Category Archives: Drones

Drones, Helpful Articles, Helpful Guides

What Not To Do When You’re Flying Your Drone

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Drones have been around for some time now so chances are you may have one already. But if not and you’re considering buying a drone for yourself in the near future, it is worth knowing what you shouldn’t do when taking your drone out for a spin. We will list some of these ‘don’ts’ here, although it’s worth noting that they still apply to you if you already have a drone in your possession.

Here’s what not to do when flying your drone!

#1: Don’t spy on your neighbours

Drones have many practical applications, especially when they have a camera affixed to them. However, this doesn’t give you a license to spy on your neighbours. Whether you have reason to or not, you will be impinging on their privacy and if spotted, you could face legal ramifications if the police get involved. There are also safety risks to consider, as you may inadvertently hit your neighbour with your drone if you pilot it incorrectly. Again, there may be legal consequences, so it’s better to fly your drone in private areas. 

#2: Don’t fly your drone near airspace

Your drone is unlikely to bring down an aircraft but it’s still illegal to fly it near airspace. As you have probably seen on the news, it can also be an inconvenience, as some flights have been grounded while drone sightings have been investigated. Would you want to be the next news item to be discussed on television? We are guessing not as you would have a lot of people to answer to! As with the previous point, it is important to be responsible. Take note of the legal advice here and stay out of any potential trouble. 

#3: Don’t lose sight of your drone

It’s important to keep a close eye on your drone, even if it does have a camera attached, as you need to keep both the drone and nearby people and buildings safe from harm. While it’s possible to get your drone repaired if an accident occurs, perhaps via these DJI drone repair services, life becomes more complicated if you cause damage to property or another person.

#4: Don’t fly your drone in crowded areas

The primary reason for this is as we have discussed already. You could cause injury to another, especially if there is a sudden gust of wind that sends your drone off course. It might also plummet to the ground if the batteries fail. In both circumstances, you could hurt a member of the public. However, there is another reason not to fly your drone in crowded areas, and that is theft. This is is less of an issue if your drone is well above head height but if it does fly down at a lower level, for whatever reason, somebody could get their hands on the drone and take it. 

Drones are a lot of fun and there are practical advantages too. However, as we have discussed here, care does need to be taken. So, take heed of our advice and protect your drone, yourself, and the well-being of others.

DJI, Drones, Technology, The Gadget Man

A Beginner’s Guide To Getting Into Drones

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They are fascinating, impressive, and downright cool, which is enough for some gadget fanatics to want to devote plenty of manhours to getting to grips with them. However, given their expense and the fact that a novice handling could quite easily end up in disaster, it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that some beginners are a little apprehensive about diving headfirst into the world of drones.

Here, we’re going to look at what you, as a beginner, need to know about drones, how to choose the best one for your needs, and how to make sure that you can actually fly the thing without a catastrophe following in your wake.

aerial-view-1866742_1920

Know what you want to use it for

Before you dedicate your life over the next few months to knowing anything and everything drone-related, it’s a good idea to get to know why you want to buy and fly one in the first place. There are plenty of people who want one just for the experience of flying a drone, which is perfectly fine in and of itself, but those who might want a drone for the sake of photography might have different needs (such as good camera stabilization features.) There are more practical uses for drones as well to consider, some of which might even have commercial benefits.

Choose the drone that best suits your needs

Now that you hopefully have a better idea of what, precisely, you are going to be using your drone for, it’s now time to choose the drone that suits those needs. Websites like DrDrone.ca offer thorough guides on which drones are best suited for different kinds of usage. Some are better suited to beginners who are just learning to fly, while others have specific applications. Even for those specific applications, such as buying a drone that is focused on photography, there is a wide variety so take your time in perusing the market.

Know whether you’re going to have to assemble your drone

This is a big stumbling block for a lot of people who buy a drone and expect that they are going to be able to fly it as soon as they take it out of the box. This type of drone does exist, they are called RTF drones (or Ready to Fly drones). The other type is called “DIY” typically, which means that you’re going to have to assemble it when you open it. If you feel confident you can put it together just fine, that’s a-okay, just make sure you know which you are getting.

Do you need a license?

The answer to this question will depend largely on where you live. In some countries, the recreational use of drones might not require any kind of license or ID. However, in the vast majority of English speaking countries, if you have any intentions to use your drones for commercial purposes, you’re going to need some form of license  However, it is crucial to do your research and learn your local drone license needs and laws, rather than relying on this tip for a definitive answer. Drone-traveller.com offers an in-depth look at national drone laws in a variety of countries.

Get some training

Rather than trying to master the art of flying a drone all by yourself, it might be worth taking the time to look into those that can show the ropes. When it comes to earning a license in the countries and states that require it, it may be essential that you have some formal training, and there are plenty of teams like Uavcoach.com that can help give you all kinds of drone flying courses, for more general use as well as specific practical applications, depending on your needs.

Know what accessories you might need

Plenty of drones come out of the box with a range of helpful accessories, but you will often find that you need a little extra just to make sure that you’re covered in any eventuality. Some spare drone parts such as additional rotors or props are always a good idea to have on hand. Keeping a backup flight battery is usually a good idea as well, as well as having a portable charger so you can stay flying for longer.

With the tips above, hopefully, you should feel confident that getting into drone flying need not be all that much of a fuss. With the right choice of machine, a little practice, and a few solid tips in mind, you should be flying with the best of them.

Drones, Gadget Man, Technology, The Gadget Man

What Practical Applications Does a Drone Have?

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Drones are becoming increasingly popular for their ability to capture footage with spectacular views. However, most people don’t really have a practical use for a drone outside of just being a hobby that allows them to take cool footage and potentially spy on their neighbours. So to help you understand drones a bit better, we’ve put together a list of practical uses for drones in the modern-day.

Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/H5IXIH254AU (CC0)
Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/H5IXIH254AU (CC0)

Drones can be used to monitor large plots of land

Drones are starting to be used for surveillance purposes. For instance, farmers can use a drone with a camera attachment to inspect livestock that is spread over many acres of land instead of driving around to check on them. Similarly, private companies can use drones to monitor large and complex buildings, especially if they have connections such as pipelines that need to be monitored. Lastly, firefighters can also use drones to track wildfires so they know where to position themselves to help cull the flames.

Drones can be used to survey sites

If you’ve ever been involved in a building project then you’ll understand the important role that drone services can play. Professional services can help you survey buildings, structures and roofs for a variety of different purposes. In most situations, the drone footage can be used to perform inspections, but it can also be used to plan out a building or the placement of structures. Since drones can go fairly high and capture a wide-angle view of a specific area, it gives construction specialists an amazing view of the area that they can work with.

Drones are often used to record footage for different industries

High-quality cameras can easily be attached to drones these days, making them very capable machines that can capture footage from many different heights. This can be used for film purposes, such as capturing overhead footage of a filming location. It can also be used to showcase the area around a property that is being sold on the real estate market. This type of stock footage can also be sold and bought depending on the purpose it’s intended for. Some imagery from drones is highly sought after, such as sweeping overheard recordings of specific cities and night footage of iconic skylines. Drones can help us capture some amazing footage and it’s changed the video service industry in many positive ways.

Drones can just be used for fun

Like many new technologies, you don’t have to just focus on practical or professional uses. You could just own a drone and use it for fun! This can include racing drones with your friends, building an obstacle course or even just flying them around because you like the views that it can capture. There’s nothing wrong with using a drone for recreational purposes and there’s no limit to the things you can do with it–the limit is your imagination! Check out this article for cool things you can do with a drone to get some inspiration.

Drones

3 Uses Of Drones We Can Expect To See Soon

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Drones are a technology which have been gaining a lot of traction in the media over the past few years, for good and bad reasons. There is a lot of controversy around drone use, and as they become cheaper and cheaper and more commercially available, so too do they become more of an intrigue from people around the globe. As well as personal uses, there are many infrastructure and business uses for drones, and it looks as if there are going to be many more in the future too. In this article, we are going to discuss some of the uses of drones which we can expect to see some time soon, which might well change many aspects about our world overnight.

Delivery

In some places, companies like Amazon have already started using drone to deliver goods to people’s’ homes and places of work. The main benefit of this is, of course, the incredible speed of delivery, and what they are hoping for is that one day soon they will be able to have one day delivery on almost all items, or at least smaller items which you might have delivered. This is certainly exciting, although many people are worried about the prospect of Amazon drones flying around everywhere. In order to get to grips with some of the concerns, take a look at this article on what you need to know about flying drones: you will see that there are many considerations that need to be considered.

Defense

In many respects, the army is already using drones, and has been for longer than we have known about them commercially. But increasingly, they are using smaller lightweight drones to enforce our home security, and that is a relatively recent trend which is nonetheless going to continue in an upward trajectory for sure. Defending airports is a good example, and these days one of the main things that they are defending against is other drones. This kind of usage of drones is clearly very important, and it’s already the case that when you catch a plane you are being defended by drones without knowing it.

Photography

While some events are already being photographed with the use of drones, again this is something that we can hope to develop more in the future, and it is likely that such technology will get better. Part of this will mean that the drones can get further away without breaking out, and that will encourage us to be able to find footage of far out places which would otherwise have been unreachable. This is not just exciting from a photography viewpoint, but also from a scientific discovery one. Who knows what kinds of things we might uncover just by making use of some great drone technology.

However we use them, one thing is for certain: drones are going to continue to be an important part of our lives, probably increasingly so.

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DJI Osmo Mobile 2 – Affordable High End Image Stabilisation on your Smartphone

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The Steadicam was launched more than 40 years ago and since then we have become accustomed to seeing smooth video at sporting events and in movies, most famously in the classic horror ‘The Shining’ with Jack Nicholson. This high-end equipment costs many thousands of pounds and thus keeps it well out the reach of hobbyists or home users.

Orwell Bridge Motion Timelapse

[videopress DDgL49av]

Over the past few years, the technology associated with expensive motion picture equipment has found its way into the consumer market, once heavy and cumbersome, the large motors needed to stabilise heavy camera equipment has now been replaced by tiny brushless motors powerful enough to steady our mobile phones.

DJI Osmo Mobile 2
DJI Osmo Mobile 2

As a commercial drone pilot, I have experienced DJI’s camera stabilising technology first hand using their drones which employ identical techniques to keep footage smooth in windy conditions, so I was excited to experience the DJI Osmo Mobile 2 Smartphone Stabiliser.

The Osmo Mobile 2 allows for the capture of extremely smooth footage using an Android or iPhone to capture the video itself. The mobile device is slotted into a rubber padded clamp, balanced manually using the adjuster on the Osmo. This initial adjustment means that the device doesn’t have to work as hard to stabilise the device and thus extends the life of the battery and motors when in use.

Orwell Bridge Motion Timelapse

[videopress ydNzMlH0]

DJI provides an app for both Android and iPhone to directly control the device via Bluetooth LE 4.0 and also includes a USB socket to allow you to charge your phone. DJI state up to a 15 battery life, so you should be able to comfortably use the device and maintain your phone battery life with plenty to spare.

After installing the device, you switch on the Osmo by long-pressing the button on the handle, the Gimbal springs into life, balances your mobile device and suddenly it appears to float in mid-air, silently holding your phone completely steady!

You can use the DJI GO app to take movies, photographs, panoramas and even Live Stream to Facebook, YouTube an more. The Osmo can be set to smoothly following your hand motion, removing judder whilst filming or can be set to maintain the position of the phone.

DJI Osmo Mobile Stabilised Video

[videopress xoVYLUjZ]

For more advanced uses, there is Timelapse, Hyperlapse and Motion Timelapse. All of these modes produce really impressive results, my favourite was Motion Timelapse which allowed me to take speeded up sunsets and even panoramic shots of large structures, by setting the start, middle and end points of the movie, choosing a lapse time and the number of frames, when you click Go, the camera very slowly pans and produces a smooth and stable sweeping timelapse video, it was very impressive. The standard tripod screw mount at the base of the Osmo allows you to attach it to a tripod, so no tired arms when producing your masterpiece.

At 485g, the Osmo Mobile 2 is very light but feels high quality in the hand, you do also have to take into account the weight of the device you are going to use. The Osmo is comfortable stabilising anything from the size of an iPhone SE to an iPhone 7s, but check your phone is compatible before purchasing, especially with an Android device.

DJI Osmo Mobile 2
DJI Osmo Mobile 2

This is the second iteration of the Osmo Mobile and DJI have successfully brought down the cost of the original model without forsaking built quality and features. If you are a budding ‘vlogger’ or like taking footage of family and friends, this may be the gadget for you. There is even a ‘Selfie Mode’ with and object tracking to keep you all in the picture wherever you might be!

At £129, the DJI Osmo Mobile 2 is good value for money, has great battery life and the features are great too. I loved it!

The Gadget Man

www.thegadgetman.org.uk

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Silicon Power Armor A65 1TB Military Grade Rugged Portable Hard Drive

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Following on from our Tesla Road Trip, I thought it would be a good opportunity to review one of the great pieces of equipment we were able to take with us on the trip.

SP Armor A65 1TB reviewed by Matt Porter We had planned to travel some 1200 or so miles from Ness Point to Ardnamurchan Point (and back again) in an electric car, part of the adventure was to try and document the trip. We planned to document the trip using a variety of equipment from Smartphones, stabilised cameras to 4K Drones.

We would likely be presented with many gigabytes of footage and it was therefore imperative that we had a durable solution for data backup and somewhere to copy footage and imagery taken during the trip.

Our rugged backup solution was indeed a Silicon Power Armor A65 portable 1TB hard drive with it’s shockproof and waterproof housing that gives it military grade protection, to U.S Military MIL-STD-810G 516.6 Procedure IV and IP67 Standard for dust and water ingress.

SP Armor A65 1TB reviewed by Matt PorterOut of the box, the SP Armor A65, comes with a rubberised casing and IP67 sealed USB 3.0 Socket. IP67 means the device components are sealed from dust and immersion in water up to a meter deep for 30 minutes. The USB 3.0 cable is a full sized male connector at each end, this makes connection to a PC or Laptop very easy as the cable works in either direction. The case also had a slot for either securing the cable to the drive or as a belt clip.

SP Armor A65 1TB reviewed by Matt PorterInside of the heavily protected three layered case lies a Silcon Power 1TB 2.5″ Hard Disk with 1 Terabyte of storage, our brief tests for performance showed  a very decent Blackmagic Disk Speed Test score of 71/70. The drive was used extensively both before, during and after the trip and became our ‘go to’ hard disk for the trip.

Included with the drive is Silcon Power’s HDD Lock Utility which runs on MS Windows. This allows you to encrypt all the data stored on the device to give a greater level of security for users

We tested the device for use when we were using both drones and laptops in the field and the added resilience of the device gave us a greater degree of confidence that our data would remain safe even in the most extreme circumstances. It was also used to backup our laptop during the journey.

If you travel often and need the convenience of a simple to connect device that is both rugged and secure, the SP Armor A65 is most certainly worth the investment and can be purchased from the link to the left.

 

[amazon_link asins=’B01EYY4A6C’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’uk=1′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’8f5217e7-e630-11e7-885f-931e4eb187dc’]

 

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DJI Mavic Pro – Review – A drone so stable it appears frozen in time #gadgetroadtrip

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I have been flying drones for the last 18 months, specifically DJI drones. It’s no secret that DJI have cornered the drone market from beginner to corporate use. From simply aerial photography to flying cell towers, DJI seem to have it all.

As part of our recent Gadget Man Road Trip from Ness Point to Ardnamurchan, we took along a DJI Mavic Pro and Osmo+, in this review I’m going to be talking about the Mavic Pro.

Click here to buy the Mavic Pro

The first thing you notice immediately upon taking the drone out of it’s box is that it is absolutely tiny! The rotor blades and arms all fold very neatly into themselves, giving it the appearance of a sleeping bat. Nature has almost always proved to be the most efficient designer and it seems that DJI has taken quite many queues when designing the folding mechanism. Having the Mavic fold so gracefully means that it doesn’t take up a great deal of space and setting up is very quick, there’s no need to fixing rotor blades as they come fixed to the craft, so looking for that photographic moment is generally not lost as box to air time is very quick.

The drone is flown using a very neat controller that connects to your mobile device using USB. Aside from using the phone, the controller also displays important information on a LED display which makes read information in bright sunlight very easy. Operation of the drone is achieved via DJI’s own DJI Go4 software or using 3rd parties such as Litchi. It was supremely simple to operate the drone and its incredible stability gives you a very confident edge when flying.

DJI have placed the 4k camera and sensor at the front of the aircraft, doing away with the underslung designs preceding it. By doing this means that even quick acceleration doesn’t cause the rotors to obscure the display which is an all to common problem with most drones. The camera has a clear plastic dome which is easily removed to allow for clearer footage with less glare. The quality of the footage is jaw dropping! We weren’t massively lucky with the weather especially in Scotland, but we were still able to produce some amazing footage all the same, even in grey skies.

The Mavic can take still 12MP photos as well as video and can also be controlled by gestures and there is also a Wi-Fi mode with less features.

Stability wise, the Mavic Pro is awesome. As well as GPS and Glonass stabilisation, the drone also uses down facing stabilisation using additional cameras. By referencing the ground, the drone can hover almost stock-still in the sky, it’s quite unnerving to see. It also packs collision avoidance cameras too which is great when flying near to trees.

Flight times are excellent being more than 25 minutes and the drone is noticeably quieter than other aircraft I have used. Sport mode gives even greater performance and allows you to swoop around the sky with easer.

DJI have included their Geofencing software or NFZ (No fly zone) features on the drone which avoid it being flown in areas that are either illegal or dangerous such as near to airports or stadiums. This is a great inclusion which hopefully will help drones to gain a better reputation in the UK press.

Good drones don’t come cheap and DJI have positioned the Mavic Pro in the higher price bracket, however you are getting an exceedingly good aircraft for the money. I tested the ‘Combo Kit’ which comes with drone, 2 batteries, car charger, 3pin charger, controller, 16GB MicroSD and leather carry case, this comes in at around £1200, however there are deals without the added extras which bring the price under £950.

 

Look out for Black Friday deals which bring the price down even further

Matt Porter

The Gadget Man

 

 

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1257 Miles in an Electric Car – Part 1 – A Plan is Hatched.

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Holzhausen’s drawings of the Model S
Holzhausen’s original drawings of the Model S

10th July 2017

I was sitting in my office in Martlesham on the 10th July 2017 chatting to a colleague about Tesla cars. The conversation had started after he noticed the framed artists sketch hanging on my wall.

I have driven a number of Tesla Model S cars in the past from the excitable P85+ to the ‘Insane’ P85D. They are very exciting cars to drive, not just because they are fully electric and pack extremely powerful single gear motors, but because you feel your are riding on the coattails of automotive history, participating in an irreversible shift change in motorvehicle technology. It’s very exciting!

The conversation moved on the the Model X and Model 3, Tesla’s entries in to the SUV and ‘affordable’ markets. The Model X has recently appeared in the UK, the Model 3 is two years away from being available. We continued to chat for the rest of lunch, but the seed was planted.

That evening I wrote an email to Tesla’s press office requesting the loan of a Model X for review. Nothing specific, simply available dates.

The next day I received a reply from Tesla, it’s explained that things were very busy with the Model X, but the 5th and 6th of October was available for a test drive, did that suit? I puzzled for a while, in the past I had been loaned vehicles for a little longer, to give me time to get to know the vehicle, two days seemed a bit short to get a proper review in place. So, I followed up with an email, requesting a little longer.

I quickly received a reply from Tesla asking what my plans were? OK, good question, time to put on my thinking cap.

15 July 2017

My initial idea was driving from Lands End to John O’Groats, but after a little bit of Googling, I discovered that this had already been done in a  Tesla and well documented on YouTube, there was nothing original to achieve in travelling down this this ‘road’.

But wait a minute! Was there? I live about 40 minutes from Ness Point, the most easterly point in the UK. Nestled in Lowestoft, Ness Point at first glance seemed a little unloved. Some thought and effort has been made to build a stone circle, with plaques showing distances to well known points in the UK. It’s quite nice, but the surroundings aren’t that impressive, but it seemed like the obvious starting point for a challenge and wasn’t too far from home.

Now to find the most westerly point of the UK.

Ardnamurchan Lighthouse sits on the most westerly mainland point of the UK accessible by a short ferry ride at Corran and a two hour drive along single track roads across an extinct volcano. There even appeared to be a ‘rapid’ charge point a few miles away at Kichoan Pier, which would set a challenge outside of Tesla’s ‘Supercharger’ network.

The plan was hatched, but it was just the beginning.

Matt Porter
The Gadget Man