The Lancaster County Sheriff's Department on Friday used its new drone to search a cornfield for a runaway student from a nearby school.
Within an hour the department had its unmanned aerial system airborne and searching the field near 70th Street and Old Cheney Road, said Sheriff Terry Wagner.
The drone did not help in finding the girl. A citizen spotted her, called and deputies found her as she was leaving the field, Wagner said.
But this is exactly the kind of operation where drones are helpful, Wagner said.
Exactly this kind of operation. Not exactly THIS operation, since we didn't find the kid - but this KIND of operation...
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and suggest that an $850 Mavic Pro or a $1,500 Phantom 4 Pro would do equally well at not finding missing kids as $15K hardware...
Re: Drones, quadcopters, and FPV flight
Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2018 5:28 pm
by 32wildbilly
5chn3ll wrote: ↑Mon Oct 01, 2018 4:48 pm
Heh. Close, but no cigar:
The Lancaster County Sheriff's Department on Friday used its new drone to search a cornfield for a runaway student from a nearby school.
Within an hour the department had its unmanned aerial system airborne and searching the field near 70th Street and Old Cheney Road, said Sheriff Terry Wagner.
The drone did not help in finding the girl. A citizen spotted her, called and deputies found her as she was leaving the field, Wagner said.
But this is exactly the kind of operation where drones are helpful, Wagner said.
Exactly this kind of operation. Not exactly THIS operation, since we didn't find the kid - but this KIND of operation...
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and suggest that an $850 Mavic Pro or a $1,500 Phantom 4 Pro would do equally well at not finding missing kids as $15K hardware...
Like I said wished I could be surprised! Toy...and on my tax dollars. $90k could have hired at least one additional officer. Pretty easy to hide from something in the sky in a standing cornfield especially when you can hear it coming unless at night and the drone has night vision otherwise, of course that would probably have been an expensive option.
Re: Drones, quadcopters, and FPV flight
Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2018 8:44 pm
by 5chn3ll
The trick when you’re looking for someone in a large area is to go high - all the way to 400 ft, which is the legal altitude above ground (or another fixed object, like a building or tower) we law-abiding UAS operators observe...though law enforcement probably gets a waiver on that.
Anyway, you go high and park, and then you sit and watch for movement in the weeds/stalks/whatever. I have software for my Mavic that will look for movement for you and flag areas of potential interest.
That PD needs a hacker for their drones*.
*I’m no hacker, but shit...Roscoe wasn’t even trying.
Re: Drones, quadcopters, and FPV flight
Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2018 6:11 am
by 32wildbilly
5chn3ll wrote: ↑Mon Oct 01, 2018 8:44 pm
The trick when you’re looking for someone in a large area is to go high - all the way to 400 ft, which is the legal altitude above ground (or another fixed object, like a building or tower) we law-abiding UAS operators observe...though law enforcement probably gets a waiver on that.
Anyway, you go high and park, and then you sit and watch for movement in the weeds/stalks/whatever. I have software for my Mavic that will look for movement for you and flag areas of potential interest.
That PD needs a hacker for their drones*.
*I’m no hacker, but shit...Roscoe wasn’t even trying.
Yeah he was probably too busy playing with the toy to be actually trying to use it for his job. Cheaper than a real helicopter, but they already have those. Hell he would have had better results to just turn the dogs loose! The kid wouldn't have been as in good of shape afterwards but lesson learned!
Re: Drones, quadcopters, and FPV flight
Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2018 9:43 am
by 5chn3ll
Mavic Air shot at dusk, the first few clouds at the leading edge of the Baja hurricane remnants just starting to blow in from the south, from Monday night.
5chn3ll wrote: ↑Wed Oct 03, 2018 9:43 am
Mavic Air shot at dusk, the first few clouds at the leading edge of the Baja hurricane remnants just starting to blow in from the south, from Monday night.
Sunset.png
Nice shot. How the" H" do you fly that thing in the dark??
Re: Drones, quadcopters, and FPV flight
Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 9:24 am
by 5chn3ll
It wasn't quite dark. I can't (legally) fly the Mavic at night, and I can't fly it out of visual range (which also gets tough at night).
To ensure I don't lose the quad in low-light, high wind, etc., I use the flight control software to geofence. For the evening shot, I had a max altitude of 150 feet above ground level and a max range of 200 feet. It takes a little of the fun out of those flights, but it's still a LOT more enjoyable than an unexpected round of "find the $800 gadget before someone else does..."
Re: Drones, quadcopters, and FPV flight
Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 9:26 am
by 5chn3ll
It's a Phantom knockoff - which makes it potentially an AWESOME platform. The Phantom is big and bulky, but it's fast, stable, has a huge-ass battery, and is overall bitchin'. Based on the reviews I'm seeing on YouTube, it looks like a great Phantom substitute. I'd buy one if I didn't have the Phantom 3. Eyeballing the batteries, looks like they MIGHT be compatible with Phantom batteries - if so, it would make a great replacement if the Phantom ever takes a dump. Or gets run over by a Blackhawk...(https://www.forbes.com/sites/johngoglia ... baaa1d7b3f)
5chn3ll wrote: ↑Thu Oct 04, 2018 9:26 am
It's a Phantom knockoff - which makes it potentially an AWESOME platform. The Phantom is big and bulky, but it's fast, stable, has a huge-ass battery, and is overall bitchin'. Based on the reviews I'm seeing on YouTube, it looks like a great Phantom substitute. I'd buy one if I didn't have the Phantom 3. Eyeballing the batteries, looks like they MIGHT be compatible with Phantom batteries - if so, it would make a great replacement if the Phantom ever takes a dump. Or gets run over by a Blackhawk...(https://www.forbes.com/sites/johngoglia ... baaa1d7b3f)