Just curious, under ideal conditions, and unaided with binoculars, what is the furthest distance you have been able to see your Phantom?
How Far Can You See Your Phantom in Daylight
- Thread starter flyboy73
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About 600 meters. But I have to keep focus. Just one blink off the bird and it's out of sight.
6-700 metres maybe, before I can no longer see it at all? In any event, I think you'd struggle to find it through binoculars after that...
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Depends a lot on background. Dark coloration - maybe 500 - 600 meters, clouds - much less. Slow movement helps. Blink and it's gone.
So a specific distance is not a very useful discriminator. Basically 'not far enough'.
So a specific distance is not a very useful discriminator. Basically 'not far enough'.
For my sake, and drones benefit, Several long miles easily. & Even more in kilometres. I am using Lume Cubes... Hahaha
http://www.lumecube.com/164.html
Brightest 'little' idea, since sliced bread... ;-)
Get yourself some folks, and never lose your drones visibility or orientation ever again... Yes, even in the brightest daylight.
With 1500 Lumens at 6000 Kelvin, these units are hot. Ha
And believe me, I know hot.
RedHotPoker
http://www.lumecube.com/164.html
Brightest 'little' idea, since sliced bread... ;-)
Get yourself some folks, and never lose your drones visibility or orientation ever again... Yes, even in the brightest daylight.
With 1500 Lumens at 6000 Kelvin, these units are hot. Ha
And believe me, I know hot.
RedHotPoker
It's going to be different for everybody and if you're 73... Then maybe if you're far sighted - 2000' but it's simply a small black speck from there to around 3000' when it disappears totally for me
Whoa Red Hot, those are pricey little buggers aren't they? To answer the OP's question, I agree on the 500 meter range, but take my eye off it for a second and reacquiring is very difficult. Easy following limit seems to be 150-200 meters.
How much is your drone and awesome video footage worth?
Why not increase the value of both? Chuckles
Even-If you remove their fantastic photographic abilities, and only consider the vastly increased/improved visibility factor, it's enough for many.
Like beacons blinking, when set on one of the three strobe modes, these things out shine pretty much anything else similar on the market.
RedHotPoker
At some 300 m I can see it but not which way it's facing.
I think the App interface could be a lot better in helping us, showing at least the drone orientation for example (Like big arrows overlaying the video, not the tiny numbers / arrow at the bottom).
I had some video signal loss and with better telemetry on screen it would be a lot easier to fly when you barely can see your Phantom or screen due to sunlight (and telemetry is a lot less data to send than HD video).
I think the App interface could be a lot better in helping us, showing at least the drone orientation for example (Like big arrows overlaying the video, not the tiny numbers / arrow at the bottom).
I had some video signal loss and with better telemetry on screen it would be a lot easier to fly when you barely can see your Phantom or screen due to sunlight (and telemetry is a lot less data to send than HD video).
Red Hot:
So, even in daylight you can see the Lume Cube lights out to more than a mile?
Also, does the extra weight affect the drone's performance noticeably?
I suppose flight time will definitely be reduced.
What about motor heat?
Thanks,
TJG
N017RW
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Pics of installation on a phantom? These are large. Wish it was smaller. I'd not only like them for daylight but for night too. Even though I have polar pro lights, a night waiver requires the drone be seen 3 statute miles. I don't think the phantom lights or the polar pro lights can do that but not sure. Maybe the cube can.
My record is 4200' but I had a tree branch to help gauge the location of the tiny dot...
...and yeah, the sky backdrop has to be the perfect contrast...
...and yeah, the sky backdrop has to be the perfect contrast...
RHP - you say several long miles... at night, right? How far in daylight?
Yes, Day, & night, morning, afternoon or midnight flight. Reminds me of a rhyme we used to say, as kids.
"Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder where you are..."
I would think it's easily several miles, in broad daylight, a minimum.
With Full brightness 1500 Lumens @6000Kelvin, bright is an understatement. Sure you can buy big bulky flashlights with a strobe mode. But try attaching them to your drones underbelly. Lume Cubes can be ordered that come with their own drone kit. So they are put on the drones landing gear/skids, with extreme fit, nice tight and secure.
I really like the way they can be adjusted for angle too. Depending on the flight, I may aim one straight ahead, and have one facing down or even straight back, for long flights, where you need to acquire visibility on the fly. You know them times, where you glance down, to your screen, briefly mind you, just to check battery values or adjust camera settings. Then you look back up, and the phantom has now literally disappeared. But not with the awesome Lume Cubes strobing brightly... When set on one of the three strobe modes, and a lower power setting, these things will blink for several hours. On a reduced setting they won't even heat up, while in their strobe fashion.
Yes, I'd recommend these, for anyone who flies long distance day flights or for those who enjoy flying into the darkest night sky. I can appreciate the onboard orientation LED arrangement a lot, but by adding the use of Lume Cubes, it takes things into a whole other brilliant dimension.
In daylight, the onboard LED lights Red/Green, can tend to disappear pretty easily. Yet my Lume Cubes sparkle brilliantly, like stars in the sky. Little planets... Ha
RedHotPoker
Yes, you can see these beacons for several miles easy. Performance difference is negligible. I notice only a minor reduction on my flight times, & still getting 20 mins., Air on a fully charged intelligent battery.
Depending how I float and drift or really push right stick, & use it, full throttle... ;-)
Drone batteries don't get any hotter than normal, nor do the motors.
These cubes have been very well designed and thought out. Not sure if drone use was in the orginal design process, but although hefty for their size, are actually light, considering their awesome construction and strong material.
RedHotPoker
Better yet, see them in action and easy installation.
When you purchase yours, and I know many of you will be ⎌buying your own. ;-)
There is Pro app to download to control them fully...
Hooking them up...
Here on another forum, friends Phantom 4.
RedHotPoker
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Thanks for that. The cube doesn't work for me in it's current form. They need to come up with a low profile footprint so each side can have benefit for orientation at night, and red/green ones would be the way to go for true orientation help. But it's simply too big a product for a drone, imo. Unnecessary bulk. If polar pro confirms to be seen at 3 statute miles, that's really a good thing since that's what I have on board and love it at night, but I personally doubt they can cut through that far at the moment. If they need to come up with a new kit that can do it, I'm in. I sure would love the visual ability of the cube during the day, but not 'cubes'. I'll be watching to see if they come up with something new, specifically for drones.
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Would love to see some pictures of how you have yours mounted on the Drone. Doesn't have to be lit up. I'm more interested in where and how you mounted them or it?
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