Australia Simpson Desert and Outback 1080 24fps. My first video.....newbie.. Hi.!!!

[Props McGavin]

Hi all, im glad to be in here with my fellow Autel Droners. The Evo is my first drone so while I can't compare it to anything as ive never flown anything else, I have to say that I am very happy with it

I filmed and edited this video in June 2019 and I purchased the drone for the purpose of this expedition. I have more footage from other places; one day ill find the time to edit something together. Editing is not something I find easy as im learning Final Cut Pro as I go. God bless youtube for the lessons to date.!!

This vid was filmed over 10 days and 5500km so many hours of driving. 3 day to get there, 4 daysin the Simpson and 3 days home again. We travelled up through the northern deserts of South Australia from Victoria and into the Simpson Desert which has over 1000 sand dunes to cross. It is very remote and one needs to have the right vehicle, knowledge and experience in outback survival. Its a very harsh, dangerous but also delicate environment. Do your research before you go and don't worry about the snakes too much, we only have 7 of the top 10 deadliest snakes in the world.....and drop bears

These featured deserts are some of my favourite parts of Australia and now that I have a drone, I hope to find time and money so I can travel to film more.

This little vid is titled "Desert Lines", Enjoy

 

[Nightbat2]

Hi all, im glad to be in here with my fellow Autel Droners. The Evo is my first drone so while I can't compare it to anything as ive never flown anything else, I have to say that I am very happy with it

I filmed and edited this video in June 2019 and I purchased the drone for the purpose of this expedition. I have more footage from other places; one day ill find the time to edit something together. Editing is not something I find easy as im learning Final Cut Pro as I go. God bless youtube for the lessons to date.!!

This vid was filmed over 10 days and 5500km so many hours of driving. 3 day to get there, 4 daysin the Simpson and 3 days home again. We travelled up through the northern deserts of South Australia from Victoria and into the Simpson Desert which has over 1000 sand dunes to cross. It is very remote and one needs to have the right vehicle, knowledge and experience in outback survival. Its a very harsh, dangerous but also delicate environment. Do your research before you go and don't worry about the snakes too much, we only have 7 of the top 10 deadliest snakes in the world.....and drop bears

These featured deserts are some of my favourite parts of Australia and now that I have a drone, I hope to find time and money so I can travel to film more.

This little vid is titled "Desert Lines", Enjoy

Nice video. Must have been an issue recharging sometimes. Don’t worry about the snakes—they can’t fly. And if you stay above 30 metres you’ll be above the dreaded droppies!

 

[Props McGavin]

Cheers thanks mate. I've got a decent plug into a lighter socket pure sine wave inverter that I charge all the gadgets with. When driving for most of the day, there's time to charge everything.

 

[Props McGavin]

Nice video. Must have been an issue recharging sometimes. Don’t worry about the snakes—they can’t fly. And if you stay above 30 metres you’ll be above the dreaded droppies!

And those angry little droppies, they went the drone one day when I was flying down low in the danger zone (sub 30 metres as you say). The evo bit back and he took off into the darkness but it was a close call.

 

[Nightbat2]

And those angry little droppies, they went the drone one day when I was flying down low in the danger zone (sub 30 metres as you say). The evo bit back and he took off into the darkness but it was a close call.

I find the best protection is a witch’s hat.

 

[butch]

I find the best protection is a witch’s hat.

What is a droppie?
I know what a witch's hat is, known a few witches in my day...

 

[Nightbat2]

What is a droppie?
I know what a witch's hat is, known a few witches in my day...

A small bear like creature with nasty claws and fangs that allegedly drops out of trees onto the heads of unsuspecting Bush walkers, usually tourists. The point of the hat makes them think twice

 

[butch]

Thanks Nightbat2, I will borrow a hat from someone I know very well next time I'm in the Outback.

 

[Trox]

And if you stay above 30 metres you’ll be above the dreaded droppies!

I suspect the droppies being at 30 meters or less is a insider's reference to the maximum height of your eucalyptus trees?

Cheers thanks mate. I've got a decent plug into a lighter socket pure sine wave inverter that I charge all the gadgets with. When driving for most of the day, there's time to charge everything.

I too have a 400 watt inverter in the 12vdc accessory socket for using the AC wall charger while on the road and prefer that over the Autel 12vdc vehicle charger that plugs into the dashboard socket. The reason being is the specs on the DC vehicle charger requires 14vdc Input which is fine while the engine is running. But we all know that as soon as you shut off the engine the vehicle battery drops to its static level which can be from 12.5vdc to 13.3vdc. As the vehicle battery voltage drops with the engine off during drone battery recharging the DC charger can shut off because of the low voltage safe guard before your drone battery and RC are fully charged. If that happens you should disconnect the socket plug from the vehicle before restarting the engine as the surge of the voltage spike might damage the DC charger or perhaps the drone battery. That same precautionary measure is advised too for the Inverter when starting the vehicle if you have chargers or accessories connected to it.

I've measured the AC wattage the wall charger uses when connecting the RC controller plus a low battery and it only pulls 59 watts AC at the start and slowly decreases as the batteries are charging. So you could hook up a number of AC chargers to even a $20 200 watt inverter and never run out of battery power on a field excursion.

A small bear like creature with nasty claws and fangs that allegedly drops out of trees onto the heads of unsuspecting Bush walkers, usually tourists. The point of the hat makes them think twice

Sounds like an arboreal cross between a wombat, Tasmanian devil and a koala! ?

Since I'm engaged in chatting, I assume Australia has national and state parks and reserves scattered about. What are your drone restrictions for flying in those categories of area? Here in USA all national (federal) parks, monuments, and federal wildlife refuges are 100% No Fly Zones. Some states like Californika also have No Fly restrictions on some state properties and facilities. Some day I'd consider another visit to the Land of Oz since the drone adds an incredible dimension to vacations now but not if restrictions are so bad I'm better off looking at Google Earth images and vacationing vicariously.

 

[Nightbat2]

I suspect the droppies being at 30 meters or less is a insider's reference to the maximum height of your eucalyptus trees?


I too have a 400 watt inverter in the 12vdc accessory socket for using the AC wall charger while on the road and prefer that over the Autel 12vdc vehicle charger that plugs into the dashboard socket. The reason being is the specs on the DC vehicle charger requires 14vdc Input which is fine while the engine is running. But we all know that as soon as you shut off the engine the vehicle battery drops to its static level which can be from 12.5vdc to 13.3vdc. As the vehicle battery voltage drops with the engine off during drone battery recharging the DC charger can shut off because of the low voltage safe guard before your drone battery and RC are fully charged. If that happens you should disconnect the socket plug from the vehicle before restarting the engine as the surge of the voltage spike might damage the DC charger or perhaps the drone battery. That same precautionary measure is advised too for the Inverter when starting the vehicle if you have chargers or accessories connected to it.

I've measured the AC wattage the wall charger uses when connecting the RC controller plus a low battery and it only pulls 59 watts AC at the start and slowly decreases as the batteries are charging. So you could hook up a number of AC chargers to even a $20 200 watt inverter and never run out of battery power on a field excursion.


Sounds like an arboreal cross between a wombat, Tasmanian devil and a koala! ?

Since I'm engaged in chatting, I assume Australia has national and state parks and reserves scattered about. What are your drone restrictions for flying in those categories of area? Here in USA all national (federal) parks, monuments, and federal wildlife refuges are 100% No Fly Zones. Some states like Californika also have No Fly restrictions on some state properties and facilities. Some day I'd consider another visit to the Land of Oz since the drone adds an incredible dimension to vacations now but not if restrictions are so bad I'm better off looking at Google Earth images and vacationing vicariously.

Don’t worry about the droppies. Now, National Parks. We have lots of them. The managing authorities will tell you that drones are not allowed. The truth is that whilst they can stop you launching or landing in the parks, it is not illegal to fly over them. The air space is managed by our aviation authority, CASA (similar to your FAA).

 

[Trox]

@Nightbat2
@Props McGavin

You probably are aware of this as I am sure its top news down under, but October 25th, 2019 will be the last day you can climb Uluru before the ban goes into effect the next day. Its a shame that such a "modern day pilgrimage" is not recognized as well as the aboriginal concerns. But I can see the point from the impacts that the climbing practice has on the environment and the rock itself.

Uluru Off Limits To Climbers

We have similar "conflicts" of land use here in Alaska. Perhaps the park managers should consider a "window of opportunity" that for brief periods throughout the year the rock WILL be open for ascending.
We have something along that line for Denali National Park where at the end of tourism season when the tour buses and facilities will close for the season, they have a lottery drawing which will allow four days of private vehicle passage all the way to the end of the 92 mile long park road for the lucky winners. One of the four days is even dedicated to military personnel winners only. Perhaps you could suggest such an allowance to the park managers as a way to continue the "tradition" on a limited scale which would limit the negative impacts daily climbing has produced.

Don’t worry about the droppies. Now, National Parks. We have lots of them. The managing authorities will tell you that drones are not allowed. The truth is that whilst they can stop you launching or landing in the parks, it is not illegal to fly over them. The air space is managed by our aviation authority, CASA (similar to your FAA).

It is interesting that our two park managers have similarities with respect to Fly OVERS but not from within the parks. Even our National Park Service web pages clearly state you cannot take off or land from/on Park lands. But they follow that with a statement that says "we have no jurisdiction over drone flying from outside the boundaries" which infers ingress over park lands from outside is, as you point out for Oz, controlled by the aviation administration. Afterall, commercial tourism plane and helicopter flights in park air space has been allowed forever, with the proper permitting of course.

They are probably realists at this point...recognizing that the very limited flight times of present day drones would not allow a pilot to fly very far into a park air space before needing to return home. I can guarantee that as technology develops battery packs that will allow a drone like EVO to fly 45 minutes or longer, those laws are going to change too. The best "parts" of national parks do not usually begin at the boundary line so the air space contamination factor on 25 minute round trips is minimal for now. In the future that is going to change.

 

[Nightbat2]

@Nightbat2
@Props McGavin

You probably are aware of this as I am sure its top news down under, but October 25th, 2019 will be the last day you can climb Uluru before the ban goes into effect the next day. Its a shame that such a "modern day pilgrimage" is not recognized as well as the aboriginal concerns. But I can see the point from the impacts that the climbing practice has on the environment and the rock itself.

Uluru Off Limits To Climbers

We have similar "conflicts" of land use here in Alaska. Perhaps the park managers should consider a "window of opportunity" that for brief periods throughout the year the rock WILL be open for ascending.
We have something along that line for Denali National Park where at the end of tourism season when the tour buses and facilities will close for the season, they have a lottery drawing which will allow four days of private vehicle passage all the way to the end of the 92 mile long park road for the lucky winners. One of the four days is even dedicated to military personnel winners only. Perhaps you could suggest such an allowance to the park managers as a way to continue the "tradition" on a limited scale which would limit the negative impacts daily climbing has produced.

View attachment 5305


It is interesting that our two park managers have similarities with respect to Fly OVERS but not from within the parks. Even our National Park Service web pages clearly state you cannot take off or land from/on Park lands. But they follow that with a statement that says "we have no jurisdiction over drone flying from outside the boundaries" which infers ingress over park lands from outside is, as you point out for Oz, controlled by the aviation administration. Afterall, commercial tourism plane and helicopter flights in park air space has been allowed forever, with the proper permitting of course.

They are probably realists at this point...recognizing that the very limited flight times of present day drones would not allow a pilot to fly very far into a park air space before needing to return home. I can guarantee that as technology develops battery packs that will allow a drone like EVO to fly 45 minutes or longer, those laws are going to change too. The best "parts" of national parks do not usually begin at the boundary line so the air space contamination factor on 25 minute round trips is minimal for now. In the future that is going to change.

Before moving north, I lived in a city within a national park (Blue Mountains). Plenty of great views around the edges and some fantastic walks. Plenty of general aviation overhead—mostly choppers being used by the power authorities to check their lines, and the police or other emergency services checking or looking for something or other. There was a rumour one year that the local council was planning to use a helicopter to check that people had fences around their backyard swimming pools—but I don’t know if anything eventuated. Given the number of local government authorities who are getting employees trained where I was trained to fly drones, won’t be long before some bright spark local government authority does, I reckon.

 

[Props McGavin]

I suspect the droppies being at 30 meters or less is a insider's reference to the maximum height of your eucalyptus trees?


I too have a 400 watt inverter in the 12vdc accessory socket for using the AC wall charger while on the road and prefer that over the Autel 12vdc vehicle charger that plugs into the dashboard socket. The reason being is the specs on the DC vehicle charger requires 14vdc Input which is fine while the engine is running. But we all know that as soon as you shut off the engine the vehicle battery drops to its static level which can be from 12.5vdc to 13.3vdc. As the vehicle battery voltage drops with the engine off during drone battery recharging the DC charger can shut off because of the low voltage safe guard before your drone battery and RC are fully charged. If that happens you should disconnect the socket plug from the vehicle before restarting the engine as the surge of the voltage spike might damage the DC charger or perhaps the drone battery. That same precautionary measure is advised too for the Inverter when starting the vehicle if you have chargers or accessories connected to it.

I've measured the AC wattage the wall charger uses when connecting the RC controller plus a low battery and it only pulls 59 watts AC at the start and slowly decreases as the batteries are charging. So you could hook up a number of AC chargers to even a $20 200 watt inverter and never run out of battery power on a field excursion.


Sounds like an arboreal cross between a wombat, Tasmanian devil and a koala! ?

Since I'm engaged in chatting, I assume Australia has national and state parks and reserves scattered about. What are your drone restrictions for flying in those categories of area? Here in USA all national (federal) parks, monuments, and federal wildlife refuges are 100% No Fly Zones. Some states like Californika also have No Fly restrictions on some state properties and facilities. Some day I'd consider another visit to the Land of Oz since the drone adds an incredible dimension to vacations now but not if restrictions are so bad I'm better off looking at Google Earth images and vacationing vicariously.

It’s not really appropriate to go into the 30 metre rule on drop bears on a public forum as our tourism board advises against talking about them for obvious reasons.

,,,,subject change .....

I’ve got 2 inverters I use for travelling. 1 is a cigarette lighter socket 180w and the other is a 350w hard wired to deep cycle batteries charged by solar. I find if my ageing solar batteries are getting under 12.6ish, the 350 refuses to work but the 180 is happy running all day, solar or car battery wether driving or not. I’ve also found that if I stick to good quality “pure sine” inverters, I’ve never had any battery issues on laptops, tablets, camera batteries, go pro, etc etc. usually cost about $1AUD per watt. I’ve had good longevity from Victron.

You would find the national park situations similar in that you will find enforced rules in the major and popular parks and zero to no enforcement in quieter areas.

 

[Props McGavin]

@Nightbat2
@Props McGavin

You probably are aware of this as I am sure its top news down under, but October 25th, 2019 will be the last day you can climb Uluru before the ban goes into effect the next day. Its a shame that such a "modern day pilgrimage" is not recognized as well as the aboriginal concerns. But I can see the point from the impacts that the climbing practice has on the environment and the rock itself.

Uluru Off Limits To Climbers

We have similar "conflicts" of land use here in Alaska. Perhaps the park managers should consider a "window of opportunity" that for brief periods throughout the year the rock WILL be open for ascending.
We have something along that line for Denali National Park where at the end of tourism season when the tour buses and facilities will close for the season, they have a lottery drawing which will allow four days of private vehicle passage all the way to the end of the 92 mile long park road for the lucky winners. One of the four days is even dedicated to military personnel winners only. Perhaps you could suggest such an allowance to the park managers as a way to continue the "tradition" on a limited scale which would limit the negative impacts daily climbing has produced.

View attachment 5305


It is interesting that our two park managers have similarities with respect to Fly OVERS but not from within the parks. Even our National Park Service web pages clearly state you cannot take off or land from/on Park lands. But they follow that with a statement that says "we have no jurisdiction over drone flying from outside the boundaries" which infers ingress over park lands from outside is, as you point out for Oz, controlled by the aviation administration. Afterall, commercial tourism plane and helicopter flights in park air space has been allowed forever, with the proper permitting of course.

They are probably realists at this point...recognizing that the very limited flight times of present day drones would not allow a pilot to fly very far into a park air space before needing to return home. I can guarantee that as technology develops battery packs that will allow a drone like EVO to fly 45 minutes or longer, those laws are going to change too. The best "parts" of national parks do not usually begin at the boundary line so the air space contamination factor on 25 minute round trips is minimal for now. In the future that is going to change.

Regarding Uluru, I’m ok for the aboriginals to shut down the climb. It seems simple to me as it’s a highly sacred place to the Anangu people. Sacred is simply that, it’s sacred. They have always allowed it to be climbed but kindly and gently requested that you don’t. If I found someone stomping all over my grandparents grave, which I personally consider sacred, I’d be fairly pissed off.

Why do we always feel the need we have to climb on top of everything? That I’d never quite understood but now I have a drone I do enjoy a good view from up top !!!

 

[DanielC]

Hi all, im glad to be in here with my fellow Autel Droners. The Evo is my first drone so while I can't compare it to anything as ive never flown anything else, I have to say that I am very happy with it

I filmed and edited this video in June 2019 and I purchased the drone for the purpose of this expedition. I have more footage from other places; one day ill find the time to edit something together. Editing is not something I find easy as im learning Final Cut Pro as I go. God bless youtube for the lessons to date.!!

This vid was filmed over 10 days and 5500km so many hours of driving. 3 day to get there, 4 daysin the Simpson and 3 days home again. We travelled up through the northern deserts of South Australia from Victoria and into the Simpson Desert which has over 1000 sand dunes to cross. It is very remote and one needs to have the right vehicle, knowledge and experience in outback survival. Its a very harsh, dangerous but also delicate environment. Do your research before you go and don't worry about the snakes too much, we only have 7 of the top 10 deadliest snakes in the world.....and drop bears

These featured deserts are some of my favourite parts of Australia and now that I have a drone, I hope to find time and money so I can travel to film more.

This little vid is titled "Desert Lines", Enjoy

Mars has nothing on good old planet earth. Thanks for sharing. What an array of landscapes; beautiful and terrifying all at once. I see lines in the desert.

 

[butch]

I must say that for your first video it is fantastic. Beautiful country there.

 

[Props McGavin]

I must say that for your first video it is fantastic. Beautiful country there.

Cheers Butch. It takes a bit of effort to get out into these remote parts but yes, as you say, beautiful country.