RTK vs PPK GPS - Which is the Best, Most Accurate Option for You? Today's show is all about 2 GPS correction technologies - RTK and PPK (Post Processed Kinematic GPS). Specifically, which is the best, most versatile option for drone pilots and when they can choose one over the other. Our caller for today, Trevor from Australia is unsure whether he should go with RTK or PPK GPS. To help out Trevor, we re-visit the basics of these GPS technologies. We then proceed to discuss the optimum flying env...
Aug 06, 2021•31 min
Verizon, Skyward Drones, and 5G, Industrial Drones by GE, The Rising Popularity of American-Made Drones, DOI Publishes List of Government-Approved Drones In the fifth edition of Drone Life News, Paul and Miriam McNabb of DroneLife and JobforDrones discuss some of the latest and most exciting news from the world of drones. Our biggest story this week is about industry major, GE's foray into the drone industry. GE has partnered up with mapping provider Micro Drones as they attempt to gain a footho...
Jul 27, 2021•19 min
DJI FPV Drone Review | Exclusive with Christian Mollica, Author of The Acclaimed Book "FPV Flight Dynamics" In today's special show, Paul talks to Christian Mollica, the best-selling author of "FPV Flight Dynamics" about the launch of DJI's FPV drone and how it will shake up the FPV world. DJI, the market leader has just announced their first FPV drone thereby marking their formal entry into the FPV world. But does this new drone live up to all the hype and the rather gargantuan expectations? Yo...
Jul 27, 2021•27 min
Best Video Drone For The Money Today's show is about video drones. Specifically, which is the best, most versatile option for a commercial drone business? Our caller for today, Jordan is looking for a versatile drone that is particularly good at capturing video. He is particularly keen on buying a bird that can safely fly over water. To help him, we first reveal why the Mavic Air 2S is NOT our preferred choice. We then go on to explain why DJI's flagship drone - the Mavic 2 Pro is the best drone...
Jul 15, 2021•14 min
Best Agricultural Drones | How to Set Up a Drone Business Without Overshooting Your Budget Today's show is about agricultural drones. What is the best yet most affordable setup for those looking to provide their services to the agricultural sector? Our caller for today, Ryan is keen to provide drone services to the agricultural sector. But like most new entrepreneurs, he is on a tight budget. Can Ryan meet client expectations with a budget drone? Or does he have to go for an advanced (and expens...
Jul 14, 2021•27 min
Drone Safety, and How to Tackle Drone Magnetic Interference Today's show is about flying in areas with heavy magnetic interference. Our caller for today, Arturo from Columbia recently started working with the local government to fly missions in the heart of the city. But flight safety is a huge concern for him as he is flying in an interference-heavy environment. We discuss different options to help Arturo out. From flying Line of Sight to the basics of radiometry to path antennas, we cover a lo...
Jul 14, 2021•20 min
Drone Flight Time Comparison - Phantom 4 Pro vs. Inspire 2 vs. Mavic Enterprise On today's show we do a flight time comparison between some popular drones like Phantom 4 Pro, Inspire 2, and Mavic Enterprise. Our caller for today, Carl is considering the Phantom 4 Pro, Inspire 2, and Mavic Enterprise for drone mapping missions. But he is not sure if these drones can give him a long enough flight time to conclude his job. And understandably, he is also worried about running out of battery mid-flig...
Jul 13, 2021•17 min
Google's Wing App, Parrot ANAFI AI, World-Class Skyfish Drones for Engineering and Critical Infrastructure, Made In USA Drones In the fourth edition of Drone Life News, Paul and Miriam McNabb of DroneLife and JobforDrones discuss some of the latest and most exciting news from the world of drones. Our biggest story this week is about Parrot's new ANAFI AI drone. This unique drone comes with obstacle avoidance that is inspired by nature's best flyers - insects. Moreover, this is the first commerci...
Jul 08, 2021
Using Drone Surveying for Small Properties Today's show is about using drone surveying for really small properties. Our caller for today, Jerry wishes to survey small properties with drones. But, is this even feasible? While surveying with drones might be a cost-effective for large tracts of land, can you use this new-age technology for smaller properties as well? We cover the basics of photogrammetry, and share some great tips to help you grow and scale your drone surveying business in today's ...
Jul 07, 2021
Today's show is about using the sub-250 gram drone, DJI Mavic Mini 2 for real estate photography. Our caller for today, Carl intends to make a foray into the real estate photography business with the DJI Mavic Mini 2. But, while Carl might limit his upfront investment with this starter DJI drone, can he compete with pilots who fly larger (and more expensive) drones like Phantom and Mavic? We reveal the pros and cons of this much-loved DJI drone in this short but highly informative show. This sho...
Jul 07, 2021
On today's show, you will learn why the Mavic 2 Pro is NOT the right drone for cell tower inspections and construction site mapping. Our caller for today, John from Oregon has recently purchased a Mavic 2 Pro for a cell tower inspection business. Additionally, John also wants to use this beginner DJI drone for preparing construction site maps. While the Mavic 2 Pro's Hasselblad sensor might be great for capturing vivid images, can you use this DJI drone for conducting cell tower inspections and ...
Jul 04, 2021
FAA TRUST Exam, Drone Industry, and Competition, Autel's Rising Popularity, BVLOS and Much, Much More... In the third edition of Drone Life News, Paul and Miriam McNabb of DroneLife and JobforDrones discuss some of the latest and most exciting news from the world of drones. Our biggest story this week is about the FAA TRUST Exam and Drone U being one of the select few providers of the exam. We discuss the recent trends in the drone industry and the surging market share of industry players such a...
Jul 01, 2021•26 min
Walmart Invests in Drone Delivery Startup, DroneUp, UK Moves Ahead with Drone Remote ID, the NASA UAS Safety Reporting System, Google Wing Comments on Drone Remote ID We are back with another Drone Life News show with the incredible Miriam McNabb of DroneLife and JobforDrones to share with us some of the latest and most exciting news from the world of drones. Our biggest story this week is about drone deliveries. While much has been written about Amazon's foray into drone deliveries, it seems th...
Jun 24, 2021•22 min
Today's show is about using drones for shooting hotels and resorts. Our caller for today, Jordan from NY has an opportunity to shoot some aerial footage of a resort. However, his client wishes to accentuate the beautiful mountains in the background. And so, Jordan is thinking of renting the Mavic 2 Zoom for this new gig. But, is the zoom on this DJI drone powerful enough to accentuate the beautiful background? And, should Jordan consider the Inspire 2-X7 combo for this gig? Apart from this Mavic...
Jun 24, 2021•16 min
Lucrative Drone Career Options | Drones in Construction, For Oil and Gas Inspections, Drone Surveying Today's show is about lucrative drone career options. Our caller for today, 24-year old Casey was just fired from his surveying company. At his ex-employer, Casey became familiar with flying the Ebee drone, and also processing mapping data. Now, he is wondering about the best way forward, and how he can navigate this career change. On today's show, we discuss different drone uses like oil and ga...
Jun 21, 2021•20 min
Today's show is about using the Skydio 2 for drone mapping. Our caller for today, Grant flies the Mavic Air 2 for real estate. Currently, he is going through our Comprehensive Mapping course and is keen on exploring new verticals to grow his drone business. And he is thinking of using the Skydio 2 along with DroneDeploy for drone mapping. So, can you really build a sustainable drone mapping business using an autonomous drone like the Skydio 2? To answer Grant's question, we first explain some ba...
Jun 18, 2021•30 min
2021 FAA Symposium, BVLOS Flights, World's Smallest microLiDAR, Sony Airpeak S1, DJI News, DOD Clears Government Approved DJI Drones and Much, Much More... In the first-ever edition of Drone Life News, we are joined by the incredible Miriam McNabb of DroneLife and JobforDrones to share with us some of the latest and most exciting news from the world of drones. Our biggest story this week is about the 2021 FAA Symposium. One of the most important events of the drone world, the 2021 FAA Symposium ...
Jun 15, 2021•26 min
A one-of-a-kind drone that can be used in law enforcement, firefighting, SWAT operations, and much, much more... Today's show is a special one as we are joined by Angad from Brinc Drones who explains to us the powerful capabilities of their newest drone, Lemur. Lemur is a public safety drone with a difference. This heavily accessorized drone can be used as a law enforcement drone, as a firefighting drone, and by SWAT teams to conduct their operations with greater efficiency and safety. One of th...
Jun 15, 2021•30 min
Today, we share some expert drone battery maintenance tips to ensure a safe flight. Our caller for today, Derek from Ohio was finding it difficult to fly his Phantom 4 Pro in GPS mode. But no sooner did he replace his old drone battery with a new one, all his flight issues disappeared immediately. So, Derek is wondering if he can accurately predict his drone battery life, and prevent such issues going forward. Among other things, we reveal the four rules of takeoff and the voltage at which you s...
Jun 08, 2021•19 min
Today's show is about drones for agriculture and construction. What are some of the best (and more affordable) options for applications like agricultural spraying, NDVI, and construction mapping? Our caller for today, Peter, all the way from Hungary has an excellent question about using drones for agriculture and construction. Peter recently went through our Comprehensive Mapping course and is now keen to start a drone mapping business, and he is on a tight budget of $9,000. Specifically, he is ...
Jun 04, 2021•34 min
Our question for today is about the most affordable and best drones for high winds. Our caller for today, Joe, unfortunately, lost two drones when he was out flying in windy conditions. Now, he wishes to purchase a new drone but he is on a tight budget of $200. Additionally, his wishlist includes GPS, RTH, and of course, a drone capable of flying at wind speeds of 20 - 30 km/h. So, which are some of the best (and affordable) quadcopters for windy conditions? On today's show, we discuss the Mini ...
Jun 03, 2021
Our caller for Tom has come up with a great question today. His question is about drone remote-id. While drone remote-id is set to kick in only by 2023, FAADroneZone is already asking drone pilots to classify their drone as "remote-id" enabled when they attempt to register their drone. Needless to say, this is resulting in a lot of confusion - and many drone pilots are preferring to avoid completing the registration process rather than inputting erroneous information. So, should you classify you...
May 31, 2021•15 min
Today's question is about flying your drone over state parks. Our caller for today, Tom from Wisconsin has a question about flying drones over state parks. The state park that Tom wishes to fly over has a railroad and a residential area in the vicinity. So, firstly, can Tom get the required legal permission to fly over this state park? Do drone laws vary by state? Or is the FAA the ultimate and only authority when it comes to airspace and drone laws? For all this and much more, tune in to our la...
May 28, 2021•11 min
Today's show is about American drone manufacturers and the industry dynamics as a whole. Our caller for today, Gordon is looking for some feasible alternatives to DJI. The US-China trade war and data security concerns have given a fillip to American drone manufacturers, who have, till now been unable to compete with the Chinese behemoth, DJI. And while homegrown manufacturers have managed to get their foot in the door, are they able to match DJI in terms of price and functionality? These are som...
May 27, 2021
Today's show is about drone industry trends for 2021 and beyond. Our caller for today, Tom has come up with a great question that will surely interest all you drone enthusiasts out there. Specifically, with the drone industry in a constant state of flux, Tom is wondering where things are headed in 2021? From micro-drones to recreational flying to the changing dynamics of the American drone manufacturing market, we discuss a lot in today's power-packed show. Some of the things that we discuss tod...
May 12, 2021•40 min
Today's show is about flying your drone in cold weather. Our caller for today, Shawn from Canada who flies a Mavic 2 Pro. Flying in Canada is particularly challenging because of the cold weather and high altitudes. So, what can Shawn do to get some extra flight time? And, how can he make flying in such difficult conditions a more comfortable experience? On today's show, we share some nuanced drone battery maintenance tips to help Shawn out. You will learn how you can prevent your iPhone from shu...
May 06, 2021•16 min
Today, we recommend the optimum workflow for drone search and rescue. Our caller for today, Karl conducted a drone search and rescue to locate a missing dog. However, unfortunately, it seems that his mission was not really successful. So, on today's show, we reveal the best and most efficient workflow for a moving target. You will learn the four acquisition methods that you can possibly use in drone search and rescue. And you will also learn how you can use image recognition software to autonomo...
May 05, 2021•22 min
Today's show is about flying your drone in an interference heavy environment. Our caller for today, Greg is unable to fly his Mavic 2 Pro in autonomous flight mode since there is a radio tower in the vicinity. Can Greg still conclude his mapping mission if he is flying in such an interference heavy environment? On today's show, you will learn how to navigate the complexities of flying in such an environment. We talk about what to do when you experience a radio signal loss, and why you need to ma...
Apr 22, 2021•10 min
Mavic Air 2 vs. Mavic 2 Pro - Which is The Best Option for You? Today's question is about the Mavic Air 2 vs. Mavic Air Pro. Is it worth paying extra for the Mavic 2 Pro if you are planning to shoot real estate? Our caller for today, Dominic is keen to start a new drone business and he is willing to make an initial capital investment of $2,000. The drones that he is considering are the Mavic Air 2, and its larger cousin, DJI Mavic 2 Pro. While the Mavic Air 2 might save Dominic some dollars righ...
Apr 21, 2021•17 min
Once You Get Your Part 107 License, Can You Legally Sell Drone Footage That You Shot As a Hobby Pilot? Today's show is about selling your drone footage after getting your Part 107 license. Our caller for today, Keith recently got his Part 107 license. Congratulations, Keith! Keith has been a hobby pilot for the past five years and has a ton of footage that he can now sell commercially. But, is he legally allowed by the FAA to sell footage that he shot prior to getting his commercial license? Can...
Apr 16, 2021•11 min
