I’ve got an idea and I have to give member Rudy Wilms credit for this inspiration.

To attract new members, we should initiate a Forum for DRONES here. Types, cameras, licences, operation, to attract new members with experiences posted by them.

Some considerations. Limited capabilities – they can't think or communicate like humans can. But what about Drones with AI built into the remote controller, where you just say “Fly and video the local park for 10 minutes.”

Legal limitations – you can't fly them in certain areas. Safety – there are concerns they can distract, frighten or endanger people and birds. Training – you need someone skilled to operate them effectively.

So are you going to learn how to fly a Drone? Rudy is but maybe you don’t have to.

What about starting a real estate video company with specialised Drone footage, where you hire good Drone pilots and their machines you direct them to supply the video and you edit it together producing custom video real estate programs for clients in your area? Yes there are video company’s now doing this, but are there any in your area?

How about it? Maybe a Drone forum in the sub forum category? Any thoughts?
Cheers.

A new forum category? We haven't had that much excitement since we added one for live streaming! :-D

Good idea, BTW.

Andrew

Thanks for the suggestion, Allan -- much appreciated.

We already have Flying Cameras (https://www.dvinfo.net/forum/flying-cameras/), perhaps that title or its description should be changed or updated.

We're long overdue for an overall re-organization of the forum categories anyway, so anything is on the table and comments / suggestions / criticisms etc. are always welcome.

Hi Chris, happy new year and thanks for your reply. It’s all in the name of course and possibly changing Flying Cameras to the one word Drones plural, will do it and attract interest and new members.

Why am I promoting starting a ‘Drone’ forum here. I was one of 5 mods on the now defunct Panasonic3CCDuser.com video site and we were always looking for ways to promote the site.

Here’s another idea for members. If you have basic business experience what about starting a new Drone delivery system business in your area, that is if there’s not one already. But even if there is, specialise with a couple of local stores.

Once you get offical approval, research, buy and test your operation, then approach local stores, to sign them up. The same as starting any new business with the ups and downs, no pun …

https://www.unmannedairspace.info/commentary/comparing-the-cost-effectiveness-of-drones-v-ground-vehicles-for-medical-food-and-parcel-deliveries/

Here’s how it’s operating so far in Australia …

https://www.drones.gov.au/benefits-and-use-cases-drones/drone-deliveries

‘The demand for food deliveries by drones in Australia is estimated to range from 46 to 65 million trips in 2040, with an average cost per delivery of $1.49’ .. but I think that will be more as time goes on.
Cheers.

Thanks for the suggestion, Allan -- much appreciated.

We're long overdue for an overall re-organization of the forum categories anyway, so anything is on the table and comments / suggestions / criticisms etc. are always welcome.

Hi Chris, I had a look at ‘Flying Cameras’ it covers a wide spectrum, standard aircraft as well as Drones and hasn’t had any input for ages. Drones, types, usage and rules have come a long way since then and a Forum just for them, now looks to be a good idea, and attract new members too.

‘Flying Cameras’ is not obvious, so I think ‘Drones’ should sit on the front page not in a sub menu .. and just be the one word. I’d hope other members will propel it along, I’ll give it a shot.

You suggested the revamp of DVinfo. I hope I’m not letting myself in for piles of work, like the time I offered to carry that heavy suitcase to the bus for that elderly lady and 10 of her friends came out of the rest room. So after 25yrs I believe there’s other members who would certainly appreciate the revamp. What other areas should be updated Chris and how will it be done?
Thanks a lot.
Cheers.

Can I chuck a couple of things in here for consideration? If you don't think they fit the general ethos of the site, fair enough.

Linux
Open Source

Also, perhaps a bit less contentious

Action cameras
Pocket cameras such as the Osmo Pocket 3, which often get bundled in with action cameras but are not really.

‘Can I chuck a couple of things in here for consideration? If you don't think they fit the general ethos of the site, fair enough.’

You’re right Dave, but DVInfo has just got to keep up with 2025. We’ve got no choice, what’s 2030 and 2035 going to look like for future viewers? Instead of the Wedding forum, we could have a Divorce forum… Yeah?

But seriously, we need new and existing members with their input about their reasons and multiple ways of using Drones, with DV cameras as well, and it’s increasing fast every day. Some people are going to make a lot of money.

Is anyone else getting this? I’m in Sydney and if I type the name or info about subject on my iPad, a day later I’m swamped with manufacturers of the same subject.

‘Chinese Drone Manufacturers’ are a case in point, they just popped up with many Drone types for many subjects here …

https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=CxU9Qnbl_Z6e3FMHT18cP94P1-A2cgtKhfLzXqo3qE7WQHxABIIaPgAJgpfiRgJABoAGns-fIKsgBAakCqrgZQ25Ogj6oAwGqBKwBT9BEJCJz5tr71C8fcGxpQFHg30xB3AQccyZZi6IxrXI2O_KxdgOexB89td75D_1LTxLT53 TlPzSN0UkNARCfW6QuIxfc2-FMMD3JpdcVcvqGfe4-03r2GkTNW0XJHNxSVrgQIHJXz7pBO-68FfSZIs_zIZhovINCgtMDPv0ou3GVleXzCXrq-0FcoVDO34gOoRxhbKY8L4en89CZ8yJc9LyXTGwnSVMRbUgIEMAE9si1hfcEiAWJwqyDUpAGAaAGbtgGBIAHp-u3qAWIBwGQBwKoB-KesQKoB9XJG6gH2baxAqgHpr4bqAeOzhuoB5PYG6gH8OAbqAfulrECqAf-nrECqAevvrECqAf0mbECqAfmmrECqAeVxbECqAfz0RuoB5bYG6gHqpuxAqgH4L2xAqgH_56xAqgH35-xAqgHtq2xAqgH-MKxAqgH-8KxAtgHAaAI3oY9qAgBsAgCuAgB0ggvCICAgIAEEAIYQjICgAQ6Eb_xgICAgMQBgMCAgICggIACSLfmvyFYyM-D8MroigOxCZleckwNhlZ_gAoTmAsByAsF0Ass0gwCCAHoDAmaDQEsqg0CQVXIDQHYEwyCFBEaD21haWwuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbagVB9A VAZgWAfgWAYAXAbIXAhgBuhcEEAFIAbIYCRICo10YbiIBAA&gclid=CjwKCAiAhP67BhAVEiwA2E_9g0xEo0gyNFPlNyfFaseiOUm6hFJrnHFDxyct96J2quncginTCxrPsBoCcd8QAvD_BwE&num=1&cid=CAQSIgCa7L7dFx6g2bIPiqQzKmFgpXwAgI7ttYaiVTEYdwcGKaMYAQ&sig=AOD64_0gZiKjZmRfaDSG_FF9uSktNyvgzQ&client=ca-gmail&label=gmail_message_ad_external_click_v2&adurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.industrial-gradedrone.com%2Fproducts.html%3Fkh%26adcid%3D22018728201%26adgid%3D169394136182%26kwd%3D%26mctp%3D% 26net%3D%26device%3Dt%26rank%3D%26wbraid%3DCkEKCQiA4fi7BhD2ARIwAEFQeO0MUw10W9yciu6ez5uL9o5gUjGKl_mXp EPex0rjw-FLxipcWDsFuXoyZ2TnGgLGmg&label_instance=card_cta_button

Chris, could they be a sponsor for the new forum?

‘Is anyone else getting this? I’m in Sydney and if I type the name or info about subject on my iPad, a day later I’m swamped with manufacturers of the same subject.

I'm not exactly au fait with Apple gear, but it seems to me you have some spyware on your tablet, or your browser has been fingerprinted.

It's like folks with so-called smart speakers who discuss something and next day get bombarded with ads on the same subject, it happened to a niece of mine.

Hi Dave, looks like you’re right, like a few friends I’m getting emails from outfits I Googled an enquiry about, without ever clicking on their site.

I’ve spent some time checking around for Drone forums, and it seems each manufacturer has a forum for their own models. So when a person buys a Drone they get a link to the forum for it. And many of the forums are the same, same newby questions, same set answers, same boring videos.

It’s the new way of delivery and presenting new product, you click on a link to watch videos about operating and looking after your new car, or whatever it is. Easy to update, different for each season and country, saves print.

But more importantly for DVinfo members, Drones don’t use Sony, Cannon or any of the usual suspects cameras, Drones have their own cameras, given that their 4K etc.

So with all that and the fact we haven’t heard anything more about a site revamp, sadly it looks like it’s all in the too hard basket … for the time being anyway.
Cheers.

.....I’m getting emails from outfits I Googled an enquiry about, without ever clicking on their site.

I never use Google to search, in fact I keep as far from Google as I can, including using a de-Googled smartphone. I use search engines that promise not to track you, my favourite is Duckduckgo, I also sometimes use Startpage. Whether they will work with your browser, I don't know.

I'm sure you know Google makes its squillions of dollars by targeting ads at people like us, I do my best to make it as difficult as possible for them and as a result, I almost never see ads on my computers. TV is something else of course, there I just switch my brain off when ads appear. What beats me is where all this advertising revenue comes from. So many TV channels in so many countries, so many websites funded by advertising, it must be a bottomless money pit!

As to this site it seems we must be patient and hope.

Hi Dave. On behalf of all the people who will now use DuckDuckGo, including me, thank you. As for any DVinfo upgrade maybe Don knows something about it?
Cheers.

As far as I can tell, DVinfo's forum isn't mobile friendly. This consequently locks out over half of the web traffic, those who use their phones to browse.

Andrew

You're shitting me? Not mobile friendly?

I don't have one so have never tried, but absolutely everyone else I know has their noses stuck to their blasted phones every waking moment - even my other half!

That could explain a lot about the dearth (I didn't say death!) of I/P over the last few years, is it really true?

Nah, can't be, surely, can it?


CS

Well, it kinda works on the mobile if you can get past the first page. But not really.

Plus, Google for many years now has devalued sites that are not mobile friendly when it comes to generated search results.

Screen captures are attached from viewing on a mobile device just now.

Andrew

This forum is (as of this moment) running on vBulletin version 3.8.5 (released in 2004 according to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VBulletin)) and the current release of the software is now version 6 (https://www.vbulletin.com/en/overview).

There may have been attempts to upgrade the software when the whole 'mobile friendly' thing was newer and there was a lot of mind-bending technical difficulties back then with the entire internet industry working out just how to handle the (then new) website flexibility issue. But we should be well past that by now.

(Chris H., let us know if you need a hand with the webby stuff. The forum is worth it.)

Andrew

HI Al

You're welcome!

A couple of things about Duckduckgo if I may.

As it comes, if doing an extensive search and you have gone to the next page, it has an irritating way of not returning directly to that page when closing the site visited, but it's easy to correct in the settings. It took me a very long time to find this.

If you add Duckduckgo Privacy Essentials to your browser, or use the Duckduckgo mobile browser, you get access to their email privacy feature which allows you to set up an alias ****@duck.com address, which will forward replies to any one email address you specify and strips out any trackers at the same time. Also it is possible to create any number of throw away addresses for those times a site asks for one and you don't want to risk getting their spam afterwards. I have been using a ****@duck.com address for all online commerce for a long while, no problems so far.

Now, back to this site before I get banned for being off topic.............

Thanks Dave, no you won’t lol. That’s interesting, but I don’t need to get that far into it, not yet anyway.

Quote by Andrew: This forum is (as of this moment) running on vBulletin version 3.8.5 (released in 2004 according to Wikipedia) and the current release of the software is now version 6 :Unquote.

Andrew, looks like this may have something to do with why we’re still on v3.8.5 …

While active, the maintenance service enables you to download and install latest updates of the vBulletin 6 software. If your maintenance service has expired, you can download software updates previously released up to the expiration date of your maintenance service. When purchasing a new vBulletin 6 license, a free 1 year of maintenance service is included. Additional maintenance service is available for purchase as an add-on to your vBulletin 6 license.

There’s more answers here .. https://www.vbulletin.com/en/faq

I might be wrong but didn’t Chris H. sell DVinfo a while back ..?
Cheers.

Crikey. Well, if he's sold it he didn't tell any of us about it. :-o

According to the About (https://www.dvinfo.net/about) page he's still the owner.

Andrew

I seem to remember Chris had DVinfo up for sale a while ago .. and there was no takers.

Looks like our ‘maintenance service contract’ expired quite a while ago which is why we never got the new versions for the site..
No cheers for that.

A couple of forums, where I'm a member, have updated or changed their website software. Both took a bit of time and the latter was a process that took months, it took a while for Google to catch up, probably not helped by the change in the site's online address.

Interesting Brian. In DVinfos case, I’m saying updating to the newer versions didn’t happen because of the ‘expired maintenance contract’ which costs money. How much I don’t know but we could find out.

VBulletin says: You will be able to upgrade to vBulletin 6 directly from versions 3.8.7 or 4.2. For versions earlier than these, you should first upgrade to one of these two versions and then upgrade to 6.0

But we need funds, what about a Go Fund Us page, but who would collect the money? Not me I’m too busy, and there’s a few people here I wouldn’t trust. So will someone put their hand up? Here’s an example how it would work …

https://www.gofundme.com/c/crowdfunding-lessons/follow-by-example

Cheers.

I haven't given this a shed load of thought, just enough to be dangerous, but................

Is there any mileage to had by asking the 40,000 odd (some of them very odd indeed!) members by email, so just a tad in their face, what it is that they might like to see here on Dinfo that they aren't seeing and why it is that they're not in this discussion too?

Now, (quite) a few of that 40,000 will have dropped off their perch already, heck, I'm 73 in a couple of weeks, the average age of the regulars here must be (insert staggering figure here) but there must be a decent sprinkling of youngsters (he says more in hope than expectation) maybe a prod from the management might elicit some useful insights from the (relatively) kid zone.

Otherwise I'm fresh out of ideas but it has been very noticeable in my interaction with younger members over the last few years that they pop up, ask a question or three then simply vanish, never too be heard from again, why, I do not know. Who does know, really?


CS

At some stage we need to climb the mountain and hear from Mr "Obstreperous Rex" Hurd.

You can't upgrade the forum software without him. (Is there anyone who knows how to reach him?)

Andrew

Hi Andrew, I think Chris H maybe getting posts linked to this thread, but his contact is listed in the front page you found, which for some reason I can’t find. But there’s a Contact link at the bottom of every page which gives you his email address.

There’s a few good updates in version 6.1.0 …

https://forum.vbulletin.com/forum/vbulletin-announcements/vbulletin-announcements_aa/4498660-vbulletin-6-1-0-changes-and-updates#post4498660

Cheers..