DJI phantom 4

[Robo]

Originally Posted by nickerjones

I have named my mavic pro - Drone Iginla.

I have never flown a drone before. The mavic is pretty easy out of the box. I did crash it today trying to fly it indoors. There was a lot of magnetic interference and the drone did a ton of drifting and was not very responsive to controls. It's ok but I bought this to do some flying indoors so I'll need to do some more testing to figure it out.

Here is footage from Drone Iginla's first flight.

https://vimeo.com/208368685/c5654eae3f

I believe there is an indoor setting that caps the drone speed at 3mph or 3 kmh

[Robo]

Originally Posted by cral12

Any updated drone experiences?

It is a great hobby but I was flying one day and realized I just didn't have time for flying and with the new regulations coming out I ended up trading my drone for a really nice gaming laptop

[nickerjones]

Originally Posted by Robo

I believe there is an indoor setting that caps the drone speed at 3mph or 3 kmh

Yeah it's called tripod mode. However when your navigation isn't working because of the interference, the tripod mode isn't made available.

[cral12]

Are the new drone regulations as strict as they appear? Seems a little open to intpretation, but if taken strictly, where could you even fly them?

[GoinAllTheWay]

Yep they sure are. They really need to clarify some of the points, namely no flying within 75m of animals. Vague rule to say the least. It's an interim order, hopefully whatever the finalize in June will have much better wording. And I really hope they increase the weight limit these rules apply to. 250g is too low.

More discussion on it in this thread:

http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=138572

[cral12]

DJI Spark interesting addition to the drone market. Of course, the regulations still may thwart any desire to get one...

Casey Neistat with a review:

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by cral12

Of course, the regulations still may thwart any desire to get one...

Still places to use them. I figure as long as you aren't being an idiot about flying them, you'll be fine. I think I've found some places on the edge of the city that will be OK for flying. I refuse to give up the hobby, it's just too fun. And flying FPV is as close to flying an airplane as I'm ever going to get.

[Diemenz]

Originally Posted by cral12

DJI Spark interesting addition to the drone market. Of course, the regulations still may thwart any desire to get one...

There is an extremely easy way to shave 50g off the weight so the rediculous new "laws" can be ignored with this drone. However the biggest issue I see is that the battery is 10 minutes and that without the $200 controller the distance on the drone is next to nothing. Why create a drone with a 2km distance and then give it 10 minutes to fly?

[GoinAllTheWay]

While I agree with what you are saying, these things can cover a ton of distance in 10 minutes. Batteries make up a good chunk of the weight. 10 minutes isn't bad for one of that size.

What is the all up weight on that thing? Even knocking 50 grams off I'd imagine it's still well over 250g? My smallest one is about the size of my hand and still comes in @ 278grams.

[Diemenz]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

While I agree with what you are saying, these things can cover a ton of distance in 10 minutes. Batteries make up a good chunk of the weight. 10 minutes isn't bad for one of that size.

What is the all up weight on that thing? Even knocking 50 grams off I'd imagine it's still well over 250g? My smallest one is about the size of my hand and still comes in @ 278grams.

Mine is 297g with the battery and props. That is 297g ready to fly.

And yes I got one from the event when no controllers were available.

(Got one from the event, I was not at the event)

Edit : 189g without the battery connected to it.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by Diemenz

Edit : 189g without the battery connected to it.

It's the AUW (all up weight) that matters so it's still too heavy.

That being said, the wild wild west has returned. The recent rules that were announced was an interim order, not law, and had to be renewed every couple weeks. Looks like it hasn't been renewed so for the moment it doesn't apply.

Now I say that very much tongue in cheek Fly safe, fly smart. I'm sure laws will be announced shortly and hopefully aren't as restrictive. Fat chance but we can hope.