How to fly over Water safely(ish) - Dji NEO

[@grossi46]

You are fast becoming one of my favourite youtubers buddy. You answer all the questions many of us subscribers ask,in a clear and informative way. Keep them coming 👍👍

[@dronewilder5234]

@@grossi46 thanks for such amazing support!

[@chansey161]

Hey, just here to say that this type of content is insanely helpful. I get asked a lot of the questions you make videos about by customers as part of my job, and having these is a godsend. Thank you!

[@pt1435]

…as a subscriber…I always appreciate the extra mile you go to present an excellent explanation of the DJI products…your video’s are top notch…

[@dronewilder5234]

I really appreciate that! Thanks

[@xkr510]

I too was afraid of trying it over water. Invaluable. Thank you.

[@Ligh7Bulb]

I love that you kiss the controller good luck 🍀 as you manually start the props. I’m sure DJI appreciates such care and love

[@dronewilder5234]

@@Ligh7Bulb lol im very affectionate to my drones … well most of the time anyway 😎

[@OnlineLuc]

Lost mine over water. Gps dropped to about 10 or 11. It was over water and then drifted and nose dived. I suspected exactly what you've proven. But just an fyi, I have a log. And yeah, the numbers dropped randomly. Some limitations here. DJI replaced my drone with no insurance claim. Said it was a "flight control issue". But the whole thing is exactly what you reproduced here. So good on them.... But I'll be watching sat numbers very carefully now.

[@OnlineLuc]

And yes, rc-n3 the whole time. Zero obstacles. I was above 50m in altitude.

[@dronewilder5234]

@@OnlineLuc from the flight log - what sort of number for sats did you have to start with? Just to gauge how severe the drop was?. Great that dji replaced it though.

[@OnlineLuc]

@dronewilder5234 I started with 24. It fluctuated throughput the 8 min flight. When I lost control, I had about 17 reported. I'll post another comment with a link to my flight log video. I kept it. In case the comment is blocked. Note that it reported wind at the end. But there was zero wind. It's when it nose dived. It registered that event as high wind.

[@OnlineLuc]

@@dronewilder5234 I tried various ways to share the link. KZbin just doesn't allow it. I even tried writing in words a link and it knew. Lol I could upload it to my KZbin "channel" if you're keen. Let me know if you'd like to have that for research purposes. I presume you could find it there easily.

[@dronewilder5234]

@ sounds good - I’ll check it out

[@Quickred]

I was stupid to make a rotate on a boat dock and the drone stops 1 meter from the dock over the water. As trying to catch I dunked my DJI Neo in the lake of Garda. So I had do dive and picked it up from the lake ground. After separating the battery and drying for a week, the Neo works still perfect. All videos are downloadable. No problem with the battery. Good work from DJI

[@dronewilder5234]

Thats lucky! - it seems in fresh water it’s a lot more likely to survive. Bare in mind though that the battery may have some long term damage so I’d be careful.

[@fardeenbeharry]

Thank you for this. I was so afraid to fly over water

[@dies_el]

Thanks for the explainer - I hadn’t realised the importance of GPS lock prior to sending my first Neo to the depths of a nearby river. Good to know how to protect the next one!

[@dronewilder5234]

@@dies_el sorry to hear about you loosing a previous one into a river. I’d also add it’s worth keeping some distance from the water surface incase reflections confuse the positioning sensor

[@dies_el]

@ I was more upset about the rest of the footage getting lost and my realisation that the flyaway insurance isn’t a free replacement, but a subsidised replacement! If I’d sent it to Dave’s Jones locker by bad flight control it’d be easier to take but I was fighting the drift and couldn’t wrestle it back to dry land. Pilot error, not knowing limitations of the drone! Keep up the good work!

[@dronewilder5234]

@ yes I feel your pain there. No point crashing if you can’t at least get the footage. I just hope the the control bias is towards GPS setpoint rather than visual positioning when there’s an error (or in other words if the visual positioning gets confused, the GPS is prioritised) - at least that was we can control the situation by ensuring good GPS lock in the first place

[@tommasomauriello7921]

Great Video, this drone is so fun to use. I was using it around water without knowing anything about satellites, now I know. Thank you.

[@dronewilder5234]

@@tommasomauriello7921 glad to hear you found it useful- hopefully will prevent you from having any nasty surprises!

[@duno4819]

Me too bro, 😮😮😮

[@gieronuguid229]

Your my one of my favourite drone blogger shout out here in southampton☺️

[@dronewilder5234]

@@gieronuguid229 thanks so much for your support!

[@SlowTrails]

Thanks for this video, very helpful. Just bought my Neo few days back and going to use it a lot in coming days 🙂

[@samcarver5060]

Excellent video. Brought mine yesterday and was considering practice flights around the ghost town that is the port area of my city.

[@chienpham7196]

try it now :D

[@alvaroisaac9838]

I'm from Brazil and loved your video. You made a real and scary (over the water) test 😅

[@shaunjones9528]

Once again drone wilder provides the content everyone wants 🤘

[@dronewilder5234]

@@shaunjones9528 glad you’re enjoying it!

[@andy_nye]

I do love flying and exploring St Margaret's Bay ... and the woods around Martin Mill .. all from my teens where I lived .. Thank you for the vlog .

[@dronewilder5234]

Yeah it’s a nice area round there - well spotted!

[@andy_nye]

@dronewilder5234 I used to live in Martin Mill for 3 years and go to the bay swimming or camping .. also loved in Deal as being a Coastguard at Dover for 19 years finally moving on to my boat back in April after retirement.. I fly my NEO off the back of my narrowboat most days as well as the 4 pro ... keep up the good work and I have subscribed .

[@JohnMFlores]

Thanks for this. Mine was freaking out over water. Now I know why

[@ZenthAScar]

Thanks man for making this kind of video. 👍👍👍 I've got confidence to buy neo combo after watching your crash test video 😁👍

[@dronewilder5234]

@@ZenthAScar that’s great to hear - have fun with it!

[@droniecze1873]

Nice to see in discussion that I'm not the only one who lost Neo over the water 🙂 Just 2nd day after purchase I have used Neo on paddleboard exactly same as DJI is advertising in autonomous mode to fly circle around. After few seconds landed to the water 🙄

[@dronewilder5234]

@@droniecze1873 yeah it’s a bit weird that dji show the drone flying AI mode (presumably) over water in advertising and then state it shouldn’t be flown over water.

[@johnwilde4953]

I took my neo out to film my kids rowing off the Kent coast at the weekend. When I initially went out, it had a ‘moment’, where it lost stability and started to fall, but recovered…..just. 😅 After that it was solid and I was able to get some great shots manually tracking the boat some distance off the coast. Your video helps explain what was happening - maybe just some limited GPS initially, that strengthens. The huge advantage of course is that if it does take a plunge - it is relatively cheap.😂

[@m.v.3754]

Truly useful video! Answered questions that no other vid did!

[@techlifebio]

Good video demystifying the whole "can't fly over water" thing with Neo. I would add, possibly don't get too close to flowing water (such as a rocky stream) as the visual positioning sensors seem to want to follow the water if you inadvertently pause over that. And don't hover too low over water as the VPS can trigger an auto land thinking the surface is closer than it is. I will say neither of those have happened to me, but I have seen a few videos of that behaviour. And also worth noting the VPS ceases to factor in the drone's stability calculation over about 20m, after which it relies solely on GPS. I think if you always make sure you have a good gps lock, and remain physically controlling the aircraft and not letting it do it's own thing while over water, you aren't ever going to have any issues.

[@dronewilder5234]

I almost feel that flying over water it would be better to have no visual positioning at all. It’s a shame that isn’t an option (other than using tape like I did - which I wouldn’t recommend). Defiantly agree it’s best to not fly close over water especially on sunny glarey days or like you say over rocks where reflections can cause issues)

[@moondragon05]

thx for sharing. i lost my dji neo in the bottom of a lake last week. i was wild camping and wanted to take a cool shot of me standing on a small rock surrounded by water. i got there by kayak. anyway i used the circle preset function and after it flew out 20m, it began descending into the water till i lost it. it was unfortunate. i knew that it was possible to fly a dji neo over water and over estimated the AI capabilities for circle mode. in the presets it relies too much on the other sensors. i thought it'd just know my elevation and fly level relative to it but no. after watching your video i'm willing to try flying over the water again, i just need to do so remotely and not using presets. i also have to check for the satellite connectivity. i didn't look at that at all before.

[@armands672]

Great video ! I was afraid flying neo over water, but you explored the reason and provided clear guidance how to overcome it. But now im afraid of horse ... Thanks for giving me the horse phobia 😂

[@Tony-ow3if]

Watched a few of your videos now - all very valuable, especially this one. Sub awarded ❤

[@dronewilder5234]

@@Tony-ow3if thanks - welcome to the channel!

[@stefw0200]

Very useful information.Thx. IMO there are two main problems with Neo. (1) Cam quality in non RC mode (nothing we can do about but maybe DJI with firmware update) and (2) screaming noise. I saw a YT video of s.o. installing more powerful motors and other propellers (some Gemfan 51) for better FPV flight and it seemed to work fine. Though I don't care about more power (means even less battery time) I really wonder how 3 / 4 / 5 blade propellers could change noise level, to finally make it quiter

[@dronewilder5234]

Yes I agree with the camera quality issue in AI modes although it’s fine in low dynamic range lighting - for example tracking in a Forrest during a dull overcast day. Hopefully dji will improve on this. Regarding props - I’ll try and look at this eventually. The noise is a bit much but it’s more the pitch and that’s the nature of small fast rotating props and motors. I do find through that the size, appearance and type of sound makes it quite unintimidating to public which is good

[@djmrky75]

One more awesome video from you :-) ... you do these videos so perfectly ... Just the right amount of science, experience, bravery ... and fun :-)

[@dronewilder5234]

@@djmrky75 thanks - it’s just me doing something I enjoy in a manner I enjoy - awesome that people enjoy joining me along the way with it!

[@bownsaway]

Brilliant one of the best drone reviewers on the channel.

[@dronewilder5234]

Thanks! I’ve got the best subscribers 🙂

[@JowaMoto]

This is great video. I do a lot of freediving and mostly in the water. When i take a break and chill on the boat i loke to fly the mini but this would've been great to have due to it's size and ease of use if it didn't have that problem you just show in this video. Thank you for this content. Im still considering this but sad to know it's problems over water❤

[@dronewilder5234]

@@JowaMoto yeah for constant flight over water I still wouldn’t recommend it even with my mentioned precautions - a mini 3 or 4 would probably be a better choice then

[@BLUEsurf63]

Really interesting video, just bought the Neo although haven't flown it yet.

[@JimmyGunawanX]

From my testing, it behaves really weird when low near water, it's almost trying to land, but also I remember trying to fly under bridge with RC and there is a weird behaviour in up down motion. Got really useful info here with satellite and avoiding weird hovering.

[@Rabebiker]

Great tests that you are showing here. Did you also test the tracking (not follow) capabilities of the neo after the FW update?

[@dronewilder5234]

I did another video yesterday looking at active track with the new firmware compared to old using two drones at once… and three 😜

[@julesgoodwill]

Great video, you answered my questions about water. My biggest issue is if I fly using my phones WiFi and the virtual controller, it does random things. E.g wouldnt fly forward, only sideways and reverse and then lost connection at about 20ft so I had to walk nearer and re-establish a signal. Definitely wouldn't feel comfortable using my phone over water.

[@dronewilder5234]

I agree - the mobile phone connection is quite limited in use really - it does have its time and place though.

[@gekoldronevideos]

Great Neo video my friend👍I fly it over water without problems and changing anything on the drone, just using the RC 2 controller having enough sattelites. This can be seen in my YT video's flying the Neo. Greetings from a new subscriber 🇳🇱

[@dronewilder5234]

Thanks for the sub and great to hear you are having good experiences flying over water!

[@Windシ]

Wow it can fly over water too, Stay amazing your doing amazing as a KZbinr!

[@dronewilder5234]

It’s can but it’s a bit more risky than other drones so you need to be careful 🙂

[@FionaAnderson-kn6iz]

Have wondered whats going on with the GPS link and how slow it is to get say 24 satellites compared to my mini 3 pro and how it fluctuates. .....Interesting video .

[@glennthompson3642]

Again another informative and interesting video on this amazing little drone 😊

[@Noneyabusinessok]

I am now coming on 58 years old..I had a few cheap drones decade past with no cameras. Couldn't manage them and kept buying another to see if I could manage that one etc. I see so many people saying the DJI series are easy to operate. DJ audits mentioned it a thousand times when people asked him. How many different controllers are there etc and I thought they needed GPS before flying etc.

[@dronewilder5234]

I have also seen drones evolve over the years - built my first drone in 2007 and I can safely say drones have advanced a lot in that time especially in terms of their user friendliness. So yes, dji drones are extremely easy and intuitive to fly. Controller don’t need GPS for you to fly and in the case of the Dji Neo even the drone doesn’t need a controller link at all to fly basic selfie maneuvers. Most drones also have the ability to use vision positioning to fly stable and hold position close to the ground when there is no GPS signal

[@Noneyabusinessok]

@@dronewilder5234 thanks

[@Wujek_Dobra_Rada]

Always check the KP or K index before flying. This is the level of GPS interference in the area. In my country: I can check it on the government flight registration app. If this index is above 5, pack the drone back up and go home.

[@dronewilder5234]

@@Wujek_Dobra_Rada good point

[@gusravecca5751]

So the lower the values are the better to fly the drone??? I'm right??? Thanks

[@dronewilder5234]

@@gusravecca5751 low KP values are better yes

[@gusravecca5751]

@@dronewilder5234 OK, so basically if the numbers of satellites dropped you need to manually bring the Neo back ASAP????

[@dronewilder5234]

@ that would be my advice. The Neo isn’t perfect for flying over water but if you must then that would be the way to do it in my view.

[@akorejepade1261]

As always, an excellent video!

[@dronewilder5234]

Thanks!

[@ChadB]

"Drone Wilder"? Is that a reference to Romancing the Stone?

[@dronewilder5234]

Lol no it’s a pun using my surname - Wilder

[@JaredMysko]

That is very useful information, thanks again! @DroneWilder We are running out of potential water hazards here in Saskatchewan. Took Neo over snow and ice for the first time today. Neo actually loves the snow and doesn't even slip on the ice lol ALSO, I know it says the low operating temperature is -10C but we have potential for some of the coldest temperatures on Earth here. I froze my Motorola phone at -40C a few years ago, stupidly, but it eventually came back to life. Moto rated the phone to operate at -5C or something silly like that, How cold do you think we can fly Neo?

[@tomseen5740]

Creative idea and great video, thank you! Neo GPS is worse than DJI Spark I think… maybe I should test it 😅 Please also keep on creating Avata 2 videos!!

[@dronewilder5234]

@@tomseen5740 thanks yes I’ll be looking to make some avata 2 content too

[@tomseen5740]

@@dronewilder5234 that would be awesome, avata 2 is not dead (even by DJI) - will receive a "power loop" function with next update soon! Looking forward to even more creative content!

[@DonJoyce]

That was not a horse. It was a man with two coconut shells.

[@dronewilder5234]

@@DonJoyce lol love the Monty python reference! 😂

[@stompmaster]

LOL! 🤣 🥥

[@andrehome2493]

I second that, I enjoy your video, always interesting, and you got balls with some of the stuff you try, keep it up

[@dronewilder5234]

@@andrehome2493 thanks - more ballsy stuff to come 😂

[@paullawrence8572]

The risk taker! and I'm loving your vids!👌👊

[@dronewilder5234]

@@paullawrence8572 thanks! More risky stuff to come soon

[@6yjjk]

Kayaker here. Really wanted to get the Hover Air X1 but it's unusable over water, so this is definitely interesting - and just barely cheap enough that I would feel comfortable with the risk. Can it use the predefined modes (follow, etc.) over water with the same degree of (relative!) safety? Can it even recognise half a human sticking out of a kayak as a human and follow it?

[@dronewilder5234]

I think in terms of tracking ability it should recognise you on a kayak but I would strongly advise against using the AI track or even mobile phone control when on a kayak and you’ll have no way to verify the GPS link. With the RC-N3 controller or RC2 it should be ok but again at low altitude you may have issues with reflections causing issues conflicting with GpS signals. I will reach out to DJI and try and get some info on whether visual sensor setpoints override GPS setpoints in such cases

[@Tarzan0123]

I am still waiting for my Neo to ship. I live around water and was wondering about flying over it so this video helps a lot! I was thinking about attaching ping pong balls or Styrofoam fishing bobbers to the bottom in case it locked up and decided to land on water or other similar emergency on the water.

[@dronewilder5234]

@@Tarzan0123 tbh suddenly landing attempt should be unlikely (not saying they are impossible) but fly aways and uncontrollable behaviour due to GPS loss can be heavily avoided this way 🙂

[@DonJoyce]

Great video once again!!

[@SchaufussTV]

Another awesome video 🎉

[@simonotero2434]

Great video! Is it important to always keep the drone moving when flying over water, or is it ok to let it hover for a bit (at a reasonable altitude) so long as the satellites are strong?

[@dronewilder5234]

Im going to test this a bit as the question was asked already in the comments. I’d say at a reasonable altitude visual positioning shouldn’t interfere too much and a strong GPS link should be fine to hover. Bare in mind also that on very sunny days, sun glare/reflection can play havoc with the positioning sensor

[@simonotero2434]

@ great thanks! I’ll keep my out for when your results on this are out! Appreciate the work you put in to making the videos and responding to comments 🙌

[@dronewilder5234]

@@simonotero2434 I’ll either do a short follow up video or pin a comment on here

[@simonzero3815]

That is such an interesting video, thank you for the education lesson. Very well put together and makes perfect sense. I know now why it went skittts in our dining room one evening. LOL. Cheers Simon

[@dronewilder5234]

Glad it was helpful!

[@BhupenderSingh-mm2rk]

Yeah, one of fav KZbinr uploaded a video...... Hahah Great vieeo.... So if we fly Neo in dark or night , (other than we can't see anything at all to fly it ) It cannot even fly/stabilize itself ???? Is it so ???? ( Because of downward sensor not because GPS thing)

[@dronewilder5234]

@@BhupenderSingh-mm2rk hey! Thanks for the support! In dark conditions treat it just like flying over water - wait for a good strong GPS signal and ensure clear unobstructed skies and it will do fine even in the dark

[@pbatacan]

I tried to do a quickshot (circle) on a beach. Water was about chest deep. I powered it on. Hovered a bit. Did a circle. But after 5 seconds, it started to drift down. I ran after it and i was just about centimeters from the water. It was a near miss. Neo nearly died.lol Lesson learned from this video. The moment you power it on, and do a quickshot, gps links are essentially absent! Hence it drifts over water (or over reflective surfaces) Theory: if you want to do a quickshot, maybe you should wait at least 5mins for good gps lock? I just flew over water today with my drone. On an open sea. But this time, im using the remote that came with the fly more package. And it never had a problem. Took wonderful shots on a sunny day. The sea is so reflective but my neo did not crash. Lesson: you need a good gps link and a remote control to fly safely over water. But also mind the wind speed.

[@dronewilder5234]

Very well summaried and yes, the fact that AI quick shots compel users to fly straight away without GPS lock is probably the biggest root of the problem

[@pbatacan]

@@dronewilder5234 dji should provide warning for this. But the best dji could do is to require good gps lock before quickshot can be used via firmware update.

[@dronewilder5234]

@ in fairness to dji they do state the drone shouldn’t be flown over water but yeah an audible „GPS lock aquired“ notice would be good

[@sonymardelola8646]

Great info! What about when flying autonomous or mobile? Does it rely on the downward visual positioning as well?

[@dronewilder5234]

I’d avoid using autonomous tracking or flights over water because those modes will allow flight with no GPS at all and give no indication of how strong the link is (if there’s any link at all!). Using a mobile would be better as you can check the GPS strength. I’d love to know from DJI how much priority the downward positioning has over the GPS position if there’s a setpoint discrepancy but strong GPS- I’d hope it prioritises GPS

[@sonymardelola8646]

@@dronewilder5234 i see. Thank you. Maybe you can include these in your next tests. 😁

[@DionProbo]

NICE, so if u are flying at water u need fill gps above 20 and sure stables. check it😊 thanks for sharing this 🙏

[@dronewilder5234]

Yes additionally it’s also worth making sure you’re not too close to the water surface- especially if you have sunny glary conditions- just incase this upsets the visual positioning - hopefully a strong GPS signal will prioritise positioning though

[@DionProbo]

@@dronewilder5234 it is recomended in night fly👍

[@hovig2000]

I was wondering if this drone will fly blind folded and fly gps only and now there you have it. Thanks for sharing

[@SimplyTechKey]

got my sub , thanks for doing videos like this

[@dronewilder5234]

Thanks for the sub and welcome to the channel!

[@finnpilegaard8557]

Hey You mist the real test !!! 😞 Were you let it hower 1 to 3 meters over the wather. Its here I and many others have seen the Neo go toltaly out of control. And remember also to test the fly white the mobile app. I stil think you are the best Neo youtuber.🤩

[@dronewilder5234]

@@finnpilegaard8557 good point - I’ll look into that. I did fly around 1-3m over the water a few times during these tests but I didn’t hover in one point for long as such. Perhaps in those instances some tape over the bottom sensors would actually be benificial 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@MoonRabbitFPV]

Awesome video 👊😎 new subscriber😊 thanks for sharing 😊🙏

[@dronewilder5234]

Thanks for the sub - welcome to the channel!

[@paulstross4476]

Please can you address the issue of the palm landing facility and how that unique Neo ability might affect flying over water when the downwards sensors might get confused and cause the drops to occur. This would be distinct from addressing the GPS issues.

[@dronewilder5234]

The thing with the palm take off (presume you mean AI track features) is that it gives no indication of GPS link and also will take off regardless even if there is no GPS, just using visual sensors. This is fine over textured environments but if flying at night or over water, I would strongly recommend using a smartphone connection and ensuring you have GPS lock first. This may take a few minutes as shown in my video but can avoid a fly away or the drone going out of control

[@paulstross4476]

What I meant was whether the propensity for palm landing could cause it to land over a reflective surface like water. ​@dronewilder5234

[@paulstross4476]

​@dronewilder5234 I was trying to explore whether the unique propensity for palm landing might cause the Neo to land inappropriately over featureless but reflective surfaces like water. Can you address that aspect please?

[@dronewilder5234]

@ I’ll have a look at how things look with the new firmware from yesterday

[@paulstross4476]

I wonder if the sun reflecting on water might be perceived as a palm?

[@TheScaryClosetMonster]

I keep seeing people angry about their Neo not being able to fly over water. ALLLLLL the videos they've watched, and they think, "Well, it's gotta work for someone? Why don't I try it!" If you don't trust a paper airplane to survive it, don't do it with a Neo.

[@resideky2943]

Thank you , this really help me to understand the neo

[@BlairAir]

Upon getting a Air 2 in... 2020, I think.. I saw fog on the water. Ran home for the Air 2, and flew, maybe a foot over the surface for an hour or more. Only later did I realize how risky that was! I wonder if Air 3S Flipped on Lidar when the Downward sensors were inhibited.

[@dronewilder5234]

@@BlairAir bet it created some stunning footage though 👍

[@BlairAir]

​@@dronewilder5234Indeed - I was quite proud of it. Simultaneously proud, and feeling foolish! You of all people can relate! 😂

[@dronewilder5234]

@ 😂

[@jimcsnr]

I would expect the Air 3S to be more reliable in any environment! Not really a fair test! You could probably buy 5 or 6 NEO's for the price of the Air 3S, the price of both drones tells you there should be a massive difference in quality and performance. Still; excellent video.

[@dronewilder5234]

@@jimcsnr oh it was in no way slating the Neo for its lesser performance than the Air3s, the point I was trying to make is that because it’s cheaper and smaller you need to kerb your expectations and as far as position hold, take some extra precautions. I guess in many ways we are all spoilt by how reliable and effective drones are nowadays 🙂🙂

[@Kr0ninz]

Will you review the new goggles n3? Hope you will compare it with goggles 3. Pros and cons.

[@dronewilder5234]

@@Kr0ninz im not sure as I don’t get sent free stuff and owning a pair of Goggles3, I can’t see the goggles n3 providing me any advantage. However I will be looking to create more FPV specific content which will be relevant to new Goggles N3 users

[@milvusotis]

@squaddingquads in his video "Dangerous Faults Revealed: DJI Neo Camera Drone - DO NOT FLY" suggests that uncontrolled flight, satellite loss and similar anomalies can cause system overload. He recommends recording 1080 video instead of 4K. In case of problems, immediately turn off video recording. Several people confirm his assumption. All report issues not while flying over water, but over land.

[@dronewilder5234]

@@milvusotis that’s quite interesting. I’ve noticed some video anomalies before so maybe also linked to an overload through that.

[@pipleo6313]

Hi whats the music at 8:50. Thank you and great video

[@dronewilder5234]

@@pipleo6313 it’s called Kepler‘s Hope. Can be found on epidemic sounds

[@HorseBusiness-uk]

really helpful video thank you

[@kimaban1660]

did you cover the downward sensor when you flew on the water?

[@dronewilder5234]

@@kimaban1660 no they where uncovered for that part of the test

[@Y0n3z]

all drones with gps on mild cloudy days, flying either fast over semi rough water, closer, or slower and at higher away with glass like water, are both no go with gps... and certainly do no rely on home position ever. another big no no is calibrating on a beach or a cliff hang before attempting over water flights. also flight path or autonomous modes.. i would suggest staying away from aswell.

[@FelipeAbreuFND]

Great video, thank you!

[@darrenowens1543]

Hi, unless you're using a controller. Don't do it otherwise or you will lose it!! I was on holiday recently and I was doing one of the hand palm modes and it went slightly over the water and went mad! It went further and further out darting from side to side , eventually speeding towards the harbour defensible wall . As it hit the rocks the battery was ejected at great speed.luckey I eventually found the drone but not the battery. The only real damage was to the back of the drone around the usb c port was bent up and a crack.

[@dronewilder5234]

Yeah one of the big problems with palm take off is that because it allows extremely fast take off after power up (no RC to power up, no link to drone to establish, no indication of GPS link), it will allow take off without any GPS link at all, thus making it 100% dependent on visual positioning sensors. I’d at the very least use a mobile phone connection flying over untextured surfaces. Glad you at least got the drone back - also good that the batteries don’t have the Mavic 3 battery price tag (about the same cost as en entire Neo kit!)

[@DronePH-2024]

Thanks for sharing❤

[@fabiopotter]

Great video But i guess you are using the 01.00.0300 drone firmware, or no? In 11/6 DJI launch the 01.00.400 new firmware. Then i think that with the new firmware the results maybe a little diferent. Congrats.

[@dronewilder5234]

@@fabiopotter this was indeed with the 0300 firmware - I’ll have a look if things look better with the updated one

[@killiansred40]

im wondering about low light flying indoors outdoors , i was thinking putting reflective tape or paint around the bottom sensor to capture absorbed light , or light weight headlights. what can you come up with.

[@dronewilder5234]

@@killiansred40 not sure that would work- the bottom sensors are basically just cameras which look at the ground and lock onto pixels/features - just like a human eye would in order to orientate yourself. Hopefully DJI will implement a more effective GPS sensor on the next iterations of this drone though!

[@NZVideoGuy]

I have a Neo and when filming indoors over people, it wants to follow the people as they move around. So I put BluTak over the underneath cameras. I flew indoors expecting to have zero ability to maintain position. I was wrong. It held position for at least a couple of minutes before it switched to Attitude mode. In Attitude mode it drifted according to the movement of the air. I don’t know how to explain the Neo maintaining position indoors with the two cameras covered. Something to test?

[@dronewilder5234]

@@NZVideoGuy thats very surprising- is it not possible you had some GPS link indoors perhaps?

[@mlab3573]

Does this still apply in Manual mode ? Thanks for your time .

[@dronewilder5234]

No on manual mode you can basically fly over water with no risk of unusual behaviour as GPS is only used for speed and position info.

[@Y0n3z]

also disabiling the sensors vs. taping will not create that drunken bee dance. as it will quit redundancy checks for position accxuracy against satellite drops (it averages this messsure to adjust the pid controller.)

[@dronewilder5234]

@@Y0n3z as far as I can tell it’s not possible to disable the sensors though - not with the Neo at least

[@bourdon845]

Cool !

[@harganyaa]

Suara anda sangat tampan sekali 😂. Thanks for the information

[@dronewilder5234]

@@harganyaa you’re very welcome

[@gusravecca5751]

Awesome videos you make mate, what height is the best to fly the Neo over water please??? Thanks in advance, Gus.

[@dronewilder5234]

@@gusravecca5751 thanks bud, to be on the safe side I’d stay above 5m so the downward sensor doesn’t start locking onto water textures causing issues although I’m not sure if it would still do this even with a very strong GPS signal - I’ll have to check that. In my test I flew a good solid 3 minutes over open water at 3-15m height and it was fine all the way

[@maxmaxi4605]

You are the man!!!

[@WalterDeambrogio]

Thank you, excellent video 👍

[@FlywithOdin]

Interesting video. Well presented. big like and sub from Bangkok. 💗👍

[@dronewilder5234]

@@FlywithOdin thanks for the sub and welcome to the channel!

[@Kr0ninz]

Wow thank you for the great information!

[@tonyl3391]

Have you tried the autonomous follow me and Direction track me over water? I'm thinking about kayaking on rivers and canals and setting the height and follow distance to medium. Would the visual tracking at close range compensate for variable gps signal? Not purchased yet as if that isn't safe there's not much point.

[@dronewilder5234]

@@tonyl3391 I would recommend against using AI track over water as there’s simply no way for the user to verify whether it’s got any GPS at all. Without GPS you are completely dependent on visual downward sensors which won’t work well on water

[@tonyl3391]

@dronewilder5234 would the dji fly app indicate a good or bad gps signal? I always take my phone with me to control my gopros so could use the app. If you initiated follow me or direction track from the app will it still hand launch and land? Can you take over control if the neo goes native and direct it back to land on your hand in some way? Sorry to ask so may questions, hard to know what's possible when you don't have the actual drone etc.

[@dronewilder5234]

@ I think at the moment it only indicates whether there is GPS lock or not but not the strength. Hopefully dji will improve this: its better than just AI control but still not ideal

[@dorka79]

Best test ! Bravo

[@lexikona]

Seems from your tests that it's all about the GPS Sats? Does the downward sensor have any effect on flying over the water, eg., flying low height with poor GPS Sats?

[@dronewilder5234]

@@lexikona I’d probably avoid flying low over water as there have been reports of reflections causing issues. I’d like to think that a strong GPS fix would take priority in the positioning control but without knowing it I’d keep some distance from the surface. It seemed fine in my tests but it wasn’t sunny and I was minimum 3m above the surface

[@Raygun84]

Actually what I noticed is that when the sun is reflecting off the water that’s when it causes issues. So it more likely that the sensor gets blinded by reflection

[@dronewilder5234]

@@Raygun84 yes reflective surfaces definitely cause real issues for vision positioning sensors even with other dji drones. For that reason it’s probably best to to fly too close to the water surface even with a good gps fix

[@MrPlaneTalk]

What about flying over cliffs? That’s another warning from DJI and other KZbinrs. But I’m confused. If you have a good GPS lock, then according to what you’re saying, the downward sensors aren’t doing anything, so an abrupt change in VIO distance shouldn’t matter, like flying backwards over the cliffs right behind you. Please test this. Thanks

[@BradForrest]

So we're still stuck if we're flying without the remote controller? Because then it's not using satellites right? That is still the scenario I was hoping to use it for, e.g., a dronie shot on the beach, flying away over the sea.

[@dronewilder5234]

It may still use satellites but the concern is more when you don’t verify it. I think the mobile phone app control will at least tell you when the drone has gps fix although it doesn’t indicate the strength or number of satellites. There was an update today which dji claim improves position hold/stability but I’ve yet to test this

[@samcarver5060]

Question. I use my phone to fly the dji neo. Is it safe or not safe to do that over water?

[@dronewilder5234]

@@samcarver5060 using phone I would treat it the same way - ensuring you have a really strong GPS signal. Like I said there are no guarantees but if you keep a strong gps link and don’t fly super close to the water, it should be fine.

[@samcarver5060]

@dronewilder5234 got it thanks. Strong gps signal golden rule.

[@Shootswithnito]

I was recording in 4k?

[@dronewilder5234]

The drone footage was recorded in 4k but no special attention was really paid to the footage itself as this wasn’t what the video was about.

[@Shootswithnito]

@ nice bro ! Looked good tho I wanted to know if should record in 1080 60 fps or 4k

[@cinematic-travels]

Hi - can you clarify, so I have the RC-N3 controller is this the controller that is okay to fly manually over water?

[@dronewilder5234]

@@cinematic-travels yes but just to clarify there is no absolute guarantee with this drone unless you fly full manual mode with FPV setup but with the RC-N3 controller you can at least check for a strong GPS signal like I did in the video so yes it should be ok

[@cinematic-travels]

@@dronewilder5234 Thanks bud! In this video you flew over sea at the same level. Do you think it could possible work over sea at a lower level than standing on - like a small cliff, perhaps a few m? or better keep it at the same level. Thanks for your experiments

[@dronewilder5234]

@@cinematic-travels I can’t see any issues flying below your take off level if taking off from a cliff if you have a good GPS link. Main thing is avoid is flying too close to the water surface due to glare confusing the positioning sensor

[@cinematic-travels]

@@dronewilder5234 Perfect, thanks again

[@gatway100]

it's due because of reflection of the water and the waves so it doesn't know and it measured it but it can be fixed with an update

[@dronewilder5234]

That would be nice if firmware can improve it. Even then there will be limits of how effective it can hold position over water as there is simply no set reference point to lock onto.

[@oscr_zen]

just wondering: how do you land a DJI drone if it's sensor is blocked, he can't see the ground, wont it run propellers indefinitely?

[@dronewilder5234]

Correct but you can just hand grab it like I did at about 2 mins into the video… even though the motors didn’t stop initially when I tried to tilt it (which normally stops them) - what’s why I looked so awkward when the horse went by and my Neo was still screaming trying to fly 😂

[@oscr_zen]

@@dronewilder5234 So it kinda works but kinda don't :D Im asking because sensors give an issue that you cant fit in a really tight space because it will detect ground and push the drone into the ceiling/obstacle.

[@dronewilder5234]

@ might be better to switch into sport mode for those scenarios. I know that at least with other dji drones this makes the bottom sensors less influential

[@oscr_zen]

@@dronewilder5234 will try that definitely, 🙏

[@BlairAir]

You are a Madman! A stone, cold... wait... madman don't cover Time of Flight sensors! In your case, we will permit it. Now let's see how close you get to the surface! Sorry to hear about the horse passing. I hope he lived a good life!

[@dronewilder5234]

@@BlairAir haha I do love a challenge

[@gieronuguid229]

Hello Its more safer to fly the dji neo using rcn controler than palm mode above water?

[@dronewilder5234]

Yes absolutely in my opinion, with the RC-N you can verify that you have a good GPS link

[@gieronuguid229]

@ thank you so much mate for that🤩

[@standeely]

Having the same problem with GPS on the Neo. It will *usually* get not sats until I've been flying for half a pack and it will gradually build up to 10-12 finally. Everything else gets GPS in the exact same spot, easily. DJI told me to downgrade the firmware which did absolutely nothing. Thankfully, I only fly manual..

[@dronewilder5234]

@@standeely one thing you may notice is that if you fly multiple packs in one place, subsequent power ups result in a faster GPS lock. This is because in new locations an almanac of satellites in that location at that time is created.

[@standeely]

@@dronewilder5234 Interesting! I figured it would start from zero with every power up. Good to know!