Why no waterproof version?

[WilsonFlyer]

We haven't went public with the price yet, but we will be doing that very soon. The pre-order notification list has been growing quickly and we're very close to opening up public sales. We want to make sure we're truly ready to meet the expected demand. We have just a few more Kickstarter deliveries to finish over the next week.

Finally, we wanted to finish with the majority of our ocean and saltwater testing before starting public sale. We are in the middle of that testing now. Harbor and bay water trials have been completed with excellent results on performance and no water on the camera. Next we will be testing on open ocean.

View attachment 62533

Nice looking rig. I've been watching those since you guys started your original campaign. I'd really like to see some sample footage. I cannot imagine that the floats wouldn't be in almost every frame. It would be nice to see some footage to the contrary.

It's going to be a great and greatly needed product if it delivers on its promise, is affordable for what it is, and affords minimal interference with the videography.

By the way, "saving 10x the cost" pretty much pegs the price firmly in th $150US range.

 

[ifsteve]

syotr

Nice looking rig. I would consider doing something like that if I was more mechanically inclined....lol.....certainly they must be out of business. Everybody on here insists there is no market for a waterproof quadcopter.

 

[younggun84]

Well, they certainly aren't stealing any major market shares...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[WilsonFlyer]

syotr

Nice looking rig. I would consider doing something like that if I was more mechanically inclined....lol.....certainly they must be out of business. Everybody on here insists there is no market for a waterproof quadcopter.

You need to read better. That's not what they're selling. They're selling one-time limited insurance. There's a big difference.

They appear to go on with Velcro. I bet even you could do it.

 

[Adam Morrison]

Nice looking rig. I've been watching those since you guys started your original campaign. I'd really like to see some sample footage. I cannot imagine that the floats wouldn't be in almost every frame. It would be nice to see some footage to the contrary.

It's going to be a great and greatly needed product if it delivers on its promise, is affordable for what it is, and affords minimal interference with the videography.

By the way, "saving 10x the cost" pretty much pegs the price firmly in th $150US range.

Almost every shot from the drone in the Kickstarter video was taken with a WaterStrider attached. The front pods are spread far enough apart to clear the field of view of the camera. You will occasionally see a pod briefly when making aggressive maneuvers. But for the vast majority of flights when actually filming you won't see the pods.

 

[ifsteve]

You need to read better. That's not what they're selling. They're selling one-time limited insurance. There's a big difference.

They appear to go on with Velcro. I bet even you could do it.

Sir, actually you are the one that needs to read better.....lol. I was specifically talking to syodr about the copter he posted the picture of suggesting I could buy a aquacopter or dex body and put DJI parts in it.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

Sir, actually you are the one that needs to read better.....lol. I was specifically talking to syodr about the copter he posted the picture of suggesting I could buy a aquacopter or dex body and put DJI parts in it.

Oops. My apologies. Sincerely.

 

[ifsteve]

No biggie WF. Its why I put in the lol. I AM thinking about those pods. I do believe even I could "install" those....

 

[syotr]

syotr

Nice looking rig. I would consider doing something like that if I was more mechanically inclined....lol.....certainly they must be out of business. Everybody on here insists there is no market for a waterproof quadcopter.

The Carbon fiber Dex shell was expensive but very light and strong. It has survived one flyaway with a water crash, no damage at all. I have another one in a Dex fiberglass shell. It has bigger motors and props, longer flight time. In case you haven't seen the Dex videos:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[Mike_in_Letcombe]

A Phantom 3 or Phantom 4 plus a WaterStrider make a really nice water compatible solution. The combination is a great value for the money.

Check it out!

Thanks - have registered for more info. Looks good, although no price showing yet.


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots

 

[Jrods]

Then let me share something that you don't want to hear. This hobby is likely not for you. There are two kinds of flying aircraft when it comes to RC. Those that have crashed and those that are going to crash. Now that's probably not what you wanted to hear, but take it from a guy that's been around a long time and have picked up multiple giant scales and even a +$10k turbine in a 55 gallon garbage bag. They WILL go down. They all do if you fly them long enough. The difference between the turbine in the garbage bag and the Phantom in the drink is that you didn't have to clean the Phantom up from somebody's field. The salvage qualities are exactly the same.

I still can't get over how many quads manufacturers like DJI have replaced. If we called Horizon or Great Planes complaining about crashes and demanding replacements, they'd laugh us off the phone.

Like a lot of things in life, every game has its price to play. It is foolish to play a game you're unwilling to accept the risks and costs of. You wouldn't do it in anything else in life that you made that judgement of. This is no different.

That, or just don't fly over water. Oh. Keep a kitchen trash bag handy anyway.

I recently picked up a P4 that was a basket case for $300.00 they guy that owned it was flying close to my house in sport mode the second day he owned it when he was trying to fly low into a field when he had trees between him and the bird. He flow under and oak tree when it lost connection and started to climb to RTH and hit a branch or two and gat stuck up in the foliage. The guy could not get up in the tree and mother nature dropped it a couple of days later during a rain storm. He lost about a $1000 and has sworn off flying. I now have a spare RC. And some other spare parts.

 

[WetDog]

I've flown the P4 back through several rainstorms when videoing rainbows (mostly over the sea) and it always comes back dry. I assume the downdraught from the props and the centrifugal force don't allow the raindrops to settle but I hope the curved design of the shell is sufficient to prevent any ingress of water into the electronics. So far - so good.

Cover the top vents with tape. Unless you live in Dallas or Quatar you shouldn't have overheating problems. At least keeps the direct blast water down.

 

[WetDog]

1. I could care less about the DJI video system. I am perfectly happy using my GoPro.
2. As for the comment on they all are going to crash sooner or later. I get that. Exactly why I want a waterproof drone. Near 100% of the flying I would do is over water. I get its likely to have a fly away, equipment failure, battery die, pilot error. So when the inevitable happens I want to have some chance that the thing isn't a total loss. A DJI landing on the water is most likely a total loss. Just not going to do that.

I appreciate all the replies. Guess I will just keep holding off until DJI pulls their head out and recognizes a need or Splash starts building something with more reliability. In the meantime I have boats to run and fish to catch!

The other way to look at is that the P3 is 'disposable' (DO NOT mention this argument to your wife). If you figure your crash rate over water as, say, 1:100 (my current rate, albeit statistically a bit weak) and the price of a P3P roughly as $1000 it 'costs' $10 a flight. Less than bait sometimes. Certainly less than filling up piglet at the marina. The waterproof drones are between $2500 and $10K and are less flexible than the Phantom. That's a lot of flight.

As Robert Heinlein so aptly put it "Man is not a rational animal, he is a rationalizing animal". Works for me. Most times.

 

[ifsteve]

I am leaning toward a P4 and a set of those upcoming waterstriders. Since for the use I plan I dont intend to fly it that far away I am mostly interested in being able to "land it on water" and quickly recover it and hope to not have much if any loss of equipment.

WetDog good advice....especially about not telling my wife a drone would be a disposable item....don't think that would go far. LOL

 

[Soad70]

[emoji106]

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

 

[dparkins]

Almost every shot from the drone in the Kickstarter video was taken with a WaterStrider attached. The front pods are spread far enough apart to clear the field of view of the camera. You will occasionally see a pod briefly when making aggressive maneuvers. But for the vast majority of flights when actually filming you won't see the pods.

Hell, you even see the props in aggressive flights!

Sent from my SPH-L710 using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[dparkins]

No biggie WF. Its why I put in the lol. I AM thinking about those pods. I do believe even I could "install" those....

As long as the directions aren't in Chinese

Sent from my SPH-L710 using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[Adam Morrison]

Hell, you even see the props in aggressive flights!

Exactly! We basically tried to make visibility no more frequent than visibility of the propellers in normal operations.

 

[Adam Morrison]

For those of you who were interested in seeing the WaterStrider in action on the ocean, check out the video below from when we completed our sea trials about a month ago. Also, our online store is now open for general sale. Due to strong demand, we have been able to lower the price from what we had during our Kickstarter campaign.

DroneRafts.com
Buy WaterStrider

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Also check out our new WaterStrider - Expanded Horizons for DJI Phantom video that shows some fresh footage and capabilities. You can see lots of shots from the drone equipped with the WaterStrider and the pods are not in the image.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

If you have any questions, let me know.

 

[syotr]

The new GoPro 5 is waterproof without a housing. It is easy to waterproof a gimbal. The other issues are also easily solved. Heat can be conducted to the outside with heat sinks or dissipated in the arms. Gortex or other breathable fabric can allow the barometer to sense outside air pressure.