone net is far more practical given the difficulty in obtaining and training an Eagle. Just how many could they possibly deploy, not many I'm sure. Besides, what's an Eagle trainer cost and what do you do when you're not hunting drones, you can't stash an Eagle in a closet. In any case, I think Old faithful, the Bison and El Capitan will now be well protected from illegal drone flights.

[dacflyer]

at one point in the video the tether on the eagle got wrapped around a prop,and prevented him from walking away..

[haklesup]

http://www.vice.com/read/think-you-know ... -again-201