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About to take the plunge into drones and looking for Forums and Portland area resources. I've looked into the, and taken the TRUST cert and played with the smartphone apps that access B4UFLY. Just looking for common sense stuff as well as advise from those who have already learned some lessons.

I'm considering a DJI Air 3 as a good compromise between size, cost, features, aftermarket support and wind stability.
 
That's a good intro drone that will last you awhile.

I bought a Bwine off brand and it is class 6 wind rated and has all the bells and whistles.

It's cheaper and with as much as I don't use it, I'm glad I didn't spend more money lol.


They are fun toys for sure though.
 
I'd like one of those to check on my cattle on cold wintry mornings. 1500' range and a decent camera would be about all I'd need.
Mine advertises 1.9 miles…. I'm guessing that's with good weather and a clear line of site… BUT you are not supposed to fly further then you can see the thing.

Mine is 3 times the size of that DJI model and you can barely see it at around 350' in the air with a ceiling of 400 as a max for drones and 3-4 blocks away from my house.

You can see an awful long way away at that height though.

4k but only something like 20 frames per second I think. It's plenty for anything I would use it for.
 
I'm considering a DJI Air 3 as a good compromise between size, cost, features, aftermarket support and wind stability.
It depends where you plan to fly but 2 things I kind of consider must haves...

- Navigation strobe Don't pay attention for specific drone "compatibility". That's to benefit the search engine. You can mount them with velcro strips anywhere on any drone. Even if you don't ever plan on flying at night it's still a safety feature, aids in line of sight and can also help in drone recovery.
- RF tracker Urban areas you can maybe get away with something like an airtag, but there are still limitations. Like it can get you in the area but can't 'point' to where your drone actually is.. like... up in a tree or in a bush where you can't see it, but RF will still tell you exactly where it physically lays (or which trunk the wanker stuffed your drone in.) I use the ultralight tracker. Think of it as a one time insurance payment. It pays for itself pretty darn quick if you have even a single hard recovery.:s0155:

(Good for kids, dogs and other uses as well)

To note: Even if you only plan to fly short distances in visual range, they are known.. on occasion.. to develop a mind of their own. It's no fun watching a 1000 bucks flying off into the sunset on it's own.

#1 thing you can do is learn to fly in manual mode. Period!

More drones are lost to ATTI issues/failure than any other cause. For whatever reason it fails and flips you into manual mode, or it goes wonky on you and starts jetting across the sky on it's own where you need to flip it into manual... you better be ready to immediately input manual flight controls. If not, the best you can hope for is a repairable crash landing.

#2 Depending on where you fly and the distances you plan to cover... don't expect anywhere near the ranges advertised. Those measurements are taken under the most ideal test environments. Even in the suburbs there is so much frequency noise that you can't really expect all that much. If distance flights are your thing, look now into working a unidirectional signal boosting antenna for your controller into your drone budget.
 
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The Air 3 is a great drone, I have been flying one for almost a year now.

Something to consider, the government is currently looking at banning DJI drones.

Pilot Institute is a good resource for training and drone news.

Make sure you check the airspace every time before you fly, and get a LAANC when necessary.
Don't fly over the maximum altitude allowed. Keep in mind when in controlled airspace the maximum altitude may be less than 400'.

Consider getting your Part 107, it gives you the ability to fly for commercial purposes and has a few other advantages. If you only want to fly for fun you don't really need it.
 
I did a TON of research before buying my DJI. At the time, they had not yet release the Mini 4, so I ended up with the Mini 3 Pro. As you may already know, it being under the magic 249 gram number, makes it WAY better in terms of where and how you fly. Besides the legality of it, it is actually REALLY quiet- much quieter then the bigger drones, while still retaining many if not all of the features. Once you get to a certain altitude, you simply can't hear it, and that is a BIG deal if you are flying around people or wildlife. I also like that DJI has their DJI Care plans- replacements if you crash or lose the drone. It is a scary thing losing sight of the drone, and with the money invested. Oh and I would HIGHLY recommend getting one of the packages with the RC (full screen) controller- dont get the one that connects and uses your smartphone. I learned that the hard way. Yes it works, sort off, but takes a long time to set up and get flying. With the controller with the screen, you can be up and flying in minutes, and dont have to worry about issues with your phone ( or someone calling you mid flight! ;-) )
Last advice - if you are a Costco member, they often have REALLY good deals on DJI drones!
 
I did a TON of research before buying my DJI. At the time, they had not yet release the Mini 4, so I ended up with the Mini 3 Pro. As you may already know, it being under the magic 249 gram number, makes it WAY better in terms of where and how you fly. Besides the legality of it, it is actually REALLY quiet- much quieter then the bigger drones, while still retaining many if not all of the features. Once you get to a certain altitude, you simply can't hear it, and that is a BIG deal if you are flying around people or wildlife. I also like that DJI has their DJI Care plans- replacements if you crash or lose the drone. It is a scary thing losing sight of the drone, and with the money invested. Oh and I would HIGHLY recommend getting one of the packages with the RC (full screen) controller- dont get the one that connects and uses your smartphone. I learned that the hard way. Yes it works, sort off, but takes a long time to set up and get flying. With the controller with the screen, you can be up and flying in minutes, and dont have to worry about issues with your phone ( or someone calling you mid flight! ;-) )
Last advice - if you are a Costco member, they often have REALLY good deals on DJI drones!
I've been watching for the release of the Mini 5 hoping it would have more camera options like a bigger sensor to I can approximate a better zoom digitally. I'd like something beyond the standard wide angle. It's been between the Air and the Mini.

And yes, definitely looking at the "Fly More" packages that come with the better controller.
 
About to take the plunge into drones and looking for Forums and Portland area resources. I've looked into the, and taken the TRUST cert and played with the smartphone apps that access B4UFLY. Just looking for common sense stuff as well as advise from those who have already learned some lessons.

I'm considering a DJI Air 3 as a good compromise between size, cost, features, aftermarket support and wind stability.
Don't forget payload capacity.
 
The Air 3 is a great drone, I have been flying one for almost a year now.

Something to consider, the government is currently looking at banning DJI drones.

Pilot Institute is a good resource for training and drone news.

Make sure you check the airspace every time before you fly, and get a LAANC when necessary.
Don't fly over the maximum altitude allowed. Keep in mind when in controlled airspace the maximum altitude may be less than 400'.

Consider getting your Part 107, it gives you the ability to fly for commercial purposes and has a few other advantages. If you only want to fly for fun you don't really need it.
I haven't heard anything about wanting to ban DJI drones, why are they looking to do that?
 
Been thinking about digging out the Flite Test VersaCopter I built a few years ago and finally learning how to fly it. But with all the regs that have gone into place since then, not sure I'll bother.
 
I haven't heard anything about wanting to ban DJI drones, why are they looking to do that?
There is a push in Congress to ban them called the "Countering CCP Drones Act". It would prevent new DJI producrs from getting approval. Any DJI drone you already own would not be affected.

It's unlikely to happen since even if it got out of the HoR it would still need to pass in the Senate and then get signed into law by the President. It seems to be mostly lip service to the US drone industry to get campaign donations to a few Republican Representatives. Still, it's something to keep an eye on.

EDIT - the bill passed the house a few days ago and is headed to the Senate:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49Mnm8APZGM
 
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They say China is using them to spy on critical infrastructure.
Another case of lawmakers who don't know diddly about the subject they are attempting to legislate. Acting on uniformed fearmongering.

Many drone users utilize upload services to archive/process feeds and to log and analyze telemetry information. The fear is that the CCP can readily gain access to that info. As if other drone MFG's and their users aren't also susceptible to data collection/signal interception or flat out data breeches. Or... as if other open sources aren't available to them. IE., Google earth or their own satellites.

When you live in a "free" country, potentially strategically important information is readily available to just about anyone.

Heck. If you believe the conspiracy theorists, just about every single electronic device in the U.S. contains chips produced in China that contain code for backdoor access. Trying to remove a bucket of water from an ocean doesn't accomplish anything.

Like 2A infringements, it's merely unfounded virtue signaling that accomplishes nothing, just so they can say, "we're doing something" and increase their control and power base.
 
UPDATE:

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This should be fun. 😁
 
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Just pulled the trigger on a DJI Air 3 fly more package on an Amazon Prime Days deal. With the 20% discount it's cheaper than the similar Mini Pro 4 package. Drone will get here tomorrow and a few accessories like blade guards will show up Friday.

For my use the Air 3 looked like the best all around (Price performance features optical quality), even though it has to be registered.
 
Just pulled the trigger on a DJI Air 3 fly more package on an Amazon Prime Days deal. With the 20% discount it's cheaper than the similar Mini Pro 4 package. Drone will get here tomorrow and a few accessories like blade guards will show up Friday.

For my use the Air 3 looked like the best all around (Price performance features optical quality), even though it has to be registered.
You realize that registration is the first step towards confiscation, right?
 

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