Use apple air tags to locate lost drone?

[aokusman]

Seems like a no brainer.

 

[sar104]

Provided that you can get within 100 m or so (maximum BT range) of the aircraft then they should work pretty well.

 

[Kilrah]

AirTags are short range, there are much more appropriate solutions for something that can end up far.

 

[msinger]

Some more discussion on this topic here:

New tracker for iphone users

Apple introduces AirTag Track Anything using your phone. Small tags to find anything Anywhere! $29 or 4 for $99. Cheap but now I need the phone. Not cheap but worth upgrading.

mavicpilots.com

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

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. . . and another here . . .

Apple Airtags To Track A Drone

Apple Airtags To Track A Drone, can this new apple device be used to find a lost drone ?

mavicpilots.com

Yes they are slightly more advantageous than the older Tiles apparently.

 

[Jim Flannery K0UNX]

I've ordered a quad of AirTags. Probably most useful for tracking dogs (which seek human companionship) and cats (which don't), than a "Drone In The Wild" that will probably not land near someone with an iPhone, but at that cost, I think the tags will be worth every penny. Plan to put one under the saddle of both of my bikes too, in case of theft. Plan on removing the coil on the plastic cover (which is the speaker diaphragm) of the two I put on bikes) so a thief won't hear them beeping!

 

[weeesss]

If you had a few people with iPhones scouting for a lost drone, it might make sense since you could each be almost 100m apart.

 

[apeel]

Plan on removing the coil on the plastic cover (which is the speaker diaphragm) of the two I put on bikes) so a thief won't hear them beeping!

Be aware that even without the beeping, if the thief has an iPhone, it will receive a notification that he is being tracked (i.e the tracker will notify someone when someone else tracker is following him/her. I expect that there will also be apps released for Android phones as well to tap into the signal sending the tracking information from the AirTags. Apple does this so that people cannot use them to track someone without their knowledge. As such, AirTags will not really be very useful for tracking stolen items.

 

[Jsaint]

..
. . . and another here . . .

Apple Airtags To Track A Drone

Apple Airtags To Track A Drone, can this new apple device be used to find a lost drone ?

mavicpilots.com

Yes they are slightly more advantageous than the older Tiles apparently.

Depending on adoption. I live in rural Maine and TILE has unusually good coverage via app users mesh PAN even with bluetooth. I see in the dead of winter a average of 10+ active app users over around a 10 mile radius. Come summer and tourism it's well over 60 in my area. This essentially means as they move I can get GPS quality coverage in sparsely populated lake area.
I imagine Apple will catch up with their tags but, over the last 3 years TILE has been very effective and 300 feet is pretty good if you mapped your loss reasonably well. For now I swear by TILE for drones and bikes, canoes and high value adventure gear.
Don't buy the Apple hype, yet...

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Don't buy the Apple hype, yet...

Son has just given me one for trial, will put on a set of keys and see how good the airtags preform.

 

[DavidT]

I went the other easier route -- small battery powered GPS tracker. If it ever goes awol, then a simple text message to the tracker will pinpoint where exactly it is. Pay as you go SIM card in it so no expense each month for it. Stuck on top of the drone with some velcro.

 

[gamayun]

Marco Polo may be a good option, relies on RF so no GPS is needed and radius is better than BT trackers. Amazon.com: Marco Polo Advanced RC Recovery System – Waterproof and Crash Resistant - No GPS or Cell Service Required – No Monthly Fees – Never Lose your Drone Again - Starter System for 1 Aircraft: Industrial & Scientific

 

[Thomas B]

Marco Polo may be a good option, relies on RF so no GPS is needed and radius is better than BT trackers. Amazon.com: Marco Polo Advanced RC Recovery System – Waterproof and Crash Resistant - No GPS or Cell Service Required – No Monthly Fees – Never Lose your Drone Again - Starter System for 1 Aircraft: Industrial & Scientific

I’m a Marco Polo owner and fan. Just be aware that signal requires VLOS, so a bit of searching is needed at times. It’s a real help if you get hung in a tree.

 

[MikeinMO]

I have one on my Air 2s. Attached with Velcro. Here’s some pics, with a quarter next to it for size comparison. It’s slightly larger than a quarter, but less than a Kennedy half dollar. It’s probably 3-4 quarters thick.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

..
Latest RotorRiot YouTube video compares Apple AirTag to more traditional beeper to find FPV drones (Vifly Finder).

The start of the test parameters . . .

Basically it seems that with both you need to walk around a bit to either locate the ViFly beeping (and only good if you don't suffer from a high range hearing loss), or to get pretty much within clear LOS for the Airtag.

Outside might be better with an Airtag than the demo inside a building, but other factors like vegetation etc may interfere, and you still need to be within 10m to be really effective.
One advantage is if you are with others with an apple device, they can ALL 'search' for the item and it will relay the position if others get within bluetooth range too.

Really though, it would seem AirTags are pretty useless for effectively / reliably finding a drone.
OTOH, better than nothing.