Find That Perfect Spot With Your Drone

[HopCar]

Some of the high end drones carry GoPro cameras which have a fixed focal length which is pretty wide angle.

[Pelagic]

Good to know the facts about the drone camera's zoom capability.

In a lightly used anchorage with lots of space, I would say 500ft should be the CPA for Drones to approach another vessel without permission.

Come over by dingy first and introduce yourselves!

[brianlara 3]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Good to know the facts about the drone camera's zoom capability.

In a lightly used anchorage with lots of space, I would say 500ft should be the CPA for Drones to approach another vessel without permission.

Come over by dingy first and introduce yourselves!

Now THAT was a far more moderate and balanced response than mine. No excuse I know, but my responses are sometimes incensed by military service.
Today I've taken some pages form your book.

[buzzstar]

Originally Posted by Undadar

For the folks in the USA that insist on destruction:

"A drone is considered an aircraft by the FAA and shooting down aircrafts is a federal offense per the 18 U.S.C. 32 of the federal statute on Aircraft Sabotage."

Yeah, I know... federal law is for other people.

So it is a crime because the FAA says a drone is an aircraft. It may be, but it is unmanned, and the law was clearly enacted to protect manned aircraft. This is law by administrative regulation, not by legislation. Another reason to consider leaving the USA: criminality by regulation. Once upon a time it was taxation without representation.

[Seaadventurers]

Originally Posted by buzzstar

Another reason to consider leaving the USA: criminality by regulation. Once upon a time it was taxation without representation.

Sounds like you have ample reasons to leave the U.S. Don't let the door hit you in the arse!

[buzzstar]

Originally Posted by Seaadventurers

Sounds like you have ample reasons to leave the U.S. Don't let the door hit you in the arse!

Yep. I like the Constitution. Not the regulatory agencies. which now dominate. BTW, if I understand correctly, it will be a big gate in a wall, not a door. Don't be an arse yourself. I'll leave on my own terms, probably by water, not because someone who tries sound like an B.E. ex pat says so.

[brianlara 3]

Originally Posted by buzzstar

Yep. I like the Constitution. Not the regulatory agencies. BTW, if I understand correctly, it will be a big gate, not a door. Don't be an arse yourself. I'll leave on my own terms, probably by water, not because someone who tries sound like an B.E. ex pat says so.

EVERYTHING that bloke said.

[buzzstar]

Originally Posted by brianlara 3

EVERYTHING that bloke said.

[Nahbrown]

Lots o panties in a twist here. If a peeper is going to peep they will do it with a camera, telescope, binoculars or even a drone. All good tools until they are used incorrectly by a tool.

[Seaadventurers]

Originally Posted by buzzstar

Yep. I like the Constitution. Not the regulatory agencies. which now dominate. BTW, if I understand correctly, it will be a big gate in a wall, not a door. Don't be an arse yourself. I'll leave on my own terms, probably by water, not because someone who tries sound like an B.E. ex pat says so.

My friend, I was just simply encouraging you to do what you so blatantly indicated you wished?

Merry Christmas!

[SouthernPride]

I am not using a drone to a girl on a bikini...out of it yes...

Seriously, i use it for fishing...that's all

A drone torpedo...that would be cool...you could sink someone at a mooring you want.

[rwidman]

Thinking one needs a drone to find a suitable anchorage seems like quite a stretch to me. How far ahead can you fly it? If you are watching your drone's controller and the image it is sending, who is driving the boat?

Need an anchorage? Well, there are guidebooks and specific anchorage lists (Skipper Bob's), there is Active Captain, there is Google Earth and there are nautical charts. And of course, suggestions from other boaters you meet along the way.

I haven't been cruising for fifty years like some folks here, but I have managed to find my way around without a drone scouting for me and I don't see an actual need for one on a boat. A fun toy perhaps, for taking videos of my boat underway but I would soon tire of that.

I can think of several things to spend a few hundred dollars on before I would buy a drone for my boat.

[Andrew Grace]

Hi Ron,

Thanks for raising these points,

The reason for posting the topic about Drones is their use for Remote, & Poorly Charted Locations ......not places like the Caribbean.

Key Reasons Why Flying a Drone is actually the safest form of navigation:

1) The nautical charts in some parts of the world are inaccurate which often means GPS and digital/paper maps are useless apart from giving rough locations

2) Google Earth does not cover a lot of Indonesia or at the detailed required to scout a new location safely, and in some cases Google Earth has actually been sensored or the entire island obscured (Not too sure why)

3) Guidebooks are also far and few for these locations and the whole point is to find new locations , not visit old sites. i.e. try and find a guide book that tells you how to navigate the inlet to Bawah Island...... this can only safely be done if you droned the location first or you have a local guide to show you the pass.

4) 99% of the time we are the only boat in these areas, there are no other boaters in these locations apart from the odd local fisherman that are using small outboards.

5) The Ocean in these locations can sometimes be very dirty, making navigating of reefs at eye level almost impossible, however reefs viewed from 100 m high, even in dirty water can easily been seen.

6) Most Drones can be flown up to 5 km ahead of your location as needed but you really only normally fly a few km to the other side of the island to scout for new sites. 3 km max and 100m in the air is enough for scouting channels in the reef and potential new dive sites.

Given all of the above and the way this technology is developing we are probable headed to a point where insurance companies will actually insist on some form of drone mapping in near the future so as to cover the inaccuracies of the nautical maps.

Originally Posted by rwidman

Thinking one needs a drone to find a suitable anchorage seems like quite a stretch to me. How far ahead can you fly it? If you are watching your drone's controller and the image it is sending, who is driving the boat?

Need an anchorage? Well, there are guidebooks and specific anchorage lists (Skipper Bob's), there is Active Captain, there is Google Earth and there are nautical charts. And of course, suggestions from other boaters you meet along the way.

I haven't been cruising for fifty years like some folks here, but I have managed to find my way around without a drone scouting for me and I don't see an actual need for one on a boat. A fun toy perhaps, for taking videos of my boat underway but I would soon tire of that.

I can think of several things to spend a few hundred dollars on before I would buy a drone for my boat.

[Pelagic]

Hi Andrew,

I think your reasons are valid for the poorly charted places we cruise in the Coral Triangle...it makes a lot of sense.

A great reason for using them would be to verify acceptable currents when making an entry/exit to a low atoll via a tortuous pass.... Some of them really boil!

My wish list for the navigational development of them is:
You fly an unmarked narrow channel at 100ft elevation while holding outside, focussing on the ideal track you wish to take.

Then once satisfied, you record that track and synchronize it with your MFD.

Then, the Drone has the ability to hold station at same elevation above you, synchronized to your speed, while sending "look ahead live video" to your smart Monitor.

It then follows the already proven past track at your speed, while giving you a birds eye view of your boat and look ahead.

Am I asking too much?

My concern with using Drones right now is that you need a dedicated operator and on a small crew, the skipper may get distracted

[buzzstar]

Originally Posted by Seaadventurers

My friend, I was just simply encouraging you to do what you so blatantly indicated you wished?

Merry Christmas!

If you could read better you might recognize there was no wish involved. I suspect you are an Aus type, where regulation is a way of life. Maybe, by my estimate, 25% of the Oz population do no like to be regulated by bureaucrats, 25% tolerate it, and 50% love it. While I stopped going there about two decades ago, and have not been back since, the oddest part were those from around the east coast. particularly NSW, where the bureaucrat was castigated but the regulations seemed to be loved. The west coast was not so bad.

May you partake of an interesting New Year as America moves toward more socialism in a different form, and more of the world must end for itself if it desires to fend at all.