Good Drone?

Anyone have suggestions on a good drone? Would be for scouting and possibly checking short runs? Advice on game laws isn’t needed.

Autel Evo II

DJI Drones

For those of you that have flown drones do you get any interference from high tension power lines? I was thinking about getting a drone myself but my property does boarder high tension lines.

X2

I am not a drone guy but a friend has one and needed propellers and they no longer make them but are still selling the drone.
He said he will only buy American. His drone cost him $1,800.00 dollars and it is worthless. FIO

What’s the manufacture?

DJI Has too many no fly zones. Drone won't work near one of them.

Do y’all have specific models in mind

How far are you planning on flying. Are you near any no fly zones because there are drones that are not effected by NFZ's.

There is an app called UAV Forecast that will tell you if you are near a NFZ. I would send you the link if I knew how, LOL

I've got a DJI Mavik Platinum. Is OK for some things but I'd suggest the zoom model to get the resolution you want for checking traps.


This is about 150' AGL and there's actually a marten in a cat set just up and to the left of center. Couldn't tell from this height and had to lower down into the hole to be able to tell, which is risky. In all, they're fun but not a time saver - for me.

Our terrain is wide open cotton fields. I trap a lot of single 40s which only have a few traps on each. Would be nice to just buzz it down on those short runs to save loading and unloading the 4 wheeler. I’d say 1/2 mile range with no trees.

Not sure on no fly zones but I can’t imagine that being an issue unless it’s just a coverage area thing.

NFZ can be anywhere if there is a airline route or even a small float pond or runway for small aircraft. DJI has the mavic mini. The fly more kit is reasonable, under $500.00. If you buy one get extra batteries. The video is good and its really small and easy to fly. Need a smart phone though and an app. Cold temperatures effect the flying time and the joy sticks are small so might be a little difficult with gloves on.

Just bought a DJI Mavic Air 2. It's my first drone so I have nothing to compare it too but I am very impressed.

Forward, rear, and downward sensors to avoid collisions when I screw up. Launches and lands itself without my input. If I loose radio signal, it will automatically rise to a "return to home" altitude that I choose and thne fly back to its launch spot and even land itself - or I can set it to just hover in place until I can change locations to get the signal back. If flies up to 30 minutes and I've had mine at 42 mph. Has three speed modes so it can be dumbed way down if you need to move in tight spaces. I've had mine over 3 miles from where I was and could have gone farther but got a battery warning that it was time to head back home.

Lots and lots of camera modes that I don't really understand but also has several very simple automatic camera modes that I do understand. I can tell it to "follow that car" and it will and even avoids obstacles while following that car. The video is amazingly stable and smooth.

And they fly themselves. All the knowledge of pitch, yaw, prop speed, etc that you need to manage in a helicopter is handled for you by the computer inside the drone. Just push the stick forward and it goes forward. It's cheating.

I have never had a problem flying in restricted air space. There are locations right around airports that are just restricted and you can't fly there. But there are lots of other types of restricted airspace where you can fly. Sometimes you need permission from the nearest control tower and sometimes the drone just gives you a warning and you can click through. Even when you need permission, there's an app for that and it takes just a couple of minutes to get automated permission. I flew last weekend where I had to request permission so I did, got a text message with a 6 digit code, entered the code into the drone controller and was able to fly - although my altitude was limited to 200' in this air space.

I've put 75 miles on mine in 2 weeks.

I have a DJI Mavic Pro. LOVE IT!

Does it run off the cell data? There are places I can't get service with the phone.

No cell tower needed.Surprisingly good pictures. Good price to start flying. Its not for everyone.

How long would y’all say it would take to get it out and fly 1/4 of a mile and back? And in freezing temperatures would it hold up to do it say 10 times per day?

Doc - If you had a safe place in your truck you could leave it fly-ready with the arms extended, then it only takes a few moments to get it turned on and connected to phone/controller. No idea on the battery life of that model, but it would only take a few minutes to fly mine a 1/4 and back - quicker than ATV loading/unloading for sure. Other considerations - need clear weather (no rain) and a good flat launch spot. The portable drone mats are a good idea. Cannot launch off the truck hood/roof due to magnetic interference. I launch off a tupperware bin but any gravel road will work.

Is it possible to hit a button and have it come back to where you launch from? Say you see a coyote dancing could you hit a button and let it fly back to you while you’re unloading the atv?

I launch off of the truck hood. The mavic mini you can launch and land on your hand. There is a return too home button. Battery life is something you will have to figure out due to the temperature your flying in. You can charge the battery in the truck but takes a while. Extra batteries will help.My grandson fly's setting in the cab of the truck!

Yes it is. All DJI controllers have a home button on the remote. You can long press that button and the drone will come back to home. Home may be a designated GPS coordinate that you set prior to takeoff, or wherever the controller is located at the time.

I would recommended you stick with a DJI product. They are the most consumer friendly and have more features than you will use/need. I am currently flying a mavic pro and really like it. I had the earlier Phantom version but it was laid to rest about 150 miles offshore during a 3 day fishing trip. No fault other than my own and some fella named James Beam.

I have flown my sets before and it is a time saver under the right circumstances. Using a tablet rather than a cell phone will give you better clarity. Depending on outside temperature and wind, you can normally get around 20 to 25 minutes of flight time. My low battery indicator is set to go off at 30%. At that point it will send you a warning that it is returning home. You can always override it if you want.

As far as taking off and landing, I will sometimes sit in my truck, hold my arm out the window, and launch it from my hand. I wouldn't recommend this until after you've had some flight time.

I have purchased some low decibel wings for mine and they help with noise. Wings are cheap. Around $10 for two sets.

I've crashed mine 3 or 4 times. They are pretty sturdy. Good luck. They are fun!

Ol'dad

You can fly while looking at the camera on your screen and you see what the drone sees or you can open a map and fly watching your drone icon move across the map. The map option is nice if you are heading to a specific spot and switch to camera mode once you get there. If you want to fly using the map, you need cell service to load the map, although you can load the maps ahead of time at home and then fly where there is no service.

I have flown without cell service several times.

It is a Chroma

Y’all have me very close to buying one. How do they fair in the wind though?

Depending on the drone. The smaller ones like the Mini Mavic I have flown in 5 or 6 mph and its surprisingly stable. My son has the DJI Phantom and it will give him a wind warning.
There are sales coming up for DJI and Autel. What might help you decide is to watch some YouTube videos. We have DJI, Autel and Parrot Anafi, it will fly in the rain and has an Infrared camera.

Good Luck

Mine has all the features asked about. I carry three extra batteries so I can fly for nearly two hours. Just hit return to home when the battery gets low and it flies back and lands within inches of where it took off. The internal GPS is amazing.

You basically fly it in any wind, within reason, it just runs the batteries down faster holding in place. As far as cell service goes. Almost all of the video I posted above is many many miles from the nearest cell service.

Thanks for the great info guys. I checked out some videos on youtube and they really do hold up well in the wind. Id be flying mostly in 25-50 degree waether. Do yall have experience with them in the cold?

I’d like to get one but every time i watch any videos on them i get overwhelmed with technology. I’m just not sure how i would do with it, seems like there’s so many different settings and functions it would be really confusing.

The technology in a drone is intimidating. I had no idea how complicated they really are, how many sensors they have, and how much work went into making them almost fool proof to fly...almost.

But it's really built to do a lot of the complicated thinking for you. Like I mentioned before, it's got lots of video and photo modes that I haven't been interested enough to try to figure out. But there are several "automatic" modes that handle all of that for you and that's what I use and I am pleased with the quality without having to know much.

Here is a great example of a very talented drone pilot!

What this pilot does around and under this train is nothing short of amazing!!!

Dang, that’s incredible!!!

I have had a Mavic mini for almost a year now and it is a good little drone. The only downside to it is wind. I have flown in 20+ mph winds and it affect battery life for sure. I use an app call UAV forecast and it will give you 24 hr wind speed forecast which is handy. If the wind forecast is bad you can plan extra time for checks. I bought the fly more combo which has the extra batteries and the charger to charge multiple batteries at once.Batteries got in short supply last spring. I would definitely find a safe place in the truck to keep it at ready and it would be a breeze to get flying quickly. DJI offers an extended warranty for like$37 shock covers crash damage and replacement