Drones

Hi everyone,

Hope you all had a great break.

I have had a discussion with my associate principal regarding using third party applications.

We have some drones and gimbals that require the students to download an app. Apparently the department has requested information from DJI Go and as yet, has not received a reply.

Does anyone know if using these apps requires the students to set up an account and give their private information - which we are not supposed to be doing?

Thanks

Ina

Willetton SHS

Hi Everyone,

I am looking at getting a drone for my media program and was wondering who is currently using drones, what brands/models are good, where they recommend purchasing drones, and how much they paid.

John Forrest Secondary College is undergoing a big redevelopment and I am hoping to do fly-over videos of the construction progress for the school to put onto youtube, facebook, etc…

I believe this way, I can get the College to pay for the equipment and I can use it for my programs as well. I would obviously be looking at something with a good quality built-in camera. Any experiences, insight, etc…would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Eric Larson

Hi Eric,

Can totally recommend the Mavic Mini Fly More Combo for a drone to teach students on: light, easy to use and relatively inexpensive.

https://store.dji.com/au/product/mavic-mini?from=mavic-mini_buy_now_bottom&site=brandsite&vid=84651

Otherwise as a drone for 'the school'/media dept can recommend the Phantom 4. I bought the advanced and love it. It was challenging to set up, but now it's a total dream.

https://store.dji.com/au/product/phantom-4-pro-v2?vid=43151

Just don't forget to do some reading regarding flying rules/zones! It's worth noting that you can operate a drone under 250g without a licence, but anything over you need to have a remote pilot licence (RePL). The Mavic Mini is 249g, the Phantom 4 is 1380g ...

https://www.casa.gov.au/drones/rules

Kind Regards,

Madeline Abbott

Def. Up to $9000 fine, too.

There are apps to help with this:

https://www.casa.gov.au/knowyourdrone/drone-safety-apps?gclid=CjwKCAiApNSABhAlEiwANuR9YF8eqL21eVF-maai912MbwM2qE-c2XFuSHVE2ONZtvF9C3I9YKoNChoCFPcQAvD_BwE

From memory more than 2Kg you need a licence. Less than 250gm you can fly within 5.5ks of an airport. You will need to register it, regardless.

First thing I would do if I was teaching it to kids would be to make them learn the basic drone rules for Australia (CASA) and your state (some states are different for national parks, for example). Then test them to get a school drone 'learners permit". Then give them basic drone manoeuvres to master and get them to go for a school drone 'licence'.

After that it'd be great to get a few hundred dollars together and see if you could entice a professional drone operator in to give the students a demo and some tips.

It's a great skill to learn, but lots of awareness needed so noone gets hurt, noone's privacy is infringed, and no laws are broken.

Anything from DJI is good (I have Phantom 4). But there are other decent brands, also.

:)

JM

Dr John McMullan

Hi all,

Also be aware of the issues surrounding students using Third Party Applications. If they have to use an app to operate the drone. The Department has a list of companies we can use - DJI happens to be one that the department has requested information from - but they haven't replied - so we can't direct students to use them.

Ina

Willetton SHS

The rules changed as of a few days ago... you need to register your drone and get accreditation via casa

https://www.casa.gov.au/news-article/drone-registration-and-operator-accreditation-now-required

Or have your repl (quite cheap if done through the school).

I don’t actually have one over 2kg I fly a phantom 4 pro... however there is a lot to know about safe use that it reaches you (most people break a lot of laws even with recreational flying).

School wise - I think it would be very useful to have.