Maybe Drone Flying Is Not For Me...

 Maybe. Like many people, drones--the ones individuals fly, not the military--have fascinated me. My first drone was this little thing...I think it cost fifty bucks more than a decade ago. I had a blast with it. I flew it a lot and beat it up pretty good. Because it was cheap the batteries began to expand and without batteries, it's junk.

So, when I had some extra cash, I bought a better drone. This one flew great, I had more control (less crashes...) and, again, I loved flying it. The main problem is the camera. It did take video and still photos, but the still photos were okay, and the video was terrible. I guess you get what you pay for.

I sort of gave up on the hobby for a few years, then at a yard sale I found a cheap drone. I bought it, I got it home, and found it didn't have a way to charge the batteries. I went back and asked if I could just get (or buy...) the charging cord. He offered another drone package (charger included...) for half price. I thought, great. With two I can have one for parts when it breaks down. The deal was done. I took them both home.

I never got either of them to work. The one that worked best burned out a motor (saw actual smoke...) so I took them both apart, re-soldered two motors and put it all back together again.

Finally, everything looked like it was going to work.

Once again, I couldn't get it to fly. The video is my last attempt...two crashes.

I should have just saved up and bought a good drone, one that had a camera that gave me what I wanted. Now, I don't know if I even want to do it. Maybe it wasn't the drones, but the operator. I don't think so because I was able to get older, less technological drones to fly.

I don't know how this story will end...I only know how it's gone so far.

Crash and burn.

Now...To Try And Get This Thing To Fly

 Since we're heading into the weekend, I decided to unbox a drone I bought about a year ago. For me, a drone has been one of those things, that--if I had the funds--I would buy a nice one...

At least, I think I would.

I follow several photographers on social media who use their their drones to capture incredible photos and videos. They make it look so effortless, and for all I know, maybe it is. I suspect, however, like any art form, the more you practice, the better you become.

This drone of mine is not a good one, I fully admit. Then again, I didn't want a good one, really. I wanted something on which I could learn the basics. After I bought it (and a back-up drone was thrown in the garage sale deal...), I went to the backyard and fired it up. It immediately tuned upside-down and crashed. I've had a couple of really cheap drones and they never did that. After a few attempts, I put the drone back in the box and set it aside to open another day.

Today was that other day.

I wanted to check the camera so I took off the propellers (to avoid getting hurt...) and tried it out. I got it to work and even sync'd it with the smartphone app. So far so good. After it got too dark to take outside, I decided to look online to see if there were any instructional videos on this particular model that might help. Yes, there are. Turns out, there are several steps I must do to calibrate the drone and the remote. If I get a chance tomorrow, I'm going to give it another chance.

I've wondered if I really want to invest good money in a top-tier drone. I'm sure I'd like it, but would I use it? Do I want it mostly because I don't have it? That's happened before and I hate finding out the main reason I want something is because I don't have it and once I get it, it's not like I imagined.

Hopefully, I'll get the thing to fly. If so, I hope also it takes photos and videos good enough to share. If not, well, since it was a garage sale find, I won't be out too much.

We Are Not Amused...

After work this evening, I thought I'd break out the drone. I saw one of our cats sitting lazily close by. I thought the drone might be a way to generate interest for our oldest animal, the stately cat, Teewinot. I mean, a big black thing that hovers in the air, swishing and swaying in a light breeze. What else could a cat want?

Apparently, not the drone.

Inside the house, behind closed doors is our other cat--technically, a kitten. Now I know he'd like the drone. He would be instantly fascinated by it and if it bobbed up and down in front of him, he would do all he could to try and reach it, to bat it out of the air.

Ah...the tale of two kitties.

Sorry (not so sorry...).

Of course it could be my amateur flying skills that proved to be my downfall. It was a little breezy when I took out the drone and I have trouble keeping the thing steady on a windless day, let alone one with a slight breeze. When I reviewed the footage after, I knew the cat saw the drone, even looked at it once. He knew it was there and flat-out, didn't care.

While watching his expression, a television phrase from my childhood came to mind, a segue from the old Monty Python comedies when Queen Victoria would appear and proclaim, "We are not amused." I guess on a cloudy, semi-humid, early July evening in Utah, one particular cat did not care in the slightest that a drone was trying to elicit a response, any response from the stoic feline.

That's the way of it, I suppose.