I do not have a lot of Radio experience so I won't input in an area I shouldn't. However, a couple of thoughts after reading the above posts.
Has your mother had training flying a drone? Flying in close proximity as a hobby is different than flying at a distance, orientation problems, battery strength limiting flight duration, unknown weather interference, drone malfunctions, signal loss, etc. I do not know your mother and do not judge her, But you may want her to experience these situations to see how she handles an emergency should it happen, and to see if she is still willing or able to handle them in a real environment.
If you are going to use the drone to check on cattle, and as you stated it is a large area, you will have to take into consideration the flight time to the herd, how much time to return, and figure out how much time that will leave you to scan and inspect your herd with the remaining battery life after removing to/from times.
In cattle situations I have seen, the pilot is usually on the ground out in the field working out of a truck. He has plenty of time to fly over, identify a problem, manage the problem and then return to land.
Using a Drone will also be limited by weather conditions. Rain, Freezing weather, snow, Heavy Fog, etc, These will prevent you from flying limiting when you can use the Drone for your desired goal.
I say these things only to tell you that distance is not the only factor when deciding on a Drone. I have flown the Typhoon H over a mile with the stock antenna and LOS. If you have any trees or obstacles they will reduce this distance.
As one of the above posts mentioned. Remote cameras may be an option. I have PTZ dome cameras around my home with 90x optical zoom, IR Illumination, and built in heaters. Purchased for under $300.00. They connect to my WiFi and allow me to monitor and control them from anywhere on my cell phone. You could also purchase cameras with much higher zoom capability.
You are already looking at radio communications for your property. I might suggest you look at installing cameras at strategic locations connected to a wireless system with a monitor in your home and remote capability. When you see something of interest, weather permitting, you can then send your drone out to get a closer look and see if the situation requires further intervention. The Typhoon H is a strong steady aircraft and will fulfill many of your needs, however, it has limitations as mentioned above. Good Luck!
Has your mother had training flying a drone? Flying in close proximity as a hobby is different than flying at a distance, orientation problems, battery strength limiting flight duration, unknown weather interference, drone malfunctions, signal loss, etc. I do not know your mother and do not judge her, But you may want her to experience these situations to see how she handles an emergency should it happen, and to see if she is still willing or able to handle them in a real environment.
If you are going to use the drone to check on cattle, and as you stated it is a large area, you will have to take into consideration the flight time to the herd, how much time to return, and figure out how much time that will leave you to scan and inspect your herd with the remaining battery life after removing to/from times.
In cattle situations I have seen, the pilot is usually on the ground out in the field working out of a truck. He has plenty of time to fly over, identify a problem, manage the problem and then return to land.
Using a Drone will also be limited by weather conditions. Rain, Freezing weather, snow, Heavy Fog, etc, These will prevent you from flying limiting when you can use the Drone for your desired goal.
I say these things only to tell you that distance is not the only factor when deciding on a Drone. I have flown the Typhoon H over a mile with the stock antenna and LOS. If you have any trees or obstacles they will reduce this distance.
As one of the above posts mentioned. Remote cameras may be an option. I have PTZ dome cameras around my home with 90x optical zoom, IR Illumination, and built in heaters. Purchased for under $300.00. They connect to my WiFi and allow me to monitor and control them from anywhere on my cell phone. You could also purchase cameras with much higher zoom capability.
You are already looking at radio communications for your property. I might suggest you look at installing cameras at strategic locations connected to a wireless system with a monitor in your home and remote capability. When you see something of interest, weather permitting, you can then send your drone out to get a closer look and see if the situation requires further intervention. The Typhoon H is a strong steady aircraft and will fulfill many of your needs, however, it has limitations as mentioned above. Good Luck!
