If you are interested in getting started in drone
journalism, I highly suggest you first try a small, cheap, indoor RC
helicopter equipped with a low-resolution camera.
It will go up into the air, hit something, fall to the
ground. And the images will not be great. And sometimes it will just fall over
for no apparent reason. And you will fail.
Why choose to fail? Despite how
advanced our drone technology has gotten, despite the fact that you can program
a microcontroller to automatically fly your helicopter, you still need to
understand how things can shake out in the air.
This is my first-ever journalism drone, dubbed “the
JournoCopter” by my fiancée. It’s actually a toy called the “Hawk Eye,” and it’s
made by the Spinmaster company under the Air Hogs brand of remote-controlled flying
toys. They can be found for between $50 and $70 online, but I was fortunate
enough to locate this one on clearance at a Target for $41.
The micro-copter operates via a two-channel remote
control. That means there are two discreet frequencies that each control a
distinct flight characteristic. For this micro-copter, one of the channels is
the throttle for the rotors (makes it go up and down), while the other adjusts
the speed of the rotors to allow the helicopter to rotate and change direction
(left and right).
In addition to the sticks for throttle and direction on
the controller, there’s shoulder-mounted buttons for still-frame photography
and video. The helicopter can take more than a hundred photos at 640 x 480 (VGA
resolution), and about five minutes of video at 320 x 240 (QVGA resolution). To
get the photos and videos to a computer, the helicopter docks with the
controller, and the controller docks to a computer via USB cable (included).
Interfacing with the computer also charges the lithium-polymer battery in the micro-copter.
It takes about 25 minutes to charge the micro-copter’s lithium polymer battery
from USB.
How does it handle? It doesn’t so much handle as it
constantly drifts forward uncontrollably, leaving you to rotate the helicopter so
that it doesn’t run into anything. Flying it outdoors is a challenge, as this
small copter is influenced by the slightest of winds. And because this
micro-copter is controlled via infrared (IR) rather than radio control (RC),
much like a television is controlled by an IR remote, direct sunlight will
overpower the receiver and sever all communication.
Therefore, it’s best to fly it indoors. However, most
people don’t like to be confined in a room with a fast-spinning object that
they have no control over. Which brings me back to why this JournoCopter
failure is actually a good thing for drone journalism. By experimenting with a
small, cheap, finicky drone, you’re going to realize all of the little problems
that could manifest themselves as a big problem in a larger, more expensive
drone – because all of them will happen to you right from the start.
What do you do when the wind is too strong? How long do
you expect the battery to last, and how will you know before it’s too late? Do
you know how this flying object is going to behave? The limits of the flying
object? Where are the people, and how do you keep a safe distance from them while
still getting the shot? Because if worse comes to worse, you need to be
prepared to take control and land your drone without harming anyone. You’ll
learn these lessons while earning the fine motor skills that you’ll need to
pilot a wide variety of craft.
I don’t mean to denigrate this little wonder, either. For
less than $100, this company has managed to deliver a remote-controlled
helicopter with a two-mode camera, with onboard memory, that can actually fly.
Plus, it’s pretty damn indestructible.
But I would, actually, steer aspiring drone journalists
to spend just a little more money for a drone that has a smaller failure rate.
I cannot vouch for them, but this Egofly LT-712 Spyhawk and this Silverlit SpyCam cost a little more but might offer better control.
The International Journalists Network recently published
a list of the top “Five gadgets from CES that are ideal for journalists,” which
included two micro-copters for drone journalism. Those might also be worth
looking into.
