Our new 2017 G23 and Drone Testing.

[Longhorn1186]

A couple warms days in Austin. Had a chance to take the new boat out for a quick ride before going in for its first service. Brought the drone along to do some testing of the tracking as well as get some footage of the boat. Here is some of the ok footage I got put together. Enjoy.

This is at Lake Travis in Austin. We are usually at Lake Austin but the water level just came up and there is still stuff floating around in the water for another week or so. Drone was a DJI Mavic. Winds were around 25kts so I am surprised the footage was as stable as it was.

[Z man]

B. Very cool.

[Wake.BC]

Very cool is right. How did the drone handle in the wind?


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[DLafont]

Nice little vid, what's the song? I'm impressed by the stability of the drone footage.

[Longhorn1186]

Song is Bread and Butter by Hugo. I shot it with the Mavic Pro. Winds were around 25kts and it did great. I do some commercial photo and video work and usually would use an inspire 1 or 2 for the stability or at least the Phantom 4 pro but I was really curious to see how this worked. No prob...tracked pretty good (took some practice to get it tracking in different modes and I was by myself so my hands were full). Looking forward to spring/summer and warmer water so we can track wake surf and boarding with it. Battery worked well too. Had 4 batteries. Each gave it about 25 min of flight time.

[wilhelmwake]

Very nice! I am considering getting a drone myself and have no previous experience beyond flying some toy drones in my living room. So can one confidently take a drone out to shoot waters ports and not loose it during the irst outing? I have looked at the phantom4, and magic. I need a drone that will track the boat with several different tracking modes and easy landing back on the boat.

[Johnny_Rock]

Very nice! I am considering getting a drone myself and have no previous experience beyond flying some toy drones in my living room. So can one confidently take a drone out to shoot waters ports and not loose it during the irst outing? I have looked at the phantom4, and magic. I need a drone that will track the boat with several different tracking modes and easy landing back on the boat.

Curious about the same questions--especially landing on the boat. (Do you have to do it completely 'freehand,' as it seems you could not simply 'return to home?') Also, did you buy the Mavic directly from them? And when did you order and receive it? Thanks.

[Longhorn1186]

Johny_Rock. A few things with the drone. You are correct in that you cannot use the return to home feature unless you launched off the dock or concrete. I believe there is a way to have it return to where the controller is but I have not played around with that. Also, if you have the drone follow the boat and have a range limit set the drone will stop when it gets to the predetermined limit set for distance from home. I ran into that and realized it was close to me and controller but far from the home position it set when it powered up. Lastly, with the mavic, since there is not a lot of distance from the blades to the ground, and you dont want to crash it into the seadek or vinyl and tear it, its best to hand fly. Because the sensors will see the boat when you try to catch the drone, you have to get it close, turn it around and back it up to you or the sensors will see the boat and not allow you to catch unless you are standing on the walk through platform. When reaching up to grab it you need to go at an angle as well since the bottom sensors will see your hand and fight you on catching it. I am sure there are ways to turn it off but I have not messed with it yet. I bought mine from DJI direct. Had it in a week. I fly a phantom 4 pro as well for personal stuff and for commercial work we use an inspire 1 and soon an inspire 2. Mostly commercial sports work. Going through DJI direct is pretty quick and I would recommend that unless you can find it at best buy or your local camera store.

[Wake.BC]

That's some great information! Nobody ever talks about that part of filming on the boat.

The mavic is all sold out in Canada and exchange and duty will kill me


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[EXTREMEFUN1300]

Awesome video! The Drone Testing in the subject caught my eye, as I plan on doing the same thing this year on the boat. My kids all went in and bought me a Phantom 3 Standard for my birthday in January. It's my first good Drone, and I was surprised at the features for an entry level unit, though the camera is lower resolution it looks alright in bright daylight. I was also amazed at how easy they are to fly compared to the $100 toy versions, I'm amazed at the stability in the wind, and can't wait to try "follow me" mode. For a relatively inexpensive entry level professional drone, the Phantom 3 is a great starting point.

[Andrewwig]

Not sure if this is a problem for anyone other than me, but with the Mavic you always need to remember to either hit the focus button or touch the screen to focus the camera. Maybe you just shot in low res or uploaded low res but the Mavic can get a super clear shot but it's easy to forget to hit the focus button. Best thing I've found is to just get in the habit of focusing every time I hit the record button. Cool shots and great music in that vid. I think a lot of people are just getting into drones and the drones like the Mavic make it so easy. I think we will be seeing a ton of new drone footage this summer. Can't wait for summer!!!


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[Longhorn1186]

I agree. It was my first time with the mavic and I had forgot to focus in the opening shot. I usually use an inspire 1 and we have an inspire 2 but its for the commercial video work we do. (commercial photography and video company I do work with). We were so use to the P4 with did not AF...the P4 Pro does and its great. I forgot about the mavic and AF but the video was downgraded as well so that is not helping either. Summer is right around the corner...looking forward to seeing the videos as well.

[RTS DC]

I was looking at the 3DR solo drone quadricopter. Since we have a go pro I didn't want to spend the extra money on the phantom.
No real experience with drones and I don't need professional. I want to video us when we surf and tube.
Would love some advice.


2016 G23

[Tallredrider]

I see the Mavik goes 22 MPH, which might be a close call for some wakeboarders who go faster than that.

I love the footage you got and it looks like some good times are in store for sure.

[Wake.BC]

I see the Mavik goes 22 MPH, which might be a close call for some wakeboarders who go faster than that.

I love the footage you got and it looks like some good times are in store for sure.

Where are you reading it goes 22? DJI says 40 plus. I just got mine and in sport mode it's crazy.


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