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Grand opening of Carolinadronz & the EVO

Jagerbomb52

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Frank and his very pretty wife Vickie has upgraded to a larger shop. Had their grand opening the other day and had a Autel CS rep there for the opening. The EVO is in production but still saying in a few weeks before it gets to market.
Long video but a lot of good info. Frank runs a top notch business and you can always talk to him on his cell phone. If you plan on getting the EVO I would deal with him and not some fly by night guy that has not been in the drone business as long as Frank Farray.
 
EVO is in production? Great!!! Finally the hardware end of things are finished up.
 
Very interesting!! You gotta like the 4 mi+ range and flight time. Sooooo Autel doesn’t not restrict their drone’s flight space. No wonder I can fly less than 1/2 mi off the side/end of the airport runway in Hilo (totally safe, nowhere near any flight paths), yet my friends DJI cannot fly within a 5 mi radius, which really pisses him off. There’s not many roads in the Big Island, so getting 5 miles away can be a 20min drive each way...
 
You gotta like the 4 mi+ range and flight time. Sooooo Autel doesn’t not restrict their drone’s flight space.

Yeah... until the FAA steps in with all the new rules and regs. We're supposed to fly LOS anyway and 4-miles is certainly out of that range. As far as I know, Autel does not add flight restrictions (NFZ's) in the firmware. They leave it up to the pilot to be responsible. The rep said as much in the video I watched right about the 4:00 min time point. They also stated no forced firmware updates.
 
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Very interesting!! You gotta like the 4 mi+ range and flight time. Sooooo Autel doesn’t not restrict their drone’s flight space. No wonder I can fly less than 1/2 mi off the side/end of the airport runway in Hilo (totally safe, nowhere near any flight paths), yet my friends DJI cannot fly within a 5 mi radius, which really pisses him off. There’s not many roads in the Big Island, so getting 5 miles away can be a 20min drive each way...

DJI equipment is geo-fenced only around "sensitive installations"....you can fly inside the 5 mile airpirt radius if you check the lawyer box on screen.....the other way around that is to initiate flight by holding both sticks in instead of hitting the take off button in the app. Tell your buddy to put the car away
 
As to LOS. A detailed description of that acronym is needed. In my World LOS means there's nothing between my vision and the object in question. Distance doesn't apply.

I believe that's FAA's definition but can't confirm that.

Friend of mine has a white drone, everything has to be perfect to see it 1000ft away.
 
DJI equipment is geo-fenced only around "sensitive installations"....you can fly inside the 5 mile airpirt radius if you check the lawyer box on screen.....the other way around that is to initiate flight by holding both sticks in instead of hitting the take off button in the app. Tell your buddy to put the car away
I will tell him, I’ve never flown it. Hilo International Airport just might be “sensitive”, since the DoD & Air National Guard have a big presence there too. Lots of training flights. Heck, every POTUS that travels to Hawaii always parks the super-secret E-4B Nightwatch B747 in Hilo, while AF-1 goes to Honolulu...
 
As to LOS. A detailed description of that acronym is needed. In my World LOS means there's nothing between my vision and the object in question. Distance doesn't apply.

I believe that's FAA's definition but can't confirm that.

Friend of mine has a white drone, everything has to be perfect to see it 1000ft away.

Special Rule 336, section (C), item (2) states: "Flown visual line of site of the person operating the aircraft" (VLOS).

The FAA definition of VLOS comes from here and pretty much rules out the 4-miles as being visual:

VOLUME 16 UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS
CHAPTER 1 BACKGROUND, ORGANIZATION, AND DEFINITIONS

Section 2 Definitions and Acronyms

QQ. Visual Line of Sight (VLOS). Means that any flightcrew member (i.e., remote PIC, the person manipulating the controls, and visual observer, if used) is capable of seeing the aircraft with vision unaided by any device other than corrective lenses, spectacles or contact lenses in order to know the UA’s location, determine the UA’s attitude, altitude, and direction of flight, observe the airspace for other air traffic or hazards, and determine that the UA does not endanger the life or property of another.
 
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Good stuff. Thanks for the clarity.

I've not tried this specifically, but I think I can see my xsp 3/8 mile at most.
 
Special Rule 336, section (C), item (2) states: "Flown visual line of site of the person operating the aircraft" (VLOS).

The FAA definition of VLOS comes from here and pretty much rules out the 4-miles as being visual:

VOLUME 16 UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS
CHAPTER 1 BACKGROUND, ORGANIZATION, AND DEFINITIONS

Section 2 Definitions and Acronyms

QQ. Visual Line of Sight (VLOS). Means that any flightcrew member (i.e., remote PIC, the person manipulating the controls, and visual observer, if used) is capable of seeing the aircraft with vision unaided by any device other than corrective lenses, spectacles or contact lenses in order to know the UA’s location, determine the UA’s attitude, altitude, and direction of flight, observe the airspace for other air traffic or hazards, and determine that the UA does not endanger the life or property of another.
Wow, I violate that every time I fly....
 
Good stuff. Thanks for the clarity.

I've not tried this specifically, but I think I can see my xsp 3/8 mile at most.

On a good day I can see my orange XSP out for a couple thousand feet or maybe a bit more. However, if I look down for a second it vanishes. Sometimes I can recover it when it has good contrast against the sky, and I know pretty much where it is based on camera view but it's hard. I've tried following it as long as possible over open fields and really start to lose it after 2000 feet or so.
 
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Wow, I violate that every time I fly....

I do too. I fly mostly in wide, open areas out to a mile or more if I can get it at times. There is really nothing out there that I could do harm to other than my own equipment.
 
I think we all have done it if we are honest. My Q500 which is a little larger I could see up to 3800 feet away but no way to tell which way it was facing and you did not want to take your eyes off of it or you would never find it again in the sky.
This is the way our Canadian law is written(not rule), yes it is law punishable with a $3000 dollar fine.
"Visual-line-of-sight means keeping your device in sight at all times. This means not flying into clouds or fog, or behind trees, buildings or other (even partial) obstructions."
 
On a good day I can see my orange XSP out for a couple thousand feet or maybe a bit more. However, if I look down for a second it vanishes. Sometimes I can recover it when it has good contrast against the sky, and I know pretty much where it is based on camera view but it's hard. I've tried following it as long as possible over open fields and really start to lose it after 2000 feet or so.

3/8 mile = 1980ft. So I concur. :)
 
Some in the industry feel that the ARC may be swayed to adopt technologies developed by one of the ARC members. However, the 74 member group represents a very broad base of stakeholders. Members range from major drone manufacturers of all types like Northrup Grumman, DJI, Insitu, and PrecisionHawk to drone platforms including AirMap and Skyward. The list also includes a long list of large corporate enterprises – both drone-related businesses and drone customers; advocacy groups like AUVSI and the Commercial Drone Alliance, research institutions, and government and law enforcement agencies. With so many members, the ARC may have difficulty reaching a conclusion, but they will certainly hear multiple sides of the issue.

The ARC is significant, having the potential to affect every drone operator and manufacturer. Decisions made by this group could influence regulation that defines how much information is gathered about drone operators themselves, their clients and their operations. More positively, it could help move drone integration – and commercial applications – forward. “Eventually the recommendations it produces could help pave the way for drone flights over people and beyond visual line of sight,” says the FAA."

Things are going to change, lets just hope for the better.
 
Until the sound is measured with a Decibel Meter it's hard to tell if the EVO is actually as quite as the MPP.

Frank says it's quite, but it's obvious the iphone/camcorder picked up a lot of buzzing noise.
 

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