Recent content by Mackie

Hi Aussie, it is a good place to fly around here, however, we are planning a move to Eungella, west of Mackay, up in the hills and clouds, kind of a coming home for us after retiring and moving south in 2000. Some fabulous flying and freedom there. P4 is a great bit of gear, love it. No...

When I was a young apprentice, in the olden days, I built a tesla coil, output estimated at around a half million volts, but covered so much of the rf spectrum back then, wiped out radio reception for blocks! Had it set up in a Sydney multi story office block, for an apprenticeship week...

I just have to ask....no gps signal where you were flying....seems strange, unless you were flying in polar regions. My understanding was there is basically worldwide coverage. Surely a contributing factor in the crash to have it in atti mode if in fact gps was available. Sorry that you crashed...

Mate, don't give up now, 99% of people on this site are helpful and well mannered, don't let the one percenters put you off. I've learnt so much from this forum, a source of endless knowledge. Experiences like yours need to be aired, it may help the next person avoid the same fate.

Just wondering if guys with the cracking issue are using cleaning preparations that the plastic doesn't like......plastics such as polycarbonates,which are normally bulletproof, can decompose when coming in contact with certain common cleaning and lubricating products. Cracking usually appears...

I carry with me laminated copies of current rules and regs to do with drones. Including laws on privacy. If approached by someone questioning me in a negative manner, I can hand them these to read. Then ask "now please tell me what I'm doing wrong?". I do follow the rules as much as is...

Australian states all have differing rules when it comes to flying drones in National parks, in Queensland at least here is the current situation.... Queensland – the most open and deregulated of the lot. “For recreational purposes you do not need a permit to use a drone in Queensland’s...

Since a confrontation with a local off duty policeman, who did not know the rules, but thought he did, about flying drones (in Australia), I now carry with me laminated copy of the CASA rules and regulations, as well as a copy of a piece on privacy legislation, which surprisingly there is none...

Another thing to consider with hills is the funnelling effect of wind past an obstruction like that, the air gets "squeezed" as it has less room, with a resulting increase in speed. This can be quite dramatic. Sort of a Venturi effect. So, where you were standing 1500 metres away from the drone...

Just another side to this discussion, if you have custom stick preferences as I do, (left stick forward is down, back is up) the left stick must be pushed forward and to the right to stop the motors once on the ground. Would likely affect the CSC emergency motor stop command too, but I haven't...

Ha, those were the days!

I'm in Queensland, Australia. I'm guessing our laws and rules covering drones could be quite different to the US. We are under the control of CASA, Civil Aviation Safety Authority. I mentioned earlier that we are not to fly over "populous" areas, this is a safety rule rather than a privacy...

Actually, and no sour grapes here, he doesn't have many friends in the neighbourhood, he is known for his dubious attitude. But that's always a possibility. As has been said before by others in this forum, I too, like to stay calm and explain what these drones can do, but some, like this guy...

Yes, that's correct, he wasn't on duty, and I did tell him as nicely as I could, as he was leaving, that I would continue to fly the drone from my yard and over non populated areas as I always do. Interestingly, some of his first brusque words were "do you know the rules when flying these...

It's only fair to say that in Australia, where this incident occurred, there are no laws concerning invasion of privacy from using a drone, but of course it would be morally wrong, in my opinion, to purposely fly and spy on people. There are however rules that prohibit drones flying over...