I'd love to play with one to look at a property that's very overgrown. I'm thinking max height of 100 ft and maybe a range of 500 ft? Asking too much? As I type this I remember the laws on drones got harder a few years back?
I'd love to play with one to look at a property that's very overgrown. I'm thinking max height of 100 ft and maybe a range of 500 ft? Asking too much? As I type this I remember the laws on drones got harder a few years back?
Well, you gave two numbers, but neither one is what you consider to be $cheap$.
Stampie said:I'd love to play with one to look at a property that's very overgrown. I'm thinking max height of 100 ft and maybe a range of 500 ft? Asking too much? As I type this I remember the laws on drones got harder a few years back?
Might be easier for us to round up one for you to borrow. Or, I have at least one friend in the real estate world who might be willing to fly it for you.
Stampie said:I'd love to play with one to look at a property that's very overgrown. I'm thinking max height of 100 ft and maybe a range of 500 ft? Asking too much? As I type this I remember the laws on drones got harder a few years back?
Yes the laws got harder but if you can find one under the weight limit then you are unrestricted, well not unrestricted but you dont need to be licensed, you'll still need to follow all the rules. Weight limit is <250 grams so that limits your choices. Best bang for the buck in that class is the DJI Mini. I've built and flown a lot of drones and Ive never seen anything as user friendly as the DJIs. Cheaper drones wont have the flight stability "intelligence" that the DJI units have so you run a much larger risk of crashing them. However they dont really fall under the cheap category.
I really shouldn't have looked at the DJI app stuff on YouTube. That's some cool stuff. Now I want to spend way more than I expected for a cool toy. Is there anything closer to the $200 range that's decent?
JThw8 said:Stampie said:I'd love to play with one to look at a property that's very overgrown. I'm thinking max height of 100 ft and maybe a range of 500 ft? Asking too much? As I type this I remember the laws on drones got harder a few years back?
Yes the laws got harder but if you can find one under the weight limit then you are unrestricted, well not unrestricted but you dont need to be licensed, you'll still need to follow all the rules. Weight limit is <250 grams so that limits your choices. Best bang for the buck in that class is the DJI Mini. I've built and flown a lot of drones and Ive never seen anything as user friendly as the DJIs. Cheaper drones wont have the flight stability "intelligence" that the DJI units have so you run a much larger risk of crashing them. However they dont really fall under the cheap category.
Under 250g you don't need to register it, but you do technically need to be licensed. Assuming recreational use only, the license is a free 15 minute guided learning "test".
With the coupon, this one is $180 and should be under weight. I know nothing about this subject though. It has always been of interest though.
FB marketplace. I bought a DJI mini 2 for 110 bucks. Granted that was a stupid good deal, but you get DJI mini 1's for under 200. They are going to be better than anything else you can get in that price range.
Our neighbors on both sides have drones.
Both have made unscheduled landings in our yard. :)
I have been a licensed drone pilot pretty much since the beginning. With a shelf full of drones of lots of makes and models, it's definitely a 'you get what you pay for' situation. That being said, depreciation is your friend. As other have mentioned. a DJI Mini in used condition is about the best you'll find dollar per dollar. PM me and we might be able to save you the hassle of buying one.
In reply to GeddesB :
PM sent
David S. Wallens said:Our neighbors on both sides have drones.
Both have made unscheduled landings in our yard. :)
I would really hate to explain to my neighbor that my dogs thought his expensive drone was a chew toy. 
In reply to Stampie :
likewise
In reply to travellering :
It's all your fault that Lil Stampie will inherit $400 less now.
GeddesB was way kind and offered for us to borrow one of his drones but I have a feeling it's something we'll want for the future so I bought the above one. Now I'll see about getting my license to fly.
Good, good, my plan worked as I intended (rubs hands together diabolically).
Seriously though, I have been watching drones for years now, just never seem to have the disposable income at the time they are on sale.
You shouldn't need a license to fly the DJI minis. They are designed to fall in the sub 250gram range.
In reply to travellering :
Au contraire mon fere. You don't have to register the drone but you still need the license to fly. Which I just got at 100% pass rate on every question first try. Actually it wasn't that hard. I'll probably register the drone also just in case I want to add stuff to it.
Good to know. I only have a DodoEleph toy drone at home, but am sadly enough still the most skilled pilot where I work, so I've been pressed into flying work's Phantom 4 to shoot running assembly line setups. All indoors, so still good on the getting away without a license. As soon as they ask me to get outside shots, I better look into it.
In reply to travellering :
Just to cover yourself I'd go ahead and get the commercial license. Wouldn't hurt and could help.
I have a part 107 license. Its only needed if you are getting paid to fly. If your drone weighs 250 grams or more, pay the FAA the $5 and spend the 5 minutes online registering it. Unless there is a situation where some do gooder might accuse a person of flying for compensation, I'd skip the license.
Just posting because DRL in on CNBC this afternoon. And my cousin has gone from 2 time DRL champ to analyst for the racing. He's barely 20 IIRC.
Wild.
Everything came in yesterday. Charged batteries last night and today we went to the park. Mostly boring learning how to fly and then there was this.
In reply to Stampie :
Almost got a haircut!
Oh that's funny Stampie! Maybe Lil Stampie wouldn't think so though. Did he get hit?
In reply to wawazat :
No he was fine. It actually stopped a couple of feet from him. He wanted to fly it like a video game and look at the camera view. I like flying it by looking at the drone. I was watching and the point he looks up is when I started saying Hey! Hey!. I need to practice waypoint navigation as I think that's how I'll do most of what I want to do.
You'll need to log in to post.
