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Multi Drone Missions
1465 11 2019-4-8
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HexCam_Rowley
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Flight distance : 1388665 ft
United Kingdom
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Has anyone used multiple P4RTKs with a single controller?
Is is possible to pause the mission and then simultaneously descend all the drones at the same time?
2019-4-8
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Geebax
Captain
Australia
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I don't think the P4RTK is any different to any other Phantom, you cannot control multiple aircraft from the one controller.
2019-4-8
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HexCam_Rowley
lvl.1
Flight distance : 1388665 ft
United Kingdom
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Up to 5 P4RTKs can be run simultaneously from the same controller.  There is a specific scroll wheel on the controller to switch between machines so that they can be manually controlled individually. The safety functions don’t allow the drones to fly within 5m of each other.
It’s a pretty awesome feature, and we’re not far off buying our second P4RTK.
Just wanted to know about that specific function.
2019-4-9
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patiam
Captain
Flight distance : 1093865 ft
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United States
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@HexCam_Rowley- Not sure why some folks don't let ignorance of a topic hold them back from opining on it.

I too am curious how the advertised functionality of the P4PRTK actually plays out in real life. We have only one ourselves so have not been able to try this multi-aircraft trick. Hopefully it's not as vaporware as some of the other features (like using the D-RTK 2 as a rover for mapping, or post-processing the files from it) and the weak documentation won't cause any mishaps.
2019-4-9
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HexCam_Rowley
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Flight distance : 1388665 ft
United Kingdom
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patiam Posted at 4-9 12:09
@HexCam_Rowley- Not sure why some folks don't let ignorance of a topic hold them back from opining on it.

I too am curious how the advertised functionality of the P4PRTK actually plays out in real life. We have only one ourselves so have not been able to try this multi-aircraft trick. Hopefully it's not as vaporware as some of the other features (like using the D-RTK 2 as a rover for mapping, or post-processing the files from it) and the weak documentation won't cause any mishaps.

Don't suppose you're in the UK and fancy meeting up for a bit of R&D?
2019-4-19
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patiam
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United States
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HexCam_Rowley Posted at 4-19 01:47
Don't suppose you're in the UK and fancy meeting up for a bit of R&D?

Would love to, but I'm in the 'States.
2019-4-19
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LYVFD8142
Second Officer

United States
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The question in the US, how would that play with the Part 107 rules.

Technically you can only fly 1 drone at a time even if you had 5 controllers sitting there. As a PIC and you can monitor someone else flying but monitoring 5 other non 107 pilots, I think it's a grey area since you couldn't take over all 5 at one time if needed.

Now you can fly 5 drones with only 1 controller. I think you would loose that argument with the FAA as the rules are currently written.
2019-4-19
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patiam
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Just need multiple PICs present. Part 107 doesn't say anything about how many controllers are involved. Just that a single PIC cant't fly > 1 AC.
2019-4-19
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LYVFD8142
Second Officer

United States
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patiam Posted at 4-19 19:10
Just need multiple PICs present. Part 107 doesn't say anything about how many controllers are involved. Just that a single PIC cant't fly > 1 AC.

LOL exactly. But having 5 PICs at one location is rare and if there was 5 drones there, they each would want there own controller, lol.

I understand the 107 and I can understand the advantage of 5 drones flying at once being controlled by a single controller, makes getting the job done faster.

Unfortunately the guys that say "Hold my beer, watch this!" has put a lot of regulations via the FAA on the guys that fly by the rules., so we pay the price by even more rules. It's like a criminal, they don't follow the existing laws so why add more laws that they won't follow.

Oops sorry went down the rabbit hole on this subject. Time to get back in the air, now I would loved to be flying 5 drone missions at once, that would be to see.

2019-4-19
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patiam
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LYVFD8142 Posted at 4-19 19:20
LOL exactly. But having 5 PICs at one location is rare and if there was 5 drones there, they each would want there own controller, lol.

I understand the 107 and I can understand the advantage of 5 drones flying at once being controlled by a single controller, makes getting the job done faster.

@LYVFD8142,

I'm with ya, no arguments here. As you said we have to deal with FAA regs that are both intended to protect everyone from the yahoos and are also not necessarily written with the most current tech in mind.

So we stay within them. :p

Here's an interesting example (and these guys are one of the 10 awardees under the FAA IPP program).
2019-4-19
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HexCam_Rowley
lvl.1
Flight distance : 1388665 ft
United Kingdom
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Not sure how it work with the FAA regs, but here in the UK you can apply to the CAA for exemptions to various rules in the ANO. This is done via an Operational Safety CAse (OSC). The most common ones are for a reduced Minimum Separation Criteria (MSC) to a distance less than the standard 50m, and EVLOS.

It certainly is possible to get permission to fly swarms in the US as this was demonstrated by intel in 2018 in Las Vegas. - https://youtu.be/hAMPoLV9ODM

It's all about proving how you will do it safely.
2019-4-19
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LYVFD8142
Second Officer

United States
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You are correct, you can ask for permission and either the regulators will say Yes or No, it's all about you proving the safety of the purposed flight.

The 2000 drone flight was cool to watch and actually proves drones can be very safe in operations. This is why they are starting to look at flights over crowds with safety gear (aka parachute with kill switch on deployment).

I'm all for safe flights!
2019-4-20
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