Tracking drones with Drone Scanner at a parade

[Evmoius]

I was at a parade the other night and sure enough, there were a few drones up the air. I decided to try out Drone Scanner and see how exactly it works outside of tracking my own machines. Well, it works as intended. There was a Mavic Mini 3 about 50 feet in the air and a hundred feet away, and another that I couldn't identify quite a ways up and about a quarter mile from me. Both popped up at about the same time despite the differences in distance. The operator tracking was very accurate, the mini pilot was only about 20 feet from where I was standing and his tag was spot on. The other guy was flying from almost a half mile away.

What I find surprising was how long it took for them to appear in the app. It was several minutes from turning on to getting the list. Seems to me that this is really only useful if the drone is stationary. And of course, you have to even know it's there in the first place.

 

[RadioFlyerMan]

I was at a parade the other night and sure enough, there were a few drones up the air. I decided to try out Drone Scanner and see how exactly it works outside of tracking my own machines. Well, it works as intended. There was a Mavic Mini 3 about 50 feet in the air and a hundred feet away, and another that I couldn't identify quite a ways up and about a quarter mile from me. Both popped up at about the same time despite the differences in distance. The operator tracking was very accurate, the mini pilot was only about 20 feet from where I was standing and his tag was spot on. The other guy was flying from almost a half mile away.

What I find surprising was how long it took for them to appear in the app. It was several minutes from turning on to getting the list. Seems to me that this is really only useful if the drone is stationary. And of course, you have to even know it's there in the first place.

I updated my M2P with the latest firmware, which I believe is supposed to provide a RID transmission. Is Drone Scanner on an iPhone supposed to pick that up? Because I've got nothing. But then, I only waited a minute or two. Nothing.

Got any advice?

 

[Evmoius]

I updated my M2P with the latest firmware, which I believe is supposed to provide a RID transmission. Is Drone Scanner on an iPhone supposed to pick that up? Because I've got nothing. But then, I only waited a minute or two. Nothing.

Got any advice?

It takes a surprisingly long time to register in the app. I only guestimated how long I waited because I was pretty distracted with keeping track of my kids and watching the floats go by. I would just launch and hover your drone and turn the app on. If it doesn't pick it up by the time you have to land then something isn't working properly.

 

[Richard R]

IPhones prohibit access to WIFI, so only Bluetooth will work and only if the Remote Id itself uses bluetooth.

 

[Evmoius]

IPhones prohibit access to WIFI, so only Bluetooth will work and only if the Remote Id itself uses bluetooth.

Wow, yep, according to the developer of drone scanner this is correct. That's a huge percentage of the population who basically can't track drones. I'm on Android so that explains a lot.

You could pickup a used Android for pretty cheap. It's not like you need a cell plan to use the wifi.

 

[RadioFlyerMan]

It takes a surprisingly long time to register in the app. I only guestimated how long I waited because I was pretty distracted with keeping track of my kids and watching the floats go by. I would just launch and hover your drone and turn the app on. If it doesn't pick it up by the time you have to land then something isn't working properly.

Yeah, based on my research yesterday and other posts, my problem is I have an iPhone.
But that aside, if the latest firmware, GO4 app, etc is supposed to provide RID on my M2P, my issue is there’s no overt message anywhere I can find that it’s working… nothing on boot or settings or camera view in GO4. Yeah I can find the flight controller id, but no reference to RID.

 

[RedBaron2]

Yeah, based on my research yesterday and other posts, my problem is I have an iPhone.
But that aside, if the latest firmware, GO4 app, etc is supposed to provide RID on my M2P, my issue is there’s no overt message anywhere I can find that it’s working… nothing on boot or settings or camera view in GO4. Yeah I can find the flight controller id, but no reference to RID.

For testing purposes, this might be a good time to find a good friend/spouse that has an Android phone. You would only need them for your initial test.

 

[Jim622]

I have never been able to get drone scanner to work on my Android.

 

[eEridani]

I wonder if some sort of FAA communication is needed for the app to identify drones. Like serial number lookup tables hosted by them? Most FAA sites I've encountered are not exactly 'fast' and a delay of a minute or two sounds reasonable for the typical response times I've experienced.

Also, isn't the Drone ID field the drone serial number, not the model? Is make/model an official field.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I wonder if some sort of FAA communication is needed for the app to identify drones. Like serial number lookup tables hosted by them? Most FAA sites I've encountered are not exactly 'fast' and a delay of a minute or two sounds reasonable for the typical response times I've experienced.

Also, isn't the Drone ID field the drone serial number, not the model? Is make/model an official field.

I'm not aware of any FAA communication necessary for RID to broadcast. Indeed, such a requirement would defeat the purpose of RID which is a one way broadcast from the drone anywhere in the U.S., even off the grid, to RID receivers. Even the updated RC pilot location comes from the drone RID broadcast. RID is also typically the drone serial number on newer drones.

However, I, too, have also noticed a significant delay in the broadcast being picked up.

 

[eEridani]

I'm not aware of any FAA communication necessary for RID to broadcast. Indeed, such a requirement would defeat the purpose of RID which is a one way broadcast from the drone anywhere in the U.S., even off the grid, to RID receivers. Even the updated RC pilot location comes from the drone RID broadcast. RID is also typically the drone serial number on newer drones.

However, I, too, have also noticed a significant delay in the broadcast being picked up.

I'm wondering about the remote id phone app sending the received drone info to the FAA which returns more detailed information like owner, home address, drone make & model. This is info required to register, but not in the drone tags Remote ID is sending out. As far as I know.

From DroneZone:

• From takeoff to shutdown, the drone broadcasts:
  • Drone ID (serial number)
  • Drone location and altitude
  • Drone velocity
  • Control station location and elevation
  • Time mark
  • Emergency status

Someone earlier in the thread mentioned drone make & model. I might be reading more into this - perhaps the OP knew the models by sight.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I'm wondering about the remote id phone app sending the received drone info to the FAA which returns more detailed information like owner, home address, drone make & model. This is info required to register, but not in the drone tags Remote ID is sending out. As far as I know.

From DroneZone:

• From takeoff to shutdown, the drone broadcasts:
  • Drone ID (serial number)
  • Drone location and altitude
  • Drone velocity
  • Control station location and elevation
  • Time mark
  • Emergency status

Someone earlier in the thread mentioned drone make & model. I might be reading more into this - perhaps the OP knew the models by sight.

The RID phone apps only display the same information DroneZone indicates above. No make and model information is supplied, nor any FAA registration. However, with the Drone ID serial number, one can independently look up the make and model online, with internet access, and determine if there is any publicly available FAA information on the RID number, assuming the owner was even required to register with the FAA. Most scofflaws never do, which is why RID is supposed to allow LEO's to locate the pilot for interrogation! LOL!

 

[walt@classic]

I thought it uses GPS instead of bluetooth and wifi?

 

[GadgetGuy]

I thought it uses GPS instead of bluetooth and wifi?

The RID device uses GPS, which is completely passive, for the location data collected by the RID device, which must then be actively transmitted via BT and/or WiFi to a drone scanning device for reception.

 

[RedBaron2]

This past July, I spotted and tracked two separate drones during a July 4 fireworks display. The fireworks show malfunctioned (display items explored horizontally near the ground, and the show was stopped. My tracker identified (live) the RID numbers and their flight paths. Both drones appear to have launched within feet of each other. Idiotic flying at night above a large crowd.