My Weekend at Semiahmoo - Aerial Drone Footage

[@9911dh56kl5]

This really video really captures the natural beauty of Semiahmoo Spit! Thank you for posting on our Wings Over Water facebook page

[@TheConvivialCreator]

That was so cool. I especially loved the eagle shot on top of the tower. Wow. Thanks for taking, editing and posting!

[@dougyshl]

great video! this just got me really excited to go back there!

[@Zbip57]

Nice!

[@escortrsts2]

Hi great video... Can I ask, how did you instal the gimbal onto the phantom??

[@SecAdept]

If you go to RCGroups and look up the DYS 3axis, you can find all the info... but essentially, the carbon fiber plate (which isolated vibrations with compression balls) just mounts to the two screws under the phantom. You need to supply 12V power, and on my phantom 1, that meant soldering wires to two point on the phantom board (so you have to open it). When it's open, you can also connect a cable to X2 of the NAZA flight controller, if you want to control pitch of the gimbal from your RC transmitter. The final trick for the DYS is it's taller than you really want with the Phantom. The stock landing gear of the phantom will cause the camera and gimbal to hang down too far. So you either need to upgrade to taller landing gear (plenty of options on Amazon) or you need to install risers/extensions on your existing landing gear. Since I already have a hard foam-lined case designed to just fit the phantom as is, I extending my gear using parts from lowes, that I could then fold up when I'm done... Finally, your stock phantom radio does have a channel for the gimbal pitch control, you do not get the stick to control it with the original phantom. I did not like the stick anyway, so I modified my transmitter by soldering my own potentiometer to the inside of the transmitter, and added a big radio shack knob control to adjust camera pitch..

[@SecAdept]

Thanks guys

[@rogers8765]

May i know How many flight time you have? n spec your lipo

[@SecAdept]

6-8 mins depending on the lipo and set of props I use. I have many lipos, from the original phantom, to the Turnigy normal, to the turnigy nano-tech, to the zippy... I stick with 2200's though.. haven't tried 2500

[@briansolomon3049]

I would like permission to use this video to promote Semiahmoo Resort & Blaine during an event. Please advise if this is possible.

[@SecAdept]

Go for it. I did it for private, hobbyist use, and am not monetizing it. That said, please be clear to any who ask that this is a private, non-commercial video that I did not charge for. The FAA requires certain licensing to be a "commercial" UAV operator. I am not. I am just a hobbyist that doesn't mind people using this video, which I made purely for fun.

[@beaugy99]

Love the video, but I think it might be a federal offense to disturb Bald Eagles. I say this just to give you a head's up.

[@SecAdept]

+beaugy99 Thanks... To be honest, I didn't even really know it was up there until I got close. This video was shot long ago, before the new FAA/AMA rules... Such as, no RC in national parks etc. While I would love to continue to get good shots of wildlife, I do not plan to disturb them on purpose. I had flown about four flight around that water tower, and during that one, it was on top. Through my goggles, I couldn't even tell if was an eagle until it actually spread its wings. So in short, I had no intention to disturb it. That said, not sure I'd do anything different, other than stay further away from it once I recognized it as an eagle.

[@beaugy99]

I understand. This is not the FAA but endangered species act, which defines "harassment" pretty loosely. Amazing video though!

[@SecAdept]

+beaugy99 good to know. Wonder how they'd interpret my intent though. I'm sure folks often run into endanger species by accident... I would think harassment would include continually following the bird, which I just let fly off... In any case, I think multirotor operators should worry more about Eagles cause they'd always win in a fight. Don't know if you've seen this, but the eagles easily take out the phantom: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fImWpoKHnr-mZqM (PS. I don't really think thats the only reason operators should avoid eagles... they shouldn't harass any animal. I just though it would be a fun video to share if you haven't seen it. Those eagles really do kick butt. ^_^)