Making my Phantom the most visable

[ZonComGMZ]

I'm thinking about making my P2V as visible as possible. I would like for it to be visible from above for REAL pilots as well as if it is lost and looking for it via another drone. I would also like it to be most visible from below so I don't lose it in the sky. Sometimes it gets lost easily looking for a white dot in a grey sky.

Here are some of my ideas.

Top
Painting the top Fluorescent Orange.
Having Strobes on the top.

Bottom
Having a light or strobe on the bottom.

Chime in if you have any other ideas.

 

[EMCSQUAR]

Something like - I made my visible for me first - 900 meters and it's a dot. Plus if it goes down in brush or snow it's still going to be visible.

 

[MILLER4PRESIDENT2020]

just go to the hardware store and buy some neon paints and paint it in neon zebra stripes. Also, leave some white stripes because white is what will stick out best against a dark background (i.e. you lose it and are searching for it in someones backyard in the dark)

 

[Droid]

I would go for strong strobes, they will help the visibility the most.

 

[OI Photography]

I would go for strong strobes, they will help the visibility the most.

+1

Something that emits light will extend the visible range and help with spotting far more than any paint scheme (not that that's an invalid method).

Reflective tape like this can also help when searching for a lost bird, especially after dark: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BQRIV2/ref ... LGD0FFFDDP

 

[pault]

A strobe sounds like a good idea. You can get cheap cree head torches from china that have a strobe function. You might be able to modify one of them.

 

[The Editor]

Paint it with a radioactive isotope and then get yourself one of these ------> http://www.nuclearconnect.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/geiger_counter.jpg

 

[reALIGNed]

I decided to leave mine white, but I did add a ton of DOT reflective tape. This way I can do a search in the dark with a high power flashlight. I tested it in the woods at night and you can see it from a good distance too. My buddy flew over the area with his fw550 with fpv and a white led search light, ..........impossible to miss it.

 

[ElGuano]

I don't have the reflective tape on mine but it would probably make a huge difference, especially something like SOLAS tape. For the fast and furious, 3m also makes striping tape in scotchlite reflective colors that works quite well.

For in-flight visibility I think it would be hard to beat a big LED array.

 

[ZonComGMZ]

Paint it with a radioactive isotope and then get yourself one of these ------> http://www.nuclearconnect.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/geiger_counter.jpg

OK. Do you suggest I use Uranium 235 or 238? :lol:

 

[havasuphoto]

Paint it with a radioactive isotope and then get yourself one of these ------> http://www.nuclearconnect.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/geiger_counter.jpg

I think that's absolutely brilliant!!! LOL

 

[The Editor]

Paint it with a radioactive isotope and then get yourself one of these ------> http://www.nuclearconnect.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/geiger_counter.jpg

OK. Do you suggest I use Uranium 235 or 238? :lol:

I think it HAS to be 238 purely from the half-life angle. Uranium 235 will decay in a mere 708 million years and might make finding the Phantom more difficult as those years tick by whereby 238 has a half-life of around 4.5 billion years! Gives you more time to locate that troublesome quad hiding in the tall undergrowth!

 

[ZonComGMZ]

Paint it with a radioactive isotope and then get yourself one of these ------> http://www.nuclearconnect.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/geiger_counter.jpg

OK. Do you suggest I use Uranium 235 or 238? :lol:

I think it HAS to be 238 purely from the half-life angle. Uranium 235 will decay in a mere 708 million years and might make finding the Phantom more difficult as those years tick by whereby 238 has a half-life of around 4.5 billion years! Gives you more time to locate that troublesome quad hiding in the tall undergrowth!

I went with Plutonium instead because I had some lying around.

 

[Seahorse]

Perhaps the reflective stripes on trucks is a good place start, yellow/black diagonal. I assume they did some research before settling on those colours?

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

[Shrimpfarmer]

I went with Plutonium instead because I had some lying around.

Homeland security will be with just about .............now.........rolls in 2 flash bangs and storms the building :shock:

 

[joeflyer]

I put red reflective tape on my front landing gear legs and green on the rear. I also used the red to replace the stripes on the Phantom body and added one of the LED headlights to the battery door. It helps a lot.

I bought 6 inch tape strips on Ebay for a few dollars. Just do a search for "red reflective tape" or green. Don't get the real heavy duty stuff because it won't flex easily. The type with embedded glass beads and a honeycomb or diamond pattern are a lot brighter than the engineering grade tape. There are a lot of people selling the stuff in small quantities on Ebay.

 

[ElGuano]

Perhaps the reflective stripes on trucks is a good place start, yellow/black diagonal. I assume they did some research before settling on those colours?

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

black isn't reflective. The red/white diagonal is sold as conspicuity tape and reflects well but the pattern is a bit wide for Phantom use.

 

[TechJunkieRC]

I wasn't going to say it but I can't help it.....the thought of a quad shooting off flares like an avoidance countermeasure is just too much! Every time I go past this tread I keep seeing a Phantom with a larger plane several thousand feet above it and the Phantom is shooting off small flair countermeasures. It would look like the little phantom got scared! Better yet maybe the phantom could spin around and the flares could shoot out of the arms!

Ok.....I will leave now. My work is done!

 

[cfionthefly]

Nothing you can do will help your Phantom be seen by commercial pilots. They are simply too small and commercial aircraft fly too fast. I sometimes have a tough time finding a huge rotating green and white strobe that airports use to identify their location. And thats knowing where to generally look using a gps. Its hard to even see a 747 untill they are right next to you if you dont know where to look and there are no contrails. Even with extremely bright leds strobing, it would just look like a part of the city lights background.

 

[TechJunkieRC]

Perhaps the reflective stripes on trucks is a good place start, yellow/black diagonal. I assume they did some research before settling on those colours?

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

black isn't reflective. The red/white diagonal is sold as conspicuity tape and reflects well but the pattern is a bit wide for Phantom use.

You are going to think I am crazy but I have a black FJR1300 and there is a 3M material that reflective panels are cut out of for the faring and the back of the saddle bags that is black in the day time and reflects bright white when light hits it at night. Here is a description from one sites that sells them:

Product Description
The following fairing decals are design to fit all 2006-2012 FJR's. The kit includes 8 pieces of material precision cut for an exact fit. These are created from the same Premium 3M reflective material as our other FJR products.

** Available in Black or White reflective material. Both of these colors will reflect back white. **

I know who would have thought right? But there it is, you can have black decals that reflect bright white at night!