MacGregorSailors.com

Mac26Mpaul wrote:Yeah that was the one, Casey Neistat.

Of course the difference between us and Casey is that we pay for our drones where DJI sends Casey his. Actually, the be fair, I think Casey gave away the P4s DJI sent him.

I'm curious as to the advantages of lightbridge. I'm currently just using the Go app and honestly I'm barely scratching the surface of that. I haven't delved into follow me or any of the camera settings... just out of the box and into the air. I've been getting some really awesome footage and stills with it. Here's a pic I took from my in laws place last week

Neo wrote:

Mac26Mpaul wrote:You can just let go of the sticks with the phantom even in 25 knots - , and it will just sit there in the sky where you leave it, in fact you can put the controller down and go take a leak and its still sitting there in the sky when you get back

Wow you can film yourself taking a leak

You guys are making me jealous ... I will have to buy one eventually .... Hmmm Whats the lifting capacity of the Phantom?

DJI says take off weight of 1.3kg so a payload of 300grams for the P2 at is weighs 1kg but as the P3 is already fitted with a gimbal and camera and weighs 1.280kg, 20 grams maybe

Rather than try and pretend I understand light bridge, the following might be helpful, all it means to me is, DJI models with lightbridge have the best range which is,, up tp 3ish miles!
http://www.phantompilots.com/wiki_index ... omparisons

I got 3.25km in my one and only range test, which I linked to before, this great range can be pretty useful (and is deffinately fun!)

you may be thinking of the difference between the DJI Go app and the $25 third Party Litchi app. The litch app is far more feature rich. DJI dumbs down the Phantoms capability a bit in their Go software, in the interests of safety (interests of not having lawsuits against them maybe..).

For instance, to fly a waypoint mission with the Go app, you have to fly it first and save waypoints on the the way, where as with Litchi groundstation, you can bring up a google map and punch in a series of waypoints with hights and even points of interest along the way which you want the camera to pan on, and then push a button the drone will just take off and go fly it totally autonomously. I set up a mission where I can just put the drone in the backyard, push a button and it will take off, fly to the water where my boat is anchored and check on it for me, but I admit I havn't actually flown that mission, because it means flying over my neighborhood, and that is not done here.

Not just Groundstation, but litchi has other great stuff, like, taking panorama photo sequences at the touch of a button; like orbiting while in follow me mode, tracking (not just with the phantom 4) etc.
Actually, to see what Litch can do over the DJI Go app, this page will explain it better than I can!
http://www.phantompilots.com/wiki_index ... omparisons

I'm curious as to the advantages of lightbridge.

In the Phantom 3 Advance and Professional and the Phantom 4 ,basically range for you FPV, video link and control will be as far as 5000 metres whereas the Standard without it only has a range of 500-1000 metres.

lightbridge 2 is whole different kettle of fish it is for live streaming video over a network in high def for HD Broadcasting from commercial drones like the Inspire.

Yes, weight of the Phantom 3 is 1.3kg and the Phantom 4 is slightly heavier. There is Youtube videos with guys lifting a few pounds, I saw one video where a guy was dropping a can of beer to his farmer neigbour out ploughing his field or something LOL. Battery runs out much quicker if you start adding stuff and it of course will be much less stable.

Theres guys doing crazy stuff with them, like carrying their fishing tackle out past the breakers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmjk2BR2Alg


They come with a pretty dam good camera and gimble so there is nothing to add (except an appropriate tablet or phone). The camera has the same lense as the Go Pro Hero black 4.

Theres a lot of reviews about the phantoms. Most of them just talk nonsense. Here is a good review of the Advanced.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGSwqbVzSwg

I dont know which version of lightbridge the Phantom 3 has, but I'm pretty sure you can live stream video straight to youtube if you want.

A bit of sillyness here, but it shows you how much extra weight they can handle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZJJf93vrFA

Mac26Mpaul wrote:I dont know which version of lightbridge the Phantom 3 has, but I'm pretty sure you can live stream video straight to youtube if you want.

P3 plain old lightbridge think it is max 720p streaming whereas lightbridge 2 is 1080p at 60fps and is add on hardware that cost about $1300

Ah, okay, I'm deffinately not going to need live streaming to youtube so I reckon I'll stick with Lightbridge 1 Its the superior range that is the huge benefit as far as I'm concerned.

If I end up with a Standard this will be my range extender for about $80

Nice, what range are they getting out of the standard with that?

I have one of those cheapy parabolic (not really a parabola) range extender things I got on ebay for $6, but I'v never actually even tried it, because I dont really need it.

Mac26Mpaul wrote:Nice, what range are they getting out of the standard with that?

I have one of those cheapy parabolic (not really a parabola) range extender things I got on ebay for $6, but I'v never actually even tried it, because I dont really need it.

Up to 2k

Ok a lot's been said since I posted that this morning (awesome stuff!)

So I have the P3 standard and with the Go app, you can livestream to youtube. I prefer to edit my films however.

I have that extender set up and it works well, although I freely admit I don't know what the range was without it because it came with it and I've never used it without.

I appreciate the link on lightbridge, I'll check it out. My drone buddies go on and on about Litchi, so I'll give that a whirl as well. Cheers!

Mac26Mpaul wrote:Russ, I have the Phantom 3 Advanced. I still reckon its the best bang for buck at half the price of the Phantom 4 and the only differences being no collision avoidance and no 4K camera.

I'm an early adopter and have a phantom 2. I added a gimbal and gopro, but it's old school drone. Standard 1080 which is all I want/need. No FPV or any of that fun anti collision stuff.
There were so many reports of fly aways, when I first got it, I tethered it to a string during first flights. Also reports that water does weird stuff to the GPS and many have splashed. So water flying terrifies me.

Here in the states, people are weird. They think you are spying on them. Want to shoot them down or call the police. I've not flown my drone much lately because of this. Plus, the FAA has imposed new rules.
Launching from the boat also scares me. Mine is heavy and takes a bit to get airborne. Not sure I could do it.

--Russ

My latest insurance renewal even has an exemption for drone damage, you have to get a policy add on to cover you for damage your drone may do if flying off the boat.

May pay to check if your insurance covers drone damage, can imagine hefty bills if you damage someones you beut racing sail or even worse someone gets injured

sailboatmike wrote:My latest insurance renewal even has an exemption for drone damage, you have to get a policy add on to cover you for damage your drone may do if flying off the boat.

May pay to check if your insurance covers drone damage, can imagine hefty bills if you damage someones you beut racing sail or even worse someone gets injured

Of course. Because drones are more dangerous than texting and driving. Why should insurance companies cover them.
I could see if you were one of those morons who flies them in air space or near fire/rescue situations.

Mine is so light and fragile. I can't imagine what damage it could do. Props can cut deep, but I have guards.

Interesting exclusion.

--Russ