Aloha from Hawaii!

[Mauiwind]

Aloha Brother,
A couple years ago i predicted that drones on the break would be like flies. Goin that way, eh?
Question: whose gonna be the first to shoot Pipe with a drone? Just imagine the nads.
Aloha from the Windward side...

 

[keoniahlo]

Aloha Brother,
A couple years ago i predicted that drones on the break would be like flies. Goin that way, eh?
Question: whose gonna be the first to shoot Pipe with a drone? Just imagine the nads.
Aloha from the Windward side...

Howzit, brah! Yeah, I was starting to see the signs back a few years ago--I shoot a lot of surf meets and figured it was going to be the next big thing...especially when there are literally 20-40 land and 5-10 water pro photogs out there competing for the shot.

Btw, what do you mean about first one to shoot pipe with a drone?

Aloha,
Keoni

 

[Spectre95]

Aloha Brother,
A couple years ago i predicted that drones on the break would be like flies. Goin that way, eh?
Question: whose gonna be the first to shoot Pipe with a drone? Just imagine the nads.
Aloha from the Windward side...

Mess that shot up and you have a dead drone, but if you succeed the footage would be epic.

 

[keoniahlo]

Mess that shot up and you have a dead drone, but if you succeed the footage would be epic.

True...the first drone footage I posted on my introduction was taken at Pipeline at 15-20 feet just this past Thursday.

 

[racer_11]

Aloha Keoni!

I'm on Oahu for a few weeks and looking for places to get some stills of the scenery. any recommendations?! Man, where are you taking off from to get those Pipeline pics?! Awesome pics!

 

[keoniahlo]

Hey Racer_11!

I'm taking off from the walk-up towards Pipe--there is a space on the left that is block a bit by trees that many drone pilots launch from. Many of the DJI guys launch from the beach by holding their drones--I have not accomplished such a feat thus yet, as I've had bad luck moving the Solo during initialization. There are some videos of guys doing it on youtube, but I don't think the Solo was designed to launch this way, so it will be interesting to see if I can pull it off. BTW, there's tons of space to launch at Waimea, but be cautious of the power lines that run across part of the beach!

Aloha,
Keoni

 

[Pushjerk]

Keoni,

If you have the Solo backpack, it's a great way to take off from uneven surfaces, such a a North Shore beach with a steep incline toward the water.

I just set up my backpack to what looks level-ish, stick my phone on it to check level (iPhone standard compass app, second screen), and adjust accordingly. Then catch to land if it's too crazy.

 

[keoniahlo]

Keoni,

If you have the Solo backpack, it's a great way to take off from uneven surfaces, such a a North Shore beach with a steep incline toward the water.

I just set up my backpack to what looks level-ish, stick my phone on it to check level (iPhone standard compass app, second screen), and adjust accordingly. Then catch to land if it's too crazy.

That's actually a really good idea! Thanks for the tip!

 

[SARDG]

Me-me-me... May I join this old-home thread?

I was stationed at Pearl Harbor in the Navy, but always lived off base. After my discharge I stayed on Oahu to live as a poor civilian for nearly 2 years. Lived in Palolo Valley for sometime, then somehow felt compelled to move to the jungle - Waikiki. Tended bar at a German restaurant/bar on Kalakaua Ave called the Hofbrau. Long gone... many times over I imagine.

Used to go watch the Makaha Surfing Championships every year - I guess that dates me as they've apparently been gone for >40 years. Last time I was at Makaha my '59 Chevy Impala convertible got the glove box ripped open - kids looking for wallets I guess, and I never did have the top up. Drove that '59 all the way around Kaena Point on retreads in 1969 or 70 because someone said it was impassable.

I was there when CBS was still filming the original Hawaii 5-0 and still in the Navy when Japanese planes attacked Pearl and Hickam AFB - during the filming of Tora, Tora, Tora.

Anyone older than me... raise their hand!

 

[keoniahlo]

Me-me-me... May I join this old-home thread?

I was stationed at Pearl Harbor in the Navy, but always lived off base. After my discharge I stayed on Oahu to live as a poor civilian for nearly 2 years. Lived in Palolo Valley for sometime, then somehow felt compelled to move to the jungle - Waikiki. Tended bar at a German restaurant/bar on Kalakaua Ave called the Hofbrau. Long gone... many times over I imagine.

Used to go watch the Makaha Surfing Championships every year - I guess that dates me as they've apparently been gone for >40 years. Last time I was at Makaha my '59 Chevy Impala convertible got the glove box ripped open - kids looking for wallets I guess, and I never did have the top up. Drove that '59 all the way around Kaena Point on retreads in 1969 or 70 because someone said it was impassable.

I was there when CBS was still filming the original Hawaii 5-0 and still in the Navy when Japanese planes attacked Pearl and Hickam AFB - during the filming of Tora, Tora, Tora.

Anyone older than me... raise their hand!

Wow, that's incredible! My father grew up on 9th Ave in Palolo! What year were you born? My uncle played in a band (Al Lopaka), you may have watched them play during that time you were here. Too funny on the rethreads around Kaena Pt, LOL! And nothing's changed about the break-ins at Makaha and the North Shore (hey gang, if you visit Hawaii, do NOT leave your equipment visible in your car, especially by the beaches!)

Have you been back to the isles since? If so, please drop me a line so we can meet up!

Aloha,
Keoni

 

[SARDG]

Wow, that's incredible! My father grew up on 9th Ave in Paloma! What year were you born? My uncle played in a band (Al Lopaka), you may have watched them play during that time you were here. Too funny on the rethreads around Kaena Pt, LOL! And nothing's changed about the break-ins at Makaha and the North Shore (hey gang, if you visit Hawaii, do NOT leave your equipment visible in your car, especially by the beaches!)

Have you been back to the isles since? If so, please drop me a line so we can meet up!

Aloha,
Keoni

Well, I didn't say when I was born, but I was tending bar by 1968. Don't remember Al Lopaka, but it's been a few years. There was a Honolulu Symphony Orchestra violinist who moonlighted and played and sung bawdy bar songs at the Hofbrau. There was Liz Damon and the Orient Express at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Garden Bar. Some other things going on at the International Market Place - but band names escape me now. Don Ho was alive and kicking when I was there.

Haven't been back since, but it's on my bucket list to revisit for a couple of weeks. Probably 2018 though.

 

[racer_11]

Hey Racer_11!

I'm taking off from the walk-up towards Pipe--there is a space on the left that is block a bit by trees that many drone pilots launch from. Many of the DJI guys launch from the beach by holding their drones--I have not accomplished such a feat thus yet, as I've had bad luck moving the Solo during initialization. There are some videos of guys doing it on youtube, but I don't think the Solo was designed to launch this way, so it will be interesting to see if I can pull it off. BTW, there's tons of space to launch at Waimea, but be cautious of the power lines that run across part of the beach!

Aloha,
Keoni[/QUOTE

Awesome, brother, thanks for the inside info! If I can get at least one cool still I will be happy!!

Frankie

 

[John Githens]

True...the first drone footage I posted on my introduction was taken at Pipeline at 15-20 feet just this past Thursday.

Channel 1250 from a sat TV system we used on the Big Island last week had hours of commentated coverage of a surfing competition, with a mix of shore and air video. Many white DJI quadcopters zipping around.

 

[keoniahlo]

Channel 1250 from a sat TV system we used on the Big Island last week had hours of commentated coverage of a surfing competition, with a mix of shore and air video. Many white DJI quadcopters zipping around.

Yes, there are always a ton of white Phantoms buzzing around like flies on s*! I also saw an Inspire this last time as well. I was the only 3DR out there--in fact, I overheard a few people say, "Oooo, look, there's a black one out there now!" I thought that was pretty funny--but it also shows just how much of a jump DJI got on the market, the ratio was like 8 DJI to my 1 3DR.

 

[Spectre95]

Yes, there are always a ton of white Phantoms buzzing around like flies on s*! I also saw an Inspire this last time as well. I was the only 3DR out there--in fact, I overheard a few people say, "Oooo, look, there's a black one out there now!" I thought that was pretty funny--but it also shows just how much of a jump DJI got on the market, the ratio was like 8 DJI to my 1 3DR.

First flight with my 3DR this morning. The black is absolutely the way to go on a clear sunny day. Visuals were never a problem at all.

My 44 yr old eyes have a hard time picking up the white flyers in the sky.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[wro]

Hello keoniahlo, wouldn't be this be something for you: pilotanywhere - alpha 0.1? I guess that a lof of people, including me, would love flying around in Hawaii.

I am one of the makers of this platform. So let me know, if you should go live with your Solo at our platform.

 

[keoniahlo]

Hello keoniahlo, wouldn't be this be something for you: pilotanywhere - alpha 0.1? I guess that a lof of people, including me, would love flying around in Hawaii.

I am one of the makers of this platform. So let me know, if you should go live with your Solo at our platform.

Hi WRO,

Looks interesting! When I look at the flying restriction maps for Oahu, it's pretty insane...there are military bases on every corner of the island. Not sure how much legal flying I can do here on Oahu. Would I need my sUAS license to do this? And how are people remotely controlling the aircraft? And lastly, what is required to be a "virtual remote" pilot?

Aloha,
Keoni

 

[wro]

Hello keoniahlo, you better watch out for those military bases, - a spot with a radius of 500 m / 1500 feet and alt of 100 m / 300 feet where you are allowed to would be surely ok for a first try.

1. First of all, you find the right spot to fly.

2. Having the spot, you define the GPS coordinates (5 of them) where your solo should be able to go. Then you define three missions (max), which your Solo should be able to perform - just one circle would be fine. You put all this information, the params of the geofence you want to have, the launch altitude, the battery failsafe, etc. into the location.conf file, which defines the key params of the location. You get the location.conf file here pilotanywhere - alpha 0.1 and upload it to our server in your Pilotanywhere account.

3. You get you a Raspberry Pi and follow these instructions "How to connect the 3DR Solo to Pilotanywhere" and "How to stream a video from the 3DR Solo to Pilotanywhere", see pilotanywhere - alpha 0.1.

You can do step 3 also on another machine, except for the video streaming, which needs currently the Raspberry Pi. You can use a video encoder for forwarding the live video from the HDMI output of the solo to our server, if you happen to have an encoder already.

4. After you've installed MAVProxy on your machine or the Raspberry Pi, you start MAVProxy and forward the MAVLink messages from the solo to our server. Then you install our video streaming tools, and start the video streaming, which would take your live video from the solo and forward it to our server - or you use an encoder as aforementioned.

5. When you do the latter, your Solo pops up as a live vehicle on Pilotanywhere. You (or me as an arbitrary Pilotanywhere user), log on to Pilotanywhere, go to your Pilotanywhere channel with you live Solo, hit the button connect, and wait. If everything goes well, you / me see the telemetry data from the vehicle. Following this, if you hit launch, a MAVLink message is send to your solo from our servers. Your solo gets the message and performs an autonomous flight, in this case a simple take off.

Technically, the Solo would perform autonomous flights, triggered from our server, and it would be still you, who is in full control of your Solo at the location. You could regain control of the Solo at any by pressing the pause button.

I actually have no idea what you need from the legal side to be able to do all that. I have a licence here in Germany, which covers autonomous flights, if I do that within LOS and if I am able to regain control of the solo at any time - so I am fully covered here. The Solo smart shots are technically the same: autonomous missions, but they are triggered from your solo controller and not a remove server.

You would need this hardware in the simplest setup:

1. Solo from 3D Robotics with a GoPro (Hero 3+ Black or Hero 4)
2. Raspberry Pi (we recommend the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B)
3. 4G cellular dongle (with an appropriate data plan)
4. USB power source (e.g. a notebook of your choice)
5. Micro USB Data cable (connecting the power source and the Raspberry Pi 3)

You can also establish the internet link via your LAN connection, but then you a tied to your spot.

But maybe you control my Solo here in Germany first, so you see how it works from the view of a remote pilot?

 

[Pushjerk]

Yo Keoni, and other HI peeps,

Just making sure you know about this BS. The State wants to prohibit you from launching/landing/recovering at public parks and beaches.

Full txt here Hawaii SB632 | 2017 | Regular Session

Furthermore, here is another shitty one HB314_.HTM

 

[keoniahlo]

Hey there! Thanks for the heads up--I've heard rumblings about this upcoming legislative issue. I'm hoping that this doesn't pass--we are already heavily restricted by the numerous military bases surrounding the island. Not to mention the airport that's close to Waikiki. That's why my videos are only of the North and East shores