flying FPV drone without internet connection

S

samiam

New Member
Hello. FIrst post, and I'm new to drones, so please go easy :) I have ~40 acres of steep, wooded vacation land in the Appalachians. I have been thinking that it might be very useful to use an FPV drone to help survey and identify various features, vegetation, animals, etc. I had identified the Mavic Pro Platinum as a likely candidate to meet my requirements. Then I read a review (in PC Mag, I believe) that strongly implied that a smart phone with a real-time internet connection was required for that drone to fly. Local WIFI I can handle., but my property is smack in the middle of a cellular service coverage "hole" that is several miles in diameter, so live internet is not an option. Is the internet connection really necessary? If not, what capabilities would I lose without real-time internet? If so, are there competing quadcopter models that I might look at that do not have this requirement? I need at least 20 minutes flight time to do what I want, and real-time GPS coordinate output is needed in addtion to FPV capability. If I need to use an Android tablet for FPV and flight control, that is OK although I'd prefer to use a Linux or Windows laptop so that more than one person at a time can see the video. If restricted to a tablet, ability to share the video stream with a second monitor would be a big plus. Thanks in advance for any answers and/or advice offered.
-SAM
PS, I tried to pose these questions fo Mavic directly, but I had a lot of trouble with their site, and can't seem to get an answer there...
 

does cell phone have to have data access to control mavic pro2?

If I use a cell phone to control my mavic (as attached to the drone controller using the usb cable), will it work if the cell phone does not have data (aka Wifi or 4G LTE)? Its a silly reason why I ask: I got a new cell phone and thought I might dedicate my old one for using the drone. But it...
mavicpilots.com mavicpilots.com

^^ I don't think this would be a major issue except if you're relying on their maps and are using the cell network for video but seems it can use wifi from the quad to your phone to transmit the video as well up to 240ft. If you need longer range then I think you just need to look into long range gear. If you build or buy a 5" racing quad they typically use an analog 5GHz signal for the video transmission and the output power can be adjusted (between 200mW and 600mW is typical, longer range setups will allow amplification up to 1 or 2 watts but require being HAM licensed (general technician), although to be honest most of the stuff we use you are supposed to be licensed anyway).

I don't personally buy into DJI because I don't like the lock in in general and how everything is proprietary whereas right now I fly with open source software running on my FC and on my transmitter (Betaflight and OpenTX respectively). That said they just started offering a digital FPV system that is "standalone" (camera and video transmitter is about $150 and goggles are about $600, but everyone is raving about the video quality compared to analog systems). Before this new system DJI used digital video but the latency was far higher so real live control at any sort of speed wasn't really possible, the new system is worth a look but I'm still not sure it offers the range you would need for the property size you're trying to surveil. I would suggest checking out "Team Black Sheep" or "TBS Crossfire" the guy trappy who owns it is big into very long range flying (like 12km) the key is getting high up and flying high but there's a lot of info if you search on long range for how you could set things up.

 
Oh also for autonomous flight and control there is pixhawk, ardupilot, and iNav boards and software you could check out for autonomous control. I'm into 5" freestyle flying but starting to dip my toes into the autonomous control world too, sure others here with experience with some of those will chime in as well though.
 
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