Too close to a cell tower??

[ron-ep]

Hey all! So i;ve been asked to do some progression video of a construction site. Its of a small building(preschool/daycare). My concern is that its a little more than 600ft from a cell tower. I've heard of some stories where drones went berserk from being too close to metallic objects like cell towers. Are these just tales or should i really be concerned about taking off so close to one? Are there any steps/precaution I should take? I've attached a satellite image so you can see what I'm dealing with. One end is the location of the construction site and the other end is the location of the tower.

Thanks!

 

[Meta4]

Hey all! So i;ve been asked to do some progression video of a construction site. Its of a small building(preschool/daycare). My concern is that its a little more than 600ft from a cell tower. I've heard of some stories where drones went berserk from being too close to metallic objects like cell towers. Are these just tales or should i really be concerned about taking off so close to one? Are there any steps/precaution I should take?

600 ft from a cell tower?
If you are concerned about magnetic interference due to the steel in the tower, you would need to be something like 6 feet for there to be any issues.
If you ever did get close enough for the compass to be affected by all that steel, just backing off a few feet would put things back to normal.
At 600 ft, you won't have any worries from wireless emissions either.

There's a lot more steel in this ship than in any cell tower and the drone is a lot closer than 600 ft with no issues.

 

[Jeff A]

Hey all! So i;ve been asked to do some progression video of a construction site. Its of a small building(preschool/daycare). My concern is that its a little more than 600ft from a cell tower. I've heard of some stories where drones went berserk from being too close to metallic objects like cell towers. Are these just tales or should i really be concerned about taking off so close to one? Are there any steps/precaution I should take? I've attached a satellite image so you can see what I'm dealing with. One end is the location of the construction site and the other end is the location of the tower.

Thanks!

View attachment 118972

I have done most of my flying so far in a public park that has an AT&T Cell tower in it. I am a Newbie having started flying just before the age of Covid-19. My flying spot is 700 feet from my house, I would estimate the Cell Tower is 200 feet or so from my Take Off & Landing point. At first I gave the tower a wide berth but over time I get closer to it now. I've never had a problem myself and just this evening a friend of mine who is a communications professional says I won't, assuming I don't hit the darned thing. Have fun, be safe.

 

[dirkclod]

Know Meta's sick of these but cell towers are no issue unless you hit a wire .

 

[Deleted member 62848]

Well I never thought cell towers to be so interesting,,I enjoyed that,,hard to see those wires ?

 

[dirkclod]

Well I never thought cell towers to be so interesting,,I enjoyed that,,hard to see those wires ?

Well most of those are free standing but if your close you
can usually see them on most.
They are interesting i guess but I tend to like and put little
videos together when it’s said you can’t fly this way or that
just to show you can. Have several on different things
busting myths.

 

[Aerial Imaging]

Hey all! So i;ve been asked to do some progression video of a construction site. Its of a small building(preschool/daycare). My concern is that its a little more than 600ft from a cell tower. I've heard of some stories where drones went berserk from being too close to metallic objects like cell towers. Are these just tales or should i really be concerned about taking off so close to one? Are there any steps/precaution I should take? I've attached a satellite image so you can see what I'm dealing with. One end is the location of the construction site and the other end is the location of the tower.

Thanks!

View attachment 118972

my advice to you is to find out first of all thers different towers can have more or less strong signal emissions. It is not the Cellular radio frequencies that you have to worry about because their frequency is a lot lower. It is the microwave radios that might be on the cellular towers that can cause serious interference with your drone. take pictures of the kind of accessories on the top and try to look them up.some are very detrimental, thers a UAS Telecom 1 - RF Awareness course that can also help you understand what to do and what kind of flight procedures that need to be taken into place,safety #1 Good luck

 

[ArnoldLeVine]

Nice smooth video

 

[ron-ep]

Thanks for all the great, helpful answers everyone. I guess I was just a little scared or intimidated by some of the videos I had seen about flying too close to towers. I really have no experience with them.

 

[Aerial Imaging]

Thanks for all the great, helpful answers everyone. I guess I was just a little scared or intimidated by some of the videos I had seen about flying too close to towers. I really have no experience with them.

Good luck ....

 

[Phoenix One]

I fly towers for fun if there's nothikg else to do. Just be careful use your sense and dont start up next to anything metal and youll be fine. Amd always double check there are no guy wires. Djis have been known to he more finnicky than Autels though. My autel has never grounded me.

 

[The Flyer]

Know Meta's sick of these but cell towers are no issue unless you hit a wire .

good to know the towers won't fry the circuits in my drone, always wondered about that

 

[Phoenix One]

Also gives you a chance to fly above 400 if you find a tower high enough and stay within 400ft of the tower your flying next too!

 

[Harleydude]

Hey all! So i;ve been asked to do some progression video of a construction site. Its of a small building(preschool/daycare). My concern is that its a little more than 600ft from a cell tower. I've heard of some stories where drones went berserk from being too close to metallic objects like cell towers. Are these just tales or should i really be concerned about taking off so close to one? Are there any steps/precaution I should take? I've attached a satellite image so you can see what I'm dealing with. One end is the location of the construction site and the other end is the location of the tower.

Thanks!

View attachment 118972

I've flown my Phantom within 20 or so feet before I started seeing problems. That was for a standard 40 watt tower.

My Phantom 1 didn't mind at all.

D

 

[TxArch DroneGuy]

Also gives you a chance to fly above 400 if you find a tower high enough and stay within 400ft of the tower your flying next too!

Only if youre Part 107 pilot

 

[Phoenix One]

Only if youre Part 107 pilot

?? How so. You can fly next to any building or structure. Whether your part 107 or not. As long as your 400ft radius away from a building or tower you can fly 400 ft above that said tower or building..

 

[TxArch DroneGuy]

?? How so. You can fly next to any building or structure. Whether your part 107 or not. As long as your 400ft radius away from a building or tower you can fly 400 ft above that said tower or building..

FAA Part 107 pilots are allowed to fly up to, but not exceeding 400’ above the highest point of a structure without prior authorization as long as the flight is allowable in the given airspace. However, this FAA rule is only for Certified Pilots; Hobbiest can fly near the tower as well, except they Cannot exceed 400’ above ground level, no matter how tall the structure. Hobbies TX cannot fly under Part 107 rules.

 

[R Martin]

Only if youre Part 107 pilot

Even then it is also dependant on the airspace you are flying in and any COA/waiver stipulations. My COA for DTO specifically states that 400' AGL is a hard ceiling and flight beyond that altitude is prohibited.

 

[TxArch DroneGuy]

Even then it is also dependant on the airspace you are flying in and any COA/waiver stipulations. My COA for DTO specifically states that 400' AGL is a hard ceiling and flight beyond that altitude is prohibited.

Exactly, it all depends on the air space, but the original statement from others seem to indicate that hobbiests could fly up to 400’ above structures, which is not the case . A hobbiest cannot fly under Part 107 rules nor obtain waivers from the FAA, as we all know.

 

[R Martin]

Exactly, it all depends on the air space, but the original statement from others seem to indicate that hobbiests could fly up to 400’ above structures, which is not the case . A hobbiest cannot fly under Part 107 rules nor obtain waivers from the FAA, as we all know.

I am admittedly ignorant of the hobby side. I fly purely commercial and those regs I know by heart.