Total Newbie needs advice

[simon.edwards]

Hi,

I am considering buying a MultiCopter for one specific use and I wondered if you could give me your suggestions as to what I should go for.

My situation is that I have never flown anything before so I have no experience at all. I have used a flight sim app and have become fairly proficient flying (and crashing!) a model plane from the ground, to get me used to orienting myself and getting used to the controls being backwards when the plane is coming towards me etc.

My situation is that I am a hunter. I have a friend who is having real problems with deer eating his apple trees in his orchard, and he has asked me to deal with them. His orchard is at the bottom of an open field, about 600 meters away and is surrounded by thick hedges.

So, I don';t know if the deer are in the orchard until I get there, and I don';t know where abouts they are actually within the orchard. This makes it really difficult as I need to know their location so I can plan where I approach the orchard from. (Downwind etc.)

It would be really handy to send up a camera to show me if they are there, and where abouts they are within the orchard. Then I could stalk them from a particular direction, with a much better chance of getting into position before they smelt or saw me coming.

So that';s it. Nothing fancy or flash, just one specific application required. I don';t have a budget as such, just the usual ';as cheap as possible as long as it does the job';. I am happy however to invest some time in training myself to fly the thing proficiently, so it doesn';t have to be a total dummies model.

Any advice gratefully accepted, and if you';re nearby you are welcome to some good quality venison!


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[Paul01]

Hi Simon,

Welcome to the forum.

You probably want to look at one of the DJI phantoms with camera, however they are very noisy (As most drones are) and you would need to be fairy close to make them out of the video feed.

Where about are you based? if its UK the CAA require you to be licensed if you are doing this for a commercial business or any monetary gain to you is involved.

[simon.edwards]

Hi Paul, Thanks for the message. Yes I am in the UK, but although I am a qualified hunter and able to put my quarry  into the food chain on a commercial basis if I want, I do not do it for monetary gain. It';s more a hobby really, and I like the free meat too!

Thanks also for the recommendation. It remains to be seen if this is going to work as I have no idea if the noise is going to end up scaring off the deer if they are there.  They tend not to notice much above their line of sight visually, so I';m hopeful this might work, but as I said, its more a case of wait and see.


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[Paul01]

I would be inclined to say the noise is probably going to scare them off but, only having a good will tell. Do you know anyone local with a Phantom?

This is about the cheapest you';ll get a drone with HD live video link https://store.dji.com/product/phantom-3-standard and HD video link on it';s own is about £600, DJI seem to have cornered the market there.

I';m not the drone police  but I like to let people know where they stand, as if you';re not told you might never find out till it';s too late.

Maybe someone on here has a better suggestion?

[Cheredanine]

I would think you are better using a movement sensor and a stationary cam with a vtx tbh, or multiple of

[simon.edwards]

I would think you are better using a movement sensor and a stationary cam with a vtx tbh, or multiple of

Yes, I did consider that but for a variety of reasons that really isn';t a viable option. Thanks for the suggestion though.


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[simon.edwards]

You probably want to look at one of the DJI phantoms with camera, however they are very noisy (As most drones are) and you would need to be fairy close to make them out of the video feed.

Hi Paul,

Ok, so I';ve been looking around and I';ve narrowed it down to the Phantom 3 but i cant decide if i should go for the standard or advanced?  I *think* the advanced has a better controller (iPad friendly?) but I can';t work out if the advanced would be better for me, given my circumstances.

Any views?



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[Paul01]

Hi Paul,

Ok, so I';ve been looking around and I';ve narrowed it down to the Phantom 3 but i cant decide if i should go for the standard or advanced?  I *think* the advanced has a better controller (iPad friendly?) but I can';t work out if the advanced would be better for me, given my circumstances.

Any views?

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Main difference between the standard and advanced are

Standard
1km range
30FPS
25 min flight time

Advanced
3.1km
60FPS
better GPS
23 min flight time

I believe the camera is slightly better quality too on the advanced.

Now legally you are only allowed to fly 500m away from yourself so 1k would be more than enough with the standard, however the advanced has a much better radio and video link, so you would be less likely to suffer from interference issues.

Personally if the difference is small I would 100% get the advanced myself, however the standard should be more than capable of doing what you want it to.

[simon.edwards]

Really good advice Paul, thanks very much. All I have to do now is convince wifey to let me spend some cash!


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