Flying from inside a car?

Suhail78 · Sep 7, 2016

I've seen several people in this forum say that they typically fly their drones from inside their cars with the air conditioning on.

Doesn't the car interfere with the signal from the R/C to the Phantom? It just seems to me that there would be a lot of interference if ones sitting in his/her car and controlling the drone.

Can someone with experience speak on this topic? I guess i'm wondering why i'm standing outside sweating my *** off, if there is no issue sitting in the car and flying the done when it's really hot outside.

I assume some people here are going to respond to this saying its unsafe, VLOS and list all the rules. I know the rules, I'm just asking the question b/c i'm curious. so take it easy on me

John Locke · Sep 7, 2016

Yep, I fly from inside the car all the time, sometimes with windsurfer, sometimes without. The glass doesn't seem to affect range much, but maybe a little. The P4 controller (GL300C) is the weakest lightbridge controller DJI has made to date, so it will be affected more than older controllers. I use an older Inspire controller with my P4, works much better.

There are others in this forum that take this to the extreme with large magnetic mount antennas on top of the car with amplifiers, going great distances. Jeremiah has a very long thread on this subject, search for it. You'll find some great info in that thread.

Suhail78 · Sep 7, 2016

John Locke said:
Yep, I fly from inside the car all the time, sometimes with windsurfer, sometimes without. The glass doesn't seem to affect range much, but maybe a little. The P4 controller (GL300C) is the weakest lightbridge controller DJI has made to date, so it will be affected more than older controllers. I use an older Inspire controller with my P4, works much better.

Hey thanks for the response john! So i guess u set up, take off then hop in the car until u bring the bird back, no issues with interference or video feed?? I only have the controller that came with my P4, everything is stock, not really looking for massive range per say, it would just be nice to not drip sweat all over my controller standing outside, its been in the high 90s here with max humidity, haven't been flying because of it the past few days, but if i could sit in my car and fly, that may change things lol

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

John Locke · Sep 8, 2016

Yes, that's pretty much my process. I'll install the props inside the car, remove the gimbal lock and inspect the craft a little. Then turn on the controller, step outside and set the craft in a good launch area that I can see from the driver's seat. Turn on the craft and get back in the car.

Dirby · Sep 8, 2016

this is not a good idea.

4wd · Sep 8, 2016

Dirby said:
this is not a good idea.

I flew out to 5000 feet without getting out of truck just the other day, and this is with EU reduced power.

1) You can stay cooler/warmer
2) You can see the screen when it's bright
3) You are less likely to attract attention even well meaning but distracting
questions or comments.

Suhail78 · Sep 8, 2016

4wd said:
I flew out to 5000 feet without getting out of truck just the other day, and this is with EU reduced power.

1) You can stay cooler/warmer
2) You can see the screen when it's bright
3) You are less likely to attract attention even well meaning but distracting
questions or comments.

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Just seems so much more convenient!!!

Suhail78 · Sep 8, 2016

Dirby said:
this is not a good idea.

And your reasons are????

apex1 · Sep 8, 2016

Suhail78 said:
And your reasons are????

+1

kingkong90210 · Sep 8, 2016

I do this all the time. No probs. I use a windsurfer and orientate the car so that its side window is ib direction i want to fly, if reception probs, i wind the window down

sweez · Sep 8, 2016

I Fly from inside my house, next to a sliding glass door that goes out on a deck. Have my drones HDMI port hooked to my Tv's Hdmi so everyone can see.,, beats the heat.. some loss in distance some times, some times not, still trying to figure out why.sometimes, might be antenna orientation. Well, why not a car, as long as your not moving, Could get a ticket "DRIVING WHILE DRONING" LOL

Suhail78 · Sep 8, 2016

sweez said:
I Fly from inside my house, next to a sliding glass door that goes out on a deck. Have my drones HDMI port hooked to my Tv's Hdmi so everyone can see.,, beats the heat.. some loss in distance some times, some times not, still trying to figure out why.sometimes, might be antenna orientation. Well, why not a car, as long as your not moving, Could get a ticket "DRIVING WHILE DRONING" LOL

Dont want to get a DWD! Just wanna sit in a nice cool place, without people coming up to me asking questions while i'm trying to keep my bird out of a tree! lol

jwt873 · Sep 8, 2016

I've flown from inside my car and my truck. I've also flown sitting on the car seat with the driver's door open.

I just make sure the antennas are near at window and pointed towards the drone. One nice thing is that on sunny days, the car roof provides some shade and reduces glare.

Stolenvw · Sep 8, 2016

Never flown from in the car, but have flown while sitting on the edge of the trunk, using the open trunk hatch as a sun shade

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Dirty Bird · Sep 8, 2016

I fly from inside my vehicle all the time. It's great when it's cold or miserably hot & humid. I get the RC connected to the app then just sit the quad outside & power her up. I do the entire flight from inside my truck. Glass is 99.9% transparent to radio signals & seems to impart no noticeable loss on the range. You actually get amazingly decent range off to the sides & behind but you'll want to have your car facing the primary direction you intend to fly for maximum forward range. Depending on your car the RC handle conveniently acts to grasp the steering wheel to keep the RC in place.

Suhail78 said:
I've seen several people in this forum say that they typically fly their drones from inside their cars with the air conditioning on.

Doesn't the car interfere with the signal from the R/C to the Phantom? It just seems to me that there would be a lot of interference if ones sitting in his/her car and controlling the drone.

Can someone with experience speak on this topic? I guess i'm wondering why i'm standing outside sweating my *** off, if there is no issue sitting in the car and flying the done when it's really hot outside.

I assume some people here are going to respond to this saying its unsafe, VLOS and list all the rules. I know the rules, I'm just asking the question b/c i'm curious. so take it easy on me

Suhail78 · Sep 8, 2016

Dirty Bird said:
I fly from inside my vehicle all the time. It's great its cold or miserably hot & humid. I get the RC connected to the app then just sit the quad outside & power her up. I do the entire flight from inside my truck. Glass is 99.9% transparent to radio signals & seems to impart no noticeable loss on the range. You actually get amazingly decent range off to the sides & below but you want to have your car facing the primary direction you intend to fly for maximum forward range. Depending on your car the RC handle conveniently acts to grasp the steering wheel to keep the RC in place.

Thanks for the response Dirty Bird. I live in ohio, so its really hot and humid in the summer, and the winters are freezing. Definitely sounds like a good way to avoid standing in the heat or cold!

Smuttynose · Sep 12, 2016

Fun way to pilot totally incognito! "Where's the driver of that thing?", people will point, look, and ask one-another. Definitely try it initially in a large open field to evaluate any potential 'internal' spurious signals. You'll know pronto if there's an issue with transmission/reception. Then, bring it home to the hood of your vehicle, get out, and loudly query: "Where the *** did that thing come from??"

jenix57 · Jan 14, 2018

I love flying my drone from inside my van. When it's cold and miserable, it makes it fun. Flying in comfort, no mistakes because I'm cold and in a hurry. No loss of signal either. Not as intimidated to fly either because no one knows where I am. I can almost fly anywhere unnoticed.So cool to be able to do this.