I've been challenged

[acherman]

The microwave dishes have a very high front-to-back ratio. The majority of the RF radiation is out front - as long as you are behind them you're generally okay. The only stuff that gets attenuated are the high power transmitters on omni directional antennas (ie. FM radio, TV, etc).

 

[acherman]

I learned the basics of video editing. It's my first time, be gentle...

 

[envisionabove]

Looking at your photo again makes me sick to my stomach.

 

[chicago jeff]

Your editing skills are outstanding!
I can't wait to do the same thing.

 

[acherman]

Your editing skills are outstanding!
I can't wait to do the same thing.

Well, I wouldn't say outstanding. If took me a long time. Haha Still more learning to do. Thanks guys.

 

[SzymonS]

Interesting & great pic @acherman ! So I have the opposite experience with my Phantom 3 pro. The other day I was trying to overcome a common problem that I have out here and that is local air traffic float planes and small tourism planes that barely graze the tops of our rainforest and often fly below 200 feet and below the low cloud cover over the pacific. In an effort to avoid a colllision, I had a very in-depth conversation with a local pilot and he advised me to try my handheld VHF Marine Radio (Standard Horizon HX851) as the local guys use the marine channels in addition to their air frequency. I intend on eventually acquiring a handheld to communicate on the locale air frequency. But I digress......

What happened was bizarre....I did all my pre-flight checks and was ready to go over the pacific. However the P3 would not calibrate and had a hard time finding it's location. After many attempts at trying to solve the problem, I came to the conclusion that the only different thing I had introduced was the VHF radio. Therefore I shut it off. After that there was no interference and the P3 behaved normally.

After seeing your results, I am baffled that I couldn't fly close to a small handheld yet you had success flying around something much bigger and with higher potential for interference. Very bizarre....

 

[Michael Olsen]

You did a really nice job flying around the subject. The yaw and pitch combinations are tricky, and yours look really good. (It's easy to get the subject out of frame or just lose good composition.)

 

[acherman]

What happened was bizarre....I did all my pre-flight checks and was ready to go over the pacific. However the P3 would not calibrate and had a hard time finding it's location. After many attempts at trying to solve the problem, I came to the conclusion that the only different thing I had introduced was the VHF radio. Therefore I shut it off. After that there was no interference and the P3 behaved normally.

After seeing your results, I am baffled that I couldn't fly close to a small handheld yet you had success flying around something much bigger and with higher potential for interference. Very bizarre....

The only thing I can think of is either the portable you were using is of very cheap construction, or it has a failing component that caused spurious RF. Because, technically, it shouldn't bother you at all unless it was transmitting, unless either of the above mentioned scenarios was true (IMO). I have seen other electronics emit high levels of RF radiation even when they are not actually radios.

 

[acherman]

You did a really nice job flying around the subject. The yaw and pitch combinations are tricky, and yours look really good. (It's easy to get the subject out of frame or just lose good composition.)

The POI shots are tough. Yes, easy to lose the composition. Those shots were all yaw and roll, but I seem to drift away from the subject as the move goes on. I have tried to keep the subject to the incoming side of the frame and counter that, but the composition looks weird and off center. I am going to try adding some forward pitch to see if that helps next time.

 

[NicRutPhotography]

I learned the basics of video editing. It's my first time, be gentle...

For your first time video editing, you did great! What software you using? Here is a video I just did last week. Not on the subject of radio towers however the Oklahoma County Emergency Management radio tower is in a short clip. Lol

Let me know what you think!

 

[acherman]

For your first time video editing, you did great! What software you using? Here is a video I just did last week. Not on the subject of radio towers however the Oklahoma County Emergency Management radio tower is in a short clip. Lol

Let me know what you think!

I'm using Photoshop CS6. My wife has had it and Lightroom for years, and I just figured out it could do video too. I tried using Davinci Resolver free, but it kept crashing on my laptop. Must just be too old.

I will be filming more of our towers this summer as I am at each one for various jobs. I'll post those in here too. And I'll see how close I can get to the top lights, just for fun. Tallest one is 400'.

 

[F6Rider]

Yaw and roll for POi takes a lot of practice, I put a trash can in an open field and practice keeping that framed. The slow drift you encountered was either you didn't have the same vales on both sticks or you had a slight wind that was adding force to the roll, getting it out of sync. But I think you did a great job, especially for the first time, I would have had issue as I would have been much more focused on those **** guy wires than my filming.

 

[suck it up]

I'm using Photoshop CS6. My wife has had it and Lightroom for years, and I just figured out it could do video too. I tried using Davinci Resolver free, but it kept crashing on my laptop. Must just be too old.

I will be filming more of our towers this summer as I am at each one for various jobs. I'll post those in here too. And I'll see how close I can get to the top lights, just for fun. Tallest one is 400'.

Great Job! on the video I mean........... hee hee..........

 

[Synnic]

Don't they turn those off before you go up? In the navy it was do not rotate or radiate men working aloft. and I think that's how the microwave oven was invented, a candy bar melted in a guys pocket.

Yes, it is standard practice to turn off high-energy RF devices when a worker is going to ascend the tower. Some lower power devices might not be turned off if the amount of RF exposure would be below the FCC established safety limits.

Interesting little fact though, despite the regulations, a lot of companies are still horribly negligent with this stuff. See http://wirelessestimator.com/content/articles/?pagename=RF Exposure Supreme Court.

 

[acherman]

Interesting little fact though, despite the regulations, a lot of companies are still horribly negligent with this stuff.

We are lucky enough to deal with fairly low power stuff all the time. The highest power transmitter I deal with (once per year) is 5 kW, most is under 50W (other than focused out of a microwave dish). I have no problem turning down someone else's TX while we are working, whether they so or not. Safety first. [emoji6]

 

[trigger2010]

Shout out to fellow tower hands sweet video

 

[SzymonS]

The only thing I can think of is either the portable you were using is of very cheap construction, or it has a failing component that caused spurious RF. Because, technically, it shouldn't bother you at all unless it was transmitting, unless either of the above mentioned scenarios was true (IMO). I have seen other electronics emit high levels of RF radiation even when they are not actually radios.

@acherman I think I solved the mystery - my VHF also transmits GPS location - part of a DSC feature for serious emergencies. That could be the culprit. Also, after seeing your video I am also impressed with your ability to film and fly. Great work!

 

[acherman]

Awesome! Thanks man.

 

[spankybear]

I love radio towers...

 

[acherman]

I have a 9-day road trip starting on Monday through the mountains. I expect to have some great footage. Not sure if my wife will let me stop at every tower site we see along the way. haha