This beggars belief: http://www.rtdna.org/article/eng ... s_for_newsgathering

I can think of half a dozen reasons why it would not work, without even going deeply into it.

When I first got my P3, i had it tethered to the ground in my back yard with a 50 foot nylon string.
Only did that for a couple flights until I got used to the remote etc and made sure there were no control issues.  
My wife laughed at me.

Please share...

I've thought about doing this for a long time.  All you need is a cable to feed power up and one to feed live video down.  Heck, you could even send the "remote" signals over the power lines and not have to worry about RF at all.   Launch the "drone",  let it sit over were it needs to be for a few hours and then land.

50 feet of nylon string is one thing, power and signal cables are another. The motors used in these aircraft are heavy on current, therefore the power feed needs to be heavy duty cable, so in a very short distance you are going to be trying to lift more cable than the aircraft is capable of lifting.

You *COULD* use thinner cable and send a high voltage feed up to the aircraft, but then you need to have the electronics to convert the high voltage to low voltage/high current, and that adds serious weight to the aircraft. Of course you would have serious safety issues in flying high voltage cable.

Then, how much can you move about until you run out of cable, or tangle it in trees, poles or whatever.

Nope, this is a dumb idea.

They used to race tethered cars that ran around a pole.
I remember the tethered model planes.

Today...
http://www.tethereddrones.com
The cars are still around.
http://www.tethercars.com

RedHotPoker

RedHotPoker Posted at 2015-9-10 15:07
They used to race tethered cars that ran around a pole.
I remember the tethered model planes.

Yeah, I remember them. They used hot motors and ran tethered by a steel cable to a central pole.

Count the revolutions around the track, this car does in one minute.


That thing must be smoking hot. & the tires. (Tyres) ;-)

Times have sure changed in the RC world, that I remember.


RedHotPoker

I wondered if flying my p3p on the end of 400ft of , say 50lbs fishing line might be a way around the UK laws regarding making money from aerial video. Technically it is no longer free flying, so may avoid the CAA restrictions....I wonder
RayH

rhutty@gmail.co Posted at 2015-9-10 02:50
I wondered if flying my p3p on the end of 400ft of , say 50lbs fishing line might be a way around th ...

I'm looking at something like this but using a balloon.

Having a difficult time finding FAA regulations for small balloons. All I've found is hot air and helium manned versions.

The government is flying a couple of huge balloons over Aberdeen Proving Grounds tethered at 10,000 feet using synthetic aperture radar on board  http://www.wbaltv.com/news/secon ... area-test/34805606.

I've tried this on my hobby quad. Ran a 12v supply up 18 gauge wire, only about 5 feet of it though. Had it hovering in basement for 2 hours. Definitely persistent. Makes me wonder about service life of motors and props.
http://youtu.be/WUvj4m0lpFI

I use to have a tethered gas model airplane growing up.  Think about it:  A 10 year old with gasoline and and spinning prop that would take a finger off.  Yes, I have my digits accounted for.

FireHawk Posted at 2015-9-11 00:57
I use to have a tethered gas model airplane growing up.  Think about it:  A 10 year old with gasolin ...

And just as much fun with a single channel radio control that only operated the rudder! And it had valves in it!

rhutty@gmail.co Posted at 2015-9-10 16:50
I wondered if flying my p3p on the end of 400ft of , say 50lbs fishing line might be a way around th ...

Ask the BBC, they were using a tethered blimp for getting high altitude shots of the recent Ashes cricket matches in the UK.

xaq7@hotmail.co Posted at 2015-9-10 10:38
I've tried this on my hobby quad. Ran a 12v supply up 18 gauge wire, only about 5 feet of it though. ...

Neat.  I imagine the reduction in weight by removing the battery would put a lot less strain on the motors.  Any plans on trying it outside with a longer tether?