Flying in the snow ?

[lickitysplit11111]

Just wondering if its ok to fly when its snowing out , N.J. is supposed to get a few inches today and I have the day off and video should be pretty cool as long as the lens stays clear of flakes and I would think the props would pretty much keep the motors pretty dry but is signal loss an issue or GPS a problem ? I"d rather ask then find out the hard way..

 

[msinger]

DJI does not recommend this, but people have flown in light snow with no trouble. You can find some threads on that topic in these search results.

 

[lickitysplit11111]

DJI does not recommend this, but people have flown in light snow with no trouble. You can find some threads on that topic in these search results.

Thank you Sir..

 

[Jason Porembski]

I flew a little bit on Long Island this morning. Some flurries, but cold. I watched the temp and everything looked good. Bird came back dry.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

 

[juicedrummer]

I flew my second flight with my new p4p on Christmas Day in northern Idaho. Light snow flakes falling and fairly cold (~25*F). Awesome flight with awesome shots. Just warm it up, watch the battery and internal temp as mentioned but mine came back dry as well. Worth it


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[KevMo Photog]

Just wondering if its ok to fly when its snowing out , N.J. is supposed to get a few inches today and I have the day off and video should be pretty cool as long as the lens stays clear of flakes and I would think the props would pretty much keep the motors pretty dry but is signal loss an issue or GPS a problem ? I"d rather ask then find out the hard way..

Did it a couple of weeks ago lickitysplit. It was 28 degrees and light flurries plus some of overspray from snow blowers at our local ski resort here. No problems at all. Just make sure you got warm batteries and hover for a min or two before you take off flying. Keep an eye on battery voltage.

 

[longlook]

Flew in 5 degrees F and snow on the ground without a problem. Keep the battery warm until flight, warm up craft by running for a minute or so before take off, hover for a minute before any flight. Most importantly, launch craft from packing box or other container surface rather than placing craft on snow or your camera and lens will gather snow when gimble goes through its start up cycle.

 

[lickitysplit11111]

Well after reading some of the replies from the link Msinger posted I gave it a shot yesterday (twice ) once was just a short flight at a real local small park where I noticed it usually hoover's "rock solid" but yesterday it kept creeping down within a foot or so of where I tried leaving it I'd raise it back up and it crept down again its like it had a hard time getting a read of where the ground was or something, dunno, after about 10-15 minutes or so I called it quits and went home to recharge the batteries and try again on the waterfront but that didn't go so well somewhere between 1700-1800 ft away I suddenly lost all signal and video feed that lasted about 20 seconds and by then it was already in RTH mode and coming back I also got a OA warning but the only thing that could have been was the snow because there was nothing else around plenty of wind warnings too yesterday

 

[wimosaur]

Was feeling brave and took my DJI Phantom 4 Pro out for a spin in the snow. I was surprised by how well it did, the only difference I noticed was diminished range. The controller signal was cutting out at fairly close distances, which was somewhat surprising as I've never noticed it lower than full bars. But it was also snowing fairly hard.

Heres a short video I put together:

 

[Robz]

I've flown mine a few times in the snow. Put duct tape over intakes on bottom of bird beneath the motors. Helps to not such moisture & flakes in.

 

[rkgmedia]

Was feeling brave and took my DJI Phantom 4 Pro out for a spin in the snow. I was surprised by how well it did, the only difference I noticed was diminished range. The controller signal was cutting out at fairly close distances, which was somewhat surprising as I've never noticed it lower than full bars. But it was also snowing fairly hard.

Heres a short video I put together:

Very nice. Before the P4P I used a 3dr Solo. Been very happy with the P4P but the pan smoothness on the Solo is much better. I imagine I just haven't got the setting dialed in on the P4P yet. Any suggestions? Here are two flying in the snow clips. One with P4P and one with Solo. The P4P looks pretty good here but I edited out most of the jerkyness.

 

[rkgmedia]

Very nice. Before the P4P I used a 3dr Solo. Been very happy with the P4P but the pan smoothness on the Solo is much better. I imagine I just haven't got the setting dialed in on the P4P yet. Any suggestions? Here are two flying in the snow clips. One with P4P and one with Solo. The P4P looks pretty good here but I edited out most of the jerkyness.

The color difference is interesting, it's unedited in that respect.

 

[wimosaur]

RKG, hmm not really sure. The only control changes I made was turning the gimbal speed wayyy down. Maybe you could slow down the control stick input curves so the sticks aren't so touchy? Also, while not ideal for every shot, I've got some really stable footage out of tripod mode lately. Maybe try some pans with that. Is it jerky in other footage or maybe the P4P was struggling in the weather? Wish I had a better answer!

 

[rkgmedia]

I think part of it is just me not having much experience with the controller. I see there are several setting I can tweek, tried a few, just have to try again and keep practicing.

 

[wimosaur]

Definitely, took me awhile to get used to too. This was my first drone and now I'm absolutely hooked. I think all the video games growing up helped [emoji23]

Keep up the hard work!

 

[K9VXV]

Well after reading some of the replies from the link Msinger posted I gave it a shot yesterday (twice ) once was just a short flight at a real local small park where I noticed it usually hoover's "rock solid" but yesterday it kept creeping down within a foot or so of where I tried leaving it I'd raise it back up and it crept down again its like it had a hard time getting a read of where the ground was or something, dunno, after about 10-15 minutes or so I called it quits and went home to recharge the batteries and try again on the waterfront but that didn't go so well somewhere between 1700-1800 ft away I suddenly lost all signal and video feed that lasted about 20 seconds and by then it was already in RTH mode and coming back I also got a OA warning but the only thing that could have been was the snow because there was nothing else around plenty of wind warnings too yesterday

I wonder if the temperature was too cold. My first one seemed to disconnect from the RC after being out in really high humidity weather at around 32F. It was very scary because the Aircraft disconnected from the RC and there was no way to start RTH or control the craft. I just let the RC signal loss kick in and it landed in place.

 

[wimosaur]

I wonder if the temperature was too cold. My first one seemed to disconnect from the RC after being out in really high humidity weather at around 32F. It was very scary because the Aircraft disconnected from the RC and there was no way to start RTH or control the craft. I just let the RC signal loss kick in and it landed in place.

Not sure about the cold being a factor. I live up in the Rockies in Colorado and have flown in some pretty cold weather, way below the recommended range, and didn't notice and difference other than my hands practically freezing off.

I feel it's more related to moisture/snow in the air disrupting the signal from the controller as it travels through the air, resulting in shorter max distance.

Overall I've been quite impressed with how robust and stable the phantom seems regardless of conditions.

 

[K9VXV]

Not sure about the cold being a factor. I live up in the Rockies in Colorado and have flown in some pretty cold weather, way below the recommended range, and didn't notice and difference other than my hands practically freezing off.

I feel it's more related to moisture/snow in the air disrupting the signal from the controller as it travels through the air, resulting in shorter max distance.

Overall I've been quite impressed with how robust and stable the phantom seems regardless of conditions.

Good to know, thank you! My issue was happening no matter where the Phantom was located even 6 feet off the ground or while it was not flying, on the ground or while it was above the grass or landed in the grass. As soon as I would bring it inside the house the controller would regain connection. I think I just had a bad unit. Neighbor says that he flies his in the snow all the time with no issue.