Where'd all the regulars go? Old Man?
- Thread starter violetwolf
- Start date
Av8Chuck
Member
We pretty much fly everyday. If you do this professionally then its not that different than driving a truck. You go to work, do what you do and then go home and participate in forums like anyone else. I can't imagine that when the weather gets nice that too many people fly more than five or six batteries a day, so that would account for about 3 hours of actual flight spread out over a day. So I'm not sure because the weather is nice is the reason that people aren't participating in forums.
People participate in what interests them, the consumer demand for multirotors is flattening out. Its not going away, but its not growing anywhere near the rate it was just two years ago so interest from the hobbyists is starting to wane. If you want more people to participate here then cator to the needs of the commercial operator. The FAA is supposed to announce the new rules making commercial UAV legal in the US tomorrow so the interest in this segment is only going to grow.
Seems like an easy choice to me. But you can't do both. Although the hobbyists and commercial operator's interest are not mutually exclusive they are antithetical to one another. So its unlikely that commercial operators will frequent a forum with too many hobbyists.
I pop in here occasionally hoping that the focus will shift back towards the professional but as a professional there really isn't much here that interests me.
People participate in what interests them, the consumer demand for multirotors is flattening out. Its not going away, but its not growing anywhere near the rate it was just two years ago so interest from the hobbyists is starting to wane. If you want more people to participate here then cator to the needs of the commercial operator. The FAA is supposed to announce the new rules making commercial UAV legal in the US tomorrow so the interest in this segment is only going to grow.
Seems like an easy choice to me. But you can't do both. Although the hobbyists and commercial operator's interest are not mutually exclusive they are antithetical to one another. So its unlikely that commercial operators will frequent a forum with too many hobbyists.
I pop in here occasionally hoping that the focus will shift back towards the professional but as a professional there really isn't much here that interests me.
violetwolf
Member
I tend to agree Chuck. Where are you finding professional discussions these days?
Even though I'm in Canada I've been following the FAA thing. Glad to hear it's finally at the point where you guys will finally have a solid set of rules. Interesting to see what they hand down.
Even though I'm in Canada I've been following the FAA thing. Glad to hear it's finally at the point where you guys will finally have a solid set of rules. Interesting to see what they hand down.
Av8Chuck
Member
Hi Rick,
I have not found what I would consider good forums targeted at commercial UAV. I'm frequenting forums that are specific to the IP of my customers, Civil Engineer's, First Responders, Farmers, etc.. None of those have much to do directly with Drones but the threads I've participated in can get rather lively.. There's certainly a great deal of interest in those forum on using drones but the conversations are rarely about the drones themselves.
I was kind of hoping that this is what MRF's would become. A place where drone developers could discuss the challenges of creating solutions for people who's focus is not the drone but gathering information a certain way. I believe a lot of the dronnies think if they can fly a FLIR for example that the fire department would buy their drone. A few might but unfortunately fire fighters don't fly drones. There isn't a position for it within the department, there's no union for it, who's responsible for maintaining it, that sort of stuff?
As for the FAA rules, it will be interesting, I'm hoping its very similar to the NPRM they released in February of last year. If it has alot of manufacturing certification requirements then let the lawsuits begin.
I guess we'll find out tomorrow.
I have not found what I would consider good forums targeted at commercial UAV. I'm frequenting forums that are specific to the IP of my customers, Civil Engineer's, First Responders, Farmers, etc.. None of those have much to do directly with Drones but the threads I've participated in can get rather lively.. There's certainly a great deal of interest in those forum on using drones but the conversations are rarely about the drones themselves.
I was kind of hoping that this is what MRF's would become. A place where drone developers could discuss the challenges of creating solutions for people who's focus is not the drone but gathering information a certain way. I believe a lot of the dronnies think if they can fly a FLIR for example that the fire department would buy their drone. A few might but unfortunately fire fighters don't fly drones. There isn't a position for it within the department, there's no union for it, who's responsible for maintaining it, that sort of stuff?
As for the FAA rules, it will be interesting, I'm hoping its very similar to the NPRM they released in February of last year. If it has alot of manufacturing certification requirements then let the lawsuits begin.
I guess we'll find out tomorrow.
violetwolf
Member
Glad to see you guys are still around too. It'd the peeps that make the forum 
@Av8Chuck I'm happy to see people like yourself here, I'd say it's still pretty good here over some of the Facebook forums (but those are a bit of a different animal, anyway). I think that the AP/AV work is a bit different from driving a truck - the schedule varies and is very weather dependent, and there is usually a lot of editing/admin work to do after all the flying is done. In this part of the season it gets really busy for me and 12-15 hour days are the norm, however it is sometimes difficult to call all this fun a job.
Av8Chuck
Member
I don't do Facebook so I'm not aware of what type of animals frequent it...
Petr, keep in mind that aerial photography is not the largest segment for commercial drone usage. Its certainly garnered the most attention because its something that most competent operators can accomplish and there's a big difference between those flying GoPro type camera's to Arri Alexa's.
My point is that this profession is not that different from most others. Yes its a fun way to make a living but I know a lot of truck drivers who work as hard, put in equally long hours and love what they do every bit as much.
What makes this job fun are the people and what makes it exciting is working with those people to figure out a whole new industry. As of today there are a lot more startups in this startup industry that need a place to commiserate, to hang out and ask business related questions, etc..
Its interesting that the "Commercial Operation of sUAS is Now Legal" has about 130 views and 16 replies, was moved to the Professional Drone Operators thread but the "Looks Like We..." which has about 40 views and zero replies is still in the General Drone Discussion thread. To me that's upside down. This is a subtle distinction, and I'll stop carping about it, but this is kind of indicates that this forum is more for the hobbyist than the professional. Why not create a thread for the hobbyist and make the entire rest of the forum for the people who aspire to use drones commercially?
Its been one of those 14 hour days for me too, so this probably doesn't make any sense, but I think this forum should run as far and fast away from the hobbyist in the same way that RC (Not sure if we're still not supposed to mention them by name) but it rhymes with troops is moving away from the professionals...
I would really like to see MRF kick their a$$ and become the rockstar forum for professionals.
Petr, keep in mind that aerial photography is not the largest segment for commercial drone usage. Its certainly garnered the most attention because its something that most competent operators can accomplish and there's a big difference between those flying GoPro type camera's to Arri Alexa's.
My point is that this profession is not that different from most others. Yes its a fun way to make a living but I know a lot of truck drivers who work as hard, put in equally long hours and love what they do every bit as much.
What makes this job fun are the people and what makes it exciting is working with those people to figure out a whole new industry. As of today there are a lot more startups in this startup industry that need a place to commiserate, to hang out and ask business related questions, etc..
Its interesting that the "Commercial Operation of sUAS is Now Legal" has about 130 views and 16 replies, was moved to the Professional Drone Operators thread but the "Looks Like We..." which has about 40 views and zero replies is still in the General Drone Discussion thread. To me that's upside down. This is a subtle distinction, and I'll stop carping about it, but this is kind of indicates that this forum is more for the hobbyist than the professional. Why not create a thread for the hobbyist and make the entire rest of the forum for the people who aspire to use drones commercially?
Its been one of those 14 hour days for me too, so this probably doesn't make any sense, but I think this forum should run as far and fast away from the hobbyist in the same way that RC (Not sure if we're still not supposed to mention them by name) but it rhymes with troops is moving away from the professionals...
I would really like to see MRF kick their a$$ and become the rockstar forum for professionals.
@Av8Chuck , agreed, we are still trying to figure out how to best separate the two, and I really appreciate your input on all this. Maybe we can have a conversation with @droneadmin and @Nathan, and hopefully a few more professionals here to help us shape this better. Your thoughts?
girls love drone
New Member
Yeah, I am totally agree with you. Let's struggle together.
fltundra
Member
Been hanging out with him in the "unique"thread. AKA PatR.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2661022&page=199
violetwolf
Member
Been hanging out with him in the "unique"thread. AKA PatR.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2661022&page=199
Thanks buds! I'll check it out. He'd said he was going to do an H1 review for us around here, then disappeared when it changed hands. Hope he comes back at some point. That other place is even more overrun by the gopro crowd than this one :/
ProfEngr
Member
I had a whole paragraph written up about the 'antithetical' comment Chuck made a few posts up, but decided it was better left unsaid. I think that argument has already been settled and FED dot GOV has come down on the side of big $. Hobbyists will either have to operate 'under the radar' or learn to navigate the myriad of regs necessary to remain subservient to the Nanny State.
Old Man
Active Member
I'm still here. I quashed the idea of a review after everybody and their Mother did H reviews, and anti H reviews on YouTube. I've been a little busy of late, work and flying season stuff. 107 is finally becoming reality and sites not over run with manufacturer shills are needed for people to exchange information specific to commercial operations and opportunities. Badly needed. As Chuck mentioned, photography is but a small part of sUAS functionality.
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violetwolf
Member
Good to see you man