Confused over night flight and lights required.

[Poverty Flyer]

The faa says a strobe light.
All 3 CBOs say strobe light AND other positional lights.
The Neo has no lights on it.
Would a strobe on top and a single usb c red solid led plugged into the usb c connector on the back fulfill the guidelines?

 

[Poverty Flyer]

Well, foiled again. No power output at usb.
That would be a great upgrade though.
Still need to know about lights.
Thanks

 

[NeoNeo]

From what I guess. You need a port(red) and starboard (green)light and a stern white light. Flashing lights. Just look up at night and observe what aircraft are displaying.

Neo is too small and a low powered UAS to carry much of any load without significantly reducing flight times and agility. The top prop guard weighs IIRC 5gm. Removal based on the bench specs increases flight time by a ~1 minute. It's an exponential drop with the a linear increase in power demand. S mode I get around 10-12 minutes. M mode ~7 minutes. The moderate increase in available power in M mode results in a significant decrease in flight times.

 

[Poverty Flyer]

Thank you. I kind of thought so.
I hadn't planned on night flight.
Just thinking of stuff while it's raining and being grounded.
Have a great weekend.

 

[MS Coast]

The FAA requires a strobe visible for three statute miles, but says nothing about additional lighting or the color of the strobe. FTCA, and presumably other CBOs require lights adequate for the pilot to determine the drone's orientation. A port and starboard light of different colors and a strobe should be adequate. The Vifly strobes weigh 6 grams each. So, with a little Velcro for mounting, the added weight would be under 20 grams. Removing the prop guards could offset a portion of that.

 

[Poverty Flyer]

Yep, still clear as mud.
Adding 3 separate lights will take up space and cause weight gain.

I get the law part from FAA that is clear. The CBOs are where my confusion starts.
The FAA says follow guidelines from CBO. Great. But, guidelines are not laws only recommendations?
Why does the CBO say strobe AND other positional lights?
It would be too easy to state what those other positions are and colors?
If I have good eyesight a 3/4 moon gives off enough ambient light to see which way the drone is headed.
The guidelines seem to point to the operators knowing which way the drone is pointed and everyone else should be aware of where it's at by seeing the strobe.

So follow the letter of the law and follow the CBO (guidelines) for the spirit of the law?
We follow laws and interpret the guidelines for a specific action.

Being that the Neo is small and almost round, having red, green, white and strobe lights makes it a flashing ball of multi colored lights in the sky.
The spirit of the law is safely identify and avoid a collision with another craft.
Red, green and white offer no avoidance especially if the colors are so close together.
Easy, if the strobe is getting bigger and brighter it's coming at you.
Smaller, dimmer going away from you.
Left, right, above or below same thing.
I really have no need at this time to fly at night but if I did I wouldn't want to pay a fine for breaking the law due to not knowing the requirements of the action.

Next question probably would be on flying above people.
Class 1 drones exempt?
Only with part 7 license?
Only in FRIA?
They have made these so easy to fly but so hard to do it without possible legal issues.
Laws, guidelines, best practices, community oversight and any Karen with a attitude.
Anyway, just spending time waiting for the wind to die down.
Not trying to be argumentative at all just trying to understand how to have more recreational fun with this new hobby.

Thanks folks,

 

[NEO 317]

The guidelines seem to point to the operators knowing which way the drone is pointed and everyone else should be aware of where it's at by seeing the strobe.

That is correct.

Just seeing the aircraft is not enough.
You should know the orientation of it at a distance too.

Here's a picture of my MA2 with firehouse strobes.




There's not a lot of room on the NEO for a bunch of strobes although Firehouse strobes do come in smaller sizes that may work.

drone dji strobe lights spot lights

DJI drone strobe lights spotlight uas unmanned aircraft faa 107.29 mavic Inspire matrice phantom spark yuneec typhoon h parrot

www.firehousetechnology.com

Here's an option to use if using the FH ARC V's and the NEO.

DJI Strobe Mounts

Products by drone pilots for drone pilots. In 2013 we started Aerial-Pixel as a drone photography and videography service. Since then we have grown to also provide vinyl graphics, apparel and 3D printed products for the drone industry.

www.aerial-pixel.com

.

 

[Poverty Flyer]

Thanks,
if my statement were true then just to see which way it's headed all I would need to do is look at the display of the controller.
It tells me how high, how far, how fast and what orientation.
More than any visual could ever begin to do.
But that is not the requirements of the guidelines.
Nice they have all the cool addon accessories that if used the Neo wouldn't get up or be controllable.
If flying at night we're important I would of got a bigger, better drone.
I may do that later along with getting my part 107 license. For now the Neo is loads of fun as is.

 

[DarR-T]

NEO with 21g undercarriage LED lights
Very visible in twilight. Night flight planned. No Lidar may be an issue.

 

[Poverty Flyer]

Thanks, I saw those but felt it was way to heavy for my use.
I have a 1000 lumin white strobe set to always on to keep the Neo from getting scared of the dark and flying into the first hard thing it can find to go unconscious.
Without external light you can't hover in a dim area.
The light makes indoor flight possible even in a dark room.
The light weighs 6 grams.
Amazon generic brand collision avoidance strobe with cree leds.
Cheers,

 

[DarR-T]

Performances haven't decreased, at least not noticeably. Unbelievably bright and the accessory clicks right on as if it was OEM. However, the NEO sucks at night (outdoors anyways) even with this lighted accessory. I may give it a second chance. Notwithstanding, It's great at twilight for drone visibility.

 

[ryguy80]

With the 1/2" sensor, you're not going to get great low light performance out of the Neo. It isn't worth spending money on anti-collision lighting, IMO. In this use case, the Neo is the wrong tool for the job.

 

[DarR-T]

With the 1/2" sensor, you're not going to get great low light performance out of the Neo. It isn't worth spending money on anti-collision lighting, IMO. In this use case, the Neo is the wrong tool for the job.

Totally agree about the low light performance of the NEO. Notwithstanding, the light is great for distance visibility at twilight and on overcast days. For $20 it's worth it for me as I lose sight of it fast. Moreover, it comes with a USB-C cable which makes it even cheaper.

Amazon.com

 

[NeoNeo]

NEO with 21g undercarriage LED lights
Very visible in twilight. Night flight planned. No Lidar may be an issue.

21 grams is a significant increase in total mass. Maybe fine for just drifting around in the stabilized N or S modes.
ViFly sells FAA approved drone lights. Sub 6gm. I use one of their wireless drone buzzer/led that go off on impact on a non-DJI drone. Makes for easier location. Also, sub 6gm.

 

[Poverty Flyer]

I was able to find some very light weight lights. Balloon lights. They weigh 1 gram each including battery. Cheap @1.2 cents each. Double sided 3m tape holds them secure.
3 grams for lights(red, green, white), 6 grams for strobe, 21 grams for landing light, 1 gram for tape. Minus 4 grams remove prop guards.
Adding 28 grams causes no issues in flight. It does cut off about 2 min time in N mode.
I only used the RCn3 controller not phone, goggles or alone.

The balloon lights last hours and can be seen about 400 feet in the dark. Not any help in daytime. The strobe can be moved to the underside and made solid or blinking in a color to contrast the weather for better daylight sighting.

I wish the landing light didn't weigh so much but landing or hovering low without it is almost impossible. I tried a strobe in solid white mode and it is brighter but doesn't project out like the landing light.
It would be great if the landing light was remote controlled as it's not needed above 10ft. or so. Bluetooth would add 2 grams?

Flying at night is ok if you video lighted parking areas, lit signs and such. The video quality depends on light but it's not bad. Sunrise / sunset is pretty cool too.

I don't intend to fly much at night but if I want to I can. Just another way to prove the Neo's versatility.

I enjoy every flight experience.

Cheers'