Fighting crime on plots with mavic Enterprise dual- suitability?

[Bebopperoo]

Hi all, i am a disabled pensioner living on a 20 acre plot in darkest Africa. I am in a small cottage several hundred meters from neighbors, who are unlikely to help anyway. My pension is $200 pm, my reward for being stupid enough to be a policeman. I have been flying drones fort several years, after being shot at from 5 meters away by 2 gunmen hiding in the bushes at my feet. My dogs alerted me, but i did not see them till they fired. After dispatching them, I felt sending a drone out at night to investigate would be a good idea. I started with a Bebop 2 Power, then a spark, then a mavic pro, with a lume cube, then a mavic 2 zoom. While they are all ok, night flying remains unproductive due to the darkness out here, especially in the veld. The drone needs to be low for the lights to be effective, which limits view and is very hairy.
I recently noticed that the Enterprise dual is significantly cheaper than the 640 and other night vision models, but still costs around $4000 here. This is difficult on $200/ month. However, with the current modus operandi of shooting homeowners through windows, then breaking in, seeing them before they get close is a slightly better option.
I have seen YouTube footage of the flir on it, and it seems ok. Can people who know about security use comment on whether I should overdraw my card to is limit to purchase one, or will it fall short of expectations. Thanks

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

The M2E does seem to be good for such a purpose in general, going by some of the vision seen here on the forum.
@sar104 posted a video, showed a fox below, as well as rocks still retaining heat from the day (was many hours dark from memory).
They are used by quite a lot in S&R ops.
The problem you’ll have is keeping it up in the air for routine surveillance, lots of batteries needed and time, unless you just plan to fly it when suspicious activity is detected / suspected.
Batteries should give you a decent nearly half hour flight time, but just flying it to patrol is going to take a big part of your evenings, and perhaps sap your rest / ability to cope with a potential incident if you are sleep deprived.
Flir is a lot more stealthy and effective than spots and such, cover lights on drone, keep relatively high etc, but possibly you are better off with some sort of infrared cameras with alerts, placed strategically around the homestead / property ?
Sorry to hear of your previous work causing current situation, and to have seen SA decline in safety in past years.

 

[Bebopperoo]

Thanks for reply. Unfortunately, it's a rented property, and spending money on security is a big no no for the landlord. Solar infra red alarms are at the gate, but the property is at the mercy of wire cutters. Electric fences are no deterrent, and as you state, public safety is not a govt concern.
While this seems an obvious step in improving the situation, it will take funds that would go on food and medicine, literally.
I agree with your comments on time spent patrolling being exhausting, but random flights, plus obtrusive flights with spot on, will hopefully have a deterrent effect. Many suspicious characters and vehicles have sped off when confronted by a drone circling a few meters away, and it's now common to see people putting their masks back on when they see the drone (to hide faces, not stop covid).
It's quite simply a matter of hoping you'll be ready during the entire 24 hours, or trying any other options, and this is the best i can come up with.
Definitely better in Oz.(as 9 out of every 10 South Africans already know.)

 

[Bebopperoo]

Hunters cameras which trigger your phone are also a good idea, thanks

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I had a quick search, found the video.

Apologies, not the flir, but IR camera in the M2EA.
Probably a lot more than the M2E with flir (which is quite a cost in itself).

Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced thermal camera performance

The dropbox link.

 

[eEridani]

I'd just buy a night vision scope. Cheap, usable, and the better ones have a reasonable IR range.

 

[Bebopperoo]

Advanced is over 6k (us). I do have a night vision scope, but find I'm limited to line of sight and can't see beyond walls. I'm envisaging putting the drone at 400ft, and being able to see any humans or cars within a km radius.
However, my final girlfriend did say i was delusional, which is why I'm posting this. Is my expectation realistic?

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

1/2 a km might be a bit ambitious with the fairly small res basic Flir they have on it.
Not sure about other camera options that might be interchangeable.
Hopefully some with the basic M2E and Flir camera can give you some sort of response regarding that.

 

[sar104]

1/2 a km might be a bit ambitious with the fairly small res basic Flir they have on it.
Not sure about other camera options that might be interchangeable.
Hopefully some with the basic M2E and Flir camera can give you some sort of response regarding that.

The high-resolution M2EA camera will probably see vehicles out to 1 km. It will see people and animals at a few hundred meters.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

The high-resolution M2EA camera will probably see vehicles out to 1 km. It will see people and animals at a few hundred meters.

That's the IR, is it ?
That did look great in your other post video on drop box.

OP is considering Flir which is more affordable (I think).
Would that be up to the job he's asking ? (500m night time seeing intruders.)

 

[sar104]

That's the IR, is it ?
That did look great in your other post video on drop box.

OP is considering Flir which is more affordable (I think).
Would that be up to the job he's asking ? (500m night time seeing intruders.)

The FLIR module on the M2ED is very low resolution (160 x 120) compared to the M2EA (640 x 512). It's mostly useless for SAR or surveillance in my opinion.

 

[Bebopperoo]

Thanks for replies.

The FLIR module on the M2ED is very low resolution (160 x 120) compared to the M2EA (640 x 512). It's mostly useless for SAR or surveillance in my opinion.

Thanks for replies. I was also considering simply doing fpv night flying using flir (i almost always fly fpv, with all my drones), but it seems a low res flir is really just for temp analysis. No doubt why this version is becoming affordable (relatively).
Back to the drawing board in the quest to survive.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Back to the drawing board in the quest to survive.

Well, very glad you have the law enforcement background you do, a lot of others don't have that experience and are very easy prey.

 

[Sharky05]

Thanks for reply. Unfortunately, it's a rented property, and spending money on security is a big no no for the landlord. Solar infra red alarms are at the gate, but the property is at the mercy of wire cutters. Electric fences are no deterrent, and as you state, public safety is not a govt concern.
While this seems an obvious step in improving the situation, it will take funds that would go on food and medicine, literally.
I agree with your comments on time spent patrolling being exhausting, but random flights, plus obtrusive flights with spot on, will hopefully have a deterrent effect. Many suspicious characters and vehicles have sped off when confronted by a drone circling a few meters away, and it's now common to see people putting their masks back on when they see the drone (to hide faces, not stop covid).
It's quite simply a matter of hoping you'll be ready during the entire 24 hours, or trying any other options, and this is the best i can come up with.
Definitely better in Oz.(as 9 out of every 10 South Africans already know.)

And with your medical condition you won't get into OZ or NZ either mate. Being on pension also won't help you at all as they both seek people who can work in the job you were in. Same as my dad used to be in. I know how you feel and I really feel for everyone there as I was lucky enough to have left there more than 16 years ago before it all turned into absolute chaos.

 

[Bebopperoo]

Ironically, I was a forensic science expert just before i was boarded for my injury, and a dozen of my colleagues were recruited by Australia to work there (1998). I declined the offer, as i was no longer functional. Apart from my age and uselessness, i have horses and dogs, so I'm stuck on plots forever. However, i have drones, eu's for transport, so apart from sleep, security, food, medical, peace of mind, I'm not sure what's better elsewhere anyway (for me, at least). If i had family or were younger, if definitely have moved to civilization, but as you see from these pages, drones keep old people very happy. Not terrible, just life. Glad u made it to a place u can prosper though, thanks 4 the shout-out.

 

[Bebopperoo]

On this thread, John McBride, an incredibly smart and learned individual, addresses this thread"s theme in great detail, concluding that the dual is very useful as a first response unit, but concurred with sar104 that the sensor precludes surveillance use from a distance. If i had the funds, the dual would actually be very useful to send to specific points and would fulfill certain requirements as a security avatar at night. Using the rgb and flir cameras in conjunction with the spot would certainly be vastly superior to the zoom with a lume cube, and the experts reckon that for $2800, the dual is a bargain. I further think that drones are an investment in security, but, bottom line is the bottom line.

 

[Mynah]

Using the rgb and flir cameras in conjunction with the spot would certainly be vastly superior to the zoom with a lume cube, and the experts reckon that for $2800, the dual is a bargain. I further think that drones are an investment in security, but, bottom line is the bottom line.

Investing in a drone at that cost would be putting all eggs in one basket. $2800 will go a long way in rigging early warning systems. Living ajacent to an uninhabited area in a small town I've had a few altercations myself. I have surrounded myself with IR wi-fi cameras and a few dummy cams just within jumping reach, these sport fish hooks on their tops since the new trend in South Africa is stealing security equipment.
The beauty of wi-fi IR cams is that there's minimum permanent wiring involved, ideal to take with should you move. I've dedicated an old laptop as permanent cam monitor.
All that said, no security hi-tec beats my little mongrel dog as for early warning, he alerted me twice and my IR perimeter beams alerted me once. In all 3 cases I had the tactical upper hand since I could make informed decisions after consulting the security cams before leaving the house.
I have once used the Mini to investigate when someone on the security group alerted as to electrical cables being stolen, it turned out to be people harvesting reeds for informal dwelling roofing.
Admitted, FLIR on a drone would be a very handy tool in the South African crime survival toolbox but by no means could it be the only one.
Stay alert, stay safe.

 

[Bebopperoo]

Thanks Derek, very sage words. The eggs in one basket was a definite concern, as well as the limitations of using a drone as a primary defensive tool. Used to have a donkey, which is superior to my GS/rottweilers ito detecting, and the loud snorts would both alert me and frighten hostiles. Concur that modern tech is the answer, after dogs, and your system sounds excellent. If you could dm details of where u got your cameras, is be very grateful. I think, bottom line, that a drone is useful if u have a second party to assist, but creates it's own drawbacks as a primary tool.
Appreciate your input, stay safe.