First time flying over water

MarkyMoo554 · Jan 28, 2017

Hi,
I just got a phantom 3 standard for Christmas and it's my first drone so I'm a bit of a noob at flying. I've been flying pretty often on beginner mode but my Dads canoe club are going canoe surfing at the beach tomorrow. They want me to make a short promo video of them with my drone to attract new members (weather permitting of course).

This will be my first time flying over the sea (or any water for that matter) and I'm quite nervous about it. Has anyone got any tips that might help me tomorrow?

This is my first post on here and I'm sorry there's another thread on this. Any tips are much appreciated.

Mark

msinger · Jan 28, 2017

Make sure your battery is fully charged, set the home point at a location on land (if possible), and don't try to fly every last available minute out of the battery. You can also land and put in a fresh battery when it's getting low.

tevek · Jan 28, 2017

Yes there are many threads relating to flying over water but being your first time you might want to see if you can frame the footage whilst in beginners mode to reduce any distance or height distractions that might pop up whilst filming. Take off and land on a platform of some description to prevent sand or dirt getting into the motors. Don't fly near people, watch out for birds, keep a reasonable height above the water and don't panic. Might want to do a test run if possible to get comfortable with the controls and filming to see how it feels.

MarkyMoo554 · Jan 28, 2017

msinger said:
Make sure your battery is fully charged, set the home point at a location on land (if possible), and don't try to fly every last available minute out of the battery. You can also land and put in a fresh battery when it's getting low.

Thanks for the feedback. I have my low battery warning set to 30% so I'll have plenty of warning. Definitely, won't be taking any risks with battery life.

MarkyMoo554 · Jan 28, 2017

tevek said:
Yes there are many threads relating to flying over water but being your first time you might want to see if you can frame the footage whilst in beginners mode to reduce any distance or height distractions that might pop up whilst filming. Take off and land on a platform of some description to prevent sand or dirt getting into the motors. Don't fly near people, watch out for birds, keep a reasonable height above the water and don't panic. Might want to do a test run if possible to get comfortable with the controls and filming to see how it feels.

Thanks for the help. There's a concrete path beside the beach that I can take off and land from. never thought about the birds though. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

msinger · Jan 28, 2017

Concrete often contains rebar, so it's probably not the best place to launch.

MarkyMoo554 · Jan 28, 2017

msinger said:
Concrete often contains rebar, so it's probably not the best place to launch.

Could that cause magnetic field interference or compass errors. Would tarmac be any better?

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blmeanie · Jan 28, 2017

I had my first flight over water today, took it slowly, enjoyed it in the end, will continue to push boundaries in my head. Follow the instructions others have mentioned.

MarkyMoo554 · Jan 28, 2017

blmeanie said:
I had my first flight over water today, took it slowly, enjoyed it in the end, will continue to push boundaries in my head. Follow the instructions others have mentioned.

View attachment 74719

Thanks for the encouragement. Thats a great shot you got there.

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tevek · Jan 28, 2017

MarkyMoo554 said:
Could that cause magnetic field interference or compass errors. Would tarmac be any better?

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Concrete, buried electrical cables and anything containing steel used to create havoc with my wifi connecting to the drone/RC with disconnected messages, no image transmission, the obvious compass calibration events. As for Tarmac, not sure what sort of metal is in it, you could try launching from your drone box, bag, a small table or cardboard box.

msinger · Jan 28, 2017

MarkyMoo554 said:
Would tarmac be any better?

Yes. It usually does not contain metal.

MarkyMoo554 · Jan 28, 2017

tevek said:
Concrete, buried electrical cables and anything containing steel used to create havoc with my wifi connecting to the drone/RC with disconnected messages, no image transmission, the obvious compass calibration events. As for Tarmac, not sure what sort of metal is in it, you could try launching from your drone box, bag, a small table or cardboard box.

Thanks
Never really thought about using my hardshell backpack as a take off pad, that's a great idea. I could also just use a cardboard box as you said, I have plenty lying around.

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blmeanie · Jan 28, 2017

i had some leftover artificial turf from a putting green I made on my boat dock, about 5' square, unroll it on dirt, sand and it makes a good takeoff and landing pad.

Artificial turf is real cheap on eBay, it rolls up and goes in the trunk of the car until next time

MarkyMoo554 · Jan 28, 2017

msinger said:
Yes. It usually does not contain metal.

That sounds great, there is a car park at the beach that I could take off from

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MarkyMoo554 · Jan 28, 2017

blmeanie said:
i had some leftover artificial turf from a putting green I made on my boat dock, about 5' square, unroll it on dirt, sand and it makes a good takeoff and landing pad.

Artificial turf is real cheap on eBay, it rolls up and goes in the trunk of the car until next time

Thanks for the feedback. That sounds like a cool boat dock you have.

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blmeanie · Jan 28, 2017

Spency · Jan 29, 2017

Obviously blmeanie is doin it tough!!!!!!

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Spency · Jan 29, 2017

This is mine!

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blmeanie · Jan 29, 2017

this is a shot with my square artificial turf in the view from yesterday. It was a little windy so I had rocks to hold the corners down. Probably could use tent pegs or something fancier I guess.

Also here is a video of the dock putt area.

MarkyMoo554 · Jan 29, 2017

blmeanie said:
this is a shot with my square artificial turf in the view from yesterday. It was a little windy so I had rocks to hold the corners down. Probably could use tent pegs or something fancier I guess.
View attachment 74768
Also here is a video of the dock putt area.

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Haha cool. I ended up using a picnick blanket today. The actual flight went really well but I didn't get many good shots (I have no idea about shots and good camera techniques). About an hour ago I went back out to film at a harbour, started up the phantom and connected to the WiFi. Then the WiFi dropped out a couple of seconds later, I tried connecting again multiple times but the issue prevailed.

I drove to another location and tried again. I couldn't figure out what the problem was so I decided to try and get into the DJI Go app before the signal dropped to see if it would show an error message. When I got into the GO app the WiFi didn't drop out, just to be sure I waited 2 or 3 minutes and the WiFi was still connected. Just as a test I went out of the GO app and the WiFi dropped out straight away. I reconnected, went into the GO app straight away and the WiFi stayed connected again. I flew around for a good 10 minutes. The phantom was down low (about 10 feet up and roughly 6 meters away) and the GO app disconnected. This time I just landed the phantom and packed it away but would anyone have any idea what my problem is?
Thanks

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