The Joker was transported with great difficulty by helicopter to the roof of the power plant, where it was to start work. Each time I visit Chernobyl-2, I try to set aside some time to search for entrances that may lead to the underground parts of the complex. I decide to go to the auxiliary Duga radar system, known as the Circle, located not far from the Chernobyl-2 complex. The launch site. The next goal - the cranes located on the opposite side of the Yanovsky lagoon. After more than 2 years, I was able to get permission to again enter the area of the disposal site for low- and medium-level radioactive waste in Buriakivka. Secondly, it would seem that a simpler method to eliminate the antennas, which consisted of blowing them up and later cutting them up for scrap, also could not be used. Coincidentally, among the hundreds of vehicles, I found a Joker, a German remote-controlled robot used to remove the highly radioactive remains of the explosion in Reactor 4. The removal of the radioactive debris found on the roof of the power plant was mainly carried out by Soviet STR-1 robots. With me in the zone is Phil, who fans of Alone in the Zone will know from the aerial takes used in the film.
![](https://cf2-taniaksiazka.statiki.pl/images/popups/3EC/9788360238707.jpg)
A helicopter doesnt need to be stopped anywhere, and the drones arouse the suspicions of police immediately upon entering the zone. Especially when there are four drones, and a permit has been issued for only two - Inspire 1 and Phantom 3. For the police officers, accustomed to having everything accounted for in the papers, this transgression means only one thing: a ban on entering the zone. High hopes were placed on it, as it was the last argument against using people to clean up the roof by hand. The same bans. Using a drone makes all these problems disappear. I want to check a rumour about the disappearance of the antennas that supported the operations of the main Duga complex. Fortunately, the two main antennas of the over-the-horizon-radar Duga located in the Chernobyl-2 complex are still standing. Together with the wrecks of the vehicles protruding from under them, they form i surreal sight.
Luckily, there is a chance that from the destroyed drones, we can fix at least one. We use Inspire 1 most often with the dual remote configuration. Armed with the remote control and a backup battery, I climbed to the top of Duga. Apparently, the work was interrupted due to the excessively high costs for their elimination, particularly the high-altitude work. Many people were weakened during this task, experiencing nosebleeds and later had health problems for the rest of their lives.kartkwka , I tried to extend the range of the Phantom in another way. The height and lack of any kind of obstacles guaranteed above-average range for the machine. Poznaj sowa utworu Galvanize - The Chemical Brothers. Mainly its of Phil; I was only the second pilot and operator. The additional battery allowed a second flight to be carried out. Thanks to this configuration, Phil can concentrate on piloting the drone and I exclusively on filming.
I quickly grew bored with this division of labour, however, and take control of the much sturdier Phantom 3. I decided to add some action to the shots. It necessitated the use of people, who exposed themselves to high radiation as they had to pull out the robot using a hand wrench. It was planned for the most radioactive region (zone M) to be cleaned up using German technology, the whimsically named Joker robot. We film Chernobyl, Pripyat, Chernobyl-2, Poliske and the forests and fields recently consumed by fire. A film about crashing drones might not be a half-bad idea; by the time the shots are completed both Phil and Paul also crash their drones. After all, who wants to make a film about crashing drones? During the time we did the aerial photographs, we were accompanied by the drones manufacturer (DJI), which was making a documentary about our flight in the zone.
The first thing that came to mind was, of course, Chernobyl-2. Of course, I could not miss taking time to visit places I had either never been to before or where I had been long ago. The unfinished shots did not sit well with me, however, so several days later I decided to scale the antenna again and finish them. The Circle. A detached antenna. Controlling the drone from the top of the antenna. It was only a stroke of luck that the drone did not fall 135 metres to the ground, but only crashed nearby, into the highest platform of the antenna. All efforts were in vain, however, because the machine turned out to be faulty shortly after it was pulled out. When I visited this place exactly a year ago, half of the 240 antennas were still in place. Damage was sustained by the vehicles electronics, which could not stand the high level of radiation on the plants roof (120 Sv/h). And, most importantly: a drone crashing when taking some complicated shot will not result in the loss of life, but at the most a little money. It has been calculated that they could only work on the roof for a maximum of 2 minutes, and in particularly radioactive places only for a few dozen seconds.