Police showed up my house within 15 minutes of flight today

[old man mavic]

well if this thread has done nothing else ,it has certainly stirred passions and controversy

 

[jagraphics]

In it's current configuration yes only DJI. Back at a conference I was at in Cherokee NC (Public Safety Conference) one of the reps for a Security Firm said that AeroScope could already "See" any type of aircraft that has 2-way communication with a ground station but that DJI had not yet invested in translating the information etc from other manufacturers and they may end up leaving that to 3rd party vendors.

Looking at the link @2edgesword shared looks like that's exactly the route that is being "left open".

That would suggest that it uses radio DF which means it will be able to pick up direction hight and movement *any* craft using the same frequency band(s). This would be 99.9% of consumer drones, RC aircraft, model boats etc etc.

The bit that said " DJI had not yet invested in translating the information etc from other manufacturers" as DJI have 80% of the market I can understand that position. The key is DJI "may end up leaving that to 3rd party vendors" which suggests the design of the software is open to changing or adding translation profiles. Now DJI may make the SDK available to (registered) drone manufacturers or LEA's etc or they may make the API open on account of it's going to get hacked anyway. Then almost anyone will be able to track *any* legal radio controlled craft.

This will mean apart from government sites and airports most B/Millionaires will have this system on their houses/boats, car companies on their testing grounds, etc etc Given the cost of technology tending to $10 over 5 years every local council will have one on their parks to stop "peadophoiles spying on the kids" or some similar motherhood and apple pie excuse.

Thanks to a few missbehaving the Golden Age of Drones may be coming to an end for most non professional flyers. Just as it did for light aircraft pilots 100 years ago.

 

[sar104]

That would suggest that it uses radio DF which means it will be able to pick up direction hight and movement *any* craft using the same frequency band(s). This would be 99.9% of consumer drones, RC aircraft, model boats etc etc.

The bit that said " DJI had not yet invested in translating the information etc from other manufacturers" as DJI have 80% of the market I can understand that position. The key is DJI "may end up leaving that to 3rd party vendors" which suggests the design of the software is open to changing or adding translation profiles. Now DJI may make the SDK available to (registered) drone manufacturers or LEA's etc or they may make the API open on account of it's going to get hacked anyway. Then almost anyone will be able to track *any* legal radio controlled craft.

This will mean apart from government sites and airports most B/Millionaires will have this system on their houses/boats, car companies on their testing grounds, etc etc Given the cost of technology tending to $10 over 5 years every local council will have one on their parks to stop "peadophoiles spying on the kids" or some similar motherhood and apple pie excuse.

Thanks to a few missbehaving the Golden Age of Drones may be coming to an end for most non professional flyers. Just as it did for light aircraft pilots 100 years ago.

Aeroscope does not use DF - it simply receives and processes the aircraft telemetry. It currently works with the Phantom, Inspire, Spark and Mavic series.

 

[Deleted member 94047]

Aeroscope does not use DF - it simply receives and processes the aircraft telemetry. It currently works with the Phantom, Inspire, Spark and Mavic series.

That has me wondering about what its effective radius is and how it gets around the slight problem of line of sight - just bigger antennas?

 

[sar104]

That has me wondering about what its effective radius is and how it gets around the slight problem of line of sight - just bigger antennas?

Big antennas, sensitive front end. I'm sure that line of sight matters too, however.

 

[Deleted member 94047]

Big antennas, sensitive front end. I'm sure that line of sight matters too, however.

My mistake, I did not notice the configuration on the left till now; was under the impression the mobile unit on the right was the whole thing

 

[jagraphics]

Big antennas, sensitive front end. I'm sure that line of sight matters too, however.

Also it is receiving only. It may only need to be able to "see" the drone OR the operator and can work at a longer distance than needed for 2 way comms.

 

[W2EJ]

So, OP admits he was using his monitor to see where the drone was. No VLOS. He also says the cops really weren't all that interested except for the fact that there was a parade. The fact is; drones are prohibited in New York City, except for five tiny designated areas, none of which are in Manhattan, There are signs posted that say if you see a drone flying, to call 911. NYC does not want you to fly a drone anywhere, any time, parade or not.

 

[xspwhite]

So, OP admits he was using his monitor to see where the drone was. No VLOS. He also says the cops really weren't all that interested except for the fact that there was a parade. The fact is; drones are prohibited in New York City, except for five tiny designated areas, none of which are in Manhattan, There are signs posted that say if you see a drone flying, to call 911. NYC does not want you to fly a drone anywhere, any time, parade or not.

Dosen't sound like a city I would ever want to live in.

 

[Unknown Pilot]

From inside a house? really? How do you achieve VLOS as you are supposed too according to regulations? If you want to fly drones from the comfort of the inside of your house, get a video game. Other wise YOU are the reason the authorities are turning their attention to drones.
Please stop breaking the law.

Obviously the OP wasn't flying while in VLOS but I was curious as to the whole piloting from indoors thing so I asked the FAA:

Qn:

Can a drone be piloted recreationally from under cover or from indoors through a window as long as VLOS is maintained during flight?​

Their response:

Thank you for contacting the FAA's Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Support Center. ​

​

Yes...provided you are in compliance with all of the rules of the limited statutory exception for recreation (Recreational Flyers & Modeler Community-Based Organizations).​

 

[BigAl07]

Obviously the OP wasn't flying while in VLOS but I was curious as to the whole piloting from indoors thing so I asked the FAA:

Qn:

Can a drone be piloted recreationally from under cover or from indoors through a window as long as VLOS is maintained during flight?​

Their response:

Thank you for contacting the FAA's Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Support Center. ​

​

Yes...provided you are in compliance with all of the rules of the limited statutory exception for recreation (Recreational Flyers & Modeler Community-Based Organizations).​

So that was a pretty broad (and misleading) question you submitted. With that being said....

It sounds like the OP potentially broke this one:

NOTE: Flying drones in certain airspace is not allowed. but let's ignore that one because it's not been confirmed....

Then this one comes into play:

Keep your drone within your visual line of sight, or within the visual line-of-sight of a visual observer who is co-located (physically next to) and in direct communication with you.

How do you follow "VLOS" flying out the window and only looking at your screen (phone, tablet, TV screen)? While yes it probably "Could" be done if you're hovering/flying directly in front of the window do you think the OP (or anyone else) is going to fly directly out in front of the window in order to maintain VLOS? While it's possible the OP was sitting in such a way and his residence/window is situated in such a way that he COULD have looked up at any given moment and had eyes on the UAS.... the odds of that are incredibly small.

Keep in mind that while flying "out the window" with every increase in distance from the window the less Window Of Visibility you have. If you just fly up/off by a few degrees you quickly lose sight of the UAS.

And the next couple are somewhat the same so I'll lump them together.

How do you assure the following with "just" looking at your display device and having no other input (sound, situational awareness etc)?

• Give way to and do not interfere with manned aircraft.
• 
  
• Never fly over any person or moving vehicle.
• 
  
• Never interfere with emergency response activities such as disaster relief, any type of accident response, law enforcement activities, firefighting, or hurricane recovery efforts.

I have a little bit of experience/interactions with the FAA and I can tell you that the odds of the OP's flight (or anyone else's for that matter) meeting all of the requirements set forth by the FAA are minuscule at best.

 

[Unknown Pilot]

So that was a pretty broad (and misleading) question you submitted. With that being said....

It sounds like the OP potentially broke this one:

NOTE: Flying drones in certain airspace is not allowed. but let's ignore that one because it's not been confirmed....

Then this one comes into play:

Keep your drone within your visual line of sight, or within the visual line-of-sight of a visual observer who is co-located (physically next to) and in direct communication with you.

How do you follow "VLOS" flying out the window and only looking at your screen (phone, tablet, TV screen)? While yes it probably "Could" be done if you're hovering/flying directly in front of the window do you think the OP (or anyone else) is going to fly directly out in front of the window in order to maintain VLOS? While it's possible the OP was sitting in such a way and his residence/window is situated in such a way that he COULD have looked up at any given moment and had eyes on the UAS.... the odds of that are incredibly small.

Keep in mind that while flying "out the window" with every increase in distance from the window the less Window Of Visibility you have. If you just fly up/off by a few degrees you quickly lose sight of the UAS.

And the next couple are somewhat the same so I'll lump them together.

How do you assure the following with "just" looking at your display device and having no other input (sound, situational awareness etc)?

• Give way to and do not interfere with manned aircraft.
• 
  
• Never fly over any person or moving vehicle.
• 
  
• Never interfere with emergency response activities such as disaster relief, any type of accident response, law enforcement activities, firefighting, or hurricane recovery efforts.

I have a little bit of experience/interactions with the FAA and I can tell you that the odds of the OP's flight (or anyone else's for that matter) meeting all of the requirements set forth by the FAA are minuscule at best.

As I said in the bit you didn't quote - the OP (by his own admission) probably did not maintain VLOS and no doubt he violated numerous other rules and regulations.

So, with that being said, I'm not sure what was misleading about my question to the FAA?

I wanted nothing more than clarification from them about what you said in direct response to a comment about piloting through a window, which was:

And in the US flying from inside isn't going to meet the VLOS in order to See & Avoid for the FAA. Situational Awareness is of paramount importance to help ensure the safety of the NAS. Looking out a window gives tunnel vision and removes (or greatly diminishes) any opportunity to HEAR & Avoid manned aircraft.

I'm not sure how I could have phrased things more succinctly in my enquiry.

In case there is any doubt. My question to the FAA was not an attempt to exonerate or prove the OP right.

 

[DoomMeister]

So, OP admits he was using his monitor to see where the drone was. No VLOS. He also says the cops really weren't all that interested except for the fact that there was a parade. The fact is; drones are prohibited in New York City, except for five tiny designated areas, none of which are in Manhattan, There are signs posted that say if you see a drone flying, to call 911. NYC does not want you to fly a drone anywhere, any time, parade or not.

Try Staten Island, not Manhattan Island. Read the thread from post #1 up to your post and you will discover why. There is an old saying about “assume”.

 

[W2EJ]

Dosen't sound like a city I would ever want to live in.

The thing is, yes, they have an awful lot of restrictions in NYC and an awful lot of problems just due to their enormity. There are however, so many amazing things to do and see, many of which cannot be quite duplicated anywhere else, that overall it's a wonderful place to visit. I don't live within the city boundaries, but I'm close enough to enjoy the features I enjoy with great convenience.

 

[OurAngryBadger]

The thing is, yes, they have an awful lot of restrictions in NYC and an awful lot of problems just due to their enormity. There are however, so many amazing things to do and see, many of which cannot be quite duplicated anywhere else, that overall it's a wonderful place to visit. I don't live within the city boundaries, but I'm close enough to enjoy the features I enjoy with great convenience.

Agreed good place to visit, but never to live. Unless getting peed on by homeless people and paying $3000/month in rent for a closet is your thing lol.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Aeroscope does not use DF - it simply receives and processes the aircraft telemetry. It currently works with the Phantom, Inspire, Spark and Mavic series.

Long live the Tello!

 

[Edward500]

Here is a partial video of the Counter Terrorism task force coming to my house. Please, I didn't have to share this with you. This is at my fathers house and please respect his privacy.

 

[DroningOn]

You need a new doormat....

“Have a nice day officers” ?

 

[Deleted member 93449]

Here is a partial video of the Counter Terrorism task force coming to my house. Please, I didn't have to share this with you. This is at my fathers house and please respect his privacy.

Thanks for sharing the video. That said don't ever feel compelled or coerced into sharing information you might feel compromises your privacy or safety because of any comments made via social media. Realize anything you post is here for the world to see forever and can be used against you.

 

[BigAl07]

Thanks for sharing the video. That said don't ever feel compelled or coerced into sharing information you might feel compromises your privacy or safety because of any comments made via social media. Realize anything you post is here for the world to see forever and can be used against you.

Very well said!! I agree 110%!!