Hey there!

[AeroMechAZ]

Good day to all and thanks for allowing me to join! 66 y/o, retired and having fun with my most recent hobby.
Other hobbies include Geocaching and Amateur Radio (FCC call W1DGL).
I like reading (I have an older Kindle eReader) mostly Sci-Fi and have at least a couple of favorite authors in that respect.
Originally from Connecticut, but moved out here to AZ back in 2001 (last day of that year). Lived around the Phoenix Metro area for a year or so, then relocated 'up' here to the Prescott area in 2003 and been here ever since. Prescott's elevation (average of 5300' MSL) means that we do get some snow in the wintertime, but not as much as back east or any of the northern climes. It's usually melted off within a few days to a week. Lately, as of this writing (9/2/2021), we've had a pretty decent "monsoon" (aka 'rainy') season, compared to the past 2 years, where it was a "Non-Soon". Also (because of the almost 4000' difference between Prescott and the Phoenix area), we're an average of about 20° cooler; not that we don't get 100° days (rare), but that's still better than 115-120°+ down in the Valley of the Sun (aka just "The Valley" by us Highlanders)
3x Military Veteran; USAF, Colo ArNG and USN (6 years combined time). I like joking (and that's all it is) that I couldn't join the USMC just because I couldn't get my head in that itty-bitty jar!

 

[dirkclod]

Welcome to the forum.
I hope you will find our site helpful and look forward to any input , photo's/video's you might post .
Don't be shy and ask anything if you can't find it by searching.

 

[WV. Rootman]

Welcome, what do you fly?
If I were in your neck of the woods, I'd be looking for gold and other gems .

 

[snowy23]

Welcome to the forum from the UK

 

[CKUK]

Welcome to the forum from the UK

I second that

 

[Starz]

And enjoy the north area. Certainly better traffic where you are verses the flat land Phoenix area!

 

[AeroMechAZ]

And enjoy the north area. Certainly better traffic where you are verses the flat land Phoenix area!

Granted, Starz it is more 'interesting' scenery and landscape then 'down' in the Valley, but because of KPRC, there's not that many places to fly under uncontrolled airspace. I do have (and use) LAANC whenever I'm within CA, but some areas the limit is only 50' agl, but most are the 400' limit, but you still have to authorize via LAANC.
I have a friend who got me into the hobby who used to be like, "gotta follow the rules", etc., and then he goes and does mods to his Mavic Pro so he can 'unlock' it and not be restricted by the Geo-fencing and such, and flies up to 2000' agl and 4 miles out (well BVLOS), taking pics and vids from that distance/altitude.
As I said in my intro bio, I'm also an A&P, and one of the things they drilled into us back in the 80s when I attended the school was, "protect your certificate, at all costs!" "don't do/not do anything that will jeopardize it".
That's my personal opinion of this hobby - I'm not a 107 pilot (yet), just a 44809 one, but I plan to do what I can to stick as closely to the regs as I can, especially should I ever choose to go with 107.
If that makes me (in others' opinion) a "drone cop", then so be it.

 

[AeroMechAZ]

I'm also connected (via SM) with Greg, the owner of Pilot Institute - he's here in Prescott (professor at ERAU) and says he goes over to the brewpub/restaurant across the street from me now and then, but I have yet to actually meet him in person.

 

[AeroMechAZ]

I second that

Thank you, mates!

 

[AeroMechAZ]

Welcome to the forum.
I hope you will find our site helpful and look forward to any input , photo's/video's you might post .
Don't be shy and ask anything if you can't find it by searching. ?

Thank you dirkclod - from what ai was reading (before and after I joined), looks like I can get a lot of good info here!

 

[skeptic49]

Greetings and welcome to the forum from another ham (kk3k)! I fly a P3S, used to be into amateur radio satellite operations back 30 years ago when we had wonderful high orbiting birds to play with.

 

[snowghost]

Welcome. We're looking into moving to Prescott in a few years. A little more variety in the weather.

I have a good friend who has a cabin in Payson, Washington Park area. Fun area to fly. And much better weather than Mesa, where he lives.

 

[LONESTAR]

Good day to all and thanks for allowing me to join! 66 y/o, retired and having fun with my most recent hobby.
Other hobbies include Geocaching and Amateur Radio (FCC call W1DGL).
I like reading (I have an older Kindle eReader) mostly Sci-Fi and have at least a couple of favorite authors in that respect.
Originally from Connecticut, but moved out here to AZ back in 2001 (last day of that year). Lived around the Phoenix Metro area for a year or so, then relocated 'up' here to the Prescott area in 2003 and been here ever since. Prescott's elevation (average of 5300' MSL) means that we do get some snow in the wintertime, but not as much as back east or any of the northern climes. It's usually melted off within a few days to a week. Lately, as of this writing (9/2/2021), we've had a pretty decent "monsoon" (aka 'rainy') season, compared to the past 2 years, where it was a "Non-Soon".
3x Military Veteran; USAF, Colo ArNG and USN (6 years combined time). I like joking (and that's all it is) that I couldn't join the USMC just because I couldn't get my head in that itty-bitty jar!

good to meet you and thanks for your service.

 

[LONESTAR]

Good day to all and thanks for allowing me to join! 66 y/o, retired and having fun with my most recent hobby.
Other hobbies include Geocaching and Amateur Radio (FCC call W1DGL).
I like reading (I have an older Kindle eReader) mostly Sci-Fi and have at least a couple of favorite authors in that respect.
Originally from Connecticut, but moved out here to AZ back in 2001 (last day of that year). Lived around the Phoenix Metro area for a year or so, then relocated 'up' here to the Prescott area in 2003 and been here ever since. Prescott's elevation (average of 5300' MSL) means that we do get some snow in the wintertime, but not as much as back east or any of the northern climes. It's usually melted off within a few days to a week. Lately, as of this writing (9/2/2021), we've had a pretty decent "monsoon" (aka 'rainy') season, compared to the past 2 years, where it was a "Non-Soon".
3x Military Veteran; USAF, Colo ArNG and USN (6 years combined time). I like joking (and that's all it is) that I couldn't join the USMC just because I couldn't get my head in that itty-bitty jar!

good to meet you and thanks for your service.

 

[AeroMechAZ]

good to meet you and thanks for your service.

You're very welcome, Lonestar. Was glad to do it, even though I never saw any combat (or seved in a combat zone), unlike so many others, who made the ultimate sacrifice.

 

[AeroMechAZ]

Welcome, what do you fly?
If I were in your neck of the woods, I'd be looking for gold and other gems .

I currently have the Phantom 3 Standard you see in my profile picture. Still learning the camera settings and how to do this or that, but getting better, little-by-little. Now getting used to flying higher than 100'; still haven't gotten the nerve to go (much) higher than that yet, though (100-200' is my current personal limit)..

 

[AeroMechAZ]

Welcome. We're looking into moving to Prescott in a few years. A little more variety in the weather.

I have a good friend who has a cabin in Payson, Washington Park area. Fun area to fly. And much better weather than Mesa, where he lives.

Yeah, and Mesa's pretty crowded, airspace-wise. Prescott still has the 2 heliports for the hospitals and a fairly large CZ for KPRC, but there's still good areas to go fly. Went up to the top of Mingus Mtn a while back (I had a smaller drone then, not nearly as capable as the P3S), but my truck's been having some issues with it that prevented me/us from going back up there recently; someday, I'll head back up there with the P3S and get some good pics/video. Approx. 7500' elevation there.

 

[msinger]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Lapskata]

Hello and welcome to the forum

 

[AeroMechAZ]

Welcome, what do you fly?
If I were in your neck of the woods, I'd be looking for gold and other gems .

About the only gold that's found in this area is really tiny 'flakes', not nuggets, and they're usually small enough that you'd need to be prospecting for several years just to find enough to make a Troy ounce's worth (what gold is measured in).
I'm not a prospector, but that info is from people I've known who do go out and do that.

I currently have a Phantom 3 Standard (being returned soon) and a Hubsan Zino that I recently acquired for free, with accessories.