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What Drone should I get?
Peter C. Adams
11/18/2024 8:48 PM

Hello,


For next summer in Alaska, I am considering a drone. It will be my first drone. I want to take pictures and maybe peer into anchorages and tight channels.


I’m concerned about waterproofness/floating and the return to home function on a moving boat.


Any sage advice or suggestions?


Thanks in advance.



Safe Adventuring,


Peter C. Adams

m/v Blue Redd 5726

Mark Tilden
11/18/2024 9:17 PM
Hi Peter:

There are undoubtedly others among our group with more experience in this area than I have. I have a Mavic Pro (an older model that's long since been replaced by newer/better tech). I got some after-market styrofoam ball floats that have 3D-printed "sockets" that fit onto the legs of the drone so that *if* it ended up in the water, at least it wouldn't sink and it might even float upright. I have not tested that and don't intend to, nor have I had any close calls with the water. I did--one time--have a difficult landing on the aft deck of my Selene where the props scarred up my beautiful big window on my flybridge enclosure. Fortunately, just some scratches.

I do like having it on board just to get great photos. One of the things I would value about the newer ones is that mine take a while to setup because I have an external display that has to be attached to the controller. I started using a cell phone for the display but just found too many circumstances where I couldn't see the cell phone screen in daylight conditions. I ended up buying one of DJI's external monitors that is MUCH brighter and larger. The newer controllers have this same display tech built-in. That would be nice.

Here's a photo I took from my drone in Kiska in the Aleutian islands (on Mystic Moon). I love being able to get cool shots like this....

mark



Don McGarry
11/18/2024 9:49 PM

I'm interested in this as well. I purchased a DJI Spark a few years back as it was inexpensive and all I wanted to do was mess around with it in my backyard. It has a physical controller but relies on a smartphone for the display. That is pretty clunky in my experience.


I have the drone on the boat but haven't actually flown it on the boat yet. Mostly I was pretty busy with other activities when we have been at anchor this year. I REALLY want to get footage of our boat while it is underway but I haven't worked up the courage to do that.


It looks like the 'modern' equivalent of what I have is the DJI Mini. If I manage to work up the courage to actually start messing around with what I have and like it I may invest in something nicer like the Air3 or Mavic.

Jack Burgess
11/19/2024 4:47 AM
I recommend the DJI Mini 4 Combo Pack with the RC controller.  I have the DJI Mini 3 which is the last generation model.  This gives you 3 batteries, a charger, the RC controller so that you don't need to attach an iPhone, spare blades and a carrying case for less than $1,200.  You can buy fly away insurance for less than $100 for 2 years from DJI.  Buy a landing pad and a lanyard for the RC controller and you will have everything you need.  The Mini 4 has collision avoidance which is helpful.  My Mini 3 does not have that feature and I have found a tree once, but the drone dropped to a grassy area and was not damaged. You should learn to use the drone with the DJI and other tutorials on land to avoid dunking it and to get comfortable with landings, etc.  If it gets into salt water it is toast even if you retrieve it I expect.  Definitely not waterproof and it would sink.

On the water you do not want to use the "Return To Home" feature for landing because the drone returns to a stored GPS location based on where it took off.  It does not automatically find the boat.  That stored location is almost certainly going to be different from where the drone took off, even if you are at anchor, as the boat will move in the wind and current to a new location while you are flying.  Even a few feet of movement would result in a crash landing on another part of the boat from where it took off or into the water.  It is not hard to manually land the drone on a place like the foredeck.  The drone is very controllable and maneuverable.

Jack Burgess, Shangri-La 5388


Jack Burgess
11/19/2024 4:51 AM
Another important point - the Mini 4 is less than 249 grams in weight, which means that you do not have to register it with the FAA and other authorities in various countries.  There are still flight limitations - drones are not allowed in National parks, around airports, etc., but the 249g feature is important if you end up cruising the Caribbean where the laws might change from one island to the next.

jack

Mike Young
11/19/2024 10:30 AM
You could try the Potensic drone. Has most of the things that the DJI mini has ana about $350. It does use your cell phone to operate and hard to see in direct sunlight, depending on the brightness of your phone. I made a shade cover for mine. Be sure and practice before flying over water.

Mike Young, No Sheet





Dan Moore
11/20/2024 7:03 AM

So I’m a fixed wing pilot. A rotor wing pilot. And against my will, a part 107 drone pilot. My take on drones is they make it as simple as possible to fly. Stabilized. Hands off hover. Whatever they can do to make it easy. Regardless of that I don’t know anyone who has flown a reasonable amount that hasn’t crashed or lost one. And we are operating over salt water. So a quick splash is pretty much a death sentence. So, I like the cheap, disposable drones. A shot you’d be willing to take and risk the loss of the drone is better than the shot you didn’t take for fear you might lose the drone. Or as my father used to say, part of something is better than all of nothing.


I have a friend who purchased a beautiful really expensive drone. Then a year later upgraded to an even better, way more expensive drone. Both of them were flown an hour or two and now reside safe and snug in their nearly bulletproof cases. Batteries dead. Technology rapidly leaving them behind. He’s afraid to crash them. Meanwhile another friend has micro drones he races indoors. He lets his grand kids fly them where crashes are almost instant and surely inevitable. Parts are a few dollars and quick to swap.


So my recommendation is to look at a drone like you look at sitting down at the blackjack table. Don’t put any more in it than you’d be willing to loose and still have a good time. That amount might be $100 or $1000. That’s up to you.


Dan and Bethany Moore

(Soon to be) Blue Phoenix - 2008 Selene 59

Peter C. Adams
11/20/2024 8:58 AM

Excellent and thank you all for the great advice. Does anyone make a drone that will return to a GPS position or a beacon rather than just return "home"? I get the challenge of a mobile base. I'm hoping someone out there has solved this problem.



Safe Adventuring,


Peter C. Adams

m/v Blue Redd 5726

Jack Burgess
11/20/2024 11:06 AM
The "Return to Home" feature is a return to the GPS position the drone departed from.  If you are in the general location the drone took off from, say only a few feet or yards due to drifting on anchor, you can cancel the return to home command as the drone approaches and then land it manually where you want to land it.  Landing on a boat at anchor with a foredeck as big as a Selene is not hard.  Just a simple push of a button to cancel the automated landing then take over with your control sticks and bring it in manually.  However, if you failed to cancel the command the drone would go to the exact location it took off from.

The DJI Fly Away and Crash Insurance is cheap and covers the drone even if you lose it in the ocean and don't recover it..  You just have to have the necessary mini SD cards in the drone AND controller so they can verify the loss.  If you don't make a claim on the insurance during the 2 year term they give you an extra year I think - I have the insurance but have not used it.  

Jack on Shangri-La

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