Frustrating, frustrating

[Looking Down On You]

Next time your on the phone with him tell him to look out his front window and wave at you.

 

[Capt KO]

Tell them to watch nature shows, all done by drone these days. Ask what he sees..mountains, trees, rivers, clouds, maybe vehicles too but rarely make out people much less look in windows. Send them some pics too. Chance to fix stupid.

 

[tmonc143]

For all you smart people. Do all our videos and pictures automatically tag that they were gathered from a drone as well as the make and model? #2- Is it possible to delete that signature when editing?

 

[Chip]

Good evening to all-
Last night I called to speak with a very good buddy and friend from college days. We talk every couple of months or so. This guy is a good person and good friend.
Anyway, when he asked me what I'd been doing lately, i told him that I was really into flying my drones and seeing what I could see.
He said, "Oh, so you can spy on folks and look at women, right?"

After a moment I explained that with my drone and at the height I fly, I could detect a person on the ground, but I sure as hell could not "spy" on anyone or even determine male or female in most cases.

How do people get these crazy notions of what drones can do and not do? Why do people automatically assume we're "spying" on others?

It is a frustration to me, I assure you.


You all be safe and keep well- Ed

Ed, is the good buddy from the south? If so, I am afraid you shot your recent theory about the south in the foot! Unless he was obviously joking which seems plausible.

 

[Dale D]

Good evening to all-
Last night I called to speak with a very good buddy and friend from college days. We talk every couple of months or so. This guy is a good person and good friend.
Anyway, when he asked me what I'd been doing lately, i told him that I was really into flying my drones and seeing what I could see.
He said, "Oh, so you can spy on folks and look at women, right?"

After a moment I explained that with my drone and at the height I fly, I could detect a person on the ground, but I sure as hell could not "spy" on anyone or even determine male or female in most cases.

How do people get these crazy notions of what drones can do and not do? Why do people automatically assume we're "spying" on others?

It is a frustration to me, I assure you.


You all be safe and keep well- Ed

Your friend is an uninformed idiot

 

[MS Coast]

I noticed a comment earlier that makes good sense.. If you say you are flying a small quadcopter would they relate that name to a "drone?" Earlier, before I started flying, when I heard "drone" I assumed it was a large unmanned aircraft.

I have not heard of complaints when a law enforcement helicopter flys over?

It is unfortunate that there are folks that hover too close over property intimidating those on the ground.

If your quad is 100 to 400 feet in elevation, who is going to notice? I strain to keep up with the location of my mini 2 when it ascends beyond 100 feet, and of course, there is no sound that can be heard from that elevation. If quads were designed to limit the sounds of motors there would most likely be fewer complaints.

I have to disagree about the sound of drones not being audible above 100 feet AGL. Unless I'm in a noisy environment, such as heavy road traffic, I can readily hear all my DJI drones at 400 feet, including the Mini 3. And that's with ears abused by 70 years of internal combustion engines (land, air and water), electric power tools, loud music, gunfire, and a host of two-cycle garden and landscape machines. And I've noticed people looking up and around curiously when a drone approaches. In all cases, I've encountered, they were primarily concerned with figuring out what it was. Once they knew, all was well.

Noise complaints about law enforcement helos? I can point you to lots of my friends from when I lived in downtown Atlanta who would be happy to share their annoyance.

On the subject of why people think drones are used for spying and voyeurism, I think they assume that the cameras are as good as what they see in movies and tv shows where the tech guy sits down at a computer screen and rapidly zooms in on just about any window or doorway in town and often the interior of buildings.

 

[CraigVMN]

Post one of you videos, and have your friend see exactly what you do

 

[Div3boy]

lol next time you talk to him, ask him if he has a pair of binoculars, everyone does, accuse him of why he has a pair, does he spy on nearby apartment windows looking at women or men?

 

[EricF]

As drone operators, we can & should do our bit to dispel the negative perceptions. I find that people react out of ignorance, but are often actually quite interested when they learn a bit about what I'm doing.

Case in point: A neighbor on her ATV happened to come along our country road as I was flying my drone to get pix of their hayfields next to our place. She stopped to ask if I was out there trying to get better phone reception.

"No, just getting shots of you hayfields in the morning sun with my drone."

"Really?" she peered up to see it 40m above us. "Those things are why I've put blinds on all our windows... too many creeps around these days!"

"Well, Xxx, I'll show you why you don't really need to worry..." And I brought the drone down to about 2m in front of the ATV. Even with the engine running she could hear the blades, and I showed her the drone's view looking at us through the windscreen. "Not much detail through the glare right? And you'd certainly be able to hear it from inside your house!"

I could see her relax a bit, and pointed out how much the drone was wobbling in the light breeze. "If some creep was trying to get this close to your window, he'd have to be awfully good at flying to do it from a distance where you wouldn't notice."

I took a few more minutes showing her what it could do to get aerial views of their fields, and then brought it down so she could hold and examine it. She left eager to get me to come over to give her husband & kids a demo — and to have me get them some aerial shots of their farm.

I expect the local word is getting out that drone operators aren't all terrible. ;-)

 

[Grazuncle]

the sheep follow the rest.. sad to say.

I also find that many dismiss things they are not interested in personally, so if you take something relatively non-stream like drones (despite the actual sales figures) you are in a minority and people generally do not go further with their knowledge than what is set in front of their eyes (papers, new headlines or other sensationalist media)
it takes effort to go beyond what is just laid out in front of you. Many times i read headlines and wonder if this is the whole story only to find the truth/balance way down the page! However many will not invest their time in that.

I just keep away from people.

 

[wardtom084]

And I think the rules need to be changed. Your "demo" requires 107

 

[MS Coast]

And I think the rules need to be changed. Your "demo" requires 107

Your interpretation or something official from the FAA?

 

[wardtom084]

Your interpretation or something official from the FAA?

Studying for 107 and this is from the FAA

 

[MS Coast]

Studying for 107 and this is from the FAA

Reference? I'm curious about how it was described as prohibited.

I have a Part 107 rating, but don't recall any restrictions related to showing another person how a drone works or demonstrating a flight.

 

[BigAl07]

And I think the rules need to be changed. Your "demo" requires 107

Showing someone how the drone flies/operates is outside of Recreational? That's quite a stretch in such a general term. In fact, "Demonstrating" to others to spread knowledge and interest is a fundamental part of flying R/C aircraft.

Now demonstrating as part of a training program etc could be a more grey area but merely showing someone how the drone works/flies/records is not in and of itself outside of Hobby/Recreational.

 

[tvdwouw]

The difference between taking a photo with a smartphone and with a drone is that you can see the person who uses the smartphone. The drone operator is invisible most of the time, so a drone is perceived much more as a privacy invasion.
Drone operators should be aware of that!

 

[HeavenBound]

I overheard someone in a group talking about drones. He said, "the drone hobby is a nefarious hobby". I didn't get angry until I went home and had to looked up the meaning. Sometimes people can be too educated.

 

[Robert Prior]

I overheard someone in a group talking about drones. He said, "the drone hobby is a nefarious hobby". I didn't get angry until I went home and had to looked up the meaning. Sometimes people can be too educated.

The curse of a sesquipedalian vocabulary.

 

[Casperdch]

People who think and speak in absolutes don't think for themselves and merely parrot what they hear.

And yes, I am completely aware of the high level of irony in that comment.

"Public perception" is almost impossible to change, especially with severe stigmatisms.
I have even tried to get them to come look at the media, to show them it was NOT spying.
You guessed it!
They turned me down, saying they didn't need to see. They refuse to be shown the truth.

 

[djwak59]

If I had a good friend that said that to me I would ask if he has a cell phone. If he does - I might point out that he is a Peeping Tom because he obviously has that to spy on folks as well. Right? After all, a cell phone and a drone camera have almost the same usefulness as a spy camera. Just kidding - the cell phone is a much better spying camera - because it is silent. Nevertheless - no one would own a drone or a cell phone for any reason other than spying. Right?

>Sarcastic reply over<

The logic (or lack there of) by some folks is mind boggling.

Good analogy of the cell phone !
Ha, you could apply that one to millions of people, “so, you have a camera on your phone to take pictures of people without their knowing about it huh ?”