Hey doods!
Quite a while ago I moved up to an M300 for mapping and LiDAR, but occasionally a Traffic Analysis gig comes up, which is essentially just 2-minute aerial videos of traffic patterns every 15 minutes for roughly 3 hours (12 flights total).
For these gigs the P4P still does a great job. The P4P is small, maneuverable and "unthreatening" compared to the much larger M300. So it's easy to just park somewhere and launch without drawing a bunch of unwanted attention to myself. Conversely, the same can't be said for the Matrice 300 RTK, which is a much larger drone. Plus the P4P does really well in high winds (better than my smaller, Mavic Pro). I can shoot nice, smooth video in gusts up to 25 mph.
These are certainly not the most exciting gigs, but because I am diligent with battery maintenance, I was able to use 6 of my 13 original batteries. 4 of the 6 have battery bulge (from the early days of ignoring battery maintenance), 2 have over 110 flights on them (still work, but cell voltage drops on hard ascension), and the 7th battery is being used elsewhere for another purpose.
For this job this parses out the flights to two, 2-minute flights per battery, which puts each battery comfortably into storage capacity after the 2nd flight (roughly 55-60%). Because I can actually do THREE flights per battery, this ensures plenty of extra battery capacity if need be (6 flights in total in reserve).
I tested all batteries before flying this gig. The remaining 6 "good" batteries maintain cell voltage even on full ascension to 400' AGL. So I was very comfortable using them out in the field.
I still run legacy firmware, legacy software and legacy iOS on my iPad, which ensures against any and all cockamamie DJI/Apple update problems. It's almost comical how she just fires up and flies perfectly after sitting for so long.
I used the original Ground Station Pro (v1) to just mark where I want to the drone to rest in space. I don't use any autopilot or waypoint functions (no RTH, etc). I just fly manually to the marker on the map, ascend to a consistent altitude and fly back (usually in ATTI mode 'cause it's faster and helps maintain my pilot skill levels). I bring a computer so I can play mind games between flights.
For grins I purchased another battery on eBay from a reputable vendor. We'll see how that battery works out.
Any of you guys out there still pullin' down gigs with your P4P?
D
Quite a while ago I moved up to an M300 for mapping and LiDAR, but occasionally a Traffic Analysis gig comes up, which is essentially just 2-minute aerial videos of traffic patterns every 15 minutes for roughly 3 hours (12 flights total).
For these gigs the P4P still does a great job. The P4P is small, maneuverable and "unthreatening" compared to the much larger M300. So it's easy to just park somewhere and launch without drawing a bunch of unwanted attention to myself. Conversely, the same can't be said for the Matrice 300 RTK, which is a much larger drone. Plus the P4P does really well in high winds (better than my smaller, Mavic Pro). I can shoot nice, smooth video in gusts up to 25 mph.
These are certainly not the most exciting gigs, but because I am diligent with battery maintenance, I was able to use 6 of my 13 original batteries. 4 of the 6 have battery bulge (from the early days of ignoring battery maintenance), 2 have over 110 flights on them (still work, but cell voltage drops on hard ascension), and the 7th battery is being used elsewhere for another purpose.
For this job this parses out the flights to two, 2-minute flights per battery, which puts each battery comfortably into storage capacity after the 2nd flight (roughly 55-60%). Because I can actually do THREE flights per battery, this ensures plenty of extra battery capacity if need be (6 flights in total in reserve).
I tested all batteries before flying this gig. The remaining 6 "good" batteries maintain cell voltage even on full ascension to 400' AGL. So I was very comfortable using them out in the field.
I still run legacy firmware, legacy software and legacy iOS on my iPad, which ensures against any and all cockamamie DJI/Apple update problems. It's almost comical how she just fires up and flies perfectly after sitting for so long.
I used the original Ground Station Pro (v1) to just mark where I want to the drone to rest in space. I don't use any autopilot or waypoint functions (no RTH, etc). I just fly manually to the marker on the map, ascend to a consistent altitude and fly back (usually in ATTI mode 'cause it's faster and helps maintain my pilot skill levels). I bring a computer so I can play mind games between flights.
For grins I purchased another battery on eBay from a reputable vendor. We'll see how that battery works out.
Any of you guys out there still pullin' down gigs with your P4P?
D
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