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I bought a DJI spark last year and had a lot of fun for a few months flying it in my backyard. it got stale kinda fast though. it basically flies itself, so jus

I bought a DJI spark last year and had a lot of fun for a few months flying it in my backyard. it got stale kinda fast though. it basically flies itself, so just flying around in a field gets boring. on the other hand, at $400, it was a little too expensive for me to feel comfortable trying any daring shots with it. I made some cool aerial panoramas, but the camera isn't really good enough to make anything worth sharing. if you want to get decent pictures, you have to spring for one of the $1200 models, which are still only about as good as a high-end smartphone camera. I did find one killer use-case for it though: cleaning gutters. the house I was living in at the time was designed in a way that made cleaning gutters very dangerous. I used the drone to see which parts actually needed cleaning, then my roommate would clear them using a long pole with a hook while looking at the camera feed. awkward, but much safer.

tibbydudeza 7y ago
We are on a 4 week country wide Covid-19 lockdown stay @ home and as part of the regulations they banned all alcohol sales. Some entrepreneurial person now does drone deliveries of booze within a 5km radius of his home.
- RankingMember 7y ago
  That's gotta be a pretty powerful drone- booze isn't light!
  - leetcrew 7y ago
    involves a lot of trust, too. I imagine the customer has to detach the shipment by hand. a drone capable of delivering a fifth of liquor must be worth at least $1-2k. considering the whole operation is likely illegal for several reasons, I doubt the owner would have much recourse if someone just stole it.
    - s1t5 7y ago
      But then no more fly-in alcohol. The booze-drone is like a 21st century golden-egg goose.
    - trhway 7y ago
      > I doubt the owner would have much recourse if someone just stole it. well, just let everybody know who broken the deliveries and thus made the whole neighborhood gone dry :)
      - smabie 7y ago
        He probably has a camera on it. And let me tell you, you don't want to fuck with the wrong South African. They will kill you.
  - oh_sigh 7y ago
    Serving up the pre-packaged/airplane shots would be fitting.
- lososos 7y ago
  >as part of the regulations they banned all alcohol sales For my curiosity, would you mind sharing where this is? It contrasts with my experience in the US, where I know a few states made it easier to sell alcohol.
  - seretse 7y ago
    Dude's name ends with ZA which is the TLD for South Africa
    - hn_throwaway_99 7y ago
      Holy crap, this is insane: https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/lockdown-alcohol-ban-still-in-place-16-april-2020/ https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/lockdown-alcohol-ban-st... . I can't imagine trying to get through this quarantine without at least some booze, and I rarely drink. How are they handling all the bonafide alcoholics that would go into DTs with this?
      - richardw 7y ago
        And cigarettes. Smokers must be going insane.
      - aaronax 7y ago
        Also Bahamas has no liquor sales, and crazy tight lockdowns every weekend where you can't leave your house for groceries even.
      - smabie 7y ago
        Having lived in Africa for 2 years (not SA though), I guarantee that the reason for the ban is for the government to profit off of bribes. Whenever something doesn't make any sense in Africa, the answer is always the same: bribes.
  - ApolloFortyNine 7y ago
    Pennsylvania closed their state run liquor stores. Virginia/West Virginia/Ohio's are still open, I'm pretty sure across the whole U.S they're still open.
- Ididntdothis 7y ago
  Good idea but I can’t imagine this being legal.
Ididntdothis 7y ago
My use case for a drone would be to look at the surrounding area when I am doing off trail hiking or on old abandoned trails. Is it worth to go through the thick brush and the trail continues or will it just get worse? I have been thinking about getting a Mavic Mini for this but these things never go on sale.
- leetcrew 7y ago
  depending how far ahead you want to look, you might be able to get away with a spark for this use case. you can find good deals on the first generation at this point, and the new one isn't too expensive anyway. if you care about following all the FAA rules, this may limit the usefulness of a "scouting" drone, as you need to be able to see the aircraft with your own eyes at all times. if you're in a wooded area, this might not be very far.
  - Ididntdothis 7y ago
    I wouldn’t mind something that has less image quality and a range of only 1000m but is smaller and weighs less. The Spark is a little big for a long hike.
    - leetcrew 7y ago
      I misspoke before; there's no new spark. I was thinking about the mavic mini at the same price point (which you mentioned). it weighs about 250g. any lighter than this and you're probably looking at toys that can't fly any appreciable distance.
    - ezconnect 7y ago
      Spark is already affected by winds and actual usage on a forest plus winds can get you that range of 1000m, anything smaller will not have the endurance for real life usage.
- AdamJacobMuller 7y ago
  I do this while off-roading with my Jeep. It's not always perfect, but, it's damn useful. One time I was traveling along a particular trail which started to get very, very rough. Not 100 feet away was a parallel trail which was well travelled. It would have been impossible to see without the drone.
libraryatnight 7y ago
The problem I ran into wasn't a lack of things to do with my drone, but a lack of places in which to do them. It's really hard to find places that are worth shooting that also allow drones. that said you can get away with doing it anyway, since most rules are based around not being a dick so if you don't bother people nobody will say anything, but it still sucks you're technically breaking rules/laws.
- AdamJacobMuller 7y ago
  Go to the woods.
  - leetcrew 7y ago
    if you're just worried about actually getting caught, any isolated place will do. if you care about following the law strictly, it can be nontrivial to figure out what's allowed. there are federal, state, and local rules about where drones can be flown, and they are sometimes written in weird ways. as an example: > Launching, landing, or operating an unmanned aircraft from or on lands and waters administered by the National Park Service within the boundaries of [insert name of park] is prohibited except as approved in writing by the superintendent. depending on how you interpret "operating", it might be legal to launch your drone just outside the park limits, stand there with the controller, and then fly it all over the park to your heart's content (provided you land it back outside the park). if an official actually saw you doing this, they might hassle you without regard for the nuance of the law.
    - throwanem 7y ago
      NPS rangers tend to be fairly proddy, in my experience. Before all this started, I spent a fair amount of time photographing birds in national parks with a 200-500mm tele, and I've found it rare to encounter a ranger who doesn't remind me that commercial photography is forbidden there, on the assumption - in my case at least, the false assumption - that anyone with kit like mine must be a professional.
      - 7y ago
driverdan 7y ago
The Spark takes reasonably decent video. There's no reason why you couldn't share it.

tibbydudeza 7y ago

We are on a 4 week country wide Covid-19 lockdown stay @ home and as part of the regulations they banned all alcohol sales. Some entrepreneurial person now does drone deliveries of booze within a 5km radius of his home.

RankingMember 7y ago
That's gotta be a pretty powerful drone- booze isn't light!
- leetcrew 7y ago
  involves a lot of trust, too. I imagine the customer has to detach the shipment by hand. a drone capable of delivering a fifth of liquor must be worth at least $1-2k. considering the whole operation is likely illegal for several reasons, I doubt the owner would have much recourse if someone just stole it.
  - s1t5 7y ago
    But then no more fly-in alcohol. The booze-drone is like a 21st century golden-egg goose.
  - trhway 7y ago
    > I doubt the owner would have much recourse if someone just stole it. well, just let everybody know who broken the deliveries and thus made the whole neighborhood gone dry :)
    - smabie 7y ago
      He probably has a camera on it. And let me tell you, you don't want to fuck with the wrong South African. They will kill you.
- oh_sigh 7y ago
  Serving up the pre-packaged/airplane shots would be fitting.
lososos 7y ago
>as part of the regulations they banned all alcohol sales For my curiosity, would you mind sharing where this is? It contrasts with my experience in the US, where I know a few states made it easier to sell alcohol.
- seretse 7y ago
  Dude's name ends with ZA which is the TLD for South Africa
  - hn_throwaway_99 7y ago
    Holy crap, this is insane: https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/lockdown-alcohol-ban-still-in-place-16-april-2020/ https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/lockdown-alcohol-ban-st... . I can't imagine trying to get through this quarantine without at least some booze, and I rarely drink. How are they handling all the bonafide alcoholics that would go into DTs with this?
    - richardw 7y ago
      And cigarettes. Smokers must be going insane.
    - aaronax 7y ago
      Also Bahamas has no liquor sales, and crazy tight lockdowns every weekend where you can't leave your house for groceries even.
    - smabie 7y ago
      Having lived in Africa for 2 years (not SA though), I guarantee that the reason for the ban is for the government to profit off of bribes. Whenever something doesn't make any sense in Africa, the answer is always the same: bribes.
- ApolloFortyNine 7y ago
  Pennsylvania closed their state run liquor stores. Virginia/West Virginia/Ohio's are still open, I'm pretty sure across the whole U.S they're still open.
Ididntdothis 7y ago
Good idea but I can’t imagine this being legal.

Ididntdothis 7y ago

My use case for a drone would be to look at the surrounding area when I am doing off trail hiking or on old abandoned trails. Is it worth to go through the thick brush and the trail continues or will it just get worse? I have been thinking about getting a Mavic Mini for this but these things never go on sale.

leetcrew 7y ago
depending how far ahead you want to look, you might be able to get away with a spark for this use case. you can find good deals on the first generation at this point, and the new one isn't too expensive anyway. if you care about following all the FAA rules, this may limit the usefulness of a "scouting" drone, as you need to be able to see the aircraft with your own eyes at all times. if you're in a wooded area, this might not be very far.
- Ididntdothis 7y ago
  I wouldn’t mind something that has less image quality and a range of only 1000m but is smaller and weighs less. The Spark is a little big for a long hike.
  - leetcrew 7y ago
    I misspoke before; there's no new spark. I was thinking about the mavic mini at the same price point (which you mentioned). it weighs about 250g. any lighter than this and you're probably looking at toys that can't fly any appreciable distance.
  - ezconnect 7y ago
    Spark is already affected by winds and actual usage on a forest plus winds can get you that range of 1000m, anything smaller will not have the endurance for real life usage.
AdamJacobMuller 7y ago
I do this while off-roading with my Jeep. It's not always perfect, but, it's damn useful. One time I was traveling along a particular trail which started to get very, very rough. Not 100 feet away was a parallel trail which was well travelled. It would have been impossible to see without the drone.

libraryatnight 7y ago

The problem I ran into wasn't a lack of things to do with my drone, but a lack of places in which to do them. It's really hard to find places that are worth shooting that also allow drones. that said you can get away with doing it anyway, since most rules are based around not being a dick so if you don't bother people nobody will say anything, but it still sucks you're technically breaking rules/laws.

AdamJacobMuller 7y ago
Go to the woods.
- leetcrew 7y ago
  if you're just worried about actually getting caught, any isolated place will do. if you care about following the law strictly, it can be nontrivial to figure out what's allowed. there are federal, state, and local rules about where drones can be flown, and they are sometimes written in weird ways. as an example: > Launching, landing, or operating an unmanned aircraft from or on lands and waters administered by the National Park Service within the boundaries of [insert name of park] is prohibited except as approved in writing by the superintendent. depending on how you interpret "operating", it might be legal to launch your drone just outside the park limits, stand there with the controller, and then fly it all over the park to your heart's content (provided you land it back outside the park). if an official actually saw you doing this, they might hassle you without regard for the nuance of the law.
  - throwanem 7y ago
    NPS rangers tend to be fairly proddy, in my experience. Before all this started, I spent a fair amount of time photographing birds in national parks with a 200-500mm tele, and I've found it rare to encounter a ranger who doesn't remind me that commercial photography is forbidden there, on the assumption - in my case at least, the false assumption - that anyone with kit like mine must be a professional.
    - 7y ago

driverdan 7y ago

The Spark takes reasonably decent video. There's no reason why you couldn't share it.