Eachine FPV Summer Awaits
After a bit of a hiatus it is nice to be able to start up the blog again. The school year is a hectic time for a teacher, students, and parents. As the father of an 8 year old and a teacher who is married to a teacher time flies when that first bell starts to ring again. Since my last post another year of flying drones with students during summer school is in the books. We made some pretty amazing FPV videos of our tracks and racing (Coming Soon) and filmed a video for the Cheerios Good Goes Around Campaign which is featured below.
Our journey into FPV Flight took a step forward this past summer with the introduction of our Eachine Tiny Whoop racers. Six drones, thirty batteries, and twenty kids descended upon the classroom and have an amazing time crashing our way through our custom FPV courses. Students worked with the drones, cameras, and video editing software to create unique digital memories. The video above is a compilation of our two classes which taught students the importance of indoor and outdoor flight safety, drone maintenance, and video creation.
Next on the list of googles to order are the Aomway V2's. At a higher price point then the Eachine EV100 I am hesitant to purchase until I find a major fault in the EV100's. There is a link attached to all the products you see for comparison purposes. Unfortunately, Blizzard Evelyn just pounded us with 23.5 inches of snow so I am grounded for a while until spring actually kicks in.
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After scouring the web and reading many reviews, watching some of my favorite and most trusted fellow YouTube contributors, and looking at pricing options I was finally able to fly the DJI Spark to form my own opinion of the next wave of drone/quadcopter technology. The Spark comes with a full list of pros and cons which we will discuss later in this post. The first thing I need to do is give a giant Thank You to Sean Bowers of Creative Edge Productions for coming in and speaking to my students and I about the amazing work he is doing in the film industry and how drones are continuing to revolutionize what he is doing. If you have a moment check out their site : http://creativeedgepro.com/ for more information.
If you are considering picking up the Spark check out Banggood for some amazing deals! The Spark and tons of accessories are available if you follow the links below.
DJI Spark Quadcopter: 2KM FPV with 12MP 2-Axis mechanical gimbal and camera equipped with quick shot gesture mode. This hand sized brushless quad makes every moment last with hand gesture control and facial recognition software that will take your selfies/Droneies to the next level.
Link can be found HERE
11.4 Volt 3S 1480mAh Original intelligent flight battery: The sparks intelligent flight battery enables 16 minutes of flight on a single charge. Spark uses a high energy density LiPo battery for optimal performance. Sparks battery estimates remaining flight time letting you know when to land in real time.
Link can be found HERE
Phone Holder: No controller with your Spark? No Problem! This ergonomic controller style phone holder makes piloting your spark via the app a breeze.
Link can be found HERE
Soft Water Proof Carrying Case: When traveling to your destination with your Spark and extra's it is nice to have an easy to carry case. This soft case makes transporting your spark a breeze.
Link can be found HERE
Hard Shell Water Proof Case: Sometimes you need a little extra protection when you are transporting your Spark. This hard shell case will give you the added protection a standard soft case will not all while allowing you to transport your Spark essentials.
Link can be found HERE
Drone Skins: By far one of the most frustrating parts of the Sparks release have been the lack of availability in any color other than Alpine White. These high quality custom cut skins solve that problem by letting you customize your Sparks appearance as often as you like.
Link can be found HERE The Good-The Bad-And The Is This Thing On?
Lets start with the Cons of the Spark. For an entry level selfie drone we can carry with us everywhere to capture life's fleeting moments it is still around $500 for the base model without controller. If you want to operate it like a traditional drone you will be paying closer to $650 with some really nice fly more packages available. Secondly it struggles to recognize your face in bright lighting and when you have obstructions on such as sun glasses, hats, etc... The last con can be fixed by simply putting your back to the sun and taking off your hat so it is not a big deal to me. Thirdly you really need to have the app pulled up to see what you are going to get in your image. I tried to take around 10 shots and ended up with 3. This to can be helped by better understanding how to form your hands to get the drone to take an image which of course will need to be practiced.
Now to the Pros of the Spark. First and foremost you are flying it Jedi style with your hands....enough said. This $500 dollar piece of equipment is using facial recognition software and hand gestures to fly around you and capture images.
Seriously, that is one of the coolest drone features yet. Secondly it is a DJI product so it is backed up with amazing tech support, firmware updates, constant improvement of the product, and is a rugged and durable drone. Thirdly the Spark was able to switch between operators mid flight making sharing the flight experience easy which allows a more comfortable pilot to deal with the take off and landing procedures. By eliminating the contact with the drone younger pilots in training can experience the technology with the risk of getting hurt. The fourth and last Pro we will discuss is the drones ease of use both indoors and outdoors. I have attached a short demo video on Guest Speaker Sean Bowers operating the Spark in my classroom during his visit. The Spark had the students in awe as he maneuvered it around the room taking images.
After much research and debate I purchased the Autel X Star Premium instead of the DJI Phantom 4 Pro, and here is why. For the price the Autel X Star Premium is unbeatable! At $799.00 for the Drone, 1 battery, an extremely durable hard carry case with an amazing cutout inside, the controller, an Autel remote lanyard, two complete sets of props, a 64G MicroSD Card with reader, and most importantly a 4K camera and fully functional App (StarLink), it is a steal. Now I will not pretend that the X Star is a replacement for the Phantom 4/Advanced or the Phantom 4 Pro. I will however contest that for the price ($1499.00) the features you get from the DJI brand don't justify the cost in my eyes. If you are a hardcore DJI Fan you are bound to disagree and rightfully so as the Phantom is an amazing machine. However, you must also concede that Autel is bringing its A Game with the X Star Premium. Below are three pics using the x Star Premiums camera straight out of the box and in different light settings.
Why choose an X Star Premium?
The X-Star’s camera is ready to fly out of the box, so that any pilot can capture stunning aerial imagery. The camera is custom built with the highest quality optical glass to deliver crisp, rich color every time. Beautiful color profiles and custom camera settings create a unique experience for every environment.
Every X-Star Premium arrives in a splash-proof, zippered carrying case with a shock-absorbent foam interior and additional space to keep up to six batteries, your manuals, charger, extra props, remote, and even your devices.
The X-Star Premium intelligent battery allows up to 25 minutes of flight time per battery and has built-in technology to ensure longevity.
Out of the box, the X-Star Premium has two customizable battery failsafes. Preset to 25% battery, the low battery failsafe will return the X-Star Premium to its home point. The critical low battery failsafe, preset to 10% power remaining, will automatically land the X-Star Premium at its current location.
A Full List of Technical Specs can be found HERE. The before mentioned information can also be found on Autel's website along with purchasing options.
RTF: stands for Ready-to-Fly and it means the model you are buying comes complete with everything you need to get started straight from the box! Pictured: Floureon Racer 250 BNF: stands for Bind-N-Fly. Bind-N-Fly products come with everything you need except for a transmitter. Pictured: Walkera Rodeo 150 PNF: stands for "Plug And Fly". PNF kits come with everything except the transmitter, receiver and the battery. These kits tend to be cheaper then BNF kits and they will require a little more knowledge to assemble. Pictured:Floureon QX80 80mm ARF: stands for "Almost Ready To Fly". This means the model needs some additional "need to complete" items before you can start flying. Common additional items include servo's, motor, electronics, batteries and even glue. Pictured: JJRC JJPRO - P175
If you are interested in getting into the world of FPV racing but don't want to spend a ton of money starting out there are other options available in the RTF world. Items like the JJRC X1 and XK X251 Whirlwind can easily be equipped with FPV cameras and will hold their own in comparison to some of the other drones on this list. For a listing of some other affordable options follow this link.
It finally happened after a month of ownership, I relaxed a little and crashed my FreeX. In retrospect I should have known better then to attempt the flight but the temptation of a great location far from people and a clear view of the fireworks on the 4th proved to be to much. I lifted off and reached an elevation of around 50 meters when the drone started to act funny and became unresponsive.
My flight location was just outside of Bodule Wisconsin on a hill in farm country. The smaller fireworks show put on by a little town in Wisconsin is accompanied with the piece and quiet of enjoying the show without anyone else around aside from the people you invite. It was a great trade off, a little less boom and a lot less blah from the thousands of people crammed into downtown Green Bay.
After the crash I tried to balance my props and clean them up so I could take a short test flight and assess any other damage that may have occurred. The video shows the angle of the gimbal and the need to fix it. Once I remove the gimbal and repair the anodized aluminum I plan to install some Moon Gel to test the theory that it will dampen any motor vibration and reduce jello wobble.
U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration Advisory Circular Subject
Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) Date: 6/21/16 AC No: 107-2 Initiated by: AFS-800 Change: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is amending its regulations to adopt specific rules for the operation of small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) in the National Airspace System (NAS) through a final rule. These changes address the classification of sUAS, certification of sUAS remote pilots, and sUAS operational limitations. This advisory circular (AC) provides guidance for conducting sUAS operations in the NAS in accordance with Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) part 107. /s/ John S. Duncan Director, Flight Standards Service
The NEW Small UAS Rule (Part 107), including all pilot and operating rules, will be effective in August 29, 2016. For more detailed information, please see: Summary of the Small UAS Rule
If you would like more information and would like to read the complete text please follow this link:
Complete Text of the Small UAS Rule
Closing Thoughts:
So what does this mean for you? There are now clearly defined remote Pilot in Command Certification and Responsibilities requirements. Here are the two ways to obtain the certification.
Until international standards are developed, foreign- certificated UAS pilots will be required to obtain an FAA issued remote pilot certificate with a small UAS rating.
Click the hyperlinks to be redirected to the full aritcle
FAA Releases Drone Registration Location Data
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today posted a large database showing the city, state and zip code of each registered drone owner. Release of the database responds to a number of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests submitted since the new unmanned aircraft registration system began operating on December 21, 2015. The FAA is not posting the names and street addresses of registered owners because the data is exempt from disclosure under a FOIA exemption that protects information in agency files from a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
DOT and FAA Finalize Rules for Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems
Regulations will create new opportunities for business and government to use drones. WASHINGTON – Today, the Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration has finalized the first operational rules (PDF) for routine commercial use of small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS or “drones”), opening pathways towards fully integrating UAS into the nation’s airspace. These new regulations work to harness new innovations safely, to spur job growth, advance critical scientific research and save lives.
FAA Expands Drone Detection Pathfinder Initiative
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is expanding the part of its Pathfinder Program that focuses on detecting and identifying unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) flying too close to airports. Today the FAA signed Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRDAs) with Gryphon Sensors, Liteye Systems Inc. and Sensofusion. The FAA will evaluate procedures and technologies designed to identify unauthorized UAS operations in and around airports. This research effort, part of the FAA’s Pathfinder Initiative, addresses one of the significant challenges to safe integration of UAS into the nation’s airspace.
FAA Tests FBI Drone Detection System at JFKThe FAA and its government partners are expanding research on ways to detect “rogue” drones around airports.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and its government, industry and academia partners have joined forces to evaluate drone detection technology at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York. |
AuthorI am an Art and AVID teacher in the Green Bay Area. My love of Teaching, Art, and Exploration takes me down many paths. Each path is a new journey along the road of life and is full of obstacles and triumphs with each having their place in the formation of our characters. Archives |