Learning Center Archives - Page 11 of 16

Aerial Photography & Composition

Taking photos from dizzying heights doesn’t necessarily mean that they will be interesting or effective. Once you’ve located yourself on a high altitude with a drone, aimlessly shooting will not guarantee you any visually pleasing results. In fact, the most common problem I’ve observed with amateur photographers is that, once they’ve made their drone airborne, […]

Drones & Thermal Imaging

Equipping your drone with a thermal-imaging camera is exactly the same as mounting an ordinary visible-light camera, with one crucial difference: the wavelengths of the photons its sensor detects. Apart from that, everything else works exactly the same, even though you are seeing the world in a whole new way. To understand the pictures produced […]

Drone Apps: Top 25

Apps and drones go hand in hand, and most drone manufacturers offer apps that are specific to their aerial platforms to enhance their flight capabilities. There are also hundreds of other apps available for use with all types of drones, from ones that tell you where to fly to flight planning to networking with other […]

Drone Goggles 101

The Question: I am getting ready to buy my first pair of drone goggles. What should I look for so that I don’t have to upgrade in the very near future? Answer: First-person-view (FPV) goggles enable drone enthusiasts to experience a first-person view in exciting new ways. When drone pilots, whether professional or hobbyist, are […]

Drone Antennae (Left vs. Right)

Some antennae have LHCP and other have RHCP. What does that mean? Can they be used together, and is one better than the other? “LHCP” stands for “left-hand circular polarized,” and “RHCP” stands for “right-hand circular polarized.” A LHCP antenna will produce a left-hand corkscrew pattern from the wire lobes, and a RHCP antenna […]

Racing Drones: Cloverleaf and Helical Antenna

A cloverleaf antenna is considered omnidirectional and a helical is directional. An omni-directional antenna sends and receives signals in all directions, so it’s a great choice for video transmitters. A helical antenna produces a cone-shaped signal in front of it and has a small pocket behind it to receive a signal. It will provide better […]

Drone Racing Goes Mainstream

“In three days, we probably did seven years’ worth of learning,” said Scot Refsland, the chairman of the Drone Sports Association (DSA) and the organizer of the U.S. National Drone Racing Championship. “From the perspective of some of the individual pilots, I understand that there was some real frustration, but as far as establishing drone […]

Aerial Videography & Flight Modes

What’s the best flight mode to use when doing videography/photography? This answer might be different for every pilot out there. Your choices are GPS Assist, also called “Smart mode,” and Angle/Attitude or “Pilot mode.” In Smart mode, the drone syncs with GPS satellites and uses the transmitter location as a point of reference for directional […]

Drones and Frame Rates

One of the questions we get all the time is why are there different frame rates for some of the screen resolutions on my camera? And which frame rate should I use? Most cameras have the option for pilots to select not only the screen resolution—such as 640×480, 1280×720, or 1920×1080—but also different frame rates […]

Drones & Making Money

Expert keys to a successful small business As the demand for the unique capabilities of drones soars ever higher, even as the advances in drone tech lower the barriers to meeting those demands, the chance for pilots to turn their skills and enthusiasm for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into business opportunities is exploding. But with […]