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Stealth Spark

Aurfish

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Jul 1, 2019
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15
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48
I looked at the forum but could'nt find a specific answer for that.

Has anyone found "caps" to put on the LED or a way to turn off the LEDs so they don't light and flash ?

Has anyone had painted the drone blue or grey blue the bottom so that it is camouflage from under ?

Are there silent props available for a Spark to make it less noisy ?

Thanks in advance....
 
I have the answer to only one of the questions you posted and it's a NO for silent props.

Btw, may I ask what you are up to? UAV regulations from almost anywhere in the world state that drones should be flown under visual line of sight only. So why are you trying to make the Spark difficult to see?
 
It doesn't matter what you can or can't see, the Spark is too noisy for stealth operations.

Try a ballon or glider with a GoPro camera.
 
Thank you for your answers
I would like to fly at night on the streets of my town, still in visual contact with the drone, but not attract the attention of neighbors. No intend on spying or real stealth operations, just a bit of a low profile...
 
LED lights are required for night flying. As a matter of fact I have put on more LEDs on my mavic to be FAA compliant. I suggest you do the same.
 
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LED lights are required for night flying. As a matter of fact I have put on more LEDs on my mavic to be FAA compliant. I suggest you do the same.

FAA is for US.
In Switzerland, à drone is >500 gramms.
So a Spark is a toy, like a basket ball
 
Has anyone had painted the drone blue or grey blue the bottom so that it is camouflage from under ?
I would like to fly at night on the streets of my town, still in visual contact with the drone, but not attract the attention of neighbors.
No intend on spying or real stealth operations, just a bit of a low profile...
Uh huh...camouflage...at night...with no lights...silent props...no intention of "spying"...uh huh...I guess VLOS is pretty much out of the question, eh?
 
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Hmm. The Swiss always were rather sensible. In USA, drones are seen as evil
devil034.gif


Anyhow, you want everything to IMPROVE visibility.
 
please dont do "funny" things with any drone, drones are seen as "evil" and things that should not be in the air, and to me its a wonderful tool to do exclusive aerial photo / video graphy, if anyone fly "silently" unmarked, at night people that see that, will naturally be very suspicious, and report it, to the police, or try and shoot it down, in SA you will end up in jail, never mind you intent, drone operators must show responsibility and respect to the rules & regulations, and enjoy to be able to do what we do,
 
Has anyone found "caps" to put on the LED or a way to turn off the LEDs so they don't light and flash ?

Just wrap around the led rings with electrical tape. There's a video on YT but I can't seem to find it...It's a quck, easy and cheap fix.
 
Thank you, I was thinking of something like this...but got scared from all the messages above. It seems it is not an issue for flying out of sight, but for trying to keep low profile yes. I am new here and just trying to find out what is acceptable or not...
 
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I am new here and just trying to find out what is acceptable or not...


Acceptable: Proper illumination for night flights. :)

Not Acceptable: NO illumination for night flights. :mad:
 
Yes, More question: what about missions with waypoints if your drone is out of sight ? Acceptable ?
 
Shucks. Now you guys finished me. So both sides won? LOL Waypoints...out of sight.. but yes..lights for night..but no night flights in my homeland. Painting bottom sky blue for day flight...ok for me
 
I looked at the forum but could'nt find a specific answer for that.

Has anyone found "caps" to put on the LED or a way to turn off the LEDs so they don't light and flash ?

Has anyone had painted the drone blue or grey blue the bottom so that it is camouflage from under ?

Are there silent props available for a Spark to make it less noisy ?

Thanks in advance....
I would not recommend that you do this.
As the others have advised, you need more lights, not less, if you plan to fly at night (assuming this is allowed in your town or country).
Cheers!
 
don't put a cap across the led, that will at least cause more power draw, if not actual problems. If you don't want the lights, remove the LEDs. OR just tape over them. The clear round plastic covers can be removed. (and replaced if damaged) though I don't know how they come off, they're probably glued on. Pry one off if need be, and cover the LEDs with something opaque. A simple (permanent) solution would be to mix up a small amount of JB Weld and dab it on each one, that's opaque, durable, and lightweight. Also losing the caps will give you a smidge more runtime, as the weight is small but not insignificant..

And to the "spark isn't stealth" comment.... consider when it gets up to 200 ft you can barely hear it, but at night it's still a flashing beacon. It may not be stealthy when it's close due to noise, but it can be very stealthy when higher up, as long as it's either not night, or you have the lights out somehow.

Y'know, this raises an interesting question. The FAA has apparently chosen the Spark's weight as the "starting point" for regulation. So what, if anything, can we trim down" on our Sparks to place them under that magic minimum weight limit? Rubber landing feet... LED caps... any way to lighten the batter shell? or remove some of the outer housing?
 
FAA is for US.
In Switzerland, à drone is >500 gramms.
So a Spark is a toy, like a basket ball
I suggest you check the Swiss drone laws again. The only stipulation about 500g is that insurance of FR 1 million must be carried.

Behaviour such as you suggest is what has led to done regulation. At night vlos cannot be maintained of the drone has no lights and you "camouflage" as you indicate is your intention.
 
I looked at the forum but could'nt find a specific answer for that.

Has anyone found "caps" to put on the LED or a way to turn off the LEDs so they don't light and flash ?

Has anyone had painted the drone blue or grey blue the bottom so that it is camouflage from under ?

Are there silent props available for a Spark to make it less noisy ?

Thanks in advance....
You can only turn off leds if you are using Litchi instead of GO4
 
According to Switzerland - Regulations - Drone Rules, you should not be flying recreational drones at night anyway. As with other countries, like Denmark, you would likely need a seperate permission or certificate to be qualified to fly at night - and that is typically if you need to fly for a commercial purpose, like making a video or night photography, or search and rescue operations.

And as ajkm alludes to, if you block the LEDs from being visible, then you lose VLOS. So then you violate Swiss (and pretty much everyone else in the EU) rules for flying a drone in the first place.

You should also check Swiss Geoportal to make sure you are allowed to fly in your area, in Switzerland. For example, it is not allowed to fly drones in Interlaken, Zermatt or Lucerne. If you want to do it anyways you can make a request for an exception. In my opinion, it is pretty hard to get one if you’re not connected with some sort of media or doing commercial work (where you need a permission anyways).

If you want to fly clandestine missions - join the police or military... they do that stuff all the time. :D
 
I'm still trying to grasp the point of the OP's desire. Stealth, camo, unlighted...pretty much equals spying. I see no other reason than that.
 
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