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Thread: Drone for gold prospecting

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    Default Drone for gold prospecting

    Looking to buy a drone for a gold prospecting trip and would like a drone with a camera to survey the land. I see a lot of drones cameras but not fpv. What are your suggestions?


    Thanks



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    I am curious how a drone would assist you?
    There is a fine line between "Hobby" and "Madness"

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    To check out the ground and geology

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    Firstly; by drone do you mean Fixed wing plane or helicopter or multirotor (3 or more props)?

    Secondly; what is your experience level with flying anything remote?
    What is your budget?

    There are many factors here & many choices.
    Cost v Size v transportability v ability to fly in wind.

    Any drone can be fitted with a video/still camera, larger the lift capability the larger the camera that can be carried.
    Any drone can be fitted with an FPV camera.
    Some video/still camera's can transmit in real time to be used as an FPV camera.

    In Australia the regulations have changed in the last year & it is increasingly difficult to buy Ready to Fly drones with an FPV range of more than 100 metres.

    If you know the parts you want then it is possible to buy parts from OS that enable you to go out to a kilometre or so depending on transmitter range for control of drone; & transmitter range of camera so you can receive picture. This is technically illegal. See CASA stance on FPV,
    Cheers, Tiny
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    Quote Originally Posted by cobra679 View Post
    Looking to buy a drone for a gold prospecting trip and would like a drone with a camera to survey the land. I see a lot of drones cameras but not fpv. What are your suggestions?


    Thanks

    I did prospecting in 1980's and damn would I have loved to have a flying camera even just 100m above me.
    I had to access rugged, overgrown terrain on foot and 100-150m would be enough to see at least 1km all around me.

    Cheap dromes with FPV cameras are all over Ebay.
    I have the MJX X600 hexacopter and I am very satisfied with it.

    This one comes with camera and mount for your smartphone on the remote to watch live and SDcard slot for recorded viewing later:


    The camera is not full HD but for looking for clear spots, creeks and easy passage it would do fine on a smartphone screen.
    It is small enough to carry around with your other gear, can take a decent beating and easy to fly but can get quite fast.
    There are settings on the remote to keep it tame. Also the 'one touch return' button can help if you loose orientation but that must be set up and tested first.
    Definitely a great model to get started and learn to fly before you might want to get more serious.

    The range of live viewing depends on the wifi connection and this depends largely on the quality of your phone.
    70m would be getting borderline. Still you would see a fair bit and it will of course continue to record when the wifi is out of range.

    True FPV (anything over 150m) requires a professional licence and the equipment is going to be very pricy.

    I suggest if you haven't got a high end Minelab metal detector to rather invest in that first
    Last edited by Uncle Fester; 16-06-16 at 12:13 PM.
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    Thanks for replies guys. I'll go with nomeats suggestion

    Not to pricey and wont really matter if it gets lost.

    We only go for 1 week every year. We hire the gpz 7000 for $500 a week. Not worth buying it as we don't go often enough and have no time to go any longer. Unless I find a massive patch or nuggest and don't need a job anymore haha


    When I get back I'll upload the video footage I capture if I don't lose it
    Last edited by cobra679; 16-06-16 at 07:47 PM.

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    Yeah, the regulations.
    Back in the 1980's I had a nutcase chasing me with a shot gun who thought he had a claim on crown land.
    Locals told me later that it was true THAT HE WAS A NUTTER.
    Me think there could be plenty around these days too, so I could consider that check list incomplete.
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