Takeoff with mirror

Steve J Miller · Jan 7, 2016

I read in a how to/tips area to put a mirror on a piece of wood to serve as a landing pad to be able to see the lights easier and to have a level surface.

I am wondering if this would make the Vision Positioning System screw up. In the manual it says to avoid highly reflective surfaces. This obviously directly disputes the idea to use a mirror.

I was wondering if anyone uses the mirror and if it will screw anything up?

Thanks!

bbfpv · Jan 7, 2016

Steve J Miller said:
I read in a how to/tips area to put a mirror on a piece of wood to serve as a landing pad to be able to see the lights easier and to have a level surface.

I am wondering if this would make the Vision Positioning System screw up. In the manual it says to avoid highly reflective surfaces. This obviously directly disputes the idea to use a mirror.

I was wondering if anyone uses the mirror and if it will screw anything up?

Thanks!

Yes it will screw up VPS. Simple answer is to just disable VPS if you want to land on a mirror.

alokbhargava · Jan 7, 2016

Where did you see this tip?

Is it for landing at night?

happydays · Jan 7, 2016

If you're outside, why have VPS on at all? It's only useful indoors.

Steve J Miller · Jan 7, 2016

happydays said:
If you're outside, why have VPS on at all? It's only useful indoors.

Thanks, I thought it worked with everything else outdoors and in

happydays · Jan 7, 2016

Steve J Miller said:
Thanks, I thought it worked with everything else outdoors and in

If you're outdoors, the likelihood is that you'll be flying above 10'? Well VPS only works UNDER 10'. Outdoors = off.

ScatSpeak · Jan 7, 2016

Steve J Miller said:
I thought it worked with everything else outdoors and in

It does.

It's just less useful outdoors for most purposes because you've got the barometer and GPS for altitude and location sensors to rely upon and less need for the VPS... though it does help it land autonomously when using RTH

ryantrax · Jan 7, 2016

What is your reasoning for needing to see the lights in the mirror, I'm kinda lost on that one.

4wd · Jan 7, 2016

ryantrax said:
What is your reasoning for needing to see the lights in the mirror, I'm kinda lost on that one.

It was more useful with the P2 and Visions because you could watch the lights to see when it got 6 satellites and set home point.

ryantrax · Jan 7, 2016

4wd said:
It was more useful with the P2 and Visions because you could watch the lights to see when it got 6 satellites and set home point.

Got ya, yeah not as useful on the P3 anymore with everything on screen now.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

bbfpv · Jan 7, 2016

4wd said:
It was more useful with the P2 and Visions because you could watch the lights to see when it got 6 satellites and set home point.

HA, thanks for the explanation. I couldn't figure out for the life of me why one would need to land on a mirror

User6895 · Jan 7, 2016

Now I want To land on a mirror, I bet the pictures you get if your camera is pointing down would be awesome. Night or day.

ianwood · Jan 7, 2016

Mirror is a bad idea. Mostly for the compass but also because you'll get harsh sun reflections and you'll likely break it over time. If you want something reflective, a sheet of plexiglass would be a lot better.

BVC · Jan 7, 2016

Why is it only useful indoors?

Mine will "climb" a hill at lower speeds..

BVC · Jan 7, 2016

Steve J Miller said:
I read in a how to/tips area to put a mirror on a piece of wood to serve as a landing pad to be able to see the lights easier and to have a level surface.

I am wondering if this would make the Vision Positioning System screw up. In the manual it says to avoid highly reflective surfaces. This obviously directly disputes the idea to use a mirror.

I was wondering if anyone uses the mirror and if it will screw anything up?

Thanks!

While I appreciate the want to land on a level surface.. I have to ask why haul around a big mirror to land on? You can't possible be in any area so bad you can't find at least a semi level surface to take off from.

But as others said - yes disable VPS and you'll be fine.

I've taken off from some cool spots. I forgot which big boulder it was but I took off/landed on it when I went to the northern california coast a few months ago. Thankfully it wasn't too windy that day

Jeff48920 · Jan 7, 2016

Finally a reason to take that mirror off the ceiling.

BVC · Jan 7, 2016

Jeff48920 said:
Finally a reason to take that mirror off the ceiling.

Or in my case, replace that borderless mirror in the guest bathroom with a nice framed mirror!

Steve J Miller · Jan 7, 2016

BVC said:
While I appreciate the want to land on a level surface.. I have to ask why haul around a big mirror to land on?

Too be honest, I am brand new to this and still havnt flown mine yet - waiting on nice weather. I saw the previous message about the mirror helping the P2 and the Visions, seems to make sense .

In regards to carrying it around, I live on a golf course so I thought it may be helpful and easy to bring out back.

As always, thank you everyone for your help!