i was with a fellow pilot the other day and watched him fly his drone as he counted off the meters at 100 intervals, he lost signal at a bit over 1100m and i still could see the tiny dot in in the sky. i looked at the display to confirm the distance and it was what he stated. looked back out to where i was looking and couldnt pick it up at all on its rth untill it was just a couple of hundred meters out and not even close to where i thought it should have been on its return trip. how far do you get before you loose vlos ???
how far away can you actually see your uav ?
- Thread starter nwcove
- Start date
Depends on conditions - cloud cover, mist, position of the sun, brightness.
On a overcast day, a few hundred meters. On a clear evening near sunset, with the sun behind me and strobons on - a long, long way
On a overcast day, a few hundred meters. On a clear evening near sunset, with the sun behind me and strobons on - a long, long way
Yep. It's easy to follow a speck in the sky further and further -- as I am sure we have all watched a party helium balloon fly up to the heavens. But look away from that speck for a few seconds and you will be hard pressed to gain sight of it in the large sky field again.
Roughly 2200ft...that is with Cree Strobes for positioning. And my eyes are not that great. Could never see it without the strobes.
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2017
- Messages
- 154
- Reaction score
- 72
- Age
- 44
My record it 4100 feet. I fly between trees and fly straight out so I know where the AC is in the sky relative to the tree branches. Air must be clear. Bright back sky as the sun is setting works well. Also dark blue back sky with sun directly behind you and rising. VLOS is kinda like RC range in that everything has to be perfect to find the max RC range and also the max VLOS range.
You will do 50% more than that in the first or last light of the day with the sun behind the AC. I don’t consider it VLOS though- it’s more an awareness of where it is, no orientation clues.
I have flown my standard out to 354m and could barely see it. That’s as far as I’ve been with it and would likely not go much farther as I don’t like not being able to see it. The remote link was still very strong and the video link was about half and no stutters.
Yesterday I was flying from the same launch point but in a different direction and was out about 270m (few trees just wetlands) when the video downlink started breaking up. Made me feel very uncomfortable because looking down at my phone made me loose track of the AC for a few seconds. Eventually located it and flew it back but was surprised that the video broke up sooner than the previous farther flight.
When you loose video downlink and can’t find the AC in the sky, is there anyway to determine orientation or do you just initiate RTH to bring it back? Does the little map stay visible when video is lost? I use Litchi.
Chris
You can use the Home Lock feature so that pulling the right stick back send the AC directly back to you. MSinger has a great post on that here with the DJI Go app. Litchi supports Home Lock as well.
Yes, I thought of that and have used Home Lock before, but I mostly fly in Litchi pano mode because I shoot alot of panos, so if I loose video downlink there would probably be no way to switch to FPV mode so that I could use Home Lock. There are no on screen buttons for Home Lock in Pano mode so no way to enable it.
Ok, I’ll through this into the mix...
How about quad acquisition with hearing issues?
I’m 64 years old, deaf in right ear, with about a 30% loss in the left.
Just as a person with one eye has no parallax depth perception, being deaf in one ear gives no “sound triangulation.” You can never tell where sound of all types is coming from.
Makes life itself a real challenge, especially out in public.
But drone acquisition? YIKES.
Once you lose visual for any reason it makes re-acquisition painfully difficult... even if it’s returning and getting fairly close.
Any other folks with hearing issues find this difficult?
How about quad acquisition with hearing issues?
I’m 64 years old, deaf in right ear, with about a 30% loss in the left.
Just as a person with one eye has no parallax depth perception, being deaf in one ear gives no “sound triangulation.” You can never tell where sound of all types is coming from.
Makes life itself a real challenge, especially out in public.
But drone acquisition? YIKES.
Once you lose visual for any reason it makes re-acquisition painfully difficult... even if it’s returning and getting fairly close.
Any other folks with hearing issues find this difficult?
Ok, I’ll through this into the mix...
How about quad acquisition with hearing issues?
I’m 64 years old, deaf in right ear, with about a 30% loss in the left.
Just as a person with one eye has no parallax depth perception, being deaf in one ear gives no “sound triangulation.” You can never tell where sound of all types is coming from.
Makes life itself a real challenge, especially out in public.
But drone acquisition? YIKES.
Once you lose visual for any reason it makes re-acquisition painfully difficult... even if it’s returning and getting fairly close.
Any other folks with hearing issues find this difficult?
I have worn hearing aids since I was in high school (l’m 55 now) and was born with a moderate to severe loss in both ears. I lose the ability to hear my P3S long before I can barely see it therefore I usually can’t use the sound it makes to help locate it.
I can usually keep mine in sight up to about 500 meters. After that, if I glance away I might lose it. But if the lighting is right, as others have said, I can keep track of it. If I still have video downlink, I can usually find it by reckoning the video with familiar landmarks.
Yes how far can you see your drone.I have 3.One is painted sky blue it disappears after 1,500 to 2,000 Feet.I have about her painted reflective orange and green.You can see it at 2,500 to 3,000 Feet.The third is red and purple and is also good to 2,500 average.I search for lost pets for free so I use them each for specific jobs.Sky blue uses master aircrew.The orange I use carbon fiber for the noise.Red and purple doesn't matter.The blue is for quiet spying and orange is so other searchers can see it.I have a friend with telescope with it hooked up to a laptop.We can watch my drone live as far as it will go and that's all I will say about that.I use FPVLR boosted and it is amazing..I do search and rescue so airport control towers always work with me..Everyone should volunteer for your community even if just looking for lost pets.From dog's to horses and cows to spotting predators.It helps get the image of the morons on you tube out of there heads.Dropping bottles from 1,000 Feet with airport right there.Seeing how far it will go...I always have mine in site in fact at 3,000 Feet we can see propellers turning..lol..I need a telescope like his..Oh wait it's kinda creepy what he can see..Always fly in safe area's when you can like over tree's and buildings.It is better than crashing where people might be...I will have to check but I think your supposed to see it with naked eye and not telescope with monitor.So get out the reflective paint and get to it.The pink is really easy to see.I used it in front and green in back..That Drone ccrashed into water on a search mission.I think litchi crashed it but no proof.So be aware if you send it backwards and down to the left..It will shut motors off but I can't prove it sense it wasn't recovered.I didn't take the apart to paint them and they all work fine.
At dusk with lights on about 3,500 Feet..Other than that it's depends on lighting.The florescent paint works great with the lights on.Yea we all fly by the Video,but legally we need to see it..Or our spotter needs to see it.For me searchers need to see it so that's what made me paint them..
To make it a short answer, 460 feet but shorter than that if I didn't have my flashy LED's on it.
I am getting ready to do a beach litter survey. Will be filming 200 yard segments with no difficulty seeing the P4P regardless of the time of day at altitudes up to 150 feet. Painting sounds like a good idea for an all white drone. FAA does not approve of FPV, Binocs, or telescope unless there is also a VO, must be a person with unaided VLOS to the drone. If you need a long distance, you could use multiple VOs with radios to communicate with the PIC. If I am going over 400 yards out, I always use a VO stationed 100-200 yards out and communicate by radio. I probably try to adhere to FAA rules more than most from what I see out there. Don't want to take a chance losing my FAA commercial Part 107 certification.
FYI, I am 71 and also have a hearing loss so I do not use sound as a locator at all.
FYI, I am 71 and also have a hearing loss so I do not use sound as a locator at all.
What is the purpose of VLOS rule of the FAA? I can guess but was wondering if others actually knew.
Similar threads
