Today's adventures....

z3r01 · Aug 25, 2015

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--because people are lazy to read, i am re-editing......
1) ranger confused said i couldnt fly drone in park
2) police officer arrived and told confused ranger i could fly but not in playground, only in open field and parking lot
3)i fly drone to test "follow me" feature

(had to dumb it down for some of the confused........)

So I went back to another field. When I started to fly and initiated the follow me features, it was following me perfectly for about a minute then it lost signal and return to home. I drove back and found it perfectly landed right where it took off.

Michael Stevenson · Aug 25, 2015

Were you doing follow me in your car?

Psywarrior · Aug 25, 2015

Sorry, but are wrong. You are confusing airplane/helicopter with fixed wing/ROTARY WING airplanes. Also, you tried to play technicality instead of accepting the intent of the law which is no RC aircraft in the park. Your responses make us look bad as a group. You should have accepted what he said and recommended a sign at the entrance to the park to make patrons aware of the rule.

z3r01 · Aug 25, 2015

Psywarrior said:
Sorry, but are wrong. You are confusing airplane/helicopter with fixed wing/ROTARY WING airplanes. Also, you tried to play technicality instead of accepting the intent of the law which is no RC aircraft in the park. Your responses make us look bad as a group. You should have accepted what he said and recommended a sign at the entrance to the park to make patrons aware of the rule.

Actually no, the officer came by and explained the difference to the ranger which was an older man....he said that I was allowed to fly the drone which I did and the ranger also apologized. ...they have drone races there every Sunday with nothing but FPV googles which is why I went there to the park...so im not making any one loOK as bad as you bashing me

z3r01 · Aug 25, 2015

Michael Stevenson said:
Were you doing follow me in your car?

A trail lol I will upload the video

JonW · Aug 25, 2015

Generally, I would say quads are illegal to fly in any park that would have a ranger. They are banned in all national parks. Here in Colorado they are banned in all state parks. They are banned in all Denver parks as well as the parks and open spaces of many counties. If your park has drone races then maybe it is an exception but if the rules say model aircraft then that includes quads. currently my small town has no restrictions in its parks, but I'm sure it's coming at some point in the future.

erikgraham · Aug 25, 2015

Setting aside your adventure, regarding the follow me, did you maintain line of sight between the controller antenna and the Solo. If you lost signal it would return to launch, as I'm sure you already know. With other 3DR drones you can connect an antenna directly to your smartphone. That's easier to handle and mount or position somewhere where it will keep the connection.

z3r01 · Aug 25, 2015

erikgraham said:
Setting aside your adventure, regarding the follow me, did you maintain line of sight between the controller antenna and the Solo. If you lost signal it would return to launch, as I'm sure you already know. With other 3DR drones you can connect an antenna directly to your smartphone. That's easier to handle and mount or position somewhere where it will keep the connection.

i had it hover over me with my sunroof open, i think the problem was the speed of the drone was slow. i was only going 30 mph

z3r01 · Aug 25, 2015

JonW said:
Generally, I would say quads are illegal to fly in any park that would have a ranger. They are banned in all national parks. Here in Colorado they are banned in all state parks. They are banned in all Denver parks as well as the parks and open spaces of many counties. If your park has drone races then maybe it is an exception but if the rules say model aircraft then that includes quads. currently my small town has no restrictions in its parks, but I'm sure it's coming at some point in the future.

i actually looked it up now and asked the ranger force where i live, they have a sign up that says this but only for the playground...which i truly understand and have no problem with...i was in the parking lot

GoodnNuff · Aug 25, 2015

z3r01 said:
So I wanted to test out the follow me features of the drone. Arriving in the park in setting up a park ranger walked up to me and advised me that I couldn't fly. I said this is public grounds and he said this is public and private which made no sense. I asked him to read me the ordinance and it stated the use of motorized or non-motorized airplanes cars and boats is prohibited. And then implied that this is not an airplane but it is an aircraft and your ordinance does not specify anything about aircraft just airplanes. I also told them that this is a multi rotor quadcopter not an airplane. The political term for airplane would mean anything other than a helicopter. To not cause any more trouble although he knew I was right I left the park and went to another park I also spoke with an officer who stated anything over 350 feet is that controls are governed by any parks or private property and is regulated by FAA.

So I went back to another field. When I started to fly and initiated the follow me features, it was following me perfectly for about a minute then it lost signal and return to home. I drove back and found it perfectly landed right where it took off.

You argued the intent of the law, then drove your car with the drone in follow me?

SMH

z3r01 · Aug 25, 2015

GoodnNuff said:
You argued the intent of the law, then drove your car with the drone in follow me?

SMH

read what i wrote....then re-read it before sounded like that other guy....i stated that i spoke with an officer (police) who corrected the confused ranger....i couldnt fly in a "playground" but i wasnt in a playground, i was in the parking lot.....

Michael Stevenson · Aug 25, 2015

Now Boys.

erikgraham · Aug 26, 2015

z3r01 said:
i had it hover over me with my sunroof open, i think the problem was the speed of the drone was slow. i was only going 30 mph

Were you holding the controller up through the sun roof? There should be no obstructions between the antenna and the Solo. Nothing. Not the roof of your car, not glass, not your arm or part of your body. Clear line of site.

And if the Solo is directly above you, then be aware of what angle your antennas are pointed. Your already in a weak visibility spot for the solo when you are directly below it, so it's extra important to angle your antennas properly.

While previous 3dr drones were a little more forgiving, these Solo use 2.4ghz and so you need to be more careful about the line of site and angle of antennas.

Psywarrior · Aug 26, 2015

z3r01 said:
Actually no, the officer came by and explained the difference to the ranger which was an older man....he said that I was allowed to fly the drone which I did and the ranger also apologized. ...they have drone races there every Sunday with nothing but FPV googles which is why I went there to the park...so im not making any one loOK as bad as you bashing me

So you say you left the first park after arguing with the ranger, then get chased from another park and finally fly at the third. When called on your behavior, you change the story. I didn't realize Hillary Clinton was on this board.

z3r01 · Aug 26, 2015

no story changed..i was in the same park , just another part of it......didnt know trump was on this board

z3r01 · Aug 26, 2015

erikgraham said:
Were you holding the controller up through the sun roof? There should be no obstructions between the antenna and the Solo. Nothing. Not the roof of your car, not glass, not your arm or part of your body. Clear line of site.

And if the Solo is directly above you, then be aware of what angle your antennas are pointed. Your already in a weak visibility spot for the solo when you are directly below it, so it's extra important to angle your antennas properly.

While previous 3dr drones were a little more forgiving, these Solo use 2.4ghz and so you need to be more careful about the line of site and angle of antennas.

it was in my lap

erikgraham · Aug 26, 2015

z3r01 said:
it was in my lap

Well there you have it. In your lap means that your own body (and probably the roof and other parts of your car) blocked the signal... and that the orientation of the antennas was probably off (ie don't point antennas at drone, keep perpendicular, etc, etc).

z3r01 · Aug 26, 2015

erikgraham said:
Well there you have it. In your lap means that your own body (and probably the roof and other parts of your car) blocked the signal... and that the orientation of the antennas was probably off (ie don't point antennas at drone, keep perpendicular, etc, etc).

i had the antennas pointing down like 3DR suggested

but yea im gonna try again tomorrow

z3r01 · Aug 26, 2015

i have an obsession with trains

erikgraham · Aug 26, 2015

z3r01 said:
i had the antennas pointing down like 3DR suggested but yea im gonna try again tomorrow

The reason they have you point them down is because they transmit out of the sides of the antenna. So normally when the Solo is down range (ie not right above you) then it will have a good connection.

Similarly, the antennas on the drone (which are in the legs) also transmit and receive from the sides.

So if the Solo is directly above you, you are effectively sitting in its "cone of silence" and will have a weak connection. So in that case, you really want to make sure the antennas on your controller are angled in such a way to maximize your signal strength. That angle is perpendicular (90degrees) relative to an imaginary line between the controller and the solo.

You also want to make sure there are absolutely no objects blocking the signal.

Hope that makes sense.