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Cell Towers-What equipment r u using?

Great stuff here guys. We are currently doing cell phone tower projects with towers located in CA, AL, GA, TN, KY and a few other states. For the most part these are photogrammetry based data collections with the ability to create 3D models and some other custom stuff. The capture (as mentioned by @FatherXmas) only requires that the sensor is 20MP. Now there are some framing guidelines to make that work - and many of your orbits will be fairly close to the tower. Not much can overcome the power of a microwave antenna - so we build in safety precautions and different "lost signal" instructions for the aircraft in case the signal gets disrupted during the flight.

Can you do this with a P4 Pro / Advanced or a Mavic 2 Pro - definitely yes. In fact, the most used aircraft in this type of inspection for us is a P4P. The drawback on the advanced is the inability to change frequencies from 2.4 to 5.8. We do find 5.8 works better many times once you get up close around the tower equipment.

As @LUIS MARTINEZ mentions above, the Z30 is a fantastic zoom camera to get your shot right while you are in the air. Unfortunately its very low MP count does not allow much digital zooming after the fact. Thats where the 20MP sensor is a big help. Additionally, the Z30 was a big game changer in disaster inspections - particularity for patrolling power lines before being able to re-energize them.

If anyone wants to talk more about this, feel free to drop us a note or give us a call. We would be happy to help answer more questions.

Further, anyone looking to be contracted to do any of this work, please let us know. Our tower count projection for 2019 is many thousand and we always need good pilots - and a huge plus for any pilot who is willing to be on the road traveling for projects.

For questions and other conversations about equipment and understanding the capabilities of each drone, call (855) 837-6637.

For information about being contracted to fly cell phone towers for us, click the link on this page to join our pilot network: Pilot Network Registration

After joining, send us an email if you have immediate availability to be working in the SE portion of the US: [email protected]

Thanks - hope this helps a little.
 

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