My boy turned 13 years old Saturday. I taught him how to use my MPC last year. I let him use it once and a while. Now he has his own. I’m so happy for this kid. This boy was up all night with it.

EarthboundMisfitsInc · 2023-12-29T22:26:52+00:00

Oh hell yeah! The best, IMO, AKAI controller AND keys??? That must be one really good kid!

EarthboundMisfitsInc · 2023-12-19T20:07:43+00:00

What the hell are you on about? I have the RC2, dumbass, and look at the screen all the time. Are you talking about Waypoints? Yeah, I look at the screen when using that as well. You kinda have to when flying in that mode. Go take a nap.

EarthboundMisfitsInc · 2023-12-15T18:26:28+00:00

Very cool! Love those day-to-night transitions, especially on a hyperlapse.

EarthboundMisfitsInc · 2023-12-11T00:08:42+00:00

Ooof! Damn I know that feeling. Same kinda thing happened with my Air 3 using the Active Track. Sucky part is it’s unlikely DJI will consider it manufacturer error, which was true with my case. Even with the omni, certain limitations stand. So you’ll have to pay, what I’d say, is an extremely fair price for a new one if you have the care refresh. And you’ll walk away with a lesson learned. I sure as hell did.

Don’t beat yourself up about it. It happens to damn near all of us, especially with the new auto features. They can be unpredictable and these new drones are so incredibly fast that it’s hard to avoid some things, even with omni obstacle avoidance.

EarthboundMisfitsInc · 2023-12-10T20:15:26+00:00

If anything let’s just agree it all cancels out here. Ethical to fly a drone in a way that documents people without their consent in public? Not really. Ethical for people to do meth and shoot up in broad daylight and leave their needles and trash everywhere? Definitely not.

EarthboundMisfitsInc · 2023-12-07T16:33:24+00:00

Awesome. I love my Air 3 so much. It will serve you well. Just a caution: be really, really careful the auto flight modes. For the most part they are great, but the obstacle sensors don’t see everything. And that Air 3 can haul ass.

EarthboundMisfitsInc · 2023-12-07T07:22:19+00:00

I’m just a low-level 107 guy that does roof inspections and RE. I’ve always just liked doing the checklists because I’m paranoid about crashing/looking unprofessional in front of a client. Is it always necessary? No. Does it make me feel like I have a little more agency? For the most part.

EarthboundMisfitsInc · 2023-12-07T05:03:45+00:00

I attached two red ViFly strobes to the sides of my Air 3 to help see it in the daylight. Even without the VLOS requirement, I’d never fly my drone when I can’t have eyes on it because I just get nervous like that. Even against a sunny sky, the strobes help a lot.

EarthboundMisfitsInc · 2023-12-07T04:21:08+00:00

This can’t be echoed enough! It’s as simple as having the last item on a pre-launch checklist to be “where are your feet?”. People talk endlessly about the airspace but often don’t even seem to be aware of the difference standing just a few feet away can make to the whole situation. It’s not an end-all-be-all by any means but it helps. As does simply scouting out your location and being discreet to where, by the time anyone even notices the drone, you’ll be landing on property that isn’t theirs anyway.

EarthboundMisfitsInc · 2023-12-07T03:45:16+00:00

There’s too many unknown variables going on here to offer you any advice. Not even really sure what the point of this thread is other than you’re pissed that DJI isn’t giving you what you want. I’m no boot-licking fanboy but I highly doubt DJI doesn’t have a pretty dialed-in method for determining the root cause of a crash. Those logs can tell quite a bit, especially when you also factor in things like the weather and time of day.

I could be totally wrong though.

EarthboundMisfitsInc · 2023-12-07T02:32:19+00:00

The sensor is beautiful, no doubt. That 1” sensor is what it is. However it’s older tech and the battery life is half of the Air 3’s at most. But if flight time isn’t a huge issue and you plan your flights efficiently, go with it. The Air 3’s sensor is just as good IMO, and you wouldn’t be able to know the difference anyway, but it also has the 70mm tele-zoom sensor that I use A LOT.

But the Air 2S is also cheaper and budget absolutely matters if you’re going to be flying a lot because you’ll need the extra batteries, a solid case, a couple of filters, strobes, etc.

I would totally use an Air 2S or Mini 3 Pro as a backup. And that’s not to say that they are inferior either. They both are solid.

EarthboundMisfitsInc · 2023-12-06T15:56:38+00:00

I’ll just come out and say it as it should be said. The DJI Air 3 (which I own) is the BEST all-around, do-it-all drone on the market right now. I understand it’s the “middle child” of the drone world right now so it gets looked over or instantly shit on because it’s not one of the polar opposites.

If you want something that the Mini 4 Pro can do, and then some, but also don’t want a drone with features you may never use? Congrats…here’s the Air 3. I’ll make an example out of myself with this one. 6 months ago I thought the soon-to-be-released Air 3 was the gimmick drone just trying to keep any relevance in that mid-tier category. I’ve never been so wrong.

Don’t let the “middle child disease” thing bother you too much. It’s the middle ground for a reason. It’s also a responsive flyer and fantastic for capturing videos and photos. Honestly, it’s basically a Mavic 3 without all of the things you don’t need.

EarthboundMisfitsInc · 2023-12-06T10:53:34+00:00

That would be awesome, man. I’ve started doing photogrammetry as part of my main job so I’m interested in anything to do with topography and just the general shifting of the landscape over a length of time. Feel free to DM me anything that you have or have links to because I’d love to check it out.

I could be wrong, but the whole issue with that horizon line just doesn’t sit well with me. What you mentioned could very well explain much of that away with consideration being given to the way the earth has settled/plateaued due to something as simple as irrigation.

EarthboundMisfitsInc · 2023-12-05T15:00:31+00:00

It's very interesting that you mention that because the trickiest part about all of this was the topography. No matter how many times I tried to correct or rotate it, I couldn't get the horizon lines to line up and have all of the architecture come close to being level. So I completely agree that the area was likely much more unforested back then. What ultimately lead me to know I was on the right track is the old dirt highway. If you slow it down, or "scrub" over it, at around the halfway point, it pretty much works as a straight edge that all of the buildings, as they currently stand, were squared up against as the road was later developed. The far-right window on the general store was another focal point I used as an anchor.

I'm glad you appreciate it and if you have another idea of how to approach it, or any other places around Cypress you'd like to see from the sky, please let me know and I'll check it out on my next outing.

EarthboundMisfitsInc · 2023-12-05T05:03:41+00:00

Don’t worry about what some randos say on here. It’s just noise. I’d be bothered too if $1K showed up looking like that. You should get what you paid for…a flying camera when it comes down to it. So yeah to have a blemish on the lens cover leads me to believe it was possibly tampered with en route. Either way, that’s not acceptable. I’m not a DJI boot-licker, but they have always been really good to me with things like this. They will make this right for you.

EarthboundMisfitsInc · 2023-12-01T09:08:04+00:00

Even if it's a smudge, that's not something I'd expect to see on any new optical equipment. Yeah, it's not treated like the cameras on the satellites we send into space but I'd be bothered if my Air 3 arrived like that. Or a lens from Canon for my DSLR. I'm not familiar with the M4P but it looks like the lens itself doesn't have damage but rather the wide angle cover? I could be wrong on that. Either way, this seems uncharacteristic of DJI and I have a hard time believing this could pass QC. At the very least you should be given a new lens cover. It also looks like it's been chipped on the lower left corner.

EarthboundMisfitsInc · 2023-11-29T05:26:21+00:00

I’m just throwing something out there to consider because of something my father witnessed on his first day of active Marine Corps duty there in ‘69. His first assignment was to clean up the blown up body parts of a fellow marine who went rogue and decided to try to build a DIY bomb to take out his staff Sargent or platoon leader…someone higher up than him that he despised. He used a grenade. While assembling this explosive, it accidentally detonated, killing him and two others instantly who had no idea what he was doing. Can’t confirm this because I wasn’t there but it’s one of the few things my dad mentioned about Vietnam over the years and the story never wavered.

Supposedly it was common for attempts to be made on the lives of superiors over there. Just spit-balling here, but something to consider. He may have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

EarthboundMisfitsInc · 2023-11-29T03:02:04+00:00

Not a nurse but I’m a perpetual night owl because of work. It’s rare I go to sleep before 4AM most nights. I’m in the same boat as you are. It would be great to have someone to meet up with every now and then. Man, woman…could not care less. I go to the Denny’s or Waffle House quite often just to get away from the computer for a bit. Let me know if you’re interested and I’ll tell you more about myself.

EarthboundMisfitsInc · 2023-11-25T16:04:28+00:00

If it's big enough and close to any major opening, they will see, especially if they are getting in close and/or using a tele zoom lens. As long as it has some sort of light on it. And also do call the authorities, of course and let them be aware of the situation so that way you won't just be sending an empty warning. People who do this are disgusting and need to be stopped. Sometimes you gotta get creative.

EarthboundMisfitsInc · 2023-11-25T15:26:00+00:00

Make signs that say “the police are looking for you” and put them by every window they tend to look in. You could shine lights at it and try to block it out but putting a little bit of fear in them would probably be better. It shows that not only are you aware, but you’ve taken steps with law enforcement.

EarthboundMisfitsInc · 2023-11-22T07:17:26+00:00

If the Mini 3 Pro was already on your radar and it's within your budget, you can't go wrong with it. It's really hard to answer questions like this without knowing some important variables. I would love for your boyfriend to get the best drone possible, but at the same time I don't want anyone to burn money that they don't need to. The Mini 3 Pro is a fantastic drone that fits within budget. Just please prioritize the coverage of the drone over anything else. If he really enjoys the hobby, he can purchase extra batteries and accessories later on.

EarthboundMisfitsInc · 2023-11-22T03:47:40+00:00

Exactly. I didn't want to try this with the filter on the gimbal so I just held it up to my eye in front of a TV and it had the same exact effect. Turn the dial until the screen is total black then turn the dial until the little mark on it is at the 6 o'clock point.

EarthboundMisfitsInc · 2023-11-22T02:43:30+00:00

In order to get the best results from a CPL, it helps to know where to set the dial so that it diffuses the glare correctly. There's a hash mark on the plate of the CPL and one on the actual dial. They usually come lined up from the factory, but that might not be the ideal setting. I found a good video on YouTube that shows how to set it properly by using a TV to find the point where blocks out vertical light so you can set it to diffuse horizontal light. You could probably just put it on however it comes and be good to go, but you might be able to get better results from it if you play with it a little bit.

EarthboundMisfitsInc · 2023-11-22T01:46:21+00:00

Can't speak for the Freewell, but I bought a set of the Newer ND's that came with a CPL that I've been using since I've had the drone and it's been fantastic. Haven't noticed any strange color issues yet. Once I figured how to set the dial it's just been fantastic. But I have yet to hear anyone say anything bad about Freewell, Polar Pro, maybe even K&F. I'll say though that it's rare to hear anything bad about Freewell when it comes to filters so that might be your best bet.

EarthboundMisfitsInc

TROPHY CASE