Distance anxiety

[redleger]

After a search for this I didn't find a thread so here's the situation. I am logging hours every day, taking photos and videos to practice my skills. Not just piloting skills but photography skills. Where I live, legal flying areas are limited so I've hit the same spots several times. I've been venturing further away (still in LOS) to get different angles and subjects. Much of these are over water. There's an island in the middle of my favorite lake here that is 2k feet away from the shore. I really want to get some shots of it, but every time I start to get past 1500feet, I get this crazy anxiety since I'm over water. I've never had a failure and never had a long break in signal.

So the question is: What is the distance you fly away before you start losing your warm and fuzzy? I know people break LOS all the time and push the distance limit. When does confidence start to come? I'm not well off enough to replace the drone if it goes away. Tips of tricks to give some security?

Drone in question is Evo 2 Pro v2.

 

[Limewood]

The really unique shots (not necessarily good shots) often require a bit of risk. I frequently fly my EVO that distance over water in Florida. It should return home if you lose signal. I’ve only had it happen once where the drone got behind a bridge, but it did what it was supposed to do. I’ve have lot faith in my old V1.

 

[redleger]

The really unique shots (not necessarily good shots) often require a bit of risk. I frequently fly my EVO that distance over water in Florida. It should return home if you lose signal. I’ve only had it happen once where the drone got behind a bridge, but it did what it was supposed to do. I’ve have lot faith in my old V1.

That's how I was thinking until I did it. I probably just have to put my big boy pants on.

 

[Limewood]

There are many things that can pucker your cheeks. I was flying a “mission” in a rail yard last week. Seems I underestimated the height of a bridge by a few feet. My heart made an appearance in my throat when the OA alarms went off. But it did what it was supposed to do and stopped. I simply canceled the mission and took over manual control. The first few water flights are always nail biters until you gain some trust in it.

 

[kenautelevo2pro]

There are two main ways to slowly get over your range anxiety. First, I would practice by starting out small (1000 feet) in a wide open area or field where you cannot lose the drone and use the RTH function a few times. This includes shutting off the controller and disconnecting the signal to simulate the drone going out of range. You can increase the distance until you are comfortable going into the miles or two away. If you do this in the late evening or at night and you put strobe lights on your drone, you will be able to see it pretty much no matter how far you take the drone as long as you are in the wide open space.

Second, where I find the greatest amount of comfort is getting some sort of insurance like Autel Care. In the event you crash or lose your drone in teh water or flyaway, you are covered and at least you don't have to pay full price to get a replacement. Doesn't mean you won't get nervous or scared at first but there is some amount of comfort knowing that you have the insurance as backup and it mitigates some of the risk you are taking.

HTH

 

[herein2021]

After a search for this I didn't find a thread so here's the situation. I am logging hours every day, taking photos and videos to practice my skills. Not just piloting skills but photography skills. Where I live, legal flying areas are limited so I've hit the same spots several times. I've been venturing further away (still in LOS) to get different angles and subjects. Much of these are over water. There's an island in the middle of my favorite lake here that is 2k feet away from the shore. I really want to get some shots of it, but every time I start to get past 1500feet, I get this crazy anxiety since I'm over water. I've never had a failure and never had a long break in signal.

So the question is: What is the distance you fly away before you start losing your warm and fuzzy? I know people break LOS all the time and push the distance limit. When does confidence start to come? I'm not well off enough to replace the drone if it goes away. Tips of tricks to give some security?

Drone in question is Evo 2 Pro v2.

I guess I have never had that problem. I have been flying various things for over 20yrs and just don't give it a second thought. I think if I knew that I couldn't afford to replace it if I lost it that would put a much different perspective on things. I think that is the biggest source of your anxiety.... getting insurance is a good suggestion, just not sure how well it works in reality in a total loss over water situation, I would read the fine print carefully.

As far as flying over water, I prefer flying over water vs anything else; the drone is literally safer flying over water than any other time vs being in the case. I say that because over water it is least likely to have signal interference, you will have the longest LOS vs any other situation, there are no obstacles to fly into, there is nothing of value beneath it that it can crash into, etc.

Yes if there is a failure it is a total loss, but IMO any failure over 50' AGL is a total loss anyway.

As far as flying over water, I fly over it all the time, it is the only place that I will perform a range test and with the EVO II multiple times I have flown over 10 miles round-trip. I live in Florida and flying over open ocean is by far my preferred place to fly.

There is an island near me that is 17K feet away from the shore, I have explored that island with every drone that I have owned that was big enough to make it there and returned with battery to spare. It is one of the tests that I put all of my drones through before I will use the drone on a commercial job. With the EVO II, I did it the second flight after buying it

I recommend just flying more to get more experience with your EVO and get very confident in its reliability before really pushing it. I personally have never turned off my controller, taken my hands off of the controller while flying, or relied on RTH even once in all of my years of flying but that's just me. I prefer to use those things as a last resort.

An island in a lake 2k feet away isn't even a warmup for the EVO II, I shot some footage for a Carnival Cruise line commercial and had to take off from 23K feet away, get all of the footage while the cruise ship was underway in the shipping channel and still make it back to land before the battery died.....oh and BTW, the ship's WiFi wreaked havoc on my video feed, the ship was traveling around 18mph so I only got one shot at it, and there was a 10-15mph cross wind which turned into a headwind on the way back.

The EVO II is a real workhorse, as long as you are very careful with the batteries, never take off anywhere near rebar, and stay away from FW updates you won't have any problems.

 

[Gpop24]

I guess I have never had that problem. I have been flying various things for over 20yrs and just don't give it a second thought. I think if I knew that I couldn't afford to replace it if I lost it that would put a much different perspective on things. I think that is the biggest source of your anxiety.... getting insurance is a good suggestion, just not sure how well it works in reality in a total loss over water situation, I would read the fine print carefully.

As far as flying over water, I prefer flying over water vs anything else; the drone is literally safer flying over water than any other time vs being in the case. I say that because over water it is least likely to have signal interference, you will have the longest LOS vs any other situation, there are no obstacles to fly into, there is nothing of value beneath it that it can crash into, etc.

Yes if there is a failure it is a total loss, but IMO any failure over 50' AGL is a total loss anyway.

As far as flying over water, I fly over it all the time, it is the only place that I will perform a range test and with the EVO II multiple times I have flown over 10 miles round-trip. I live in Florida and flying over open ocean is by far my preferred place to fly.

There is an island near me that is 17K feet away from the shore, I have explored that island with every drone that I have owned that was big enough to make it there and returned with battery to spare. It is one of the tests that I put all of my drones through before I will use the drone on a commercial job. With the EVO II, I did it the second flight after buying it

I recommend just flying more to get more experience with your EVO and get very confident in its reliability before really pushing it. I personally have never turned off my controller, taken my hands off of the controller while flying, or relied on RTH even once in all of my years of flying but that's just me. I prefer to use those things as a last resort.

An island in a lake 2k feet away isn't even a warmup for the EVO II, I shot some footage for a Carnival Cruise line commercial and had to take off from 23K feet away, get all of the footage while the cruise ship was underway in the shipping channel and still make it back to land before the battery died.....oh and BTW, the ship's WiFi wreaked havoc on my video feed, the ship was traveling around 18mph so I only got one shot at it, and there was a 10-15mph cross wind which turned into a headwind on the way back.

The EVO II is a real workhorse, as long as you are very careful with the batteries, never take off anywhere near rebar, and stay away from FW updates you won't have any problems.

When I first swallowed that lump in my throat after purchasing my first EVO II Pro V1, I was in much the same boat being nervous about something that I spent some significant coin on. I would definitely follow the advice on getting some insurance. I personally went with the State Farm personal property coverage I believe that someone from this forum recommended. It is roughly $60.00 per year. After having the insurance in place the anxiety of flying this expensive piece of equipment was like a weight being lifted. And I can tell you first hand that the policy is awesome. About 9 months after having the policy in place, my little orange buddy had a run-in with a tree that was taller than the altitude I was flying (obstacle avoidance was off). Long story shortened, I reported the loss and had a check in hand in under 5 days! No questions asked.

 

[DroneRat]

There are two main ways to slowly get over your range anxiety. First, I would practice by starting out small (1000 feet) in a wide open area or field where you cannot lose the drone and use the RTH function a few times. This includes shutting off the controller and disconnecting the signal to simulate the drone going out of range. You can increase the distance until you are comfortable going into the miles or two away. If you do this in the late evening or at night and you put strobe lights on your drone, you will be able to see it pretty much no matter how far you take the drone as long as you are in the wide open space.

Second, where I find the greatest amount of comfort is getting some sort of insurance like Autel Care. In the event you crash or lose your drone in teh water or flyaway, you are covered and at least you don't have to pay full price to get a replacement. Doesn't mean you won't get nervous or scared at first but there is some amount of comfort knowing that you have the insurance as backup and it mitigates some of the risk you are taking.

HTH

Read the Care contract carefully. Some drones lke the v3 Enterprise models are NOT covered for Flyaway.

 

[bedellrt]

I think it was the owners manual, which came with my EVO II V3, that said flying in proximity to very smooth surfaces can cause problems. Water was one of the examples they provided.

I say I think because it’s been awhile since I’ve read it. I’m not trying to be sarcastic.

Having said that, if my recollection is correct, it would make sense to maintain a considerable altitude, to avoid the potential risk.

I’ve got no experience with losing signal over water. I’m just thinking logically.

 

[herein2021]

I think it was the the owners manual, which came with my EVO II V3, said flying in proximity to very smooth surfaces can cause problems. Water was one of the examples they provided.

I say I think because it’s been awhile since I’ve read it. I wasn’t trying to be sarcastic.

Having said that, if my recollection is correct, it would make sense to maintain a considerable altitude, to avoid the potential risk.

I’ve got no experience with losing signal over water. I’m just thinking logically.

Yes, that is correct, the sun reflects light off of the water and can cause the obstacle avoidance sensors to think it is about to hit something so it comes to a halt and hovers.

No big deal and I think it has happened maybe twice to me in over 2.5yrs of flying the EVO II, both times I was at most about 10' above the water. I have never had it happen when flying more than 25' above the water. On a calm lake it might happen at higher altitudes but really it's nothing that will down the drone.....just a minor inconvenience.

I have had it think there are obstacles above it far more often than that when nothing was above it.

 

[bedellrt]

I’ve also read, because I don’t live in the city, flying in close proximity to glass buildings can reflect the gps signal and make the drone fly wonky. There have been people who have crashed into buildings.

 

[redleger]

I’ve also read, because I don’t live in the city, flying in close proximity to glass buildings can reflect the gps signal and make the drone fly wonky. There have been people who have crashed into buildings.

That's actually true. It's something that was discussed in my remote pilot class through SDI.

 

[MelvinValentine]

One tip to increase your confidence is to gradually push your boundaries. Start by flying a bit further each time, staying within your line of sight (LOS). It's essential to build trust in your equipment and your skills. Additionally, you could consider investing in a drone with excellent signal range and reliable GPS, which can add an extra layer of security.
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