The Mini is on it's way in the mail and I've seen countless videos of things going wrong with it, wind suddenly gusting and catching it over water and send it plummeting. I have DJI Care Refresh but the one term to it is that to receive the replacement, you have to recover the drone. I was wondering if it was possible to tie fishing line or something of that nature to it if I was going to do some shots over water? I always fly within the wind range but there's superbursts and gusts that just come out of nowhere, I also live in a densely populated area. I was thinking if the drone just dropped or something like that, I would be able to use the line to retrieve it.

Basically I'm asking two questions, have you ever done it or know of someone that has tethered their drones?

And for the second question, would the weight of the line mess up the drones handling? I also worry about it getting caught in the props.

Mainly, I'm just a worrier haha. If I can't find of a way to tether, I'm just going to have to limit myself from shooting over water.

Hello and good day DrewAdkins18. Thank you for reaching out and for these information you have shared with us. Just a friendly reminder that DJI does not recommend you to modify your DJI Mavic Mini. These modification might affect the performance of the said drone when on flight and might cause unwanted incident. In addition please fly your DJI Mavic Mini carefully and please be aware of your DJI Mavic Mini's altitude when flying above water. It is not recommended to fly the aircraft close to the water. When flying above the water, the vision system of the said drone  will turn off automatically, if the vision system is affected an accident might happen. Again wonderful work and thank you for your valued support.

DJI Stephen Posted at 3-3 09:54
Hello and good day DrewAdkins18. Thank you for reaching out and for these information you have shared with us. Just a friendly reminder that DJI does not recommend you to modify your DJI Mavic Mini. These modification might affect the performance of the said drone when on flight and might cause unwanted incident. In addition please fly your DJI Mavic Mini carefully and please be aware of your DJI Mavic Mini's altitude when flying above water. It is not recommended to fly the aircraft close to the water. When flying above the water, the vision system of the said drone  will turn off automatically, if the vision system is affected an accident might happen. Again wonderful work and thank you for your valued support.

How does it know it's above water? That's neat.

DrewAdkins18 Posted at 3-3 09:56
How does it know it's above water? That's neat.

The Dji Mavic Mini is equipped with a Downward Vision System and Infrared Sensing System. The Thank you for the reply. The DJI Mavic Mini's Downward Vision System consists of one camera and the Infrared Sensing System consists of two 3D infrared modules. The Downward Vision System and Infrared Sensing System help the aircraft maintain its current position, hover in place more precisely, and to fly indoors or in other environment where GPS is unavailable. The Downward Vision System works best when the aircraft is at an altitude of 0.5 to 10 m. If the aircraft's altitude is above 10 m, the Vision System may be affected, so extra caution is required. In addition, the Vision System may not function properly when the aircraft is flying over water or snow-covered areas. Thank you.

My biggest concern would be having the string getting tangled in the props. You would be very restricted in your flight path also in order to avoid any string you might attach. When flying over water you can turn off the Downward Vision System but then you have to make sure you pay attention to your altitude.

Hurley1718 Posted at 3-3 12:59
My biggest concern would be having the string getting tangled in the props. You would be very restricted in your flight path also in order to avoid any string you might attach. When flying over water you can turn off the Downward Vision System but then you have to make sure you pay attention to your altitude.

That was my concern also, I was thinking about installing floats on it possibly if I know I'm going to be shooting. It may reduce flight time due to the weight but I think it would be worth it.

DrewAdkins18 Posted at 3-3 13:02
That was my concern also, I was thinking about installing floats on it possibly if I know I'm going to be shooting. It may reduce flight time due to the weight but I think it would be worth it.

They make a floating device for the Phantom  4 but don't know if they have it for other units.

Hurley1718 Posted at 3-3 13:14
They make a floating device for the Phantom  4 but don't know if they have it for other units.

They have one for the mini but it's basically just pool floats. My problem is that I live by the Ohio river, it's not like if it does land that it'll stay in that same location. I just over-think things mainly, I'm an experienced pilot on the Spark, I haven't crashed it once in the 8 months I've had it. I've heard the Mini just loses connection and drops from the sky (according to YouTube videos) but I assume it's to operator error or their pre-flight checks aren't good enough. I take excellent care of my items, clean after each flight, kept in climate control, calibrate every run, and I've never had an issue. I receive the Mini soon, it's on it's way, just nervous about it.

DrewAdkins18 Posted at 3-3 13:17
They have one for the mini but it's basically just pool floats. My problem is that I live by the Ohio river, it's not like if it does land that it'll stay in that same location. I just over-think things mainly, I'm an experienced pilot on the Spark, I haven't crashed it once in the 8 months I've had it. I've heard the Mini just loses connection and drops from the sky (according to YouTube videos) but I assume it's to operator error or their pre-flight checks aren't good enough. I take excellent care of my items, clean after each flight, kept in climate control, calibrate every run, and I've never had an issue. I receive the Mini soon, it's on it's way, just nervous about it.

I totally understand and yes a tether would make a lot of sense flying over a river. Now that you mention its a river I think even having a tether on it may not solve the problem. It could easily get caught on something on the bottom as you are trying to reel it in. My advice would be to look into drone insurance. I have seen posts on here where people say that State Farm will ensure drones but you have to ask for a certain type of policy like personal property or something not really drone insurance but they protect your personal property for theft and damage. Might be something to look into.

Hurley1718 Posted at 3-3 13:30
I totally understand and yes a tether would make a lot of sense flying over a river. Now that you mention its a river I think even having a tether on it may not solve the problem. It could easily get caught on something on the bottom as you are trying to reel it in. My advice would be to look into drone insurance. I have seen posts on here where people say that State Farm will ensure drones but you have to ask for a certain type of policy like personal property or something not really drone insurance but they protect your personal property for theft and damage. Might be something to look into.

I actually have looked into it but alot of them have a few things wrong.

1. It's like the refresh plan, they don't cover complete losses, you have to recover the drone in some way.
2. The deductible is more than the drone itself.
3. They only cover items on the drone such as the gimbal and camera and not the actual drone, so pretty much a warranty.

I haven't been able to find one that covers full losses and is cheaper than the drone itself for a deductible. I'll have to get in touch with State Farm, maybe I can get a discount, I actually have auto with them.

DrewAdkins18 Posted at 3-3 13:34
I actually have looked into it but alot of them have a few things wrong.

1. It's like the refresh plan, they don't cover complete losses, you have to recover the drone in some way.

Please let us know what you find out. I haven't heard of those notes you wrote down about it being like a warranty and that the deductible is more than the drone.

Well I guess the Mini is around $400 - $500 so if the deductible is that much or more than why bother.

A tethered drone normally implies a power cable is attached so the drone can hover for long periods over the takeoff point. For example, surveillance or time-lapse photography over several hours.
The cable takes power from the ground supply. The cable will also anchor the drone, but that is incidental and not its purpose.
DJI drones are not intended to be tethered in any way. If you tried to use a fishing line, a long length would snag and cause lots of problems. Just think it through and you will see why the idea cannot work as you describe.

AlansDronePics Posted at 3-4 12:29
A tethered drone normally implies a power cable is attached so the drone can hover for long periods over the takeoff point. For example, surveillance or time-lapse photography over several hours.
The cable takes power from the ground supply. The cable will also anchor the drone, but that is incidental and not its purpose.
DJI drones are not intended to be tethered in any way. If you tried to use a fishing line, a long length would snag and cause lots of problems. Just think it through and you will see why the idea cannot work as you describe.

I understand now, I just worry about losing my drone. I'm not a business or a photograpghy company, if I lose a drone it comes out of my own pocket which I more than likely won't be able to afford. I do have DJI Care but the drone still has to be recovered.

DrewAdkins18 Posted at 3-4 12:31
I understand now, I just worry about losing my drone. I'm not a business or a photograpghy company, if I lose a drone it comes out of my own pocket which I more than likely won't be able to afford. I do have DJI Care but the drone still has to be recovered.

I understand your concern. However, if you fly in stupid places or don't understand what you are doing, you and the drone will soon part company.
Ignoring so-called flyaways, always ask yourself, is what you want to do worth losing the drone for?
You want to fly over water, for example. It isn't any different than flying over land or rocky terrain or the desert. Except you need to understand what the downward sensors see. Which direction the wind is blowing. Wave height if you plan to fly low.

AlansDronePics Posted at 3-4 12:45
I understand your concern. However, if you fly in stupid places or don't understand what you are doing, you and the drone will soon part company.
Ignoring so-called flyaways, always ask yourself, is what you want to do worth losing the drone for?
You want to fly over water, for example. It isn't any different than flying over land or rocky terrain or the desert. Except you need to understand what the downward sensors see. Which direction the wind is blowing. Wave height if you plan to fly low.

Great footage first of all, second of all I've devised a plan. I'm going to order some water landing gear, and use my RC boat to retrieve it in the event of anything happens. I pray it doesn't but you never know. Better safe than sorry.

Novel idea. Just remember, the floats increase drag and shortens flight time. The drone won't be able to calculate the correct return time if battery runs low. The drone will be greatly affected by wind because of the floats and is more likely to be blown away. The same applies to prop guards.