It rained Tuesday...so double-duty on Wednesday!!

[Harleydude]

Traffic analysis is kind of strange. I shoot twice a day, once for 2 hours in the morning and again for 2 (or sometimes 3) hours in the early evening (4-6 PM). I can only shoot Tues., Wed., and Thurs. Because of weather, I can't always shoot the morning and evening on the same day. So the engineering firm said it's okay to shoot the morning and evening on different days, as long as it in the same week. Well...this week I have THREE shoots. So Tues., Wed., and Thurs. are already spoken for. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to shoot Tues. night due to rain. And by sheer luck, the two intersections I'm shooting are right next to each other. So this got me to thinking, "What if I deploy TWO drones and shoot TWO intersections???" Hmmmm.... That's just crazy. Crazy enough to work!!!

The wind report said up to 28 mph gusts. But real-world wind tests in ATTI mode showed < 20 mph. We were good to go!!

The two rigs and a clock for precision:

Both missions VLOS, of course:

I staggered the flights by 2 minutes. This seemed to work well. I only had 9 batteries, so I had to break out the homemade battery charger. Works like a charm and saved the day!

Shooting again this morning and this afternoon. I hope the weather holds!

D

 

[54_96]

This appears to all be well above my pay grade at the moment. Very interesting.

 

[MapMaker53]

Very impressive,

 

[skymonkey]

"What if I deploy TWO drones and shoot TWO intersections???"

D

Maybe I’m wrong but could you have meant "WE”

 

[xspwhite]

Have you thought about just getting a Phantom Wet Suit?

 

[Harleydude]

Have you thought about just getting a Phantom Wet Suit?

I have. But here's the thing. Honestly, if you look at a Phantom, the only exposed parts are the motors. Close examination shows that the rest of the drone is essentially sealed on the top side. Now, as anyone can attest, a DC motor will even run UNDER water, albeit with greatly diminished performance. For this reason, one must be concerned with the hydration of the brushless drone motors. So, while they can certainly stave off a drizzle, there's a good chance that a strong rain will adversely affect their performance. As far as I can see, the rain suit doesn't protect the motors.

Second, water highly attenuates microwave signal. This is why nobody has a wireless underwater drone. They're either wired or an antenna floats on top of the water. So while the water suit can protect the plastic bits, it can't help with attenuation. I need 100% video, control and telemetry signal for the work I do. I can't guess at anything.

Third, water-drops on the lens become a deal breaker for all things photography. So, while I shoot nadir for mapping (so water drops are not as much of a concern), I DO shoot oblique for pretty much everything else. So while keeping the lens tilted down at a couple degrees will keep it relatively dry in a drizzle, it will most certainly get wet in a strong rain.

Fourth, there's the other equipment I need to be concerned about, like the controller and iPads. Because I have the iPads mounted under the glass of my hatchback, they're pretty well protected. But not so much for the RC. While I can certainly operate UNDER the hatchback in a drizzle, a strong rain would undoubtedly makes its way to the RC. Even with the slight drizzle I dealt with Tuesday, the RC got a little wet.

So, for those 4 reasons, even with a wet suit, I wouldn't fly in the rain.

D