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GoPro camera mounted on a drone

7/31/2014

A passenger aboard my boat, The Minnitaki Queen, has one of the coolest gadgets I've seen. He launched and controlled a battery powered drone with a GoPro cam mounted on it, and flew it all around and over us as we cruised on Pelican Lake.
He will send me some video footage taken from the air when he gets home in a couple weeks. Meantime, here are a couple clips I took with my camera phone of the launch and flight.

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To camp and back by boat

7/6/2014

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Yesterday I dusted off my GoPro video cam, mounted it on a front rail of my small pontoon boat, and recorded the round trip between home and camp. Each segment is about 12 minutes long.
Next time I will try to make sure the cam is level. It's a little tilted in these shots. Lucky the water didn't drain out of the lake.
The day was cloudy and gray, and tent caterpillars have defoliated most of the deciduous trees, so the scenery isn't as pretty as it usually is. Still nice, though.
Water levels are near record heights. You'll notice beat up docks, debris in the water, and minimal clearance as we pass under the railroad bridge. You don't have to duck while watching the videos (you did, anyway, though, didn't you?). My big boat has a seven foot high canopy and with normal water level can easily cruise under the bridge. My guess is that the lake is six or seven feet above normal.
If you look closely right after I leave the dock at home you'll see a plane just coming in to land on the water. It's a bit distant, so not a great shot, but...
We missed a train by a minute or so. You'll hear his warning whistle shortly after we go under the bridge on the trip from town to camp. I always hunch my shoulders and pull my hat down low when going underneath a passing train - in case someone flushes the toilet right then. (So far I find seagulls a bigger threat than trains in that regard.)
We'll get some prettier videos as summer continues. Meantime, hope these are fun for you.

Above - from camp to home July 6/14
Below - From home to camp July 5/14

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