Bonus will hopefully give new perspectives

[Digger_O'Dell]

Hi all,
I guess working tons of overtime sometimes pays off. In a couple weeks I'm expecting to get a bonus check for the quarter that should be pretty good. I also heard from another shift that has had their monthly safety meeting that I was the winner of our annual safety drawing prize for $500. Between the 2 windfalls I am planning to get some video equipment for use during detecting outings. I currently have toe GoPro Hero 4 Black edition (4K video) ordered along with a bag load of batteries, memory and accessories. I also now have a large drone with gimble on picked out and standby until the cash arrives.

I'm really looking forward to using the drone for scoping out areas that may be more difficult to access or may be a long hike to save time and effort. I think that for example it could save time when I am river hunting to scope out shoreline features and water depths. Another may be to check water conditions and look for evidence of the ghost town before making a long hike down a rugged, steep and treacherous bluff. It could also be used to video over woods to look for clearings or any other evidence of use before going bushwacking.

If anyone else has had experience with drones for this purpose I would love to hear back. Opinions anyone?

[chief5709]

Congrats on your bonus! I'm also waiting for one (mid February) but its going towards a kitchen floor.

Practice with that drone, takes some time to get proficient with it. Also, check the weight you may have to register it. Good Luck!

[Digger_O'Dell]

Yes, it will have to be registered. It's a heavyweight drone and very large, about 4 foot in diameter. Nice thing is it can go about 45 minutes plus with the stock battery, and much more with bigger batteries. (to a point) The only drawback is the price of batteries. They can go between about $200 to $900 each! (ouch)

Really looking forward to using the GPS plotter to plan routes and just let it fly on autopilot while I film or watch the FPV video feed

[MangoAve]

..I never heard of a drone with 45 min flight time. Wow. You don't have a YouTube channel yet, do you? Or is this all preparation for?

[Digger_O'Dell]

No youtube channel yet. I just received my GoPro Thursday evening and have only tried it out once when I took the lady to the Russian ballet on Friday, but haven't looked at the results yet. I just won an e-bay auction for a bigger battery and that in now on the way. That one should give me a good hour flight time. I also have hopes to build a hybrid gas/electric drone eventually which theoretically may give me up to 8 hours fly time if my math is correct. The anticipation is killing me, but one piece at a time!

Edit-I have seen a few detectorist videos on youtube using drone photography and it's pretty cool. If I'm not mistaken I think even the Silverslingers have used one from time to time.

[del]

looking toward seeing the videos when they are "all the pieces " are together !!

[KCFindIt]

Edit-I have seen a few detectorist videos on youtube using drone photography and it's pretty cool. If I'm not mistaken I think even the Silverslingers have used one from time to time.

I've seen a few episodes of "Diggers", and they are utilizing Drones now, too.

[Cheap Thrills]

Any Skeet shooters out there ?

[Digger_O'Dell]

Any Skeet shooters out there ?

That's just mean!

Already getting things on the list to try and put together an order. Need to upgrade the radio for long range control and telemetry (100 mile range on that unit). The video feed is tough though. They are typically very short range especially if there is anything in the way such as a tree. Have to lower the transmission frequency, but then I need a ham radio licence to stay legal. But then I can have long range video feed too for FPV (first person view) through the GoPro and see where I'm going and what I'm recording.

[Lodge Scent]

It's an amazing piece of machinery but to be honest I am not looking forward to the day when I am out in the woods detecting and enjoying the solitude only to have it disturbed by a drone hovering just above the tree tops. I also would be mighty tempted to do some skeet shooting . You need to develop a "stealth" version with a super zoom camera, that can fly silently at 500 feet......to avoid the skeet shooters

[Digger_O'Dell]

Since I mostly plan to use it to observe potential hunt sites not far from home I don't think I need to worry about getting shot down. I have isolated woods, lakes and river courses to fly over. Many of these places would be impractical to hike to just to see if they are worthy of lugging out MDing equipment. Some areas are really swampy or have limited access making for a very long hike. The old maps indicate there me have been activity 150 plus years ago in some of these areas, but later changes nearby also affected everything else such as blocking a creek creating a swamp.
Good news is its bought and on the way. I got a great deal and saved over $1200 on going price. I also have my FCC registration number and will go in for my ham license test end of Feb. By then I should have the long range radio and video equipment installed and working, which will allow full range use of the drone. Only limited by the drones range, but still should be able to run 10 to 15 miles out for aerial footage.