Night flying

[3rdof5]

If it does interfere, it will probably change to atti, so you need to be aware that you might suddenly be flying it like a model heli [although a lot easier. It's a good idea to be downwind of your goal, so at least it will drift back towards you if it happens. I had it happen with large steel streetlamp poles, and it kept switching in & out. It pays to be proficient in atti mode!

Its amazing these AC fly as reliably as they do considering everything thats operating electronically inside of them. Its a wonder the compass works at all! So far ive only flown out in the country and inside my front yard. There are many places in the city here with amazing scenery to video and photo but I'm very nervous to try and not sure it's even legal. 76 meters from any vehicle or the public is hard to maintain in a city. I don't get a no fly zone warning from the app tho. Not to mention all the cell towers, power lines and towers etc. What kind of interference would i get. Not sure i wanna find out!

 

[FL_Mike]

I made it using a Light dependant resistor looking at one of the front leds, a FET & a small 10 turn pot. The leds are 12v & in a stick, which is attached to the carbon fibre camera saver [ which also stiffens up the legs enormously]. I have tapped power off the back of the main battery connector inside the drone. There are 4 diodes in series with the led stick to drop the voltage to about 12v. It's a bit rough & ready, but it works perfectly. I don't notice any drop in airtime with the lights on. The pot is on top of the fet, which does not need a heatsink. I can draw you a diagram if that helps. The wires come straight down, rather than being tied to a leg, which is likely to upset the radio aerial & the compass.View attachment 103957

Those are really cool, but don't meet the requirements to fly at night. The purpose of lights at night are so other aircraft can see the AC, not so that you can see it.

 

[3rdof5]

Those are really cool, but don't meet the requirements to fly at night. The purpose of lights at night are so other aircraft can see the AC, not so that you can see it.

I know this is a moot question as night flying is not allowed here, but im curious, where it is allowed, what exactly kind of lights are required? Say green on the right and red on the left? And strobes as well?

 

[FL_Mike]

I know this is a moot question as night flying is not allowed here, but im curious, where it is allowed, what exactly kind of lights are required? Say green on the right and red on the left? And strobes as well?

From my research (for the US) color doesnt matter. They need to be visible from 3 miles away and from any direction. I believe the strobon cree lights meet these requirements.

 

[peter west nz]

Those are really cool, but don't meet the requirements to fly at night. The purpose of lights at night are so other aircraft can see the AC, not so that you can see it.

I didn't actually do it to fly at night - it's so that I can see it easily against the sky in the daytime - far more obvious than the re/gn leds when it is at 400ft

 

[Matchlock]

If it's any help to you, I've flown through, along and over all sorts of metal bridges up here in Canada, when I record video of rivers and swamps around the countryside. We have a few old Bailey bridges that are mostly all steel and I've never had any issues at all. I've also taken off from and flew through many steel/iron railroad bridges as well.

I hope that helps rid any fears you have for flying around metal bridges. Just don't take off in between the rails/sides of metal bridges as this may, and I say may have an affect on the compass or other of your quads components, but again, I've never experienced this, ever, and I take-off from the middle of the wooden "floors" of bridges quite a lot.

Bud

That's very ingenious. I was wondering about interference with the antennae and compass. Speaking of the compass, just how sensitive is it to surrounding ferrous metals and/or electrical signals? There's an area nearby here with what would be some amazing photography potential but there's a solid iron bridge over our river that supports CN'S main railroad line and I'd love to fly there and take video and I'm concerned it wouldn't be safe.

 

[3rdof5]

Thanks Bud,
I have to find out the city bylaws with recreational UAV 's before I even consider it. It may not be allowed at all. But yes, so far I've never had compass errors (other than in the middle of my living room which i never fly inside lol) nor anything other than good green signal in my status, but like i said, I've never tested it near known huge metal structures.

 

[Ged2217]

I fly at night all the time, I’ve had some amazing videos at night. I’m really looking forward to Nov 5th bonfire night in the uk, I plan to go as high as the law allows and experiment with different camera/video settings

 

[3rdof5]

I fly at night all the time, I’ve had some amazing videos at night. I’m really looking forward to Nov 5th bonfire night in the uk, I plan to go as high as the law allows and experiment with different camera/video settings

Remember remember the 5th of November lol