I know zippo about them just that I was at a buddy’s place last night and he has a DJI Mavic Mini and that thing was amazingly easy to fly. I was amazed at how steady it was even with some decent wind we were having.

Here are the things I would like in a drone. Not sure these will be possible at an affordable price but would like as many of these options as possible.

Main priority - Super stable and easy to fly like the Mavic Mini
Smaller
Be able to draw a GPS track and the drone follow that path.
Pick a subject and have the drone follow that subject.
Want to use an iPad mini tablet as the as the controller screen

HD quality video but does not need to be 4K.

Mini 2, here. I use it.

Urbana Golf

Mostly for golf stuff.

Slight sidetrack,

I’m completely ignorant on the subject. Was watching The Terminal List and saw the launch of a drone to find and track a fugitive on its own to reveal its position.
Can these things do that if you tag the moving target or are we speaking of a pile of cash for one of those/restricted ?

0-0

Costco has some good pricing. Usually a little cheaper in store. DJI is the way to go with drones. You basically get two choices at Costco, $500 or $1k. 90 days to return if you’re not happy with it.

https://www.costco.com/Catalog...dept=All&keyword=DJI

quote:

Originally posted by 0-0:
Slight sidetrack,

I’m completely ignorant on the subject. Was watching The Terminal List and saw the launch of a drone to find and track a fugitive on its own to reveal its position.
Can these things do that if you tag the moving target or are we speaking of a pile of cash for one of those/restricted ?

0-0

Looks like the $1k model at Costco will follow and or circle your target.

quote:

Originally posted by 0-0:
Slight sidetrack,

I’m completely ignorant on the subject. Was watching The Terminal List and saw the launch of a drone to find and track a fugitive on its own to reveal its position.
Can these things do that if you tag the moving target or are we speaking of a pile of cash for one of those/restricted ?

0-0

The DJI Mavic Pro certainly has this feature. I'm not sure if the cheaper Mavic Mini has the feature. Used Mavic Pros go for around $1000.

I was afraid the tracking would be on the top ones.
I was doing decently when the kids were moving in a straight line riding the zip line but when they were running or moving in a pattern that was not linear was tough and I had to be farther away.

I don't know jack about operating them, just enjoy watching some videos. The technology nowadays is AMAZING.

The Skydio 2, you put the beacon in your pocket and it will follow you up to 36mph for 27 minutes of flight time.

This mountain biking video on youtube is amazing. Damn thing has 6 onboard cameras and software so it will fly around trees and obstacles on it's own.

Unless things have changed in the last 3 years or so since the last I was in it, please note that if you have and fly a drone over 1/2 pound, you will need to have it registered and you will need to take the license. Someone please correct me if I am wrong and this has changed or not. God Bless !!!

It hasn't changed, but most of the mini drones are .49 pounds now for some reason...

I ogle the costco 500 dollar one every time we go.

https://store.dji.com/product/...ini-3-pro?vid=113991

I have been looking at the dji mini 3. It’s amazing how far drones have came over the last few years.

I bought EXO Ranger drone for my teenage sons. Very easy to learn, excellent support, and US made. Has safety features like low battery return home, collision avoidance, etc. Well built product.

Mini 2 cant be beat. Flies just like the mini. Easy to stick in a small bag. Great video and is 4k. 30 minutes of flight time per battery.

I use mine to explore rivers where i fly fish and mountain bike trails. It goes everywhere with me and never leaves the car.

The DJI Minis will do just fine for your needs.
Black92LX, I can offer a free flight lesson over in Lexington (or anywhere between Lex and Ashland) to help get you started. There are some regulations to be aware of.
I am Part 107 Commercial, my full-time job (construction). Plus, it would be cool to put a face with a screen name.
My email is in my profile.

This thread definitely has my internet. This is a blind spot for me I need to fix.

quote:

Originally posted by VBVAGUY:
Unless things have changed in the last 3 years or so since the last I was in it, please note that if you have and fly a drone over 1/2 pound, you will need to have it registered and you will need to take the license. Someone please correct me if I am wrong and this has changed or not. God Bless !!!

It’s actually over .55lbs or 250grams. That is an all up weight meaning the battery counts. You don’t need a license if you are flying non-commercially but you will need to register your drone if you are over that weight.

How is the night vision on these? Any way to operate one remotely?

Say, if an alarm/door alert goes off on the farm, would it be possible to tell it to go fly over to it, and get a view of what's going on?

The camera on the consumer units is just a pretty good regular old camera. Night flying is rough.

If you want to shell out 10x what the consumer units cost you can get big professional units with infrared camera capability.

You could possibly rig up a janky remote piloting capability on one of the phone-controlled units by by leaving an extra phone and the controller in place and using remote operation of the phone, if such exists - not sure - something like VNC or TeamViewer on real computers. It would be REAL janky, though, and there wouldn’t be any way to get the drone charging again or turn it off when you were done (keeping it charged and on until you do use it would be maybe possible, because some drones can charge over USB and you could use a magnetic-detach USB cable).

I’m preeeeety sure that would violate FAA regs, though. I think you’re only supposed to operate a drone where you can actually see it with your own eyes while piloting it.

quote:

Originally posted by Aglifter:
How is the night vision on these? Any way to operate one remotely?

Say, if an alarm/door alert goes off on the farm, would it be possible to tell it to go fly over to it, and get a view of what's going on?

Not a good use for a drone.
-Risk of hitting a hidden object is very high.
-Flying behind visual line of sight (BVLOS) is fraught with danger.
-Most consumer drones’ cameras are not good in darkness.
-The blinking LEDs on all sides will broadcast your drone’s location and presence. Same for motors spinning at 5,000rpm.

quote:

Originally posted by VictimNoMore:
The DJI Minis will do just fine for your needs.
Black92LX, I can offer a free flight lesson over in Lexington (or anywhere between Lex and Ashland) to help get you started. There are some regulations to be aware of.
I am Part 107 Commercial, my full-time job (construction). Plus, it would be cool to put a face with a screen name.
My email is in my profile.

I will be taking you up on that offer for certain but in the least I’ll be buying lunch or dinner!

Would it be advantageous to just buy the cheaper Mini SE to learn to fly these things. Then when I am pretty solid with it just upgrade and give the SE to the kids?