Drone for under $500?

Headed back to BVI in Feb, 2019. The wife wants a drone to film with from the bareboat. Probably have about a $500 budget. Any recommendations? thx

Really ?? Your WIFE wants it??? Ok, if that's really your story... (Don't have any recommendations, just had to insert that thought... )

DJI Spark is probably the best one you can get around that price range.

No, actually she does. I never want to take any pictures and that is a big complaint of hers. However, if I play my cards right, I might get a new scuba regulator.

We have the DJI Spark and have found it easy to use as "first time" drone owners. Be sure to play with it lots before you leave to ensure that all components are operating on the latest updates. Trying to do updates on BVI wifi can be challenging.

Or maybe it is me who is challenged!

Signed,
the wife who wanted a drone too

OK, seems like a techie thing that men would want more, but what do I know? I personally love taking pictures, but no real interest in a drone. Different strokes!!!

Might consider waterproof ...........?

For under $500

Yeah, you won't find a good (if any) water proof one for $500. Having owned both, I think it is better to just get a solid drone that works and works well. DJI even has insurance so you can use it without worry. Having flown them for many years now, only crashes I ever had we're user error. Flying too close to a tree, trying to land on a boat and a breeze pushed it into the boat hardware causing it to crash..etc.

I had a DJI Air (~$800) last spring off our monohull. Notice I said "had". While the drone was very stable the operator (me) made a small screw up and ended up dumping it in the water (my second flight off the boat). My advice is that if you bring a drone that you up front accept the very real possibility that it may not be coming home with you. In my case I was bringing it back onto the tail of our Oceanis 45 (tailgate down but I was trying to land in the cockpit). It didn't want to come in heading forward because I had the anti-collision settings turned on. So I had to turn it sideway and "crab" it in. During that process I got a big gust of wind when it was less than a foot above the deck and it moved very slightly and I compensated the wrong direction causing a prop to hit something which deflected it right out of the boat and into the water. You can imagine the conversations from my Admiral the rest of the trip! Here is my advice:
1. I had logged somewhere between 5 and 10 hours total on the drone before bringing it down with me. I felt pretty competent flying it until I got over the water and into the wind. Yea... that's a different scenario entirely. I should have done some practice off the dock down there before taking it out on the boat.
2. A monohull is too tight to use as a landing platform. A cat you might have a chance.
3. If I were to do it over I would not fly it off my boat. I would fly it off of land only. After flying it for a zillion hours I might consider the boat as a takeoff/land platform. I hate to say that by the way - my plan was to get some great shorts of the boat under sail. If it was me I would get these shots today by taking off/landing on land and have someone in the dingy fly it out and back. It's just not worth the risk.
4. I would leave the prop guards in place. That would have saved me.
5. If you insist on taking off/landing on the boat I would turn off the anti-collision settings. The settings are such that the drone will refuse to fly if it's within a small handful of feet from a detected object. The detection is forward and backward. But not sideways. I don't remember exactly how close you have to be but I think five feet. On a mono this make it very difficult.
6. A battery will run the DJI Air for close to 20 minutes under ideal circumstances. But not in the wind. You might have maybe 15 minutes. Get a second battery. It won't increase your air time but you can do two trips. After that your nerves will be shot all to he** so you'll be done for the day.


I didn't know you could get insurance from DJI. If that's the case maybe I'll try it again!

That is what happened to my original phantom, which is why I suggested not flying from the boat (and I did do it on a cat and had a fair amount of flight time - it all comes down to wind, which no amount of experience can account for). If however you do fly from the boat (taking off is pretty easy), the best way to land is to do it on the bow and just have someone grab it from underneath (would be hard to do underway). We did this on subsequent trips and I had my wife grab the bottom of it and I just had to get it to the edge of the boat - plenty of room for it to get pushed a little in any direction.

I actually did get mine to fly again - after it went in the water, I dove in after it, unplugged the battery and rinsed it off with fresh water - probably should have rinsed it even more then I did. There was a fair amount of corrosion on some components. I replaced all those that we're broken (at a lesser cost then replacing the whole drone) but I've never really fully trusted it since.

I got the splashdrone after that and while it flies well and I have taken some good pictures with it and it is of course water proof, I was never truly happy with the gimbal. It would twitch at times so I'd never get fully smooth video. I think my next one will be the mavic pro with the insurance they offer.

I bought mine on AMAZON with AMEX and it flew away,never to return off of the Baths - long story. However Since AMEX has the lost, stolen etc ..insurance coverage for a period of time , they replaced it with a new one. Thanks for Amazon receipts and AMEX. I have an New Spark, which is all you need for a LT 500 drone package.

Sounds like insurance is a really good idea!

Used Mavic Pro is the best deal. Mavic 2 came out but for most people, the old Pro is fine and a great drone. Be careful where you buy used drones. Lots of them have been crashed.

I'd make sure you not only have insurance for the drone, but insurance in case you damage something while flying. I recall there's a club you can join for about $100 a year and included in that is liability insurance. At least there was a couple years ago - haven't looking in awhile myself.

Yes. Several options. Academy of Model Aeronaumics https://www.modelaircraft.org/ or I’ve heard State Farm will cover drones for $60. I don’t cover mine so don’t know for sure.

State Farm provides replacement coverage, but doesn't cover liability if you drop your drone on somebody's head.

Make sure you yell "fore!"

I bought a "Handle" for my drone. The handle attaches to the bottom side of the drone and you can easily grab the drone when launching and retrieving it from a sailboat. Of course the anti-collision sensors are turned off on the Mavic Pro too. The handle is a 3D printed handle and you can get it online for about $20. It is a neat device.

Personal liability insurance falls short with drones. You need aviation insurance but only typically for commercial use. Several large carriers including Global Aerospace provide coverage. I have it but I fly commercially.
Let’s get back to the fun stuff okay. Who has used drones effectively and made their vacation better with drones?

Another tip: everyone does not appreciate people flying drones off their boat over private property.

Several years back, someone on a mega yacht flew an expensive drone into the trees high up on our island. They contacted the president of the association for permission to come on island and private property to retrieve the drone. Permission refused, goodbye drone.

“Several years ago” in drone terms is a lifetime. Today’s drones are far more stable, safe and reliable. And anyone losing a drone off a “mega yacht” could probably afford it. Surprised they even bothered to look for it. As for flying over private property, everyone should respect people’s privacy - drone or land based camera.