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Do you get excited when you see a drone?

Bad Santa

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Yesterday I was at a kite festival. I was having too much fun flying my kites and had left my drone in the car rather than taking it into the sand.

Anyhow.

After the festival, I was back at my car a few blocks from the beach when I hear a familiar sound. At first I thought it sounded just like my Mini 4 but realized it had a slight deeper tone. I looked up just to see a drone flying by at about 20mph and 50-75 feet off the ground. It was making a bee line for the beach.

It was a larger drone than the mini.

I was a little excited because they're kind of silent after they get to 100 feet or so. I imagine more fly around than we know because we never hear them.

Still it was a little exciting to see a random drone in the wild.
 
I don't know if excited is the word for me, but definitely interested.

Ever since I got the Drone Tag RIDER Remote ID receiver, it opened my eyes up to the large number of drones flying everyday.

Almost all DJI and an interesting mix of models.

Minis, Mavics 2,3 and 4, Matrice 30's, Matrice 400, Airs 2,3, Avatas. Interestingly very few Autels. Also a Ruko and Holy Stone.

Most seem to be recreational but some are definitely commercial with easy to recognize mapping flights over properties.

Also most seem to fly within regulation, although the most violated reg seems to be over people and moving vehicles along with some obviously BVLOS. I have not seen too many altitude violations.
 
I get excited seeing them fly over volcanos and up massive mountains. I hardly ever see any around me tho (drones that aren't mine, OR volcanos !
 
Ever since I got the Drone Tag RIDER Remote ID receiver, it opened my eyes up to the large number of drones flying everyday.

Almost all DJI and an interesting mix of models.

Minis, Mavics 2,3 and 4, Matrice 30's, Matrice 400, Airs 2,3, Avatas. Interestingly very few Autels. Also a Ruko and Holy Stone.

Most seem to be recreational but some are definitely commercial with easy to recognize mapping flights over properties.

Also most seem to fly within regulation, although the most violated reg seems to be over people and moving vehicles along with some obviously BVLOS. I have not seen too many altitude violations.
Curious to know more about the Drone Tag RIDER remote ID receiver.
I'm thinking of purchasing one.
Did you buy directly from them, and did you have to pay any import fees or tariffs on the purchase? Any Promo codes?
Specs say it can only detect 2.4Ghz transmission.
By using only the 5.8 Ghz band, can someone escape detection by it, or is the RID transmission always on 2.4Ghz only?
Do you just have the basic $1099 unit? Did you get the directional and omnidirectional antenna accessories?
What is the detection range you have experienced?
How is the app for storing and analyzing the data on iOS?
It says it includes a SIM card and there is some kind of Cloud service.
Are there any additional monthly costs beyond the purchase price?
How do you use it? Where do you mount it, or do you just hand carry it?

Sounds like a terrific little device!
 
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The RIDER is decent enough and can give you insight into what is flying around you.

We purchased it from Drone Nerds. No extra fees.

I am unsure of how the lack of 5.8 hurts the system since I don't have access to the ASTM standard that outlines the frequencies for Remote ID. The MOC refers to an ASTM standard and ASTM standards usually cost money to view unless you can find where someone posted it somewhere.

THe RIDER could not see a Skydio X10 and here is the response from Dronetag:

"Thanks for reaching out! You’re absolutely right, RIDER currently doesn’t support receiving the 5.8 GHz Remote ID messages transmitted by Skydio. However, we're actively working on resolving this limitation."

We also bought the big flat antenna, but there is a car mount kit too.

For monitoring:
  • You can just use an app linked via Bluetooth for free
  • You can purchase a year subscription for LTE for around $250 (Internal SIM comes inside and cannot be changed)
The LTE connection is the way to go. You can carry or place the RIDER and it sends all info to the cloud where anyone on an app or browser can view all information.

It stores records for review and you can export records as KML, JSON, CSV.


I have detected drones 3 miles away. If you install it up high the range will increase. I am going to test installing it on a drone soon and go up to 400 feet or maybe use 400 feet above our tallest building to get me to 1100 feet.

I have Android so I cannot offer anything on iOS. There is a browser based interface in the cloud though.

The additional cost is to use the LTE function and is around $250 per year, but again you can also just Bluetooth it to your phone for free.


I hangit from my rearview mirror. I walk around with it. I place it on a pole and mount it for the day with velcro and a small battery pack (It also has a 5 to 10 hour internal battery).

It truly opened my eyes to the large amount of drones that are flying everyday. Even around my house I get alerts and then am shocked to see a drone that I would not otherwise have even noticed.

The LTE with its added annual cost is the way to go. You don't need to be near the RIDER and anyone can log into a browser and get their information.


Screenshots of Detections in given time period

1756149147245.png

Screenshot of flight track of drone violating an emergency response/structure fire

1756149290379.png
 
Yesterday I was at a kite festival. I was having too much fun flying my kites and had left my drone in the car rather than taking it into the sand.

Anyhow.

After the festival, I was back at my car a few blocks from the beach when I hear a familiar sound. At first I thought it sounded just like my Mini 4 but realized it had a slight deeper tone. I looked up just to see a drone flying by at about 20mph and 50-75 feet off the ground. It was making a bee line for the beach.

It was a larger drone than the mini.

I was a little excited because they're kind of silent after they get to 100 feet or so. I imagine more fly around than we know because we never hear them.

Still it was a little exciting to see a random drone in the wild.
I hardly ever see any around me, and if I do it’s far between. The latest was a guy with a Matrice who has a small company and was doing some mapping for the town. Met him at the same park where I fly.
It was kinda neat to actually see one up close and in person. I know that sounds “geeky” but wth ? 😀
 

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