neighbor bought a drone

[cookiedough]

he came over and showed it to me.

He got the more expensive one for 1300 bucks plus an ipad stand to see everything up in the air.  Pretty neat, but for 1300 it should be.

I have been trying to convince him to buy a cheap mid-sized cycle like a 2000 Honda Magna for around 2K or a 250cc scooter like mine for 1500 or so.   He is an IT techy type guy with bad eyesight and pushing 60 so he said 2 wheels is out,  the drone is safer.

His wife said NO to it, but he told her too bad,  gonna get it anyways whether she likes it or not.  He is going to show me how it flied yet tonight since his family will NOT go out with him since they are ticked off spending around 1500 with the ipad for a toy.

Personally,  I'd spend 1500 on something else for sure.  He said has a safe beginner mode he is doing now only able to fly slow and up to 100 feet high so far, but can go over 1000 feet easily.  I think he said he had to spend only 5 bucks to get approval with FAA for a 3 year permit to go above 400 feet.  Also said it has a sport/expert mode with NO restrictions on safety like it has set at now on beginner mode that allows it to fly 45-50 mph.  Plus,  it has a HOME feature allowing it to return home and also he said where say if you are driving in a vehicle using the remote it can on Expert/sport  mode it can track you and keep up to you up to say 50 mph as well following you from behind.

Luckily,  he lives in a small town with no restrictions and am sure not one of us in the town of 1100 have one so far. 

I'd personally spend that 1500 on a used cycle or scooter but he is a techy person spending 2K on a 4K resolution TV, among other techy stuff.  I'll stick with my 200 dollar 40" Emerson walmart TV is good enough for me lasting so far 5 years or so.  My 250cc scooter I spent only 1K on and has lasted me 4 years so far and put on near 5000 miles on it gas savings alone vs. taking truck has almost paid for itself.    Wife frowned on that as well having a mid-sized scooter and a Valk I/S but if running say 15-20 miles one way,  why not take the scooter getting over 60 mph vs. 35 with the Valk?  She said I'd never use it but run it almost as much as my Valk in shorter distances anyways. Besides,  passing harleys on a scooter is more of a challenge and fun being done a few times already.   

[98valk]

hopefully it gets shot down, esp because it has the camera. All cameras on those things should be highly restricted.

[Serk]

I've got a $120 drone now, and been eye'ing a $1400 one... If the job situation stabilizes I just might have to pull the trigger (hehe, see what I did there?) and get a DJI Phantom 4...

I've posted it here before, but here's what I was able to get at Hot Glue and Flamingobabe's Gathering of the Fools with my $120 drone... The higher end ones are incredible...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOJekLB0dDA

[cookiedough]

yah,  pretty sure his is the phantom 4 newest model at around 1300 with 4K resolution vs. 1080p with cheaper $600 model.

Just got back,  pretty neat, but the battery at full charge was down to 29% after say 20 minutes of flying, so not like it will last much more than 30 minutes of flying time.  He bought the extra battery for 80 bucks extra and also the new ipad that has better resolution/brightness in bright sunlight.

On beginner mode it goes 100 feet up and 100 feet away from you tops is all, but 100 feet up is pretty darn high doing a panaromic view of our subdivision even .   It can go higher than 400feet, but no need to really unless in bigger building cities. 

He showed me home mode and it landed to within 2-3 feet of where it took off automatically which would be nice since can go 1 mile away or so OFF safe/beginner mode.  At 1300 bucks,  I'd make darn sure it is within eyesight of me though to not loose where it was at despite having a HOME mode. 

Top speed on beginner mode was 19 mph flying it away from us until it hit near 100 feet high/far and then it stopped knowing to go no further just hovering.  sport/non beginner mode he said is 50 mph but really don't see the need since near 20 mph seemed pretty darn fast. 

I can see the police using the feature of tracking since he has not done it yet, but if a criminal was in eyesight of the camera,  you can snap a pic of the criminal and it can track where they are by GPS tracking which would help find criminals trying to hide in bushes, etc.   It has beacon lights on it so can drive it at night as well as long as open spaces above treetops/buildings.

He told me though he never told the wife how much it cost.  I guess a huge spat is in the works am sure of it once she finds out sooner or later.  Hopefully NOT ending in a divorce over his new hobby.  I said expensive toy but he said not a toy, but a new hobby he is trying to get into since his wife doesn't allow him to do much otherwise, sort of a stick in the mud.  He sees me buying used ATV's, fishing boats,  scooter, cycle, and a trailer and he instead has high tech electronics.  To each their own.   

Personally, if I was more into it,  I would get the $500-600 model since he said does the same thing pretty much basically as the 1300 dollar one.   

Up about 80 feet or so it wouldn't bother anyone inside the house with the windows open only if hovering above someone's house and sitting outside can you hear it run for the most part at around 80 feet or so.

I stood directly underneath it about 20 feet up and has some major wind fan current down below it.   

It even could serve a purpose if dry leaves in gutters flying 10 feet above the house gutters and blowing the dry leaves out, well maybe?

He best keep it on beginner mode though until gets more used to it for one drop at say 40 feet or above might just have 1300 down the drain.  He also said after online review that to ONLY use  1 joystick control at a time NEVER both since could cause it to come crashing down.  That would be a bad thing.   

[Rams]

I see these camera drones as a tool that can be used for good or bad, depends on the operator.

I do think they should be licensed and stiff penalties put in place and enforced for damage they cause and for various actions the operators may take with them.   I can assure you, if I catch one hovering over my property, I'll do my best to bring it down.   There is no excuse for invading my or anyone else's privacy without a warrant IMHO.   

My son has one, one of the expensive models, we used it to take a look at my roof.   Definitely a nice tool for uses like that.   He wanted to play with it and fly over to the neighbor's.    I demanded that he shut it down and we had a long talk.   I hope it stuck.....

[cookiedough]

I see these camera drones as a tool that can be used for good or bad, depends on the operator.

I do think they should be licensed and stiff penalties put in place and enforced for damage they cause and for various actions the operators may take with them.   I can assure you, if I catch one hovering over my property, I'll do my best to bring it down.   There is no excuse for invading my or anyone else's privacy without a warrant IMHO.   

My son has one, one of the expensive models, we used it to take a look at my roof.   Definitely a nice tool for uses like that.   He wanted to play with it and fly over to the neighbor's.    I demanded that he shut it down and we had a long talk.   I hope it stuck.....

Yah,  you gotta be pretty stupid to fly into a neighbors yard within say 60 feet or closer in the air to someone house, etc.    The camera does NOT have a ZOOM feature so not like up say 80 feet or so it could see much anyways even with 4K resolution, too far away and high up.   Once he gets better at it,  he will take me out again and see how high say 400 feet is up in the air and see if we can even see it up that high in the middle of an open field.    Much above 400 feet and the FAA doesn't like it too much am sure even with the 5 dollar fee for 3 years to register it with FAA or whatever he did.  NO need to go that high anyways except maybe to take a pic of a small town or entire family farm to frame it in a picture. 

I also hear you are not suppose to advertise to do side jobs with it taking pics or videos for say a town or farmer, but don't see why not?  Any legal issues doing that of course not charging a fee or anything but if say a farmer wants to have a nice framed picture of his land,  why not for say 5-10 bucks or so considering it a donation is all?  Sure beats paying a helicopter pilot or single engine plane to go up and snap a picture of the family farm.

[Psychotic Bovine]

hopefully it gets shot down, esp because it has the camera. All cameras on those things should be highly restricted.

They are a wonderful photography tool, putting aerial photography in the hands of us mere mortals who cannot afford the huge fees associated with hiring a pilot and aircraft.  There is also an organization of volunteers around the country that use their craft to locate missing people.  I think that people fear these machines far more than they should.  No one is using them to look into windows secretly.  They are most definitely NOT stealthy.  They sound as loud as 4 weed trimmers, even at 250 feet of altitude I can hear my 500 size (measured in millimeters from prop center to prop center diagonally) quadcopter clearly.

[RoadKill]

I have some friends that always bring the drone when we go shooting on my property. It has payed off when we spot trespassers beyond the back stop and once when the neighbor said we were shooting his direction. Had it ALL on camera.

[98valk]

hopefully it gets shot down, esp because it has the camera. All cameras on those things should be highly restricted.

They are a wonderful photography tool, putting aerial photography in the hands of us mere mortals who cannot afford the huge fees associated with hiring a pilot and aircraft.  There is also an organization of volunteers around the country that use their craft to locate missing people.  I think that people fear these machines far more than they should.  No one is using them to look into windows secretly.  They are most definitely NOT stealthy.  They sound as loud as 4 weed trimmers, even at 250 feet of altitude I can hear my 500 size (measured in millimeters from prop center to prop center diagonally) quadcopter clearly.

should read news reports of pervs using them already. And criminals now have a much easier way with save footage to scope out neighborhoods and pinpoint the house to break into.  The FAA laws mean nothing, call the cops yea right, provide the FAA number of the drone yea right who can see that from the ground 200-400+ feet away while its going 40+mph. they will become a menace to everybody esp with better telephoto lenses.

[cookiedough]

hopefully it gets shot down, esp because it has the camera. All cameras on those things should be highly restricted.

They are a wonderful photography tool, putting aerial photography in the hands of us mere mortals who cannot afford the huge fees associated with hiring a pilot and aircraft.  There is also an organization of volunteers around the country that use their craft to locate missing people.  I think that people fear these machines far more than they should.  No one is using them to look into windows secretly.  They are most definitely NOT stealthy.  They sound as loud as 4 weed trimmers, even at 250 feet of altitude I can hear my 500 size (measured in millimeters from prop center to prop center diagonally) quadcopter clearly.

should read news reports of pervs using them already. And criminals now have a much easier way with save footage to scope out neighborhoods and pinpoint the house to break into.  The FAA laws mean nothing, call the cops yea right, provide the FAA number of the drone yea right who can see that from the ground 200-400+ feet away while its going 40+mph. they will become a menace to everybody esp with better telephoto lenses.

My neighbors 1300 dollar one has NO ZOOM feature that I am aware of,  so unless they get a zooming in lens,  as of now I don't see them as a menace to society, at least not yet.

[cookiedough]

well,  my neighbor emailed me today indicating he is taking that 1400 drone back to best buy within his 30 days return policy.  His family dog had to go to the ER UW pet facility having enlarged gall bladder, etc. not eating much at all and lathargic about 10 years old.  Am sure with vet bills was over 1 grand for meds,  2 day stay, etc. so he said best return the drone due to unexpected expense.  Dog is not out of the woods yet, but is for now eating a tad having to take 5 pills per day to stop the swollen internals. 

At least it made his wife happy since although she doesn't know how much he spent on the drone,  but that won't last long am sure of it.  I told him to get a $200 drone for now so it won't break the bank and in case he ever crashes it,  he is not out over 1 grand.  Not so sure he will take my advice since him being an IT techy guy,  he always has to have the LATEST and GREATEST top of the line whether be a TV,  PC,  vehicle, or any other electrical eqmt.   He spent over 1500 or so on a 4K resolution TV having to have one of the first and although is a tad bit clearer than my 1080p Emerson 40" TV costing 220 bucks,  is not worth 1200 more in price to me anyways.   Also, he spent over 1500 on an all in one PC with 30" monitor just HAVING to have it when they first came out as well.  His small Mazda SUV was also over 30K brand new getting near the top of the line model he MUST have the BOSE sound system and all the other gadgets as well.  2 years later he is now complaining to me the odd sized 19" tires are hard to come by and cost him an arm and a leg which I replied 'I told you so!'. 

[Steel cowboy]

All this talk about drones and what they can do reminds me, back in the 80's I installed a camera to the bottom of my RC airplane. I used an open channel on the radio and hooked a servo to the camera trigger, the camera had auto advance. The pictures I took of the air field came out great, we even found out there was a pond just about a 1000' away to the west. The biggest surprise came when I went vertical and snapped a bunch of pictures on the way up as I was rotating on my vertical axis. We saw the long Island Sound in the distance and a real airplane in the distance at a lower altitude. I now have a helicopter with a digital camera that I have to download the pictures, but Circuit City has some wild drones with all the bells and whistles built in. I will definitely get one at a later date.

[Flrider]

All this talk about drones and what they can do reminds me, back in the 80's I installed a camera to the bottom of my RC airplane. I used an open channel on the radio and hooked a servo to the camera trigger, the camera had auto advance. The pictures I took of the air field came out great, we even found out there was a pond just about a 1000' away to the west. The biggest surprise came when I went vertical and snapped a bunch of pictures on the way up as I was rotating on my vertical axis. We saw the long Island Sound in the distance and a real airplane in the distance at a lower altitude. I now have a helicopter with a digital camera that I have to download the pictures, but Circuit City has some wild drones with all the bells and whistles built in. I will definitely get one at a later date.

CIRCUIT CITY ???  I thought they were a thing of the past

[czuch]

Happy to spend a grand on the vet bills,,,,but not on hubby's happiness and relaxation.
I'm with family dog and all that, but gut problems on a 10 year old dog,,,,,,

[hubcapsc]

All this talk about drones and what they can do reminds me, back in the 80's I installed a camera to the bottom of my RC airplane. I used an open channel on the radio and hooked a servo to the camera trigger, the camera had auto advance. The pictures I took of the air field came out great, we even found out there was a pond just about a 1000' away to the west. The biggest surprise came when I went vertical and snapped a bunch of pictures on the way up as I was rotating on my vertical axis. We saw the long Island Sound in the distance and a real airplane in the distance at a lower altitude. I now have a helicopter with a digital camera that I have to download the pictures, but Circuit City has some wild drones with all the bells and whistles built in. I will definitely get one at a later date.

CIRCUIT CITY ???  I thought they were a thing of the past

Me too...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circuit_City

I bought my first "real" speakers at Circuit City... a set of
Marantz, back then Circuit City was just a warehouse
on a backroad with stuff stacked in boxes, they've
really gone full circle...

-Mike

[Gavin_Sons]

I know a couple that has no kids, they spent 8 grand getting both hips on their 10 year old black lab replaced. surgery went great and 2 months later they came home and found a dead dog. 
I love dogs, and i'll help them in any way i can but at 10 years old it's pointless. When it's time it's time.

[cookiedough]

They had the dog as a young pup few weeks old until present day.  If you knew how much they have spent on vet bills with 2-3 surgeries in the past to keep the dog alive,  you'd be somewhat shocked.  MY guess is 8-10 grand total since I know one surgery was 4K or so alone.  I'd set a limit at 1 grand personally at any one time even though that doesn't get much done nowadays. 

His wife and 2 kids still at home but in college or soon to be,  want the dog to live as LONG as possible regardless of cost for the most part within reason.   To each their own I guess?   

I asked him if she does pass,  will they get another dog.  He said NO way,  but since 1 kid is still at home, but not much longer he hopes since near age 25,  that may change.   I do know they want to move to the 'big' city in next few years closer to work, but that is all hear say for now.   

[98valk]

pervs or criminals scouting? both? again liberal response keep your curtains closed if u want privacy.
 I guess this is also for the people who brought a house with acres with a great view?
wait until the police start using them, "we are just patrolling while peering into your windows, for your protection and your neighbors"
its coming real soon, u can bet on it.

http://www.nh1.com/news/more-nh-reports-surface-of-suspicious-peeping-drone-activity-in-hollis/

[Psychotic Bovine]

Same advice with neighbors with two story houses and binoculars, keep your blinds closed.  
A couple of things you may not know.  For a multicopter (drone), or any other r/c vehicle to be used in such a way, it needs 2 things:  A camera and a video transmitter (of sufficient power and on a different frequency than the control receiver).  This is where it gets tricky.  To operate a multicopter by fpv (first person view) out of line of sight is illegal.  By the FAA rules (which all of the anti-r/c people got because they complained and the hysterical media enabled them), any flying craft that is operated by a position on the ground must be flown line of sight.  FPV is legal, as long as the spotter has eyes on the craft at all time.  Currently, using a zoom lens on these craft is problematic since they don't really hold still enough to be useful at full zoom (there is a reason why photographers use tripods for long lenses).  The other issue comes up with the common 5.8 ghz freq for the video transmitters.  5.8 has very little penetrating power, so line of sight is all you usually get.  Go behind a house, fence, trees, etc. the signal drops out. 2.4 ghz is better, by a bit, but rarely used for video since the controls of most "drones" are now on this frequency so video on that frequency is problematic.
Making these craft illegal won't solve the problem, since the tech is already out there.  The laws are already in place, too.  Peeping with optics into someone's window is already illegal, as well.
Interesting point, if someone brings up the full-size aircraft hitting a "drone" argument.  It's never happened.  In fact, the amount of impacts of turtles with aircraft is higher.  Yes, this is true, look it up.  The majority of pilot sightings of "drones" in their flight path have been found to be other objects.  Birds, plastic bags, other full size aircraft.  This isn't to say that there haven't been occasions of "drones" and full size aircraft in close proximity, just that the numbers have been grossly inflated.  There was one recently at JFK airport (the multicopter was 4 miles away, by the way).  The news said that the drone was at 1200 feet and keeping up with the airliner at 200mph on it's approach.  Yeah, right.  The drone might have been there, but 1200 feet at 200mph?  I've got a bridge to sell for a good price if you believe that.
The point of all of this is that "we the people" need something to complain about, we need the drama and hysteria.  The media has latched onto the "drone" issue and milked it for all it's worth, the somnambulant public is only too happy to go along with it.
I seem to remember a similar hysteria in the 70's about motorcycles (when the Japanese were fielding high power, reliable, low priced bikes that no one had really seen before).  Some insurance companies wouldn't even insure them.  People complained about the noise, the danger to the public, and the culture.  Does it sound familiar?

http://www.popsci.com/airplanes-hit-more-turtles-than-drones

[Psychotic Bovine]

This story is really interesting fodder for the anti-r/c crowd.

http://hyperallergic.com/200601/artist-who-furtively-photographed-his-neighbors-wins-in-court-again/

Note, there was no drone involved.

[98valk]

This story is really interesting fodder for the anti-r/c crowd.

http://hyperallergic.com/200601/artist-who-furtively-photographed-his-neighbors-wins-in-court-again/

Note, there was no drone involved.

completely disgusting pervert.  Was it checked what other pics he took? what was he seeing before he took the picks?
another liberal court letting a pervert to do what they want.
being a peeping tom was always against the law until now.

Voyeurism is a disorders of sexual arousal. It involves the act of observing unsuspecting individuals, usually strangers, who may be naked or in the process of disrobing. Even engaging in sexual activity. Masturbation usually occurs during, or shortly after, voyeuristic activities. A variation of voyeurism entails listening to erotic conversations; e.g. telephone sex. The main criteria for the diagnosis is:

 Repeatedly, for at least 6 months, having intense sexual desires, fantasies or behaviors concerning the act of watching an unsuspecting person who is naked, disrobing or having sex.

 This activity causes clinically important distress or impairs work, social or personal functioning

[Psychotic Bovine]

A person that worked at the same company as I was caught "touching himself" while watching two little girls play in their front yard.   He was in his car and was seen. The father got the license number (father showed incredible restraint in only getting the number, rather than pulling him out and rendering him inert) and the perv was arrested shortly thereafter.

They arrested him at our company, actually.  He also had pot on him that he took with him to the jail (another offense).  Weird thing, the pot is what got him fired since he had it on him at the time and therefore had it at the company.  The pedo thing hadn't gone to trial (yet) so company could not fire him for that.  I had always thought he was weird, and weasely.  I just never could put my finger on WHY he was weasely.

[98valk]

 There was one recently at JFK airport (the multicopter was 4 miles away, by the way).  The news said that the drone was at 1200 feet and keeping up with the airliner at 200mph on it's approach.  Yeah, right.  The drone might have been there, but 1200 feet at 200mph?  I've got a bridge to sell for a good price if you believe that.
The point of all of this is that "we the people" need something to complain about, we need the drama and hysteria.  The media has latched onto the "drone" issue and milked it for all it's worth, the somnambulant public is only too happy to go along with it.
I seem to remember a similar hysteria in the 70's about motorcycles (when the Japanese were fielding high power, reliable, low priced bikes that no one had really seen before).  Some insurance companies wouldn't even insure them.  People complained about the noise, the danger to the public, and the culture.  Does it sound familiar?

http://www.popsci.com/airplanes-hit-more-turtles-than-drones

Flying turtles??

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-30369701

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-27354269

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/drone-nearly-hits-lufthansa-plane-near-warsaw-airport-man-questioned-n396481

http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/09/travel/unmanned-drone-danger/index.html

[Psychotic Bovine]

 There was one recently at JFK airport (the multicopter was 4 miles away, by the way).  The news said that the drone was at 1200 feet and keeping up with the airliner at 200mph on it's approach.  Yeah, right.  The drone might have been there, but 1200 feet at 200mph?  I've got a bridge to sell for a good price if you believe that.
The point of all of this is that "we the people" need something to complain about, we need the drama and hysteria.  The media has latched onto the "drone" issue and milked it for all it's worth, the somnambulant public is only too happy to go along with it.
I seem to remember a similar hysteria in the 70's about motorcycles (when the Japanese were fielding high power, reliable, low priced bikes that no one had really seen before).  Some insurance companies wouldn't even insure them.  People complained about the noise, the danger to the public, and the culture.  Does it sound familiar?

http://www.popsci.com/airplanes-hit-more-turtles-than-drones

Flying turtles??

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-30369701

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-27354269

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/drone-nearly-hits-lufthansa-plane-near-warsaw-airport-man-questioned-n396481

http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/09/travel/unmanned-drone-danger/index.html

I specifically said that there were cases of drones close to planes, but I did say that there have been more impacts from other things than drones.  Look up some of the reports on these "close encounters".  One that I looked up a few months ago was a pilot saying the object was the size of a washing machine.  There are no consumer drones that size on the market.  It was likely a military drone. There has not been a single case of a drone impacting a full size aircraft in the US.  I don't know about other countries. 
Read the article I posted, it's all hype and hysteria. It's the same way that the press has manipulated the anti-gun argument for decades.