Flying above power lines and the compass - what's safe?

jimerb · Dec 2, 2015

I'm a new flyer and near my house there are residential power lines. I'm calibrating away from them but I was wondering what a safe distance is above them?

I plan to stay WAY away from them at all times but I'm not sure what is a safe distance for the COMPASS?

I'm trying to get my minimum altitude safe. I'm not trying to fly directly over them

Thanks for any advice.

alokbhargava · Dec 2, 2015

My experience says guess the height of the power lines and maintain that distance from them. These power lines contain 3 phases and earth conductors and neutralize fields at about 1/4 th of their height. It's a thumb rule.

texasniper · Dec 3, 2015

As far as electrical fields around distribution and transmission lines, most UAS platforms surprisingly don't have many issues with their digital compasses when flying autonomously (that I am aware of). Our company has been doing it for a while now. This does not mean you should fly anywhere near any overhead lines though. A good safe distance would be 200' minimal horizontal clearance at all times. Never fly over them unless you have permission from the utility for sure. Although I personally have never tested or seen a Phantom up close around any lines.......if you maintain the 200' horizontal clearance rule you should have no issues with electromagnetic fields and your on-board compass. The video below is our company in action and our birds are only flown by highley skilled,and trained, FAA 333 licensed pilots. Be safe and have fun always!

Meta4 · Dec 3, 2015

jimerb said:
I'm a new flyer and near my house there are residential power lines. I'm calibrating away from them but I was wondering what a safe distance is above them?.

If you are talking about domestic supply lines rather than high voltage transmission lines, you are probably safe (compass wise) relatively close ... like 6 feet or so.
But if you are flying that close to wires, you'd better be careful.
The risk of collision is probably the bigger hazard.

texasniper · Dec 3, 2015

The bigger hazard is going phase to ground or cross phasing........as your bird might go up in a fireball and you might be on the hook for a major power grid outage. It wouldn't be the bird you would be concerned about at that point..... rather the legal storm afterwards. Be safe and never ever fly around or over any lines.

Sent from my SM-T550 using Tapatalk

ianwood · Dec 3, 2015

As Meta says. If it's local supply, you won't notice anything even up close. If it's high voltage (e.g. 60,000V and up) then 50ft. More for even larger ones.

CactusJackSlade · Dec 3, 2015

I've been flying DJI Naza's for 4 years and the P2 for 2 years.... I've accidentally flown between the actual lines (dipped in/out when I realized what they were) and I've had zero issues.... of course I am FLYING my 'copter, it's not on auto waypoint/return home or any other aided flying etc.

Sinisalo · Dec 3, 2015

texasniper said:
As far as electrical fields around distribution and transmission lines, most UAS platforms surprisingly don't have many issues with their digital compasses when flying autonomously (that I am aware of). Our company has been doing it for a while now. This does not mean you should fly anywhere near any overhead lines though. A good safe distance would be 200' minimal horizontal clearance at all times. Never fly over them unless you have permission from the utility for sure. Although I personally have never tested or seen a Phantom up close around any lines.......if you maintain the 200' horizontal clearance rule you should have no issues with electromagnetic fields and your on-board compass. The video below is our company in action and our birds are only flown by highley skilled,and trained, FAA 333 licensed pilots. Be safe and have fun always!

Your "industrial" grade Multirotors have jello in the video. I guess it isn't an aerial photography platform though but it still seems like it would be ideal for there to be no jello in the video at all.

dirtybum · Dec 3, 2015

Wibble · Dec 3, 2015

I have 10,000V domestic lines passing my house - I actually take off under them as it is level ground and then fly away. I would never calibrate by them though.
I have also flown fairly close to 450,000V main transmission lines again no trouble.

bobmyers · Dec 3, 2015

Wibble said:
I have 10,000V domestic lines passing my house - I actually take off under them as it is level ground and then fly away. I would never calibrate by them though.
I have also flown fairly close to 450,000V main transmission lines again no trouble.

You shouldn't have a lot of trouble if you are fairly close-- I have been about 10 ft and above residential lines without any ill effects. I probably would be that brave around main transmission lines-- at least 100 ft away-- --- maybe there is a power line guru on the forum that can give us some advice.

480sparky · Dec 3, 2015

texasniper said:
The bigger hazard is going phase to ground or cross phasing........as your bird might go up in a fireball and you might be on the hook for a major power grid outage. It wouldn't be the bird you would be concerned about at that point..... rather the legal storm afterwards. Be safe and never ever fly around or over any lines.

Sent from my SM-T550 using Tapatalk

You honestly think a MR is gonna short out high-tension lines?