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DJI Mini 4 Pro

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Re: DJI Mini 4 Pro

#331

Post by palata »

serf wrote: post #330
palata wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It’s small, but some of his hand-built ones are smaller. Aside from the size, how do his hand-built ones compare in terms of camera, gimbal, remote controller, radio, battery life, and potentially SDK?

from experience I know that the SDK and battery life are better on the mid-range DIY options/ Aftermarket remotes/radios are arguably better; just not as compact and conveniently set-up. I can't comment on camera/gimbal. There are DIY-ish units out there that are entirely controllable via your choice of language; i'm not sure if there is any SDK that rivals that flexibility. all that said : I understand the DJI value…

> from experience I know that the SDK and battery life are better on the mid-range DIY options

SDK in DIY options? Do you have examples?

> I can't comment on camera/gimbal.

Cameras and gimbals become very difficult in DIY, because they required tight integration with the drone.

Re: DJI Mini 4 Pro

#332

Post by palata »

severus_snape wrote: post #325
palata wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a consumer, honestly, go for DJI. A few years ago, assuming you had been willing to pay more for something worse but for ideological reasons (like you would buy a Fairphone, I totally get that), I would have adviced for an Anafi. But now the Anafi AI and Anafi USA are a lot more expensive, that's not for consumers anymore IMHO. As a company, if you cannot go for DJI, then the alternatives to Mavic are Parrot Anafi…

Parrot (Anafi) is French

Yeah, I assumed that the question was about "non-chinese drones".

Re: DJI Mini 4 Pro

#333

Post by severus_snape »

brindlejim wrote: post #135
cheesemayo wrote: post #47

Beware that DJI's software to control these craft is super sketchy to install and use. It doesn't exist in the Google Play Store, to avoid inspection.

DJI is fully compliant with China's policy of civil-military fusion. Anyone flying anywhere sensitive should not use them. They're beaming back home whatever they want, and China is using both tech and data to give an asymmetric advantage to allies like Russia in the Ukraine war.

Both fronts use DJI drones[0][1], although DJI suspended its activities in both Russia and Ukraine as of April 26, 2022[2] and contractually forbids[3] any sales by dealers to either country and for combat use.

However, other actors are entering the war business, like Parrot[4].

[0]: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NtgseODXGSAomx6G5Efw...

[1]: https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/02/16/ukraine-russia-war-dron...

[2]: https://www.dji.com/uk/newsroom/news/dji-statement-on-sales-...

[3]: https://www.dji.com/newsroom/news/dji-statement-on-dji-relat...

[4]: https://www.lesechos.fr/weekend/high-tech-auto/henry-seydoux...

Re: DJI Mini 4 Pro

#334

Post by cookieswumchorr »

balls187 wrote: post #284
1024core wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Even a sport watch can be a security threat as demo by some exercise army personnel. In the early days of the Afghan (or was it Iraq?) war, people used Strava to figure out the locations of American bases. They'd see a bunch of smart watches suddenly wake up in the morning and start exercising at the same time, a dead giveaway.

Neither. The US’ wars in both places predate general availability “smart” devices by quite some time. There were devices like black berries and tmobile sidekick, and gps trackers from garmin (etc) but I think the incidents you were referring to happened much later (2018 vs 2001/2002).

but the us only left Afganistan two years ago

Re: DJI Mini 4 Pro

#335

Post by palata »

dotancohen wrote: post #312
palata wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Their iteration rate is amazing. Sure, some companies do. Though what I see from the SpaceX launches I don't respect much. They just don't care at all about the impact on biodiversity around the launch site. I would be happier with slower but more sustainable. > You haven't explained why? Move fast and break things mean to iterate fast, that includes finding way to cut the cost, improve specs, and just make the ove…

> They just don't care at all about the impact on biodiversity around the launch site. Why would you single out SpaceX for this? Not only is that argument applicable to every single other launch provider on the planet, it is also applicable to almost every single factory and even city on the planet. How is the biodiversity in Los Angeles? How big are the areas affected by SpaceX launch facilities compared to the area…

> Why would you single out SpaceX for this?

Because I was answering a comment that mentioned specifically Tesla, SpaceX and Netflix?

> That rocket, therefore, actually is a net benefit to reduce greenhouse warming.

Whaaaaat? With that kind of logic, you could breath underwater. I don't even know how to start answering that. As long as you conclude from "manufacturing and launching a rocket" that it is "net benefit for the environment", you should go back to reading about the problem.

Re: DJI Mini 4 Pro

#336

Post by theshrike79 »

ben7799 wrote: post #22

I've had the original Mini since it came out. Other than damaging a prop from it hitting a blade of grass on landing it is in perfect shape. Yes, they are so fragile I landed very smoothly in the grass and soft grass is enough to damage the props! I don't fly it as much as I used to. These new ones are certainly an engineering marvel with how much they have added and still kept it under 249g. The big one to me though…

I think I paid 300€ for a Mini Fly More Combo slightly used (under 10 hours or flight time according to the drone).

It's a fun toy, but can't stand the wind at all, so it's a bit nerve wracking to fly it over open water if it's not completely calm :D

I really do want the Mini 4 Pro, but can't justify the 1000€+ price tag with the proper controller.

Re: DJI Mini 4 Pro

#337

Post by palata »

pseudosavant wrote: post #308
palata wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's super interesting! Would you have resources to recommend to learn about that? For instance: where do you get that "the free space path loss at 20kM is 126dB at 2.4GHz in perfect conditions, or 134dB at 5.8GHz"? And why does 1 Watt translate to +30dBm?

I don't know enough to offer any real sources, but I'll share that I've found ChatGPT very useful for learning stuff like this - really solidly documented and established science/engineering. I asked* "When making a wireless transmission what is the signal loss at 20km for 2.4Ghz?" and it gave an excellent explanation of free space path loss, stepped through the calculations, and gave the correct answer. I've had it…

> but I'll share that I've found ChatGPT very useful for learning stuff like this

I get your point, but no way I use ChatGPT. Other than all the ideological issues I have with it, I just can't trust it.

> and gave the correct answer.

Are you saying that because you believe it did, or because you already knew the answer? I don't trust ChatGPT, so I don't want to learn anything it says. And I don't need it for stuff I already know.

Re: DJI Mini 4 Pro

#338

Post by palata »

magnat wrote: post #300
palata wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's super interesting! Would you have resources to recommend to learn about that? For instance: where do you get that "the free space path loss at 20kM is 126dB at 2.4GHz in perfect conditions, or 134dB at 5.8GHz"? And why does 1 Watt translate to +30dBm?

https://www.antenna-theory.com/ is a good starter for apprentice-level RF voodoo. 30 dBm = 30 decibels wrt to 1 milliwatt. 10 decibels = 1 bel = 10-fold increase of the base quantity, so 30 decibels = 10 x 10 x 10 = 1000x increase, so 30 dBm = 1000x 1 mW = 1 W.

Oh nice, thanks!

Re: DJI Mini 4 Pro

#339

Post by [deleted] »

RhodesianHunter wrote: post #327
MichaelApproved wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did. Thanks!

I don't know how DJI works, but presumably it ships the video out to a service that you then log in to to view? If so, it's on their servers and there's no "networking" you can do to know whether they forwarded it on from there.

[deleted]

Re: DJI Mini 4 Pro

#340

Post by sacnoradhq »

So with all this talk over banning TikTok violating the 1st a. rights of Americans using Orwellian, authoritarian tactics critics are decrying, you'd think DJI and sketchy cloud-based webcams would be banned first over more obvious capabilities.
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