5 ms·

No matter what, there will be consequences for DIY/hobby aircraft, just because cost/weight/complexity are critical factors in a small drone. Most of the planes

No matter what, there will be consequences for DIY/hobby aircraft, just because cost/weight/complexity are critical factors in a small drone. Most of the planes I fly now are wood/cardboard with a few dumb electrical components. Adding any component will make it harder for newcomers to enter the field. The FAA has decided that unregulated drone flight is an issue, and no matter what, they're going to tackle it. So I'm happy to see any solution that allows for the continued existence of the DIY part of the industry. In my mind the "ideal" solution for DIY aircraft is a separate RC receiver-sized transmitter, powered over BEC, that you add to your aircraft when you are flying in conditions that require Remote ID. The transmitter would become another fixed cost in the hobby, but you could use it on whatever aircraft you're flying -- It would be linked to a pilot, instead of a particular aircraft. I have zero knowledge of RF physics and engineering, but I'd be happy if that was possible without a heavy transmitter and significant power consumption.

treeman79 6y ago
I’ve already had a drone hovering outside Daughters bedroom window. Some people have very different concerns about accountability of drones.
- phkahler 6y ago
  Magnetron and a wok for a dish. Kitchen counter measures.
  - gtfoutttt 6y ago
    Go on....
  - mike_d 6y ago
    Be careful there tough guy, drones receive the same protections as aircraft. A threat against one is punishable under 18 U.S. Code § 32. "Whoever willfully imparts or conveys any threat [against an aircraft] shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both."
    - recursive 6y ago
      I hereby threaten to shoot any drones in my backyard with a garden hose. Come and get me.
      - jessaustin 6y ago
        Heck, one could promise to spray any aircraft above the backyard with the water. It wouldn't harm commercial traffic, even if it could reach.
    - phkahler 6y ago
      Oh wow! Well I'd still do it to the one peeping in the daughter's bedroom, unless I could get its ID and track down the pervert first.
  - meekrohprocess 6y ago
    Sure, but then what happens when you give your neighbor's dog RF burns for walking in the vicinity? Unshielded magnetrons aren't exactly safe...
- chrisdalke 6y ago
  The need for regulation and education around proper usage of consumer drones is definitely clear, as shown by your (and many other people's) experience! Most enthusiasts would agree that a solution is needed. Most drone incidents have been untrained or reckless operators piloting a DJI drone somewhere they shouldn't. Most of the concern with proposed Remote ID regulations was because 1) The regulation didn't actually solve the issue of untrained drone operators and 2) Added a high barrier to entry that would stifle the large hobby/enthusiast/startup industry while giving large companies like Amazon free reign over the airspace.
  - iso947 6y ago
    People do not need educating not to spy on teenage girls with drones, they do not need training to not do it.
    - chrisdalke 6y ago
      But that's not why the FAA is regulating it, and these regulations won't stop that. They're regulating because people are flying recklessly above 400ft, above roadways, and in restricted airspace.
      - treeman79 6y ago
        On an intellectual level not distracting and crashing a Boeing is more important. On a dad level, well. Protective emotions can be intense.
        Pokepokalypse 6y ago
        Or towing an ad-banner over the freeway.
      - souprock 6y ago
        Flying above 400 feet is only a problem because aircraft can fly down at 500 feet. Do we really want aircraft at only 500 feet? I wouldn't want even a typical general aviation aircraft going over my house at that height. Make it an Airbus 380 and it might be entertaining. The solution is to raise the height for normal aircraft. That makes room for drones. We could give the drones from 500 to 1900 feet, putting normal aircraft at 2000 feet and above.
- reaperducer 6y ago
  I’ve already had a drone hovering outside Daughters bedroom window. A couple of years ago, a guy up the street got a "drone" for Christmas, and spent the next couple of weeks flying into the backyards of everyone on the block, presumably to look in the windows or see what else he could get away with. I don't know why he thought that was a good idea, especially since the thing was noisy as hell. It stopped suddenly. I don't know if someone called the police, or hit it with a tennis racket, or what. But by Saint Valentine's Day he was back to racing his remote controlled cars up and down the block, instead.
  - snuxoll 6y ago
    I’ll never understand people who use drones like this, even ignoring the obvious moral and ethical issues of voyeurism they’re loud and obnoxious at the altitudes you would need to go peeping through windows. Every time I try and assuage fears laypeople have about drones and privacy there’s a story or anecdote about some dumbass who does stuff like this anyway...
    - bluescrn 6y ago
      If you really want to spy on somebody, you don’t use a noisy buzzing drone right outside a window, or hovering in an otherwise empty sky. Even something as crude as a smartphone on a stick could be more covert. Surprised that even tech enthusiasts are often so fearful of drones while not worried about the hundreds of cameras already filming their activities in most public places.
      - reaperducer 6y ago
        It's not about the public spaces, it's about private spaces. In the scenario I wrote about above, every house in the neighborhood has a seven-foot-tall cinderblock wall around it. The guy was flying over these walls to look in the people's first-floor windows from their backyards. A cell phone on a stick isn't a problem in that scenario.
        6y ago
- 14 6y ago
  You may be dismayed by the fact that hovering outside someone’s window, at least in Canada, is not a crime unless the individual was naked or engaging in sexual activity. The drones laws were left vague for now and have not caught up to the technology. Here are the rules for Canada: https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/drone-safety/flying-your-drone-safely-legally https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/drone-safety/flying-your-dr...
  - monkeybutton 6y ago
    I did not know that about Canada's laws, it's definitely disconcerting. Also, how does that work with the 30m distance from bystanders rule, doesn't count because they're not outside?
    - 14 6y ago
      That is basically the argument because you could be checking out an abandoned house looking into the windows. But if someone stepped outside you would now be aware the flight situation has changed and now being within 30m of someone you need to leave the area. I can tell you this, any good lawyer would currently squash a case of a drone in a window without much fight with the current laws but it is obvious with the language of the RCMP and how they are viewing it those days may be limited because they are trying to define new definitions of what breaks ones expectation of privacy. I don't have any drones but I honestly don't think it would be worth your time flying outside someone's window to test this as you are likely to get arrested and even if you beat the charge you would likely spend thousands fighting it.
- Sodman 6y ago
  This is very likely already illegal, depending on where you live... It violates reasonable expectations of privacy, as well as nuisance laws in many jurisdictions, and can probably be considered trespassing. Not to mention they'd need to be flying the drone within line of sight, and depending on the weight of the drone they may also need a license and spotter. Step 1 should always be to go talk to your neighbor before escalating further, but in cases like this it seems like it would be easy enough to have the police pay them a visit too.

treeman79 6y ago

I’ve already had a drone hovering outside Daughters bedroom window. Some people have very different concerns about accountability of drones.

phkahler 6y ago
Magnetron and a wok for a dish. Kitchen counter measures.
- gtfoutttt 6y ago
  Go on....
- mike_d 6y ago
  Be careful there tough guy, drones receive the same protections as aircraft. A threat against one is punishable under 18 U.S. Code § 32. "Whoever willfully imparts or conveys any threat [against an aircraft] shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both."
  - recursive 6y ago
    I hereby threaten to shoot any drones in my backyard with a garden hose. Come and get me.
    - jessaustin 6y ago
      Heck, one could promise to spray any aircraft above the backyard with the water. It wouldn't harm commercial traffic, even if it could reach.
  - phkahler 6y ago
    Oh wow! Well I'd still do it to the one peeping in the daughter's bedroom, unless I could get its ID and track down the pervert first.
- meekrohprocess 6y ago
  Sure, but then what happens when you give your neighbor's dog RF burns for walking in the vicinity? Unshielded magnetrons aren't exactly safe...
chrisdalke 6y ago
The need for regulation and education around proper usage of consumer drones is definitely clear, as shown by your (and many other people's) experience! Most enthusiasts would agree that a solution is needed. Most drone incidents have been untrained or reckless operators piloting a DJI drone somewhere they shouldn't. Most of the concern with proposed Remote ID regulations was because 1) The regulation didn't actually solve the issue of untrained drone operators and 2) Added a high barrier to entry that would stifle the large hobby/enthusiast/startup industry while giving large companies like Amazon free reign over the airspace.
- iso947 6y ago
  People do not need educating not to spy on teenage girls with drones, they do not need training to not do it.
  - chrisdalke 6y ago
    But that's not why the FAA is regulating it, and these regulations won't stop that. They're regulating because people are flying recklessly above 400ft, above roadways, and in restricted airspace.
    - treeman79 6y ago
      On an intellectual level not distracting and crashing a Boeing is more important. On a dad level, well. Protective emotions can be intense.
      - Pokepokalypse 6y ago
        Or towing an ad-banner over the freeway.
    - souprock 6y ago
      Flying above 400 feet is only a problem because aircraft can fly down at 500 feet. Do we really want aircraft at only 500 feet? I wouldn't want even a typical general aviation aircraft going over my house at that height. Make it an Airbus 380 and it might be entertaining. The solution is to raise the height for normal aircraft. That makes room for drones. We could give the drones from 500 to 1900 feet, putting normal aircraft at 2000 feet and above.
reaperducer 6y ago
I’ve already had a drone hovering outside Daughters bedroom window. A couple of years ago, a guy up the street got a "drone" for Christmas, and spent the next couple of weeks flying into the backyards of everyone on the block, presumably to look in the windows or see what else he could get away with. I don't know why he thought that was a good idea, especially since the thing was noisy as hell. It stopped suddenly. I don't know if someone called the police, or hit it with a tennis racket, or what. But by Saint Valentine's Day he was back to racing his remote controlled cars up and down the block, instead.
- snuxoll 6y ago
  I’ll never understand people who use drones like this, even ignoring the obvious moral and ethical issues of voyeurism they’re loud and obnoxious at the altitudes you would need to go peeping through windows. Every time I try and assuage fears laypeople have about drones and privacy there’s a story or anecdote about some dumbass who does stuff like this anyway...
  - bluescrn 6y ago
    If you really want to spy on somebody, you don’t use a noisy buzzing drone right outside a window, or hovering in an otherwise empty sky. Even something as crude as a smartphone on a stick could be more covert. Surprised that even tech enthusiasts are often so fearful of drones while not worried about the hundreds of cameras already filming their activities in most public places.
    - reaperducer 6y ago
      It's not about the public spaces, it's about private spaces. In the scenario I wrote about above, every house in the neighborhood has a seven-foot-tall cinderblock wall around it. The guy was flying over these walls to look in the people's first-floor windows from their backyards. A cell phone on a stick isn't a problem in that scenario.
      - 6y ago
14 6y ago
You may be dismayed by the fact that hovering outside someone’s window, at least in Canada, is not a crime unless the individual was naked or engaging in sexual activity. The drones laws were left vague for now and have not caught up to the technology. Here are the rules for Canada: https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/drone-safety/flying-your-drone-safely-legally https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/drone-safety/flying-your-dr...
- monkeybutton 6y ago
  I did not know that about Canada's laws, it's definitely disconcerting. Also, how does that work with the 30m distance from bystanders rule, doesn't count because they're not outside?
  - 14 6y ago
    That is basically the argument because you could be checking out an abandoned house looking into the windows. But if someone stepped outside you would now be aware the flight situation has changed and now being within 30m of someone you need to leave the area. I can tell you this, any good lawyer would currently squash a case of a drone in a window without much fight with the current laws but it is obvious with the language of the RCMP and how they are viewing it those days may be limited because they are trying to define new definitions of what breaks ones expectation of privacy. I don't have any drones but I honestly don't think it would be worth your time flying outside someone's window to test this as you are likely to get arrested and even if you beat the charge you would likely spend thousands fighting it.
Sodman 6y ago
This is very likely already illegal, depending on where you live... It violates reasonable expectations of privacy, as well as nuisance laws in many jurisdictions, and can probably be considered trespassing. Not to mention they'd need to be flying the drone within line of sight, and depending on the weight of the drone they may also need a license and spotter. Step 1 should always be to go talk to your neighbor before escalating further, but in cases like this it seems like it would be easy enough to have the police pay them a visit too.