I’m Phil from Newport s wales! Been wanting a drone for a few years, but am finally going to be getting myself a mini 2SE in the next week or so, and would appreciate any advice with anything drone related haha! I’ve done my operator and flyer id yesterday so I’m sorted on that front, I know about getting sd card extreme and also some useful apps, is there anything else I may need?
Would also be good to meet up with like minded people and have a chat and fly also
Anyways, sorry for the long intro, hope to hear from you all soon
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Having just started out myself, off the top of my head, these are the ‘other’ things I have and have found useful.
More training. I did my A2 CofC, since your drone is <250g you don’t really need it, HOWEVER all the training videos are available for free on UAV Hub even if you don’t take the exam. I thought they were very well made and informative.
A flight log. Initially I created my own on Excel and now I use Airdata as well (will probably stop the excel one). This is predominantly useful for tracking battery usage - so that you don’t always use the same battery, but also allows you to track hours flown, and allows you to look back at places you’ve been.
An external HDD (or a big SSD in your computer) because 4K video takes up a LOT of room.
A landing pad. Only cost me circa £20 on amazon, but I am glad I got one rather than taking off from the grass or dirt (especially as everywhere is so muddy right now). Keeps the bottom sensors clean, and if the grass is a bit long then saves the props from cutting grass.
Extra batteries - if you haven’t got the fly more kit, then this is probably a no-brainer.
An upgraded carry case / hard case. I think especially for the mini, there are some good ones out there. I don’t know what the Mini 2SE comes with with regards to carry cases, but I am glad I got one. Keeps everything very neat and clean and well protected. I combined this with one of those straps that go around the drone to hold the propellors in place so they don’t get caught on anything going in and out of the box.
ND filters - if you’re familiar with photography, then you’ll know about these. I’m yet to start playing with mine, but I realised the other day as the clouds cleared a bit that I definitely need to start using them.
I also have a general ‘kit’ that I take flying. Microfibre cloth, lens cleaning cloth and spray (the type for cleaning glasses), multi-tool, spare props, printed legal mumbo jumbo and useful info, a soft cleaning brush for removing dirt and grit from hard to get to places, spare operator ID stickers - that sort of thing.
Qelcome to Grey Arrows Phil, hope you enjoy it as much as the rest of us do
Good lujck with the drone when it arrives, any questions please ask, we are a friendly bunch of folks and thee is plenty of knowledge on the forum - not me though, I know nowt
cheers buddy, very informative! forgot to mention it is the flymore package that i’ll be getting, so i’ll have the extra batteries & charging hub i believe.
Havent really got into photography as such yet, will concentrate on learning to fly it properly first haha!
landing pad i was looking at yes, i see some people get strobe lights as well, but i know you have to be very careful so you dont take your drone overweight with them also.
Lol, I am full of useless information - or so my hubby thinks
Perhaps don’t have the technical knowledge of some of the more experienced folks, I have only been flying for 17 months now - but I am resonably good at producing footage and editng video’s into something that folks seem to enjoy…
Learning to fly, just make sure you are safe to fly int he area - check the Drone Scene Map - and then get flying, there are some good YT tutorials, and some great exercises on the forum - Tips for Orientation and spacial awareness - #13 by B0M0A0K - but you can’t beat the experience of getting out and doing it…
And of course, watch as much drone footage as ou can, find those producing things hat you like and try and see how they do it, then try and replicate, this will give you a basicunderstanding that you can build on with your ow signature…
cheers for the info! ive already asked my boss if i would be able to take some photos of my work, so long as they get a good photo also, as i work in a brewery it should make for interesting footage!
Hi Phil and a warm welcome to you from Cardiff!
Just to let you know, I have a Mini 2 Fly More Combo that I only flew for 3.45 hours that I’m looking to sell. Feel free to contact me if you’re interested. Jon
I’m just down the road (ish) in Bridgend. There are a few South Walian droners around, and whilst we don’t have our own dedicated group in GADC (@PingSpike - is that a thing?) you can see locations of a few of us on the members map.
Happy to talk, share and fly if we can organise a compatiable time and more likely, the weather to do so
