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CDS Resources

 

The following section only lists the resources owned by Commercial Drone Services (CDS) outright, without considering any of the vast resources available through its Partner Network!

 

Drones

  • DJI Matrice 300 RTK drone, with dual downward and single upward gimbal. This is widely considered to be the “state-of-the-art” in commercially available multi-rotor drones for the commercial drone industry. Due to its versatility, it can be used in a very broad range of industries.

  • DJI Phantom 4 RTK drone, with inbuilt 1” 20MP camera, with mechanical shutter. In conjunction with the D-RTK2 mobile station or a network RTK subscription, this is widely considered to be the ideal “go-to” equipment for drone-based surveying and photogrammetry.

  • 2 x DJI Inspire 2 drones, each with Apple ProRes and CineDNG licenses, and 480GB on-board SSD hardware, Cendence remote controllers with CrystalSky monitors, for both pilot and camera operator. Allows extremely high-res video recording in 5.2K, or even 6K* (*requires X7 camera). Very fast and nimble. Legs retract for unobstructed 360 degree camera panning. FPV compatible. This is widely considered to be the “state-of-the-art” in commercially available drones for Cinematography and Live Sports Video sectors.

  • DJI Mavic 2 Pro drone, with inbuilt Hasselblad 1” 20MP camera. This is a general purpose drone with a high-end, professional quality camera. It can shoot crispy clear 4K HDR video, with 10-bit colour accuracy. It folds into quite a small size, meaning it is easy to lug around with you anywhere in a shoulder bag, which is incredibly useful when squeezing through tight roof access hatches!

  • DJI Avata drone, the original Avata was introduced as a small, agile drone that was ideal for flying in First Person View (FPV) to capture dynamic shots, such as sporting events.

  • DJI Avata 2 drone refined the transmission system to improve the range and reduce interference. It also allowed video to be recorded in D-Log M, so that colour grading and LUTs could be applied. This appealed to the professional cinematographers. Finally, the ability to broadcast from the Goggles 3 directly in WiFi, made it simpler and easier to legally meet certain CASA legal requirements when flying FPV, and the spotter couldn't directly see the drone.

  • Custom 5" drone with DJI O3 Air Unit (same video system as Avata) is used for special occasions when the Avata can't cut it. Having a custom drone means the drone can be changed to suit any special requirements!

  • Custom 3" drone with analogue transmission has the benefit of smaller size (useful when filming indoors). Analogue transmission still has some advantages over digital, such as the ability to use repeaters to extend the range, plus lower latency than digital (useful when the drone is moving fast and there's lots of obstacles!

  • Custom 7" drone (still under development). A very long list of requirements will see this unique drone being able to keep up with racing cars around a track, whilst transmitting usable quality live video, whilst keeping the car perfectly framed! :-)

  • Custom DJI S900 drone. This is a very large hexacopter (6 motors), designed for lifting full-frame cameras in the filmmaking industry. Legs retract for unobstructed 360 degree camera panning. Mine has been heavily modified and upgraded, so that it is now basically superior to a DJI M600 drone. It now has the later A3 flight controller, and Lightbridge 2 video transmission system. The gimbal is being modified so that it will accept all of the popular full-frame cameras on the market.

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Remote Controllers

  • 2 x Matrice 300 Smart Controller Enterprise, with quick-release tablet mount

  • 2 x Cendence remote controllers (for M210 / Inspire 2), each with Patch Antenna (for extended range of video transmission and control signals)

  • Phantom 4 RTK standard remote controller, with built-in 5.5” high-brightness screen

  • Mavic 2 Pro standard remote controller, with custom quick-release high mount for CrystalSky

  • RadioMaster TX16S MkII, with ELRS and TBS Crossfire modules

 

Cameras and Lenses (Payloads)

  • DJI Zenmuse H20T quad-sensor camera (20MP zoom, 12MP wide angle, 640 x 512 px radiometric thermal camera, 1200m laser rangefinder).

  • DJI Zenmuse XT2 thermal camera, with 25mm focal length, 640 x 512 pixel resolution, and 30Hz refresh rate. The XT2 is available in many different specifications, including shorter focal length, lower resolution, and lower refresh rate. This particular model spec is the top of the range, it has the highest available resolution, the highest refresh rate, and the longest focal length (ie, narrowest field-of-view), so it can capture the most detailed imagery of all commercially available drone thermal cameras, even compared to the new Zenmuse H20T specs (which is only available with 13.5mm focal length). It also has a 12MP wide-angle RGB lens (which can shoot 4K video), so the camera can intelligently “fuse together” RGB and thermal images into a single view, for a more recognisable picture.

  • DJI Zenmuse X5S camera, can record 5.2K video @ 30fps, or 4K @ 60fps. 20.8MP stills.

  • DJI 15mm, Olympus 45mm, and Panasonic Lumix 14-42mm lenses, to suit X5S camera.

  • DJI Zenmuse X7 camera

 

Chargers / Batteries

  • DJI BS60 Intelligent Battery Station (2 x TB60 + 1 x WB37 battery can be quick-charged at once)

  • Volarious V-Box Intelligent Battery Station (8 x TB55/TB50 + 2 x WB37 batteries can be quick charged at once)

  • Smart PowerCharge SPC P4 (4 x Phantom + 2 x WB37 batteries can be quick charged at once)

  • 6 x DJI charger hubs that each charges 2 x TB55/TB50 + 1 x WB37 battery at once (at standard charge rate)

  • 6 x TB60 Intelligent Flight Batteries for M300

  • 8 x TB55 Intelligent Flight Batteries for M210

  • 8 x TB50 Intelligent Flight Batteries for M210 / Inspire 2

  • 4 x PH4-5870mAh Intelligent Flight Batteries for Phantom 4 RTK

  • 4 x Intelligent Flight Batteries for Mavic 2 Pro

  • 11 x WB37 Intelligent Batteries for CrystalSky, D-RTK2, remote controllers, etc

 

Software

  • Pix4Dmapper Enterprise permanent license (photogrammetry)

  • Adobe Photoshop (photo editing)

  • Adobe Premiere Pro (video editing)

  • Microsoft Visio (documentation)

 

Hardware

 

Subscriptions

  • AllDayRTK Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) network RTK service

  • AUSCORS Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) network RTK service

  • AVPlan Electronic Flight Bag (EFB), for everything a drone pilot needs to plan a mission!

  • AirData UAV automatically uploads flight logs, and suggests when maintenance is needed

  • 2TB Google Drive cloud account, for storing customer data

 

Accessories

  • D-RTK2 Mobile Station and tripod (for high-accuracy flights with P4 RTK / M300 RTK drones)

  • 2 x DJI CrystalSky 7.85” Ultrabright monitors (easy to view, even in bright, direct sunlight)

  • 10 x Propeller AeroPoints (intelligent Ground Control Points, ideal for large survey sites. Suitable for up to 70 ha / 180 acres)

  • iPad Air 2 (for some apps that only run on iOS)

  • Tether system (up to 100m), which allows me to fly within 500m of an airport’s runway

  • 2 x 5W portable CB radios, for comms between pilot and assistants / traffic management

  • Icom IC-A15 5W Air Band radio (used to monitor and broadcast to air traffic)

  • Latest Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G 512GB mobile phone, for fast internet access anywhere

  • Hand-held digital anemometer

  • Nikon Coolpix P1000 extreme telephoto digital camera, with 125x optical zoom, 3 batteries

  • 24” LED TV, on telescopic arm in vehicle (display live video in EVLoS ops / customer monitor)

  • Prop guards for Mavic 2 Pro (mainly used when flying indoors)

  • At least two complete spare sets of props for each drone, “just in case!”

  • All necessary PPE, including 2 sets of fluoro vests, hard hats and steel-capped boots

  • Body harness, dual-tail lanyard, anchors, etc, for safely working near live rooftop edges

  • “Drone operating, keep clear” safety/warning signs

  • Reflective safety cones, reflective bollards and reflective tape, for fencing off large areas

  • Numerous industrial extension and foldup ladders, inc. 8.8m ex-CFA ladder

  • Friendly personality and a “can-do” attitude!

 

Vehicle

Extremely comprehensively equipped and well-proven 4WD LandCruiser, specifically setup for continuous drone operations in extremely difficult and remote terrain;

  • Diff locks rear, front, and centre, 14,000 lb winch, lift kit, oversize mud terrain tyres, gas shocks, etc, etc

  • 2 x lead-acid batteries under-bonnet, with isolation, for vehicle starting

  • 3 x LiFePo4 100Ah batteries in cabin, with custom charging, monitoring, isolation & auto shutoff system

  • All non-critical accessories re-wired to operate solely on LiFePo4 battery bank

  • 3500W pure sine wave inverter (to power all the drone chargers and accessories!)

  • 120A high capacity alternator

  • Solar panels on roof

  • 2 x Redarc 50A DC-DC chargers, in parallel, charging LiFePo4 battery bank

  • 42 litre Engel fridge inbuilt into custom drawers system

  • 30 litre fresh water bladder inbuilt into side panel cavity

  • Electrical and gas stove, for cooking

  • 5W CB radio inbuilt

  • Onboard compressor (for inflating tyres after low-pressure 4WD duty)

  • Tyre Pressure Monitoring System

  • Roof rack

  • Etc, etc, etc, etc…………

  • See Blog for details of charging system

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