Drones for spotting

[ShtrRdy]

I've never had a drone but aren't the cameras underneath the drone such that you would need to be airborne to get a picture?

 

[GotRDid]

i think it would be fun for you to bring it out to the trap/skeet range—- lol

Some Drones are really fast; even the World’s Top Shooter has a learning curve…..

 

[Preacher]

I've never had a drone but aren't the cameras underneath the drone such that you would need to be airborne to get a picture?

You can use the camera just fine while it is setting in one place..

 

[charlie b]

Don't have to fly the drone. Just take it out to the target and set it up. Kind of a dual purpose target camera as well as a drone.

Flying one on a hot range reminds me of the attack pilot motto, "Big sky, little bullets".

 

[Dave Berg]

I did what you're suggesting for a couple years with DJI Phantom 3's (can't have just one). It worked fine as long as the grass had been mowed. Phantom 3's had a tall landing gear and the gimbal would let me point the camera slightly upward. Camera range was more than adequate for what I was doing at 500 yards (actual range was much farther) and shooting in video mode gives an interesting shot by shot replay if you want to see where you screwed up. The weird thing was when flying back and forth a disturbing number of other shooters would say to their buddy "I'll bet I could shoot that down".

The FAA put the kabosh on Phantom 3's a few years ago when they limited the weight of unlicensed drones (as in not having a pilots license) to 249 grams. DJI responded with the Mini 3 Pro then the Mini 3. They're faster, longer transmission range (up to 6 miles), much better camera, and with the "cheater battery" up to 51 minutes of flight time. The Phantom series had a pretty steep learning curve but the Mini is stupid easy to fly - literally push one button and it takes off, climbs to 4 feet and hovers waiting for you to tell it what to do. I haven't tried watching targets with a Mini but I would think you would need something like a wooden box or at least a piece of plywood for it to land on. The Phantom had tall, spindly legs and the camera hung down from the middle. The Mini has legs that are less than an inch high with the camera gimbal mounted in the front so sitting in grass probably isn't going to work although you can aim the camera upwards.

I'm in central Florida and if anyone nearby would like to give this a try just shoot me a PM. Or for the paltry sum of $379 you could get your own Mini 3 from Amazon. Complete and ready to fly although I'd suggest a couple "cheater batteries" and a gang charger to maximize your fun as they say.

Edit: Had to add this. DJI literally invented the consumer drone and holds 80% of the US market. Effective last Friday the FCC has banned imports from DJI, a Chinese company, because of "possible security concerns" although none have ever been identified. The current models available have FCC approval but the drone market changes very quickly and the 14 new models DJI intended to introduce in the US this year may never be available here. The price on current models has dropped dramatically so if you've ever thought about trying one this could be a real good time.

 

[J.d. Popkes]

I did what you're suggesting for a couple years with DJI Phantom 3's (can't have just one). It worked fine as long as the grass had been mowed. Phantom 3's had a tall landing gear and the gimbal would let me point the camera slightly upward. Camera range was more than adequate for what I was doing at 500 yards (actual range was much farther) and shooting in video mode gives an interesting shot by shot replay if you want to see where you screwed up. The weird thing was when flying back and forth a disturbing number of other shooters would say to their buddy "I'll bet I could shoot that down".

The FAA put the kabosh on Phantom 3's a few years ago when they limited the weight of unlicensed drones (as in not having a pilots license) to 249 grams. DJI responded with the Mini 3 Pro then the Mini 3. They're faster, longer transmission range (up to 6 miles), much better camera, and with the "cheater battery" up to 51 minutes of flight time. The Phantom series had a pretty steep learning curve but the Mini is stupid easy to fly - literally push one button and it takes off, climbs to 4 feet and hovers waiting for you to tell it what to do. I haven't tried watching targets with a Mini but I would think you would need something like a wooden box or at least a piece of plywood for it to land on. The Phantom had tall, spindly legs and the camera hung down from the middle. The Mini has legs that are less than an inch high with the camera gimbal mounted in the front so sitting in grass probably isn't going to work although you can aim the camera upwards.

I'm in central Florida and if anyone nearby would like to give this a try just shoot me a PM. Or for the paltry sum of $379 you could get your own Mini 3 from Amazon. Complete and ready to fly although I'd suggest a couple "cheater batteries" and a gang charger to maximize your fun as they say.

Edit: Had to add this. DJI literally invented the consumer drone and holds 80% of the US market. Effective last Friday the FCC has banned imports from DJI, a Chinese company, because of "possible security concerns" although none have ever been identified. The current models available have FCC approval but the drone market changes very quickly and the 14 new models DJI intended to introduce in the US this year may never be available here. The price on current models has dropped dramatically so if you've ever thought about trying one this could be a real good time.

Thanks for your reply, that’s very helpful.

Does the video footage come to my phone or the controller.? I’m assuming no cellular or WiFi required, because I have neither.

There’s not much for grass where my targets are so that shouldn’t be a problem. I guess if I had to build a little landing pad to get the right angle for the camera that wouldn’t be the end of the world.

And if I had to fly it back-and-forth to my shooting position to recharge the batteries, I guess that wouldn’t be the end of the world either. I’m sure it doesn’t take long for one of those things to fly 1000 yards.

I just sold my Longshot camera, it worked great, but I think a drone opens up a lot of possibilities for other things also plus the fun factor

Is the best route to go just using Amazon or is there a Brick + Mortar dealership anywhere where you can talk to a human being and get any tech-support or advice?

 

[hoz53]

Who’s got first hand knowledge on this?

Is there a drone that I can fly out to my target, land, leave the video rolling or take pics, and transmit back to me in real time? I figured since it isn’t hovering the whole time, just the camera running, maybe it’d last an hour or two? Please advise, thanks!!!

there is an RC club around here that flys the airplanes. they seem fairly active. i bet those guys know all about drones. seems like they would be a good source of info. seems like it would be hard to keep your bearings that far away. mabie they can remember locations. it would be great to be able to fly them to every 100 yard increment to 1000 and have them all programmed to do it. i wonder what the field of view of cam is. for me they might help alot spotting misses. just a regular target cam would work good for me — the beauty of the drone 2 is moving it to different ranges easier than driving the camera to each individual one.

 

[ShtrRdy]

I did what you're suggesting for a couple years with DJI Phantom 3's (can't have just one). It worked fine as long as the grass had been mowed. Phantom 3's had a tall landing gear and the gimbal would let me point the camera slightly upward. Camera range was more than adequate for what I was doing at 500 yards (actual range was much farther) and shooting in video mode gives an interesting shot by shot replay if you want to see where you screwed up. The weird thing was when flying back and forth a disturbing number of other shooters would say to their buddy "I'll bet I could shoot that down".

The FAA put the kabosh on Phantom 3's a few years ago when they limited the weight of unlicensed drones (as in not having a pilots license) to 249 grams. DJI responded with the Mini 3 Pro then the Mini 3. They're faster, longer transmission range (up to 6 miles), much better camera, and with the "cheater battery" up to 51 minutes of flight time. The Phantom series had a pretty steep learning curve but the Mini is stupid easy to fly - literally push one button and it takes off, climbs to 4 feet and hovers waiting for you to tell it what to do. I haven't tried watching targets with a Mini but I would think you would need something like a wooden box or at least a piece of plywood for it to land on. The Phantom had tall, spindly legs and the camera hung down from the middle. The Mini has legs that are less than an inch high with the camera gimbal mounted in the front so sitting in grass probably isn't going to work although you can aim the camera upwards.

I'm in central Florida and if anyone nearby would like to give this a try just shoot me a PM. Or for the paltry sum of $379 you could get your own Mini 3 from Amazon. Complete and ready to fly although I'd suggest a couple "cheater batteries" and a gang charger to maximize your fun as they say.

Edit: Had to add this. DJI literally invented the consumer drone and holds 80% of the US market. Effective last Friday the FCC has banned imports from DJI, a Chinese company, because of "possible security concerns" although none have ever been identified. The current models available have FCC approval but the drone market changes very quickly and the 14 new models DJI intended to introduce in the US this year may never be available here. The price on current models has dropped dramatically so if you've ever thought about trying one this could be a real good time.

So, are you recommending the mini 3 over the mini 3 pro?

How much wind can a mini 3 pro fly in without getting blown to the next county? Got it -- 23.9 mph

 

[DirtySteve]

A log round, stool or chair would work to land it on...

 

[charlie b]

there is an RC club around here that flys the airplanes. they seem fairly active. i bet those guys know all about drones. seems like they would be a good source of info. seems like it would be hard to keep your bearings that far away. mabie they can remember locations. it would be great to be able to fly them to every 100 yard increment to 1000 and have them all programmed to do it. i wonder what the field of view of cam is. for me they might help alot spotting misses. just a regular target cam would work good for me — the beauty of the drone 2 is moving it to different ranges easier than driving the camera to each individual one.

Some of us have flown a lot of RC airplanes. Not quite the same as drones. Different objectives. Drones are more like first person video games. Drones come in various configurations, from basic hover and you fly it, to the drone flying itself with simple commands (like "follow me"). Some can track a moving object and follow it or fly around it. The more expensive the more complex the instruction set can be. Movie industry loves them cause they can be programmed to fly a specific and complex route, then duplicate it exactly every time, including camera gimbal and focus instructions.

So, yes, if you buy the right one you can program several locations on the range and then select the point for it to fly to. Some include obstacle avoidance in case you try to make if fly through a tree Some you can even program the flight using Google Earth without even seeing the terrain first.

The cameras tend to have a wide view angle but you'd have to check the model you are looking at. Digital zoom can be used on some of the less expensive ones. The really expensive ones have a flight camera and a view camera that is on a separate gimbal. Those can be a camera of your choice.

 

[Dave Berg]

Does the video footage come to my phone or the controller.?

The video comes to the remote controller. The recording is done on the aircraft itself. What you see it on depends on which configuration you buy. There is a less expensive version that includes a controller that requires a phone or tablet. I've used those with an iPad Mini (5 and up) and it's spectacular. Unfortunately the iPad Mini isn't cheap at $450+ but can be used for other things. There is a second version that has a display built into the remote which isn't quite a good a display as the iPad but it's still very, very good. The price difference is only about $80 so unless your planning on a whole fleet the version with the display built in makes sense. Prices right now at Amazon are $299 vs $379

And if I had to fly it back-and-forth to my shooting position to recharge the batteries, I guess that wouldn’t be the end of the world either. I’m sure it doesn’t take long for one of those things to fly 1000 yards.

The batteries do not charge quickly. You can fly it back and forth but you want to do a battery swap rather than charge it. For my little fleet of three Mini's I have about ten batteries. One of the things pushed by all the vendors is called a "Fly More kit" where they throw in a couple extra batteries, a multi-battery charger and usually some kind of case or bag Some are OK deals, some aren't. To fly 1,000 yards in light wind only takes about a minute. It doesn't seem to be going all that fast until it's close and low and coming right at you.

Is the best route to go just using Amazon or is there a Brick + Mortar dealership anywhere where you can talk to a human being and get any tech-support or advice?

I am note aware of any "conventional" retailers where you can drop in, get advice, etc. that don't have outrageous prices. Like a whole lot more than Amazon charges. The best tech support you'll find is online especially a site called phantompilots.com Very friendly and helpful people. There are clubs, some with just a few local guys that can be good and all the way up to the Drone Racing Leagues. It's worth watching the DRL's videos racing in what's essentially the basement of the Miami Marlins ballpark.

Edit to add that DJI has come very close to making the Mini-3 idiot proof. There is very little to do to get one ready to fly. Once it's powered on there is a big red button you push to get it to take off. It will climb to four feet and just hover there. Left joystick is up and down, turn right or left, right joystick is forward or backward. If you lose track of it up in the sky you can tell where it is by looking at the screen and pointing the camera down. If that doesn't help there's a return to home button and it will come back and land within inches of where it took off (assuming there are no objects taller than 200 feet on its way).

So, are you recommending the mini 3 over the mini 3 pro?

The Mini-3 Pro came out about a year before the Mini-3. DJI, as always, continuously improves things so the plain Mini-3 in some ways is better. Example, the Mini-3 Pro literally sits flat on the ground while the plain Mini-3 has legs in front about an inch high which is important if you set it on a grassy area. On the other hand the Mini-3 Pro has some level of obstacle avoidance while the plain Mini-3 will let you fly straight into a brick wall.

The only Mini-3 Pro I see on Amazon is used and they want $900 so I'd stay away. There is one DJI calls the Mini-4K which I don't know much about but looking at the specs it doesn't impress me.

There's also a Mini-5 Pro with obstacle avoidance, much better camera, etc. but you're looking at $1,200 plus to make your first flight. I always assume on every flight it's either not going to come back or it'll find a nice tall tree to land in. I don't mind losing a $300 bird as much as I did when my son-in-law stuck my $1,500 Phantom in the maple tree if front of my house. I had to watch it all winter.

By the way, the founder of DJI views his drones as flying cameras, not model aircraft. He also markets other camera devices such as Osmo whch is a gyroscopic stabilizer for cameras or your cell phone when you're shooting video. I have one and it's really amazing how much of a difference it makes.

How much wind can a mini 3 pro fly in without getting blown to the next county? Got it -- 23.9 mph

It can do it and it makes it look effortless. It's also working its butt off so you're going to have a very short flying time.

 

[J.d. Popkes]

The video comes to the remote controller. The recording is done on the aircraft itself. What you see it on depends on which configuration you buy. There is a less expensive version that includes a controller that requires a phone or tablet. I've used those with an iPad Mini (5 and up) and it's spectacular. Unfortunately the iPad Mini isn't cheap at $450+ but can be used for other things. There is a second version that has a display built into the remote which isn't quite a good a display as the iPad but it's still very, very good. The price difference is only about $80 so unless you’re planning on a whole fleet the version with the display built in makes sense. Prices right now at Amazon are $299 vs $379

The batteries do not charge quickly. You can fly it back and forth but you want to do a battery swap rather than charge it. For my little fleet of three Mini's I have about ten batteries. One of the things pushed by all the vendors is called a "Fly More kit" where they throw in a couple extra batteries, a multi-battery charger and usually some kind of case or bag Some are OK deals, some aren't. To fly 1,000 yards in light wind only takes about a minute. It doesn't seem to be going all that fast until it's close and low and coming right at you.

I am note aware of any "conventional" retailers where you can drop in, get advice, etc. that don't have outrageous prices. Like a whole lot more than Amazon charges. The best tech support you'll find is online especially a site called phantompilots.com Very friendly and helpful people. There are clubs, some with just a few local guys that can be good and all the way up to the Drone Racing Leagues. It's worth watching the DRL's videos racing in what's essentially the basement of the Miami Marlins ballpark.


The Mini-3 Pro came out about a year before the Mini-3. DJI, as always, continuously improves things so the plain Mini-3 in some ways is better. Example, the Mini-3 Pro literally sits flat on the ground while the plain Mini-3 has legs in front about an inch high which is important if you set it on a grassy area. On the other hand the Mini-3 Pro has some level of obstacle avoidance while the plain Mini-3 will let you fly straight into a brick wall.

The only Mini-3 Pro I see on Amazon is used and they want $900 so I'd stay away. There is one DJI calls the Mini-4K which I don't know much about but looking at the specs it doesn't impress me.

There's also a Mini-5 Pro with obstacle avoidance, much better camera, etc. but you're looking at $1,200 plus to make your first flight. I always assume on every flight it's either not going to come back or it'll find a nice tall tree to land in. I don't mind losing a $300 bird as much as I did when my son-in-law stuck my $1,500 Phantom in the maple tree if front of my house. I had to watch it all winter.

By the way, the founder of DJI views his drones as flying cameras, not model aircraft. He also markets other camera devices such as Osmo whch is a gyroscopic stabilizer for cameras or your cell phone when you're shooting video. I have one and it's really amazing how much of a difference it makes.


It can do it and it makes it look effortless. It's also working its butt off so you're going to have a very short flying time.

Now that is a reply. Thanks.

I should rig up a drone with a target stand on it, to go with my camera drone!!!

Then I could put the target anywhere I wanted no matter what the terrain looks like.

 

[hoz53]

The video comes to the remote controller. The recording is done on the aircraft itself. What you see it on depends on which configuration you buy. There is a less expensive version that includes a controller that requires a phone or tablet. I've used those with an iPad Mini (5 and up) and it's spectacular. Unfortunately the iPad Mini isn't cheap at $450+ but can be used for other things. There is a second version that has a display built into the remote which isn't quite a good a display as the iPad but it's still very, very good. The price difference is only about $80 so unless your planning on a whole fleet the version with the display built in makes sense. Prices right now at Amazon are $299 vs $379

The batteries do not charge quickly. You can fly it back and forth but you want to do a battery swap rather than charge it. For my little fleet of three Mini's I have about ten batteries. One of the things pushed by all the vendors is called a "Fly More kit" where they throw in a couple extra batteries, a multi-battery charger and usually some kind of case or bag Some are OK deals, some aren't. To fly 1,000 yards in light wind only takes about a minute. It doesn't seem to be going all that fast until it's close and low and coming right at you.

I am note aware of any "conventional" retailers where you can drop in, get advice, etc. that don't have outrageous prices. Like a whole lot more than Amazon charges. The best tech support you'll find is online especially a site called phantompilots.com Very friendly and helpful people. There are clubs, some with just a few local guys that can be good and all the way up to the Drone Racing Leagues. It's worth watching the DRL's videos racing in what's essentially the basement of the Miami Marlins ballpark.

Edit to add that DJI has come very close to making the Mini-3 idiot proof. There is very little to do to get one ready to fly. Once it's powered on there is a big red button you push to get it to take off. It will climb to four feet and just hover there. Left joystick is up and down, turn right or left, right joystick is forward or backward. If you lose track of it up in the sky you can tell where it is by looking at the screen and pointing the camera down. If that doesn't help there's a return to home button and it will come back and land within inches of where it took off (assuming there are no objects taller than 200 feet on its way).


The Mini-3 Pro came out about a year before the Mini-3. DJI, as always, continuously improves things so the plain Mini-3 in some ways is better. Example, the Mini-3 Pro literally sits flat on the ground while the plain Mini-3 has legs in front about an inch high which is important if you set it on a grassy area. On the other hand the Mini-3 Pro has some level of obstacle avoidance while the plain Mini-3 will let you fly straight into a brick wall.

The only Mini-3 Pro I see on Amazon is used and they want $900 so I'd stay away. There is one DJI calls the Mini-4K which I don't know much about but looking at the specs it doesn't impress me.

There's also a Mini-5 Pro with obstacle avoidance, much better camera, etc. but you're looking at $1,200 plus to make your first flight. I always assume on every flight it's either not going to come back or it'll find a nice tall tree to land in. I don't mind losing a $300 bird as much as I did when my son-in-law stuck my $1,500 Phantom in the maple tree if front of my house. I had to watch it all winter.

By the way, the founder of DJI views his drones as flying cameras, not model aircraft. He also markets other camera devices such as Osmo whch is a gyroscopic stabilizer for cameras or your cell phone when you're shooting video. I have one and it's really amazing how much of a difference it makes.


It can do it and it makes it look effortless. It's also working its butt off so you're going to have a very short flying time.

thanks for all that

 

[distinguished]

Drone? Bonus target!

 

[Capt. Oblivious]

If they guy flying them knows what his doing your going to need allot of skeet ammo to down one
Modern once are crazy fast and nimble

 

[bsekf]

I have a mini 3 pro and , I believe, it has to be flying to keep it cool. Park it and leave it turned on and the battery over heats and it shuts off. There may be a way to override that feature.

But, they sure are neat and take great pictures and you could fly one back and forth to the target and let it hover at the target. Be aware, they make noise and on a quite day you can hear them a 100 yards away and the wildlife 300+ yards. You will upset the "Karen's" in your neighborhood.

 

[J.d. Popkes]

I have a mini 3 pro and , I believe, it has to be flying to keep it cool. Park it and leave it turned on and the battery over heats and it shuts off. There may be a way to override that feature.

But, they sure are neat and take great pictures and you could fly one back and forth to the target and let it hover at the target. Be aware, they make noise and on a quite day you can hear them a 100 yards away and the wildlife 300+ yards. You will upset the "Karen's" in your neighborhood.

Okay, is there an option to take a single photo? Shoot, snap a picture, etc.

Would that work?

 

[Dave Berg]

You will upset the "Karen's" in your neighborhood.

This is true. You'll also upset whatever the male version of a Karen is. They all seem to think I'm trying to take pictures of the women in the neighborhood in various stages of undress. Trying to explain that it's a wide angle camera, not closeup, which is required because you have to fly the thing with it is a waste of time. I live in a 55 plus neighborhood and believe me the last thing I want is to see is one of my 80 year old neighbor chicks nude. If I did there are plenty that all you'd need to do is ask and they'd gladly strip in a heartbeat right there in the driveway but you really don't want to see that.

 

[Dave Berg]

Okay, is there an option to take a single photo? Shoot, snap a picture, etc.

Would that work?

Yes. Remote has two buttons. One starts/and stops video recording. The other takes a hi-res photo. Both the video and jpeg photo are recorded on the micro SD card inside the drone, not the remote. To the best of my knowledge you can't do both at the same time but I haven't tried it since my Phantom 3 days and things change.

A common error new flyers make is to turn the video on, fly their flight, land and then power the drone off. That means the video system never writes an EOF (end of file) marker or VTOC (Volume Table of Contents) entry so the file is unreadable without some chicanery.

I'll attach a snapshot but probably have to drop the resolution so this site will accept it. Yeah, it went from a 4MB file to a 380K file so it's nowhere near as clear and sharp. It's of myself and #1 granddaughter. She's doing the flying and were sitting at the top end of the boat dock (sorry, I should have said boat launching ramp) probably about a 1/4 mile from the drone.

 

[Dave Berg]

One thing I probably should mention about why video and picture files are recorded on the drone and not the remote. On a small screen like an iPad Mini or built into the remote on some you have no need for anything like 4K resolution. So the signal the drone sends to the remote is something like 1,280X720 while what it's recording is at least 4,000X2,250. That means they only have to transmit about 1/8th of the amount of data and the picture on the remote end is as good as you can get on a small display.