DJI Mavic drone recording mtbing

[Steve A]

Having a DJI Mavic drone delivered on thursday this week. It has a follow mode, so hoping to give it a go to follow me when mtbing.

Bit of a gimmick, but wondered if anyone else has had any success. I'm definitely avoiding the local woods as don't fancy my chances of retrieving if things go wrong.

 

[soundwave]

id get one if it was a few hundred quid but not at that price and the flight time will be limited as on the site the specs say 0mph wind lol.

or it will just bugger off and never get found again, or does it have a built in tracker?
https://buytrackimo.myshopify.com/

 

[Steve A]

id get one if it was a few hundred quid but not at that price and the flight time will be limited as on the site the specs say 0mph wind lol.

or it will just bugger off and never get found again, or does it have a built in tracker?
https://buytrackimo.myshopify.com/

Agree, price is steep, but i bought the fly pack so comes with three batteries etc. It has a built in tracker, object avoidance and return home mode. All i need now is a decent pilot!. i will be taking it nice and easy, but it looks great fun.

The bad news is the last three drones i've had i've lost, but they were £20 chinese hobbies. If i loose this one i'll be SUICIDAL

 

[soundwave]

you could get a big un

 

[IR772]

Really simple to use, has "return to base" built in so where it takes off from it comes back to if the battery gets low or loses signal.

I use android and the app keeps stopping so you need it to be autonomous.

Have been 1.5 miles from unit but no further, chicken out then, have got the extra range shield that seems to work. It lights up like a space ship and is impressive in the evening light.

Pictures are very good, either pictures or video, both rock steady and blur free the live feed on the phone is good enough to easily fly by and see where you are, bright/sun light is a real draw back when flying as its hard to see the phone screen.

Always worried about peoples privacy and it being shot down!

15 mins per battery is average, I got a second one

Not tried the follow you thing.

 

[Steve A]

Really simple to use, has "return to base" built in so where it takes off from it comes back to if the battery gets low or loses signal.

I use android and the app keeps stopping so you need it to be autonomous.

Have been 1.5 miles from unit but no further, chicken out then, have got the extra range shield that seems to work. It lights up like a space ship and is impressive in the evening light.

Pictures are very good, either pictures or video, both rock steady and blur free the live feed on the phone is good enough to easily fly by and see where you are, bright/sun light is a real draw back when flying as its hard to see the phone screen.

Always worried about peoples privacy and it being shot down!

15 mins per battery is average, I got a second one

Not tried the follow you thing.

Thanks for feedback. i've seen people use android and app crashing. hope iPhone is fine. thought id buy another tracker to attach to battery along with extender and filter. hope to have some decent video to upload when build confidence.

 

[soundwave]

how are you going to fly it and ride the bike at 30mph at the same time tho?

id buy one if it could fly its self like that in follow mode and not hit the trees lol.

 

[Steve A]

how are you going to fly it and ride the bike at 30mph at the same time tho?

id buy one if it could fly its self like that in follow mode and not hit the trees lol.

it has follow mode, not sure about trees though

 

[Steve A]

its like star wars

 

[Mossie]

I used to have a Phantom 3 Professional which had a follow me mode.
I filmed myself and my son biking in the Scottish Highlands and it followed us for about a mile. The 4k video was amazing, just make sure you set the height above telephone wires and trees !!
My mate also had a new Range Rover Sport and we got it to follow us ploughing through the snow for about 2 miles.

 

[Steve A]

I used to have a Phantom 3 Professional which had a follow me mode.
I filmed myself and my son biking in the Scottish Highlands and it followed us for about a mile. The 4k video was amazing, just make sure you set the height above telephone wires and trees !!
My mate also had a new Range Rover Sport and we got it to follow us ploughing through the snow for about 2 miles.

Received dji mavic, so far managed to charge everything, and update firmware. Taking my time with this drone, but so far very impressed. Although in beginner mode easy to fly and the video quality is great, can see some creative video coming soon, providing i'm not filming that is.

 

[EddiePJ]

Kind of on a similar theme, I have ridden up the start point shown in the clip below, and in July of this year I aim to ride down and along the green covered ridge that is shown mid depth in this clip, starting at the ridge shown to the right hand side at roughly the 20 seconds in point of this clip. Sadly I have been drawing blank on what is on the other side, and also of what is at the end and how to get down. Google earth has been of some help, but not enough.
As a long shot I contacted a paraglider that knows the area well, and he has kindly offered to fly the route for me when the snow clears, filming it as he goes. With any luck, he should also be able to film the descent when I do it.

 

[Blew it]

Having a DJI Mavic drone delivered on thursday this week. It has a follow mode, so hoping to give it a go to follow me when mtbing..

Hi Steve, I'm sure you will have a lot of fun with the Mavic when it arrives, it is one of the most advanced UAV's available.

No worries about flying in forests, in "follow me" mode, the forward and downward looking anti-collision sonar will guide it through the trees. Just remember to enable "find a way round" mode, otherwise it will stop and hover when it "sees" something in front of it. Although I have never tried the "Follow me mode", I suspect it may lose you amongst the trees. Also, when using "follow me", remember to set the "Dynamic return to home". Otherwise, when "battery low" automatic "return to home" is activated, it will return and land at its original take-off position.

I also fly a Phantom 2 vision + (my first UAV) and an Inspire 1 V1. As my primary form of transport is an Ebike, The folding Mavic is absolutely perfect, just a small carry case no bigger than an SLR camera case. The Phantom 2 is reasonably portable at around 4.5 kgs in its backpack. Just recently I have purchased a C11 backpack for the Inspire 1, 6 kgs with three batteries, haven't ridden with that much weight on my back yet but, it's just a matter of modifying the riding technique to suit.

Have fun
Fly safe

 

[Steve A]

Hi Steve, I'm sure you will have a lot of fun with the Mavic when it arrives, it is one of the most advanced UAV's available.

No worries about flying in forests, in "follow me" mode, the forward and downward looking anti-collision sonar will guide it through the trees. Just remember to enable "find a way round" mode, otherwise it will stop and hover when it "sees" something in front of it. Although I have never tried the "Follow me mode", I suspect it may lose you amongst the trees. Also, when using "follow me", remember to set the "Dynamic return to home". Otherwise, when "battery low" automatic "return to home" is activated, it will return and land at its original take-off position.

I also fly a Phantom 2 vision + (my first UAV) and an Inspire 1 V1. As my primary form of transport is an Ebike, The folding Mavic is absolutely perfect, just a small carry case no bigger than an SLR camera case. The Phantom 2 is reasonably portable at around 4.5 kgs in its backpack. Just recently I have purchased a C11 backpack for the Inspire 1, 6 kgs with three batteries, haven't ridden with that much weight on my back yet but, it's just a matter of modifying the riding technique to suit.

Have fun
Fly safe

Thanks that great advise. I'm going to try follow mode walking first and in the clear. the tree situation scares me as you know DJI drone are not cheap, so i might never do this anyway due to risks.
I bought mavic for portability and have just bought another bag for when on holiday and i can put my go pro in there as well.
I see dji are looking to bring out a smaller drone this year that looks great. I have experience of cheap and cheerful chinese drones that are smaller than mavic, but are terrible in the slightest wind, so not sure how a smaller model will fair.

 

[Steve A]

Kind of on a similar theme, I have ridden up the start point shown in the clip below, and in July of this year I aim to ride down and along the green covered ridge that is shown mid depth in this clip, starting at the ridge shown to the right hand side at roughly the 20 seconds in point of this clip. Sadly I have been drawing blank on what is on the other side, and also of what is at the end and how to get down. Google earth has been of some help, but not enough.
As a long shot I contacted a paraglider that knows the area well, and he has kindly offered to fly the route for me when the snow clears, filming it as he goes. With any luck, he should also be able to film the descent when I do it.

I've done this a few times, lake annecy, france. Give it a go you'll love it, but don't forget to unclip and leave bike on ground

 

[Steve A]

latest pic, my son things i've ruined it . It's orange with eyes purely to reduce bird attacks and easier to find, really!!!

 

[EddiePJ]

I've done this a few times, lake annecy, france. Give it a go you'll love it, but don't forget to unclip and leave bike on ground

Sorry, you misunderstood me. The guy is going to film the route before I head out, then hopefully record me riding down the route when I am there.

 

[Steve A]

Sorry, you misunderstood me. The guy is going to film the route before I head out, then hopefully record me riding down the route when I am there.

Sounds great. I've done some mtbing around lake annecy and there's some fantastics routes / great views.