3 Part Question, cell tower and wind turbine

[HaniG]

Hi all, for those who do tower or turbine inspections, which drone? Which camera?

I’m in the process of purchasing Matrice 600 Pro with Zenmuse Z30. What are your thoughts?

How do I get a contact for such industries? I’m FAA certified, LLC, insured, believes strongly in safety. So, how do I start? I have no interest in roof inspection, photography, agriculture... all I crave is inspection of communication towers and wind turbine. Your wisdom is greatly appreciated.

 

[With The Birds]

Contact the energy companies and telco’s to learn if there is a demand for your proposed services. You may find they already have contracts or suitably certified employees with company owned UAV’s. if you aim to specialise you need to do your research before investing too heavily if earning money is your morincipal intent.

 

[M3aerial]

With The Birds is right, but there are usually opportunities to partner with companies involved in these sorts of operations because simply, there are not enough resources out there to adequately cover all of the requirements for a lot of energy monitoring contracts.

How many wind turbines can one pilot inspect in one day? What happens when you get a contract for 250 of these bad boys (tall boys...?) and you only have 3 pilots? Outsourcing. Make your name known everywhere possible, that is your best bet!

There are lots of naysayers out there - don't be discouraged HaniG. If you have any questions, please let send me a message and we can chat more.

 

[HaniG]

M3aerial, thank you, it is what i needed to hear today. As I’m sitting here on a rainy day in California compiling a list of Cell tower companies, I’m not discouraged, I’m actually inspired by people like yourself. You are correct, there just isn’t enough pilots out there to do the job. I’m going with the plan, waiting on the shipment of Matrice 600 Pro with the Zenmuse Z30. Life is good. Thank you again. Cheers!

 

[Fvunen]

Hi, assuming that the drone + camera are sorted, what software do you use, or intent to use, for the management of the pics and vids you take of the towers?
Thanks

 

[HaniG]

I’m going with Scopito. Drone inspection Software, Cloud Based Inspection Software
Good company from Denmark. I met them at the Dronedeploy event last October. The cheapest I could find for what you actually get from it. I suggest you request a demo with them, they will schedule and pretty much teach you everything you need to know.

 

[Philippe]

Hi, the market of inspections is just at the beginning.
Wind turbines is one of the applications.
That's my interest and i'm working on it.
the drone tech is not relyable yet to fly close to wind turbines.

One of the most advanced in the US is in Michigan: Skyspecs : Home - SkySpecs
They have few big contracts

Another one is in France , I'm working with is Sterblue: Sterblue - Automatic industrial inspections
It's new start-up and open mind.
I guess there is an office in San Francisco.
They work with DJI drone.
make investigations...

Best regards

 

[HaniG]

Hi, the market of inspections is just at the beginning.
Wind turbines is one of the applications.
That's my interest and i'm working on it.
the drone tech is not relyable yet to fly close to wind turbines.

One of the most advanced in the US is in Michigan: Skyspecs : Home - SkySpecs
They have few big contracts

Another one is in France , I'm working with is Sterblue: Sterblue - Automatic industrial inspections
It's new start-up and open mind.
I guess there is an office in San Francisco.
They work with DJI drone.
make investigations...

Best regards

Thank you Phillippe. I have invested in a Matrice 600 pro with Zenmuse Z30. It allows me 30X optical zoom. I can zoom in from almost half of a mile away. the problem is getting companies to do contracts with small business like mine.

 

[Philippe]

Hello Hani,

AS far as I know Matrice 600 is a real drone. powerful and precise.
Zemuse Z30 is new stuff, I have no feedback on it.
I know X5S is the best choice because you can change the lens to get what you need.
As I said in a previous message, Sterblue are using Matrice 210 with X5S.
You should contact them, they are in San Francisco to developp business. just get in touch
Sterblue - Automatic industrial inspections

Good luck

 

[Pipeliner_USA]

I'm seeing a demand for thermal pick up, especially in power distribution lines.. Very few pilots have adequate thermal capabilities but it's a very expensive endeavor.

 

[HaniG]

Thermal indeed is quite pricy. Although DJI came out with their new XT2, I expected the price of XT to drop down dramatically but unfortunately, it did not. I think at this point, renting one for a job is the ultimate cost effective way unless you know that you’ll be using it often to cover the expense.