Calling INGO UAV Pilots

[jkaetz]

I've been tasked with selecting a multi-rotor UAV for my mother and brother in law. The intended purpose would be surveying farmland and irrigators in Wisconsin. Budget is $1500 or less. Must be dumb nuts easy to fly, capture video, and download/playback video on a computer or TV. They can follow IT instructions but aren't very good when things don't go as expected. My first thought is of course to look at dji or Yuneec but I know there are others. What say those with experience?

 

[GlockRock]

I have a DJI Phantom 3 standard that I use to do exactly what you mentioned on our farm. $399 at Sams Club.

 

[hoosierdoc]

what range do they need? the phantom 3s have great range, I have had mine over a mile away.

They "may" want to look for one that does waypoint flying. If they fly the same path every day they can just plug that in and it will fly the same route and they just control camera if they want. I think DJI dropped that on the phantom 3 line, it's an add-on third party thing.

and I am jealous of the $399 price tag now, that is awesome

 

[jkaetz]

I have a DJI Phantom 3 standard that I use to do exactly what you mentioned on our farm. $399 at Sams Club.

is that a sale price or regular price?

what range do they need? the phantom 3s have great range, I have had mine over a mile away.

They "may" want to look for one that does waypoint flying. If they fly the same path every day they can just plug that in and it will fly the same route and they just control camera if they want. I think DJI dropped that on the phantom 3 line, it's an add-on third party thing.

and I am jealous of the $399 price tag now, that is awesome

sounds like they are only after about 1/2 mile range. When an irrigator decides to quit working they'd like to do a flyover to see where the problem is.

 

[Cam]

I have the Yuneec Typhoon and my brother has a DJI Phantom 3. They are both good in their own way. The DJI has to have a device to view the camera (iPhone, iPad,etc) while the Yuneec has a screen built into the controller. This feature is why I went with the Yuneec.

They are are a boatload of fun to fly!

 

[hoosierdoc]

big Ag uses drones all the time for stuff like this. VERY cool way to check on the fields.

The phantoms are very easy to fly but as said you need a device to use as a screen and controlling app

 

[GlockRock]

I didnt see a sign that said sale price. Got it about 3 months ago.

 

[Hop]

I have a DJI Phantom 2 Vision+ and it's super easy to fly. It can do waypoints as well. It's older tech but still works great. People both love and hate dji but they are one of the biggest players. A buddy has a modified Inspire and loves it but those are $$$. Your budget will put you into a P3 with a 4k camera. Those will take fantastic quality videos. Flight time is still only ~23 minutes on a full charge though.

I have a ton of wifi interference around my place so I haven't flown much. I'm really really thinking about doing the antenna upgrade kit from FPVLR to help avoid losing my bird. Their online store is down while they are setting up shop in a new building. Some of their dealers will install the kits for you. You can easily double the range with their kits.

https://fpvlr.com/store/
https://www.facebook.com/fpvlr/

I'll be getting just the antennae and not the amp kit. I don't need extra things to charge and extra possible points of failure. KISS!

 

[logain]

I just bought a DJI phantom 3 standard off amazon. They have some pretty nice bundle deals if you look around. I got two batteries, a bigger sd card, hard backpack case, and some other goodies in the bundle.