Hey folks.

There is a lighthouse where I live, it's on a Private Road, yet owned by the City.  It has been deemed a National Historic Site of Canada.
Not to get into too much detail.  The rich PRICKS that live on the gated, private road, don't allow drones.  Let alone people.  There is VERY minimal
entry to the Light House.  Even though the city owns it and our tax paying dollars paid to restore and maintain it.  This is a huge sore spot.
ANYWAY.  I know the gate keepers well, they have granted me access to take photos anytime I have wanted, but the moment I mentioned drone.  I couldn't even get the words out of my mouth before the words "No Drones" came out.  
I also contacted the city in regards to going out for a quick flight in the off season not to upset the "Rich folks", even with a well laid out proposal, proof of licensing from Transport Canada, etc.  It was a NO.

Now.  I can legally launch from a boat and fly.  This leads me to my question.  My friend has a boat and is willing to take me out for a flight.
I would literlly be only about 100 feet from the lighthouse via boat.  But I was wondering if others here that have launched from a boat have had issues with the metal.
Getting compass errors and such?

I have a Spark and a Pantom 3 Standard.  And I want to make sure this isn't a worthless journey.  Any advice would be fantastic.

Also going to add a quick note other question.  When I try to post in the Spark forum.  I am not able to choose a Topic, it's just in red and says "Choose Topic" but no list is coming up, it's worked in the past.  And works when I post in Phantom?  Anyone have any ideas as to what is going on there?


Thanks!

iosman1 Posted at 5-22 23:52
I couldn't even get the words out of my mouth before the words "No Drones" came out.  And I want to make sure this isn't a worthless journey.Let alone people.  There is VERY minimal
entry to the Light House.

Sorry?  Not quite sure what you were getting at with this reply?

Every time I get a move drone because of compass, I just take off and it says ready to go.  This is after I have 8 sats or more.

AntDX316 Posted at 5-23 02:00
Every time I get a move drone because of compass, I just take off and it says ready to go.  This is after I have 8 sats or more.

From a boat, in water?  That was the question.

Is the boat metal or fiberglass?

There must be something very special about this lighthouse to warrant the trouble ????

ALABAMA Posted at 5-23 03:23
Is the boat metal or fiberglass?

It is fiberglass which I know is a good thing.  My worry is the components in the boat, and the fact I will be launching over water.  I just won't want anything to go wrong.

Manxmann Posted at 5-23 03:43
There must be something very special about this lighthouse to warrant the trouble ????

Here's an article that should sum it up for you.

Niagara’s worst tourist attraction is this ludicrous lighthouse
Public money shouldn’t be spent to beautify the lakefront view for a private community, writes James Culic

The Point Abino Lighthouse is an architecturally beautiful piece of history, sitting along a picturesque peninsula along Niagara’s sunny southern coast. It is publicly owned, and more than a million dollars of taxpayer money has been spent to fix it up.

But, you are not allowed to go see it. That privilege is reserved for a select set of very wealthy American homeowners, who live in a private, gated community surrounding the lighthouse.

The decision by the Town of Fort Erie to use public money to purchase and restore a lighthouse that sits inside an upscale American community which doesn’t let the general public in, has got to be one of the most baffling things I’ve ever seen.

The town does operate a set of extremely limited bus tours out to the lighthouse, but the more you dig into that, the more ridiculous it gets.

Twice a month, for just four months during the summer, the bus tour makes two trips to the lighthouse. Each tour is strictly limited to 25 people, which means over the course of the year, only 400 people can take the lighthouse tour. For the right to operate those eight bus tour days, the town pays the homeowner’s association $4,000 annually. Before we go any further, it’s worth reiterating what exactly is happening here: Every year the town takes $4,000 from its hard working public taxpayers, and gives it to a handful of very rich American seasonal cottagers.

Let’s assume the tour sells out every single time (which it doesn’t, I’ve taken it twice and both times the bus was half empty) and 25 people are on every bus. That means the town is actually paying $10 each time someone takes the tour. Think about that for a second: The town is paying people to go see their tourist attraction.

None of that money is being recouped anywhere along the line either. There is no gift shop, there is no coffee shop, there is nothing but a tourism attraction, which the town’s own tourism department has admitted is a money losing operation.

I’ve pointed out the absurdity of this situation a few times over the years, and when I do, people are always quick to note that the contract does also allow people to walk or bike to the lighthouse, however, that’s not really a viable option. The non-bus site visits are only allowed between June 21 and Labour Day (so you’re out of luck until next year) and the schedule is very tight. During weekdays there is only a two hour window (3 p.m. to 5 p.m.) and on weekends you can go between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.

I decided to see for myself just how impractical this system really is, and the results were even more disappointing than I could have imagined.

To begin with, there’s the fact that the lighthouse is located at the farthest and most isolated corner of Fort Erie, so when people say “you can walk or bike there” it’s not exactly as easy as it sounds. I set out to bike there from my house in Fort Erie, and the round trip was more than 50 kilometres and took about three hours. I’m in relatively good shape, and I was completely knackered when I got home, so the idea of an elderly person making the 50 kilometre trek out there is fanciful at best.

But I did make it there, only to get stopped at the gate by a very surly man who began screaming at me that I couldn’t go in yet. When I got to the gate of the private road leading to the lighthouse, it was about 2:45 p.m. and access to the site was closed until 3 p.m. when the tour bus came back. I asked why, and the guy shouted at me that he didn’t have to tell me why. I pointed out the time and said it was almost 3 p.m. and he said he didn’t care if it was 2:59 p.m., he still wouldn’t let me in.

So I waited till 3 p.m. at which point I thought I would be allowed through the gate and on to the lighthouse, but of course it still wasn’t that easy. First I had to sign a long waiver full of legalese and strange rules (I wasn’t allowed to take pictures of anything except the lighthouse) and then I had to submit to a search of all my stuff, and let the man at the gate rifle through my backpack. He insisted all this was clearly stated on the town’s website (it is not) but I had biked all this way so I reluctantly allowed him to sift through all my stuff.

Once that was done, he handed me a badge I had to wear at all times while inside the gated community (so the rich folks know I’m part of the great unwashed public) and I was on my way, but not before he hollered at me one more time.

“You know,” he sneered as I biked past, “you people are lucky we even let you in at all.”

Ah yes, “you people,” the plebes, the regular folks who don’t own million-dollar lakefront cottages. The hard working people whose tax dollars were stolen to pay for the lighthouse. I can tell you this, I felt a lot of things when he said that, but “lucky” was not one of them.

This was shot with my P3P...I was standing on the stern of this aluminum "boat" I launched from the transom.  No issues.  

Mhinc Posted at 5-23 03:00
From a boat, in water?  That was the question.

Boardwalk, roads where there is metal or something.  I do not have much space to take-off from.  I used to walk far looking for a place to remove the compass error but couldn't.  Just end up taking off now and if the error remains I just land but it never has.

tricky2 Posted at 5-23 07:35
This was shot with my P3P...I was standing on the stern of this aluminum "boat" I launched from the transom.  No issues.  [view_image]

Awesome, thanks that makes me a little more comfortable

AntDX316 Posted at 5-23 08:07
Boardwalk, roads where there is metal or something.

Last time I checked a boardwalk or a road isn't a boat....Helps to read the post.  Yet again.

Mhinc Posted at 5-23 08:09
Last time I checked a boardwalk or a road isn't a boat....Helps to read the post.  Yet again.

When you are landing the compass doesn't matter I assume.

AntDX316 Posted at 5-23 08:11
When you are landing the compass doesn't matter I assume.

Again, launching from a boat.  One would assume, I would also be landing on the same said boat...

Mhinc Posted at 5-23 08:12
Again, launching from a boat.  One would assume, I would also be landing on the same said boat...

I don't think I would ever want to launch off a boat due to the chance of prop striking.  I would do it w/ the Spark but the gestures control and palm landing don't work Every time.  His P3 has legs so there is room to work w/ but w/ the Mavics the prop is close to the ground that if the boat comes up in a wave the prop and motors are gone or at least just the props.

Hello and good day Mhinc. Thank you for the inquiry. We are not recommending you to fly your drones above the sea especially if it's on low altitude over the water surface, I'm afraid that your aircraft will recognize the first location when the aircraft took off and it greatly reduces your emergency landing area. The DJI Spark might land to in the sea since the boat is moving. Have a safe and happy flying always.

DJI Stephen Posted at 5-23 08:30
Hello and good day Mhinc. Thank you for the inquiry. We are not recommending you to fly your drones above the sea especially if it's on low altitude over the water surface, I'm afraid that your aircraft will recognize the first location when the aircraft took off and it greatly reduces your emergency landing area. The DJI Spark might land to in the sea since the boat is moving. Have a safe and happy flying always.

I would be flying my P3 STD.  I am not worried, I am going to be close to land.

Mhinc Posted at 5-23 09:30
I would be flying my P3 STD.  I am not worried, I am going to be close to land.

Thank you for the additional information you have shared with us Mhinc. Have a safe and happy flying always.

Mhinc Posted at 5-23 06:23
Here's an article that should sum it up for you.

Niagara’s worst tourist attraction is this ludicrous lighthouse

And the object of you filming the lighthouse ?  Is it political or photographic ?

AntDX316 Posted at 5-23 02:00
Every time I get a move drone because of compass, I just take off and it says ready to go.  This is after I have 8 sats or more.

You will be on here one day chap asking why your drone did a "fly away" or "flew off" and was unresponsive, compass errors are one of the biggest causes of those, if you get the message, it says to calibrate or move, you should turn it off,  move the drone further away from metal and try the startup again, if you keep ignoring the fact that its warning you then you must have a lot more money than me, wait, if ya got 50 bucks, i spose that covers that right there lol please heed warnings and it is a warning more than a polite notification

Bashy Posted at 5-23 18:47
You will be on here one day chap asking why your drone did a "fly away" or "flew off" and was unresponsive, compass errors are one of the biggest causes of those, if you get the message, it says to calibrate or move, you should turn it off,  move the drone further away from metal and try the startup again, if you keep ignoring the fact that its warning you then you must have a lot more money than me, wait, if ya got 50 bucks, i spose that covers that right there lol please heed warnings and it is a warning more than a polite notification

I make sure it says ready to go after taking off that's why telems show me doing nothing once it takes off.  Usually, I set my RTH to be 60-100m or higher and go full sticks.

Manxmann Posted at 5-23 16:30
And the object of you filming the lighthouse ?  Is it political or photographic ?

Completely Photographic.  The politics are what are preventing it.  That was my point

Bashy Posted at 5-23 18:47
You will be on here one day chap asking why your drone did a "fly away" or "flew off" and was unresponsive, compass errors are one of the biggest causes of those, if you get the message, it says to calibrate or move, you should turn it off,  move the drone further away from metal and try the startup again, if you keep ignoring the fact that its warning you then you must have a lot more money than me, wait, if ya got 50 bucks, i spose that covers that right there lol please heed warnings and it is a warning more than a polite notification

Well said!

Mhinc Posted at 5-23 22:31
Completely Photographic.  The politics are what are preventing it.  That was my point

Okay,  I am with you there.
There was a similar incident in my home country - Isle of Man - whereby one self proclaimed celebrity bought a lighthouse that had had a public thoroughfare since Jesus played fullback for the Jews.  He thought to make it Private access only.  The matter ended up in the High Courts where his claims were booted out.
Stick to your guns,  where there's a will,  there is a way ------ so it has been said !
Good luck  

Manxmann Posted at 5-24 00:39
Okay,  I am with you there.
There was a similar incident in my home country - Isle of Man - whereby one self proclaimed celebrity bought a lighthouse that had had a public thoroughfare since Jesus played fullback for the Jews.  He thought to make it Private access only.  The matter ended up in the High Courts where his claims were booted out.
Stick to your guns,  where there's a will,  there is a way ------ so it has been said !

Sounds very similar.  Sad that I am a home owner and tax payer in the same City, still paying for restoration and maintenance for something that I have slim to no access to
I am very persistant!  There shall be footage

AntDX316 Posted at 5-23 19:00
I make sure it says ready to go after taking off that's why telems show me doing nothing once it takes off.  Usually, I set my RTH to be 60-100m or higher and go full sticks.

I can only advise through my own stupidity (never take off from your sunroof) and from what i have learnt on here, it wont take a minute just to turn it off, move a few feet further from any metal/concrete, etc and turn it back on, it can save a lot of heart ache.

Bashy Posted at 5-24 18:43
I can only advise through my own stupidity (never take off from your sunroof) and from what i have learnt on here, it wont take a minute just to turn it off, move a few feet further from any metal/concrete, etc and turn it back on, it can save a lot of heart ache.

What happened when you took off from your sunroof?

Compass error, but it only showed seconds after take off, i had no warning prior, it then shot off to the left, i had very little control, what little i did have managed to let me slowly brink it back following a perfect semi circle, once it got close to my position all flight was ok again, i quickly landed, cleaned my pants and took off form the ground as per any competent flyer would. I was very lucky, others not so much, my luck was due to the open countryside, nothing for miles around..................

AntDX316 Posted at 5-24 18:49
What happened when you took off from your sunroof?

Pretty simple to guess.  The sunroof would be a reflective surface.  The sensors on the bottom of the drone would go nuts.  Also there is the fact it's a car, so you would probably get compass errors.

Mhinc Posted at 5-24 20:20
Pretty simple to guess.  The sunroof would be a reflective surface.  The sensors on the bottom of the drone would go nuts.  Also there is the fact it's a car, so you would probably get compass errors.

What happened when it went nuts?  If it took off fine there is no problem.

AntDX316 Posted at 5-24 20:24
What happened when it went nuts?  If it took off fine there is no problem.

I can't speak for exactly what happened to this particular poster.  But I know that if you try and take off from a reflective surface like a sunroof, mirror, etc.  The drones sensors will get all confused and you could crash right after takeoff.  I am sure the posted will explain exactly what issues they had.

Bashy Posted at 5-24 19:00
Compass error, but it only showed seconds after take off, i had no warning prior, it then shot off to the left, i had very little control, what little i did have managed to let me slowly brink it back following a perfect semi circle, once it got close to my position all flight was ok again, i quickly landed, cleaned my pants and took off form the ground as per any competent flyer would. I was very lucky, others not so much, my luck was due to the open countryside, nothing for miles around..................

How many satellites did you have before taking off and do you have the flight log?  I don't take off unless I have at least 8.  I had 6 with the Mavic 2 Zoom and it still said Vision position system.

Also, did this happen w/ the latest firmware?

AntDX316 Posted at 5-23 08:15
I don't think I would ever want to launch off a boat due to the chance of prop striking.  I would do it w/ the Spark but the gestures control and palm landing don't work Every time.  His P3 has legs so there is room to work w/ but w/ the Mavics the prop is close to the ground that if the boat comes up in a wave the prop and motors are gone or at least just the props.

But the compass is in the foot of the landing legs of the P3 or 4 and not in the shell

Peterx Posted at 5-25 06:57
But the compass is in the foot of the landing legs of the P3 or 4 and not in the shell

I hope they've changed that in V2.0?  I know people say it's ESC, props, and transmission system but it could be more than that..  I've bought identical harddrives to RAID-0 (I think Western Digital Raptors) and with the same model and everything besides serial of course the PCB is entirely different!  Still worked w/o issues though but the PCB and components look totally different!

I had 10k Raptors in RAID-0 and TBH it ran as fast as SSDs or prob faster.  I have NVMe now but because I think it's gen 1 I have some hiccups at times.  Still faster than SSDs but I think Optane makes a difference but I'm not sure.  I always assume things would be fixed in next gens but some still remain.  It's like I would have stayed back with 2600K and been ok with it but of course rendering now the 2696V3 would make the 2600k impossible to render CK4p60 in the upcoming future!  I think I'm going to do a draft render at 720p to make sure everything is lined up then do CK4p60 w/ the P4P V2.0.

AntDX316 Posted at 5-24 20:37
How many satellites did you have before taking off and do you have the flight log?  I don't take off unless I have at least 8.  I had 6 with the Mavic 2 Zoom and it still said Vision position system.

Also, did this happen w/ the latest firmware?

I never take off until it says its ready, i always use auto take off with precision ticked, having said that, the compass is nothing to do with the GPS, compass is direction, GPS is location, flight  log will be on here still unless phantom help deletes them after X amount of time, i will try to  find it, PS, compass is still in the legs on the v2 ;)

EDIT, cant find the post let alone the flight log but looking at earlier flight logs, they do not stay online indefinitely but i can assure you, it was deffo compass error because literally , seconds after take off from the sunroof, it said compass error, im talking less than 10 seconds, maybe less than 5, it didntt reach its 6m mark, put it that way lol, im sure others will remember me posting about it as it was a rookie mistake ;) i thought taking off from the glass would be fine, ie, its not metal and its a laguna, covers half the roof, but evidently i was a wee bit mistaken lol

Bashy Posted at 5-25 17:53
I never take off until it says its ready, i always use auto take off with precision ticked, having said that, the compass is nothing to do with the GPS, compass is direction, GPS is location, flight  log will be on here still unless phantom help deletes them after X amount of time, i will try to  find it, PS, compass is still in the legs on the v2 ;)

EDIT, cant find the post let alone the flight log but looking at earlier flight logs, they do not stay online indefinitely but i can assure you, it was deffo compass error because literally , seconds after take off from the sunroof, it said compass error, im talking less than 10 seconds, maybe less than 5, it didntt reach its 6m mark, put it that way lol, im sure others will remember me posting about it as it was a rookie mistake ;) i thought taking off from the glass would be fine, ie, its not metal and its a laguna, covers half the roof, but evidently i was a wee bit mistaken lol

Yeah, probably it got confused because of precision ticked on take-off.  It asked me to confirm so I've assumed because it was dark that it wasn't advisable to tick it.  On the way down it was precision but it was pretty much spot on perfect.  I was drifting a bit with Atti mode to test.

I can assure you it wasnt precision take off related, it was the drone moving out of the cars magnetic field that caused it to fly off like it did, this was confirmed by much more experienced pilots on here, bear in mind,  milliseconds after it said compass error was when it flew off at speed, i didnt notice the compass error, it was only when reviewing the log did it present itself, i never look at the screen during take off, i always watch the ac to make sure theres not mechanical issues, eg prop etc

Mhinc Posted at 5-24 20:31
I can't speak for exactly what happened to this particular poster.  But I know that if you try and take off from a reflective surface like a sunroof, mirror, etc.  The drones sensors will get all confused and you could crash right after takeoff.  I am sure the posted will explain exactly what issues they had.

Seems that no-one here understands much about compass errors.
His sunroof incodent was not dur to reflective surfaces, it was because he started the drone up just inches from a ton of steel that caused the yaw sensor to initialise incorrectly.
Once he lifted out of the magnetic field of the car, his flight controller was confused because the yaw sensor was now reading incorrectly.
Compass errors are about magnetic fields - not reflective surfaces.

If you want to fly from a boat you need to practise launching by hand and catch landings.
Practise on land before you try it on the water.

Labroides Posted at 5-25 21:22
Seems that no-one here understands much about compass errors.
His sunroof incodent was not dur to reflective surfaces, it was because he started the drone up just inches from a ton of steel that caused the yaw sensor to initialise incorrectly.
Once he lifted out of the magnetic field of the car, his flight controller was confused because the yaw sensor was now reading incorrectly.

I agree.  I was referring to this specific incident.  And in my head thinking about sensors, not all have the downward sensors.  And I agree.  Compass errors would ensure from this particular take off.
I started with a Tello, had no issues launching from the roof of my car.  But then got a Spark, and first time I tried to fly I tried to launch from the roof.  Compass errors out the wazoo.  Learned fast to stay away from anything metal, or magnetic.  

I will hede your advice and practice my hand takeoffs and launches.  This makes sense and seems to be a good way to prevent any issues from a boat launch!  Thanks!

Labroides Posted at 5-25 21:22
Seems that no-one here understands much about compass errors.
His sunroof incodent was not dur to reflective surfaces, it was because he started the drone up just inches from a ton of steel that caused the yaw sensor to initialise incorrectly.
Once he lifted out of the magnetic field of the car, his flight controller was confused because the yaw sensor was now reading incorrectly.

Light ray can be bowed by lenses and magnetical ray can bowed by ferromagnteic materials as iron,nickle and cobalt or fast changing electro magnetical fields.  Did you have a look,when a stick is a half in water and a a half not? What do you see?