Sportbike_Pilot Posted at 2017-9-30 12:57
Forget flying for a min, visiting Antartica? now that's an adventure period. Not too many folks get that opportunity to visit such a place so well wishes on your journey.
I'm sure when you fly the Mavic, you'll record some great vids/pics.

Thank you for the good wishes, it is a major adventure to be sure. Takes 15 days to get there.
I will try to post footage but bandwidth is a problem, only sat comms.

ricci2 Posted at 2017-9-30 16:08
Thank you for the good wishes, it is a major adventure to be sure. Takes 15 days to get there.
I will try to post footage but bandwidth is a problem, only sat comms.

Hi ricci2
If you don't mind me asking what part of the ice are you going to?
I'm tendering on some UAV work on Ross Island and give myself a chance of being down there for a short period this summer with an M210 RTK. If you are in the area we could catch up.
Cheers

fansb1b8f616 Posted at 2017-10-8 11:03
Hi ricci2
If you don't mind me asking what part of the ice are you going to?
I'm tendering on some UAV work on Ross Island and give myself a chance of being down there for a short period this summer with an M210 RTK. If you are in the area we could catch up.

Hi, sorry for not responding I have been doing  Deep-sea survival training with BAS last week. I fly out to Halley 6 on the 5 of November we are on the blunt Ice-shelf. I will be there six months but if there is a chance to meet up I am taking the M600 and Mavic..
pm me if you want with further details.

Ricci

Looking forward to seeing the footage upon your safe return. BTW Polar Pro do make ND64 polarised filters in their cinema series. The polariser will help with the glare too. Good luck and safe travels.

ACW Posted at 2017-10-14 14:12
Looking forward to seeing the footage upon your safe return. BTW Polar Pro do make ND64 polarised filters in their cinema series. The polariser will help with the glare too. Good luck and safe travels.

thank you for the kind wishes

Sportbike_Pilot Posted at 2017-9-15 03:46
Watch out for the polar bears....they might try to snatch it !

Polar bears in Antartica???

My home for the next six months. Halley 6 British Antartic servey.

ricci2 Posted at 2017-10-15 12:31
My home for the next six months. Halley 6 British Antartic servey.
[view_image]

Wow, interesting. How's the wifi-internet service there? How long are the days?

A battery bra!
Keep your batteries warm by keeping them next to your body.  I had planned on keeping mine in my underarms when heading up some mountains in Colombia (>5k meters), but my wife hurt her knee and we had to turn back.  Plus, when you get ready to use them, let the blades spin for a minute or two before actually flying.

DGRolfe Posted at 2017-10-16 08:59
A battery bra!
Keep your batteries warm by keeping them next to your body.  I had planned on keeping mine in my underarms when heading up some mountains in Colombia (>5k meters), but my wife hurt her knee and we had to turn back.  Plus, when you get ready to use them, let the blades spin for a minute or two before actually flying.

good advice thanks, at anything up to -70 I will nee all the help I can get

ricci

M.C. Pilot Posted at 2017-10-16 03:56
Wow, interesting. How's the wifi-internet service there? How long are the days?

Hi,
wifi is i.5 meg between 60 people and the summer is 24 hours daylight so hard to know when to switch off,
had to get a watch.

ricci

ricci2 Posted at 2017-10-15 12:31
My home for the next six months. Halley 6 British Antartic servey.
[view_image]

Cool! I watched a documentary on how this was built by component engineering. Love to check it out for a couple of weeks, 6 months maybe not so much

QuadKid Posted at 2017-10-16 13:45
Cool! I watched a documentary on how this was built by component engineering. Love to check it out for a couple of weeks, 6 months maybe not so much

hi,
it takes 15 days to get there and the cost to get one person there is £20k. and the same back.
Our nearest camp is 800miles away and we have to eat 5000 calories a day  just to keep warm.
so many extremes there.

Ricci

ricci2 Posted at 2017-10-16 17:47
hi,
it takes 15 days to get there and the cost to get one person there is £20k. and the same back.
Our nearest camp is 800miles away and we have to eat 5000 calories a day  just to keep warm.

Loving this post, keep it up and good luck with this great adventure

ricci2 Posted at 2017-10-15 12:31
My home for the next six months. Halley 6 British Antartic servey.
[view_image]

That is so awesome..best wishes on your journey  and like some one else said bout the polar ND64 filters here is the link-https://www.polarprofilters.com/ ... -cinema-series-nd64

DJ Enertia Posted at 2017-10-16 20:32
That is so awesome..best wishes on your journey  and like some one else said bout the polar ND64 filters here is the link-https://www.polarprofilters.com/products/dji-mavic-filter-cinema-series-nd64

Thank you, I had a test flight today for the first time since buying it two weeks ago, alas training got in the way.  The Mavic is so different to the M600, bunch of learning to do now.

ricci

For anybody interested in what the British Antarctic survey are doing on the antarctic Ice shelf here is the website link https://www.bas.ac.uk.
I think we travel on an old DC3 ww2 type for some of the legs becaues we can so I was told.

ricci

ricci2 Posted at 2017-10-15 12:31
My home for the next six months. Halley 6 British Antartic servey.
[view_image]

That's a really cool place, not sure I could do 6 months..

Looks so flat, careful of that edge. Hope you can get some nice aerial shots.

Hi chaps,
doing some last Minute  testing and I seem to of found a problem with an usb lead to a iPad, it will not connect with the iPad  if the original cable is plugged (charge point) in and it also drops out, ie disconnects. unplug and replug it comes back. new cable is the same issue. have I somehow got this wrong and you need a mini usb to lightning cable or is there a setting I should change?
any info would be great.

thanks

Ricci

ricci2 Posted at 2017-10-20 09:57
Hi chaps,
doing some last Minute  testing and I seem to of found a problem with an usb lead to a iPad, it will not connect with the iPad  if the original cable is plugged (charge point) in and it also drops out, ie disconnects. unplug and replug it comes back. new cable is the same issue. have I somehow got this wrong and you need a mini usb to lightning cable or is there a setting I should change?
any info would be great.

Hi guys
I'm planning a UAV survey mission at Scott Base for the coming summer. My drone of choice is the Phantom 4 RTK. The manual for the P4RTK on page 55 says the 'aircraft can only operate in attitude mode or using vision positioning'. Is this true? Will I have to fly my mapping missions manually and not by an automated flight path?
I see that the Phantom 4 Pro manual says that it 'cannot operate within the polar areas' and the Mavic 2 manual says it 'cannot use GPS within the polar regions'. Is this actually the case or just a warning that it may not work?
GPS/Glonass does work down there (with more geometry issues) but does DJI actually programme in tighter restrictions on GPS data?
Cheers

grey_phantom Posted at 6-17 10:55
Hi guys
I'm planning a UAV survey mission at Scott Base for the coming summer. My drone of choice is the Phantom 4 RTK. The manual for the P4RTK on page 55 says the 'aircraft can only operate in attitude mode or using vision positioning'. Is this true? Will I have to fly my mapping missions manually and not by an automated flight path?
I see that the Phantom 4 Pro manual says that it 'cannot operate within the polar areas' and the Mavic 2 manual says it 'cannot use GPS within the polar regions'. Is this actually the case or just a warning that it may not work?

I talked to Ferntech (Auckland, NZ DJI agent) who has assisted others with previous missions and he said there should be no GPS issues with the Phantom 4 or Matrice 210. The Phantom 4 RTK is region specific and he will double check that units sold in NZ will work down there, he thinks they will. He said the biggest issue is compass calibration near the poles and the P4 RTK has a very sensitive compass that I know from experience often needs calibrating in order to lift off, so he said it could be pretty hit and miss with the P4 RTK down there. Also it requires you to log in every 7 days, so would need some internet coverage (satellite connection?).
The M210 RTK is the best bet as it does not use the compass when the RTK is enabled (and it has self heating batteries). The inbuilt RTK for the M210 is not for survey use though, need GCPs or a separate GPS unit.
What if any compass issues have others had with Phantoms or Mavics near the poles?
Cheers

Oracle Miata Posted at 2017-9-16 09:51
Soon we won't see Polar Bears or Penguins except in zoos...

Not accurate. New studies by both the Canadian and Nunavut governments indicate that the polar bear population has been increasing over the last several years. The biggest threat to polar bear population is due to hunting by indigenous people which has been outlawed in most places.

FatherXmas Posted at 6-18 16:07
Not accurate. New studies by both the Canadian and Nunavut governments indicate that the polar bear population has been increasing over the last several years. The biggest threat to polar bear population is due to hunting by indigenous people which has been outlawed in most places.

Wow, reaching back to a 2017 remark, huh?  Well, not that it matters, but I wouldn't trust either of those resources about wildlife conservation given their interests and backgrounds. Also, the melting icecaps may also have something to say about that as well.   But hey, that's just me.  

Oracle Miata Posted at 6-20 10:05
Wow, reaching back to a 2017 remark, huh?  Well, not that it matters, but I wouldn't trust either of those resources about wildlife conservation given their interests and backgrounds. Also, the melting icecaps may also have something to say about that as well.   But hey, that's just me.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. For every Climate Change believer you'll find someone like me who doesn't. I might find it more believable had there not been so many stories about fraud and falsification of data, remember email gate? Since this has zero to do with DJI drones, I suggest that this discussion ends here.

MARSAN Posted at 2017-9-16 02:57
Wow, polar bears in Antarctica?      
If you do see a polar bear in Antarctica, you'd better start running south, until you reach the other pole...

well I knew that polar bears were very good swimmers, they do swim for long distances but sorry to say not that far!