Dronebase- is it worth it

Im really interested in this to earn some extra cash on the side and also so it gives me an excuse to fly...

I've gotta get my 107 as well
 
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It will also give you experience taking photos around structures. Something to do in your spare time. You definitely want to get your part 107.
 
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It will also give you experience taking photos around structures. Something to do in your spare time. You definitely want to get your part 107.

I've been a photographer for a long time, so the picture thing is easy for me.

Getting the 107 and more flight time is what i really would like
 
There's a raffle going on in the classifieds for a phantom 3pro. Check it out. Only 22 bucks.
 
I have done numerous client missions for DroneBase. Not enough to pay the mortgage, but I could buy a new P4P once a quarter If I chose to. I have done a few pano missions. I have gotten paid $25 on all of them. I travel all over my city for work. My plan was to do a pano mission on anything close to where I was, on days I had time, and submit. They are so quick and easy.

But I agree with others that that $25 is way to cheap for the market. It think it might be a bad precedent to set. So maybe I'll do more pano missions, maybe not. Still undecided
 
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I'm close to 100 completed missions at almost a 1k payout.

I haven't done any client missions, but was contacted for two pano missions with guaranteed payouts of 30 each, which I did.

Seems like payout has slowed since the holidays overall, but so has my flying due to weather. I did right over 600 bucks in the first month with DB.

I've been pretty lucky over all with the home owners/occupants. There is another DB thread around here somewhere with some great info and concerns. I'll try and find a link.

Anyway with my experience (I shoot for 2 other companies besides DB with a similar procedure) I find it best to make yourself noticeable, but not to disturb the occupants. For starters, talking with owners or tenants is an extra "step" in the over all process and is not required. If an occupant confronts me while I'm on the premises, I simply state that, "we find it best not to disturb the occupants" and this will usually start to ease the convo.

Example: Last Sunday I was out to shoot a 5 million dollar castle! Not for DB, but under the same circumstances. I passed the guard shack as the gates were open and continued up the driveway to eventually park right in front of the "castle":). This is the same thing I would have done having been on a drone base mission. The castle sits on 49 acres in a heavily wooded area, street access would have been impossible. I got out my P4, launched, and was just about in position to start the pano when I heard the home owner coming out of the huge front doors. He came right up to me and started asking all kinds of questions as you could imagine. After a brief convo all was well and he was making sure that I got the vineyards in the back!

Keep in mind, the ignorant (and I'm using this in a nice way) are afraid and scared of "drones" because of the news. Once contact is made (which I think is great), this is your chance to shine and educate if you feel the need. Take this time to show people what you are doing and how. Only we can show the public how we're helping them. The news is not going to do that.

Hiding down the street is not the best practice, and remember, VO's do nothing if the pilot can't maintain VLOS. It seems some here are misunderstanding this regulation. The person manipulating the controls must maintain VLOS per 107. Now this rule is getting ready to change, but as of now you can't fly beyond VLOS and rely on your VO to maintain VLOS.

Drone Base is great for all. I do wish the payouts were better, but I also think taxes are too high too. Being in a metropolitan area as I am, I'm very lucky. I have had several DB missions that were across the street from each other! And several more that were just on the next block over. When I'm out performing DB missions, I average over 3 per hr. I was averaging 15 bucks a mission in the beginning and now I'm around 10. That's not bad if you compare it too some of your typical jobs. Not to mention the fun factor:). As mentioned though this will never "pay the bill" , but is excellent fill in work!
 
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IDrone Base is great for all. I do wish the payouts were better, but I also think taxes are too high too. Being in a metropolitan area as I am, I'm very lucky. I have had several DB missions that were across the street from each other! And several more that were just on the next block over. When I'm out performing DB missions, I average over 3 per hr. I was averaging 15 bucks a mission in the beginning and now I'm around 10. That's not bad if you compare it too some of your typical jobs. Not to mention the fun factor:). As mentioned though this will never "pay the bill" , but is excellent fill in work!

$10 per mission - that's kind of nuts for someone who is essentially hiring a professional drone pilot and ~$500 in equipment.

That means I'll have to do about 15 mission before I even pay off taking the 107 exam! Crazy -

I'm still going to pursue this as I'd like to give it a go
 
$10 per mission - that's kind of nuts for someone who is essentially hiring a professional drone pilot and ~$500 in equipment.

That means I'll have to do about 15 mission before I even pay off taking the 107 exam! Crazy -

I'm still going to pursue this as I'd like to give it a go

Yes ATM averaging, meaning every time I do a mission, I'm guaranteed 10 bucks. It takes about 10 minutes to complete a mission. If the houses were lined up, lol, this would be good money.
 
Yes ATM averaging, meaning every time I do a mission, I'm guaranteed 10 bucks. It takes about 10 minutes to complete a mission. If the houses were lined up, lol, this would be good money.

I wonder if once establishing yourself, you can stick to knowingly higher paid jobs for certain people.... that seems to me would be more worth it.

Id much rather establish a relationship with a business and be their go-to guy
 
I wonder if once establishing yourself, you can stick to knowingly higher paid jobs for certain people.... that seems to me would be more worth it.

Id much rather establish a relationship with a business and be their go-to guy

Well, you get to choose your job. They are all rated between 4.0 and 5.9. I have never seen anything lower or higher. The lowest, 4.0, would be a 40% chance of getting paid. If all you do is 5.9 jobs, you should have a higher overall average payout. I shoot just about anything I'm close to and looks good to me.

I've kind of felt the same, that if you continue to do good work, you could become their "go to guy". I feel that, ATM, I might be that guy in my area as I was contacted for the two pano missions that were required ASAP. I don't know of anyone one else flying for DB in my area and I pay really close attention to the properties around me on a daily basis. If someone where in my area, I'm pretty sure I would be seeing there actions via them adding missions to they're dashboard. I know for a fact that I'm the only pilot in my area for one of the other companies, they told me. So fo the time being, I am their "man".

Here's the link to the other thread on DB.

Has anyone used Drone Base?
 
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Just to chime in here:

I've also been taking Dronebase missions for about a year now. Ironically it's been 100% client missions (guaranteed payout) but I've never done any of the pano missions. I can definitely attest to them being a trustworthy operation and one that has helped me pay for my hobby!

With that being said, what are you all submitting for the pano missions? Completed panos or just tiles? If you're assembling them, is it through Photoshop or something else? Is it a full 360 or just the front of the property? I'd love to do those as well but didn't know what the deal was since I started with Dronebase before that capability was posted!
 
You just provide the photos. I use Litchi and automate the process.

They have all the info on the FAQ page: http://go.dronebase.com/faq/pilot
With that being said, what are you all submitting for the pano missions? Completed panos or just tiles? If you're assembling them, is it through Photoshop or something else? Is it a full 360 or just the front of the property? I'd love to do those as well but didn't know what the deal was since I started with Dronebase before that capability was posted!
 
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I use the same settings on my P3P.
The Mavic needs different settings due to the different FOV, the P4 I have read are the same as the P3, so P4P should be good too.
what are your litchi settings? i have a phantom 4 pro with the following settings

Rows: 2
Top Row Angle: 0
Photo per row: 12
Width: 360
Nadirs: 1
Capture Strategy: Row by Row




Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots
 
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