Team Mode, Wizard, and Landing on a boat

[ragboy]

I have a youtube channel that focuses on wake surfing.

wake9.com

I am using drones more and more and I also just love flying and using them as well. The H is my fifth drone and I got especially with the 360 camera in mind and the follow me and team features.

I have tested the team mode with the wizard and ST16 and it works well, I feel comfortable safely flying and landing the H with the wizard. The issue is, I want to use the wizard to hold position while filming a wake surfer at about 12 mph. I am testing on my property with ATVs, and so far I think its going to work great, but I am VERY nervous about landing on the boat after shooting, with the wizard. Is there ANY reliable way to switch back to single mode and take over full control with the ST16 while in flight?

I know that one option is to get another ST16, and I understand that. The $$ is not really the issue, its more the bulk. The large H case is just portable enough to take on the boat with us with all of our other gear, but adding another large ST16 would be cumbersome. Before I head down that route, is there anyway to do what I want to do without dropping my H in the lake? ;-) Of course I will test on land first.

Thanks in advance, I found a few threads similar, but not conclusive.

I really can't wait, after thorough practice and testing to get on the water and see how much better and stable I can film wake surfing with this setup. ;-)

 

[Rayray]

use the wizard to hold position while filming a wake surfer at about 12 mph. I am testing on my property with ATVs, and so far I think its going to work great, but I am VERY nervous about landing on the boat after shooting, with the wizard. Is there ANY reliable way to switch back to single mode and take over full control with the ST16 while in flight?

The surfer will have the Wizard? Noooo.
You cannot switch the single/dual modes in flight.
You should not attempt using the Wizard to land on a boat. In fact, unless the boat has a flat area at least 5' square and open above, you should not attempt using the ST16 to land. Even with the flat area, you'd need to be in calm water.

The answer is to "Hand Catch". @CAPTAINDRONE and others have videos on that, and you can search this forum for info. Yuneec does not recommend this, and it can be very dangerous. You'd need to practice a lot beforehand.

I must say my personal advice is not to try this. If you have a good take off and landing spot on land close by, you could use the ST16 on the boat to fly the craft off the ground and then pilot it to follow and video the Wake Surfer. When the craft voltage drops below 15, head it back toward the ground landing site. Perhaps you can do the entire op from the shore...???
Good luck!

 

[ragboy]

haha, no the surfer would not have the wizard. The follow me would be done from the boat. So far with other drones, follow me has not worked well enough.

Also, yes, we always hand catch. When we shoot, it is usually very calm. There is no way to do this from the shore. Maybe on some lakes, but not most, and especially in most Northern California lakes.

 

[ragboy]

OK, one more question, is there any way to move the gimbal pan/tilt to the joystick when in follow me mode on the ST16 in single mode?

 

[Rayray]

The follow me would be done from the boat. So far with other drones, follow me has not worked well enough.

OK, forget the Wizard. Use the ST16 in "Follow me" mode. Leave OA off. Set the height and camera angle where you want it. The TH will track the boat very well, experiment with getting the surfer in the picture. Or just use Angle mode and pilot the TH as you wish.

 

[James (Randy) Smith]

Is there a way to have a floatable landing pad? maybe something you place out in the lake before taking off or even something inflatable that can be tossed into the water when needing to land? Just trying to think outside the box

 

[ragboy]

Its just as easy to catch it from the sundeck, but with some wind and rollers moving the boat, my 16 year old son will grab it while I sit stably and put it in the right spot. I have already done this and it works fine with the H, but just don't have the confidence with the wizard because you have to make lots of small corrections while landing with both sticks, because the landing platform drifts unless there is no wind, but there is usually always SOME wind. 3-5 mph is average.

 

[jwjohnson]

Its just as easy to catch it from the sundeck, but with some wind and rollers moving the boat, my 16 year old son will grab it while I sit stably and put it in the right spot. I have already done this and it works fine with the H, but just don't have the confidence with the wizard because you have to make lots of small corrections while landing with both sticks, because the landing platform drifts unless there is no wind, but there is usually always SOME wind. 3-5 mph is average.

I don't really see a necessity for the wizard. As stated above if you want to use the Follow mode that will work with just the ST-16. Otherwise just fly in angle mode and land as you have been doing.

 

[PatR]

You'll want to use the 16 in Follow. You can't change back and forth between the wizard and the 16 in flight. The only drone that bests the H and 16 in follow is a Solo and the difference between them is very small. One individual that has done extensive testing of follow mode between the Solo, Phantom, and the H is Vegasrobbi and his results using the H have been stellar. You can watch some of his videos on YouTube for reference.

As much as I dislike suggesting hand catching due to safety concerns ( I use the method at times too) it works well on a small boat. The key is to lower the H to a height within an arms reach and park it at that height. Let the catcher reach for it, don't try to fly it into their hands. Once they have a good grasp they need to know that any push or pull they apply to the H will be met with resistance from the H as it tries to maintain the position it had been it during the hover. Just hold it level and shut it down using the red arm/disarm button as soon as it has been caught. It is not a difficult thing to do but does require a little planning and thought to do it safely. Establish the hover height such that the roll or pitching of the boat will never allow the catcher to have their face in line with the propellers. And be sure everyone in the boat is aware of the act in case something goes wrong.

 

[ragboy]

I think the wizard and team mode works great, just not for the small boat. The wizard seems to provide enough GPS data to the H, it seems to track as well as the 16. I did put in my shirt pocket for a second, though, and it lost signal for a moment. Took it out and it started working immediately.

@PatR Your catching method works well, until there is a certain amount of wind. And unfortunately, you van launch and it's still and then have 10 mph winds or more on landing, has happened to me on several occasions. When that happens, both the drone and the boat are moving and unstable. The technique gets altered at that point. ;-)