Drones

[Shadd]

Hey guys probably stupid question but what do you Guys think of using a drone controlled via phone or tablet to scout out likely game trails/wallows and spots sit and whistle or glass from.
Someone I know is thinking of trying it and sounds like an interesting idea to me.

[Heckler303]

*Sigh*

I know its been popularised by the media and used by every poof and his dog that can control a quadrotor, but those little things are not 'Drones'. Much like calling a firearm a weapon, they use a military definition to fit a civilian item. A Predator armed with two Hellfires and a high resolution camera is a drone.



I have thought about using a RC quadcopter to use as a spotlighter and a scout too, its definitely an idea that can withold a few hundred of different uses sure. You just need to have somebody manning it OR buying/making an autopilot system. Even better if you'd be interested in making the quadcopter yourself, because you could load it up with more efficient battery packs (li-pos) and install a spotlight onto it. Plus the fact its a hell of a lot cheaper than buying one off the commercial market.

[happyhunter]

I'd have an overwhelming urge to shoot it down

[Wylie27]

*sigh*

A drone: an unmanned aircraft or ship that can navigate autonomously, without human control or beyond line of sight: reference Oxford dictionary

So a dji phantom is considered a drone as it has gps tracking and autonomous flying.. Hell my robot vacuum cleaner is a drone....

It's is NOT just a military term and the term drones were about long before predators and raptors..

Back on topic.

Yes I have been looking at one for a family friend who wants to track his animals on his property, both wild and domestic.
Completely autonomous unit that has IR capability and fpv / video feed.

From what I have learned so far a hex copter (6 motors) with low kv motors and large lipos will give the run time needed.

The hardest part is the payload, for this drone it will not only do aerial recon but will have a payload too.. Noo not that food stock for the domestic animals.. The idea is it can have a 2-3kg payload.

Just the aerial video payload is heavy with ir type video etc.

It won't be cheap, to build this we are looking at 2-3kk and most of that is covering the aircraft..

Run times are still the killer and they are noisy so you have to go so high to not spook the animals which means higher quality video equipment.

Professionally supplied drones cost anywhere up to 4-6k to buy. Heckler is right that diy is best. But still it is expensive.

[happyhunter]

Using "drones" to scout for game is novel but seems labor intensive when a small number of well placed game cameras will do the job.

[Wylie27]

Happyhunter yes indeed.

Expensive for just that purpose. As it needs to be high to avoid spooking game..

The drone we are slowly building is for scouting of cattle mainly.. Finding out where they are etc. keeping tabs on hard to reach parts of the property.

[Wylie27]

Also with the cost my biggest worry is motor failure and the fatal fall.

When these are a hundred metres up they fall pretty damn fast and build up a bit of speed...

[GLS_1956]

I'd have an overwhelming urge to shoot it down

This has already happened in the USA, legalities not withstanding.

[Gwion]

Wedgetailed Eagles also take offense to them. A property nearby has lost 2 drones to Wedgies..... something to bear in mind.

[Shadd]

There are a few on the market that are autonomous (yes 2/3k) that can be set at a certain. Altitude scout distance free landing ones so they don't fall 100 metres when it's low on power I've been looking at a certain one to film my motorbike adventures but u just wear a wristband and u can set it to do a bunch of things also acts as a in flight cam if u are resting somewhere.

Just a thought.
Yes I know drone is a military term for unmanned recon/ strike craft but I just used it as a generic term as quadcopter/ hex copter / whatever other number of rotors they could possibly have is a title that I don't think would fit lol

[Gwion]

Drone is not a military term, it is a civilian (media) term to describe military use of technology. They are termed Remotely Piloted Aircraft or Unmanned Vehicles.

Drone is a generic term, not an official designation.

Look up 'Rise of the Drones'. It is on Netflicks and is an eyeopening look into the use of drone technology in modern warfare; or in fact, using drones to inflict violence without declaration of war; as technically, if there are no troops on the ground (or in the air), there is no war being waged. Surveillance, recon and lethal force carried out anywhere, anytime for what ever goddamn reason they like or see fit.

[bigfellascott]

A mate has a few (some up to $80k in value) and other smaller ones, they are ok, not sure I'd bother mucking around with one for hunting purposes to be honest, I reckon it would be easier to just get out there and take ya rifle with ya, by the time you see em they may well have buggered off by the time you get to where they were if you know what I mean.

[Shadd]

Hmm was just a thought anyways if the guy I know wants to spend his money on one it's his perogitive, I was just wondering what you guys think of it.
I'm tech savvy but rather spend my money on my bike my pc and future rifle/s lol then a drone or maybe go for a chopper licence lol

[brett1868]

I've been flying multi's for several years now and currently have a Carbon Core 950 Hex with a MTOW of almost 8kg. Also have a F550 and Phantom that I fly for fun and practise cause the big bugger is too noisy. The multi's are relatively easy to fly and when coupled to the ground station I can preprogram their entire flight, hit a button and off it goes. When time permits I'm going to strap the thermal scope under it and see how that performs. Weekend before last when I was up north pig shooting I took the thermal and used it as a monocular to spot game from a distance, my mate said it took all the fun out of the "Hunting".

[bluerob]

Mate of mine thought they were a great idea to help with mustering sheep. Sheep took off in every direction. He bought a RC helicopter.

Spooked the sheep and it landed in the dam.

I nearly fell over laughing.

[brett1868]

I laugh every time I hear about how companies plan to use drones to deliver stuff, it's right up there with "Agile workplace", "Cloud Computing" and my favourite "Robust Solutions". Flight times are way too short with current battery technology....all just a big wank that sounds cool.

[happyhunter]

I'd have an overwhelming urge to shoot it down

This has already happened in the USA, legalities not withstanding.

There was a report in the local newspaper on thieves using them to survey farms. I see one over my place and it gets shot down and I'll deal with the legalities later.

[Elmer]

I fly RC Helicopters and any thing above a 5kph wind makes controlling the little buggers quite a challenge...dunno what the quads would be like or flying times on one battery charge but mine only gets 7mins from one charge.

[bigfellascott]

Mate of mine thought they were a great idea to help with mustering sheep. Sheep took off in every direction. He bought a RC helicopter.

Spooked the sheep and it landed in the dam.

I nearly fell over laughing.

that was a funny story.

[petemacsydney]

DRONES... it's slightly less expensive than shooting if you know what you are doing. lol

i have several "long distance drones" and a couple of close in drones. Most are fixed wing (my preference). My furthest flight so far is 16km out to sea and back - It was just over an hour flight and I flew past a few tankers on the way. That was a couple of years ago before all the hoopla and regulations stuff came in.

It should be easy to spot medium to large game but you need the right gear. haven't tried it myself for that purpose though.

Just do plenty of research before you buy your equipment, otherwise you'll end up spending an absolute fortune when you don't need to.

yell out if you need any help. good luck!

[Shadd]

Wel if anyone ever does strap a thermal or a normal camera to a drone and use to to spot game let us know how it worked out

[Wylie27]

http://www.riseabove.com.au/agriculture-drones/

Just going to leave this here...lol

[brett1868]

http://www.riseabove.com.au/agriculture-drones/

Just going to leave this here...lol

Toys compared to what Yamaha have on offer http://rmax.yamaha-motor.com.au/faq#n128

Awesome technology but still early days. Petemac fly's FPV aircraft (I actually know him through that interest) and that has far better endurance compared to multi rotors or choppers. The chopper Yamaha has on offer has a rotor diameter just over 3m and overall length of 2.75m but a max flight time of 45-60 mins, good but damn big and very expensive. I had ideas of buying one to survey crops using a thermal type lens to work out the optimal harvest time, project got shelved due to lack of development time plus the Japanese developed something similar. I love this technology, even have an ultra long range UHF RC setup capable of 100km or more (http://www.tslrs.com/). The scary part of this technology is that it's not too difficult to build your own cruise missile, all the gear including the jet turbine, flight controller and software is easily found in hobby shops and on eBay. If the terrorist types get their act together and leveraged this technology, it would be relatively easy for them to strike just about any target with pinpoint accuracy...Good justification for a 50Cal Semi-Auto me thinks..

I have 3 passions (not counting the wife and boy) in no particular order - RC anything, Lego Technic and Firearms both long and small.

[Wylie27]

Hey Brett,

I was more concerned with the commercial ones cost.. Some serious coin there

[p3seven]

Mabye sheep dogs were the original drones. They do all that and only go into the dam after the jobs done. Cheers

[petemacsydney]

personally i'd like to get one of these to do some surveillance....

http://www.gulfstream.com/aircraft/gulfstream-g650

[Shadd]

It seems I've opened a can of worms....

[WayneO]

Is the object of hunting, not to get out into the outdoors and test your skills against those of your quarry?
Range finders I get and I use, High power scopes are a must, electronic hearing protectors are annoying for me, but some of my clients love them. But a drone to find game? Is that not taking it one step to far?

[redders]

Using a drone for hunting is probably a natural progression for lazy techy twats who don't like the outdoors much! Can't think of anything funnier than shooting them out of the sky and burying them in the ground whilst watching a spectacled anorak with gum boots on trudging through the mud calling out to his lost love....
Obviously Mr Moderator this is said in jest and is in no way meant to offend anyone and isn't possible as the sky doesn't have a back stop and there are no drones or speck twats where i shoot!!!!

[petemacsydney]

yeah i know what you mean, hunting and drones doesn't seem to be in the true spirit of hunting (only in my humble opinion of course!).

Although... whilst i have not mixed the two hobbies yet, I am finding I am wanting to know more and more about the habits of the deer on the permission i hunt, so i think i may eventually use one of my drones just to understand them some more - again, not to track them down for hunting, just to understand from a curiosity point of view as to where they go etc. That said i guess that info could (in theory) come in handy for the hunt, but i very much doubt i will ever use it as they will be wandering onto adjacent land that i do not have permissions for and as such will never hunt on.

I'm with you on the bush stuff as well, for me the hunt is just as much about getting out into nature as getting a good hunt on!