Over the long weekend, we wanted to try something different and got ourselves a drone with a camera to try at home. All excited, we opened the package and started reading the manual.

We spent quite some time in reading and understanding how it operates. Next, was to ensure we get the right set of batteries to get it setup, pairing it with the wi-fi and a mobile device to start taking pictures and videos.

We try to pair the device with the remote and spent about half an hour trying to figure out how it pairs up. With an instruction manual, a remote and a drone, anyone who looked at our front yard must have felt we were onto something 🙂

Now that the groundwork was done, and no more prep needed, kids join us for the fun part!

Younger one pushes a few buttons and instantly the drone rises up in the air.

We are all excited, grinning and beaming with pride!

3 seconds later, it gets caught on a tree.

The tallest person of the family is asked to help remove it from the tree.

5 minutes of struggle and we have the drone back and ready to fly. Glad it did not break.

We tried buzzing it up and landing it multiple times before letting it take off higher.

Whirrrr…

30 seconds later it gets caught again, this time farther away.

Again we retrieve it and get it ready to fly!

By now, we knew how to operate the remote, how the drone was operating

This time my spouse gets excited and takes over the remote 🙂

Whirrrrr….

We start seeing our house, tree tops, tree tops behind our house, far away mountains and the wi-fi signal is lost!

The pictures from it shows the drone is sitting on a tall tree top somewhere, batteries & charge would last for two more days, however we have no idea which tree or tree top it is on, and no way to retrieve it.

The thought and preparation lasted much much longer than the time we got to spend with the drone in itself.

Day 2 – We search the nearby yards trying to trigger the drone signal! It is sitting somewhere 20-30 feet up on a tree, not sure where exactly though!

Realizations before we attempt again

1. Learning to do anything new requires skill.
2. Understand the technology you are trying to learn and its potential capabilities before attempting to fly it
3. Look for models that have the ability to fly back home
4. Learn how to track the drones when they have flown out of your remote’s range
5. Set it on auto 1-2 second picture taking mode – especially when you are trying it the first few times – would be easier to locate the area of the flight

Happy that we chose this family project this weekend and had fun with the drone and looking for it 🙂

Hopefully, next time would be much better!