New 3DR pilots eh?

[dronecouple]

Hi everyone: My wife and I are new 3DR pilots in the Niagara Region of Ontario, Canada. Our main interest in flying the Solo is as a platform for still photos and videography. We took a 4 hour recreational UAV course at the Waterloo Wellington Flight Centre, and are familiar with Transport Canada regs. for drone operation. We are using a Go Pro Hero 4 black, Solo gimbal, and Master Airscrew props, and a total of 5 batteries. We are planning to purchase a trio of ND filters for the naked camera from PolarPro. We are very new at this as a hobby, and have put in about two hours of flight time so far, but with the camera turned off for starters. We are using a Samsung Galaxy Tab A with the Solo app.

We are working our way through the Solo users manual, which directed us Android users to obtain the 3DR Services app. So, I downloaded the 3DR Services app to the tablet, no problem. Do I need to use the Tower app, to enable Smart Shots, such as Cable Cam, Orbit, Selfie or Follow? It is listed within the 3DR Services app, but when I have attempted to install Tower, the response from Google Play is "Item Not Found." Hmmm ... So, my question is, do I need the Tower app to enable Smart Shots, when using an Android device? We are beginners at this fascinating hobby, and recognize as well that some of you in this community make a living with your drones. We look forward to any advice you folks can share with us.
One last thing. We plan to practice more flying and some basic videography over the next few weekends, as we plan to use it in the Azores (Portuguese islands) later in September. No pressure! LOL. Thanks everyone!

 

[Saijin_Naib]

Tower is more used for survey mission planning. You use the regular 3DR Solo app or Solex for smart shots and other cinematographic features.

 

[Maddog]

Welcome! Like Saijin said, you don’t need Tower to use smart shots, etc.

Make sure to post up some video from the Azores! Most of us in the lower 48 never make it to cool places like that.

 

[IrishmanPDX]

The smart shots are going to be a great help for videography. Learn to use the zipline and multipoint cable cam shots!

 

[dronecouple]

Tower is more used for survey mission planning. You use the regular 3DR Solo app or Solex for smart shots and other cinematographic features.

Thanks for your reply Saijin. Not using Tower means one less thing to learn.

 

[dronecouple]

Welcome! Like Saijin said, you don’t need Tower to use smart shots, etc.

Make sure to post up some video from the Azores! Most of us in the lower 48 never make it to cool places like that.

Thanks Maddox: For sure we will post some Azores video. This is a once in a lifetime trip for us.

 

[dronecouple]

The smart shots are going to be a great help for videography. Learn to use the zipline and multipoint cable cam shots!

Sounds like a plan Irishman! Thank you.

 

[Saijin_Naib]

Thanks for your reply Saijin. Not using Tower means one less thing to learn.

It's a nice GCS for monitoring telemetry and video, and caches map tiles for offline use. I would add it to your toolkit. I used it in the past when I was flying manually.

 

[timgilley]

Welcome to the forum. It's a great resource. Let us know of any special considerations when flying your drone in the Azores. Been thinking of going there myself.

 

[dronecouple]

It's a nice GCS for monitoring telemetry and video, and caches map tiles for offline use. I would add it to your toolkit. I used it in the past when I was flying manually.

Good to know. Thank you. We may get it loaded prior to our trip, but if not , then I will check it out after returning.

 

[dronecouple]

Welcome to the forum. It's a great resource. Let us know of any special considerations when flying your drone in the Azores. Been thinking of going there myself.

Thank you timgilley! We checked out drone permit requirements after watching a helpful You Tube video from a Dutch fellow named Peter. Portugal has a very user friendly drone website. In the Azores, you apply to their Civil Aviation Authority for permission to fly the drone. I received a call from Lisbon 2 weeks later saying I am good to go for the areas I stated I wanted to fly. For taking photo or video from the drone, I had to apply to the Portuguese Air Force for that permit. Nothing yet from them, so I am following up tomorrow. I will try to keep you posted.

 

[Craig L. Johnson - USMC]

I would like to see your videos when you get them ready.

 

[LuvMyTJ]

Hello,
It is a pleasure to welcome you to the 3DRPilots forum.
I hope that you will be able to use the forum to further your safety knowledge and for the exchange of innovative ideas and as a resource for current developments in 3DR quadcopters.
Enjoy!

 

[dronecouple]

Hello,
It is a pleasure to welcome you to the 3DRPilots forum.
I hope that you will be able to use the forum to further your safety knowledge and for the exchange of innovative ideas and as a resource for current developments in 3DR quadcopters.
Enjoy!

Thanks for the welcome!

 

[jdewitt_geographer]

Piggybacking on this post because it's the most recent one about 3dr services... is this app (3dr services) still needed to get the Tower app (now called Mission Maker for Ardupilot) to connect with the 3DR SOLO app? I can't find it in the Play store anymore, and I read another post that said it was no longer necessary with more recent versions of Android (?)