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Drones flying nighttime patterns over NE Colorado leave law enforcement stumped

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Re: Drones flying nighttime patterns over NE Colorado leave law enforcement stumped

#101

Post by tgflynn »

jt2190 wrote: post #91

One possible source: > New swarming drone technology could help find lost hikers, study wildlife CU Boulder Today, Sept 16, 2017 https://www.colorado.edu/today/2017/09/06/new-swarming-drone... Edit: Research and Engineering Center for Unmanned Vehicles (RECVU): https://www.colorado.edu/recuv/ Edit 2: This has been a fun topic to research! Here’s a link to the list of equipment used by the Integrated Remote and In-Sit…

Interesting, have you tried searching the FAA database of UAS Part 107 waivers:

https://www.faa.gov/uas/commercial_operators/part_107_waiver... ?

If they're non-government/military and are operating legally I think they would most likely have a 107 waiver filed, at least to allow night flying. That does mean they'd still need to be under the weight limit but I think the number of non-107 authorizations, which would allow heavier drones, is very small.

Also I'd be surprised if a University research program had the resources to field 17 drones of this size.

Re: Drones flying nighttime patterns over NE Colorado leave law enforcement stumped

#102

Post by yellow_lead »

ObsoleteNerd wrote: post #30
yellow_lead wrote: post #3

Seems like this is the new norm and while I do feel the skies should be free to an extent I know this would concern me if it were happening over my head.

Just out of curiosity, why would it concern you? I live in a semi-rural tourism-heavy town and get a fair few drones in the vicinity of my house due to a major tourist site nearby, and it never really bothers me unless they fly low enough for the sound to get annoying.

The article is just a grid pattern nearby, but I was imagining something like a drone hovering over your place indefinitely. I'm uncomfortable with the use of high precision cameras, especially infrared or heat cameras pointed at my house. It's technically legal， sure, but knowing when I leave and return, where I am in the house, etc. I could just imagine it feeling like an invasion of privacy. Also, imagine a stalker using one of these.

Re: Drones flying nighttime patterns over NE Colorado leave law enforcement stumped

#103

Post by sathackr »

ynniv wrote: post #87
sathackr wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If there is no property being damaged, no law being violated, why does law enforcement need to be involved at all? Law enforcement doesn't have to have an answer or info about every single event. If I'm driving a car down the highway, law enforcement doesn't need to know where I am going or why. I'm not breaking any laws and not infringing on anyone's rights. As a pilot I can go fly my plane at any altitude I wish as…

Sure but once a law is broken, what recourse does anyone have in the submitted article? The answer can't be to call the Feds... Cars have license plates, planes have N-numbers. If drones are too small to have a visible registration number, they need a transponder. Again, this is only when you're flying high and out of visible range.

Drones over 249g are required to be registered have a registration number affixed.

Your point is valid, in that every other motor vehicle that operates on public property has a requirement to be able to be positively identified to a owning entity. But there is no requirement that this be identifiable from great distance.

A drone in the air does create a unique challenge that a transponder would help resolve. But just like any other form of identification, it's an 'honor system' in that I could just put any vessel ID number on my boat, could steal a tag, or transmit a fake transponder ID if I were engaging in illegal activity. A trivial matter if I am advanced enough to be conducting operations with unmanned aircraft.

So I'm not sure that resolving someone's curiosity about my legal activity is a compelling enough reason to require me to attach a broadcasting identification device to my drone, or otherwise identify myself or my aircraft to law enforcement 'just because they should know'

Re: Drones flying nighttime patterns over NE Colorado leave law enforcement stumped

#104

Post by sathackr »

Ididntdothis wrote: post #92
sathackr wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If there is no property being damaged, no law being violated, why does law enforcement need to be involved at all? Law enforcement doesn't have to have an answer or info about every single event. If I'm driving a car down the highway, law enforcement doesn't need to know where I am going or why. I'm not breaking any laws and not infringing on anyone's rights. As a pilot I can go fly my plane at any altitude I wish as…

If it turns out that this was used to prepare for a terrorist attack then law enforcement would look pretty negligent not having looked into this. I think if you do something on this scale it’s just common courtesy to inform the public what you are doing.

Pulling the terrorist card is pretty cheap and probably why the downvotes. LEO cannot be expected to be prescient of every crime or we will become a surveillance state much worse than we already are.

I agree that common courtesy would dictate that you inform the public, but it's not a requirement and not something that should become law.

Re: Drones flying nighttime patterns over NE Colorado leave law enforcement stumped

#106

Post by Ididntdothis »

sathackr wrote: post #104
Ididntdothis wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it turns out that this was used to prepare for a terrorist attack then law enforcement would look pretty negligent not having looked into this. I think if you do something on this scale it’s just common courtesy to inform the public what you are doing.

Pulling the terrorist card is pretty cheap and probably why the downvotes. LEO cannot be expected to be prescient of every crime or we will become a surveillance state much worse than we already are. I agree that common courtesy would dictate that you inform the public, but it's not a requirement and not something that should become law.

That’s exactly my point. Be courteous and tell people what you are doing so they don’t have to be concerned. It’s this kind of behavior that triggers creation of laws because some people are jerks that push things too far. I watched this with camera drones in national parks. First they were fun but then idiots had to fly them all the time, over crowded areas, lose them in protected areas, wild fires and airports and now we have restrictive laws.

I doesn’t seem to be acceptable that somebody is flying pretty heavy drones every night without anybody knowing who or why.

Re: Drones flying nighttime patterns over NE Colorado leave law enforcement stumped

#109

Post by thrill »

ynniv wrote: post #85
CPLX wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you should need a transponder and rough flight plan – just like regular aviation For the most part neither of those things are requirements for regular aviation.

It is at night, and even if you don't have a transponder you have a visible registration number and a license that will be revoked if you can't behave.

A flight plan is not a requirement for night flight in the US.
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