Kentucky Man Shoots Down Drone Hovering Over His Yard

[Pawpaw]

Yeah. #8 runs 200 to around 900 pellets depending on load, IIRC. It just wouldn't take a lot of pellets to knock it out.

The problem is that #8 shot pellets are very small and light, but still have lots of wind resistance. They will lose their inertia quickly.

Think about it, which can you throw farther, a baseball, or a handfull of BB's? You can launch them both at nearly identical speeds, but the BB's just won't go as far.

[ShootDontTalk]

Yeah. #8 runs 200 to around 900 pellets depending on load, IIRC. It just wouldn't take a lot of pellets to knock it out.

The problem is that #8 shot pellets are very small and light, but still have lots of wind resistance. They will lose their inertia quickly.

Think about it, which can you throw farther, a baseball, or a handfull of BB's? You can launch them both at nearly identical speeds, but the BB's just won't go as far.

All that is true, but one thing I have learned in 60 years of shooting is that real world always beats me trying to figure out what should happen. Probably the only way to know for sure is a trip to the range. Not really worth it though.

As I said though. I think somebody is lying - or the media is its usual stupid self.

[jimlongley]

Let's see, a 3.4 GHz moonbounce array?

[jmorris]

Will the magnet do any good since there isn't any tape in the SD card?

Yup. All memory cards can be wiped with a magnet.

I'm pretty certain this is incorrect. Older mediums such as tape and hard drives use a magnetic medium in which the direction of atoms are switched using a magnetic write head. Obviously a magnet will affect such a device. It only requires a field strong enough to switch the orientation of an atom with in the matrix.
Information stored on an SD card is by electrical charge in a solid state circuit. The gate in a solid state transistor is in effect a tiny capacitor. It would require a magnet strong enough to literally rip the electron off of the atom. That would take some magnet.

Bill Frank, executive director of the CompactFlash Association. "A magnet powerful enough to disturb the electrons in flash would be powerful enough to suck the iron out of your blood cells

A hammer would be a much more cost effective way to destroy the drive. If you just want to erase it, stick it your compouter and wipe it.

You are correct, it won't wipe it. At work we have a degausser for wiping disk drives so powerful that when we use it we have to put warning signs in the hall ten feet away. Doesn't affect solid state media. We're buying a device (NSA approvedl) that will pulverize solid state devices into 2mm particles.

[MadMonkey]

While I think there are a few idiots out there spying on girls at the pool, the vast majority of recreational drone pilots are just nerds that like to fly and take cool pictures. I was flying mine this evening and it crash landed in my neighbor's yard (I just got it this week and am learning with my 13 yr old son). I'm sure she's seen this news story floating around the past couple of days but she didn't say anything. I'd hate to think that she thought we had bad intentions.

Yep. I fly multirotors professionally and I worry about the day that someone will try to knock a $20k X8 out of the sky because they think I'm spying on their pool

We get it, technology is scary. But it's also VERY easy to misjudge intentions. For example, one of my cheap rigs will fly fairly autonomously. If I happen to drop a waypoint directly over a sidewalk where your daughter is walking, it's going to pause for a moment while it turns to the next waypoint before moving on. To the average person it's going to look like it's stopping intentionally.

Small FPV racers have another problem. We have tunnel vision with these aircraft, and our only method of checking our surroundings is to look.Many of us have big open fields we fly in, but if it's in a park, someone innocently flying around could EASILY be thought to following a kid on a bicycle that they're not even aware of.

Someone practicing aerial photography is likely going to practice tracking vehicles, bikes or skateboards as well, with no nefarious purpose.

So I say before you bring out the pitchforks and start shooting into the air (which is a very bad idea in itself), make sure that:

1. Your backyard fence is tall enough that the neighbor can't see over it. In fact, better make sure it's tall enough that they can't hold a camera over the top of it.

2. Pray the neighbor doesn't find a stick and some tape.

3. Make sure you alert the FAA that you have a backyard and where it's located so they can create a no-fly zone above it to avoid manned aircraft flying over you. After all, they could have photographers with zoom lenses inside. Or camera choppers with stabilized ball turrets.

4. ALWAYS keep your blinds drawn so neighbors can't see into the house, especially if there are two-story homes near you.

5. Cover up all the holes in your fence so nobody can peek through.

6. Ban cell phones within about 300-400 feet of you at all times. They have cameras, and could be spying on you.

7. Ban cameras when you're out and about. They might take pictures.

8. DON'T go swimming away from home, someone will likely see your swimsuit.

9. Fight Google to make sure they have no satellite photos of your backyard.

(the above are in jest since I know how seriously some people take everything.... sad that I have to add a disclaimer)

I honestly expect gun owners to have more sense than to immediately start shooting (into the air no less!) at the first sign of something remotely questionable. As CHL holders, we're supposed to be MUCH more mature than that, and yet I've seen hundreds of gun owners supporting this type of idiocy across multiple forums.

[Pawpaw]

Go browse around this link and then come back and tell us how unreasonable we're being about our privacy.

While I can understand and agree with much of what you say, the more juvenile among you is poisoning the well of public perception.

[jimlongley]

Go browse around this link and then come back and tell us how unreasonable we're being about our privacy.

While I can understand and agree with much of what you say, the more juvenile among you is poisoning the well of public perception.

Five of the videos on that first page are all of the same girls sunbathing on the roof, which also appears to have been scripted.

. . .
9. Fight Google to make sure they have no satellite photos of your backyard.

(the above are in jest since I know how seriously some people take everything.... sad that I have to add a disclaimer)

I honestly expect gun owners to have more sense than to immediately start shooting (into the air no less!) at the first sign of something remotely questionable. As CHL holders, we're supposed to be MUCH more mature than that, and yet I've seen hundreds of gun owners supporting this type of idiocy across multiple forums.

But I also get a kick out of my neighbor's house being blurred out on Google Street View.

[Abraham]

Pawpaw,

Wow!

Your link tells me drones are a world wide curse only to get worse as time marches on. Lechers all over the world are ecstatic.

Looking for girls sunbathing seems incredibly jejune.

I also wonder if this is the "chief" reason many become droners...?

[Taypo]

Go browse around this link and then come back and tell us how unreasonable we're being about our privacy.

While I can understand and agree with much of what you say, the more juvenile among you is poisoning the well of public perception.

Wow. I knew they were being used to spy in the neighbors, had no idea there was that much support for it. Including Google, apparently.

Like everything else, a handful of idiots are trying to ruin it for the responsible majority.

[Glockster]

I was thinking that a good high-powered water nozzle on a hose would serve the purpose without putting anyone in the neighborhood in danger. Knock the thing down, put gloves on, pull the SD card from the camera, wave a strong magnet over it and reinsert it, toss the drone over the back fence with a colorfully worded message taped to it. Use your imagination.

Will the magnet do any good since there isn't any tape in the SD card?

Yup. All memory cards can be wiped with a magnet.

With a big enough magnet, you can beat the SD card to smithereens.

That's a fact. And you can also do the same with a really nice compact rare earth magnet.

[MechAg94]

MadMonkey, I think your list is just excuses and bull. Just because the neighbor can poke a camera over the fence, doesn't mean any camera that can see over the fence is okay. There is a difference between incidental view of a backyard and hovering to record is not trivial. You mention way point navigation, unless the guy was walking around on guard duty with his shotgun, the drone was hanging around for a while and he had time to see it and then go get his shotgun. That isn't just a pause in navigation. There might be other reasons, but not that one. I agree that pulling out shotguns is extreme, but so is assuming all air space is open with no restriction, IMO. The law isn't well defined on this so we'll see what happens in coming years.

For those concerned, I would simply recommend to get some sort of cast net with weights that can be thrown a reasonable distance. You may still have issues with catching or damaging a drone that way, but no one will be able to claim their drone was at high altitude if a hand thrown net caught it.

On the other side, I realize that modern cameras can zoom in from a long way and still get good detail. We have security cameras at work that do pretty good. Not sure how all drone stuff will shake out legally, but I do think there needs to be some limits most especially on distribution of the video/images.

[ShootDontTalk]

I think when you guys start looking at some FAA regulations as well as some case law, you're going to find that manned helicopters are not restricted over your property as low as 500 feet. Not even helicopters with high resolution cameras are restricted. And IIRC some case law says you don't have any expectation of privacy from those aircraft.

There is also the burden that is on you to prove that anyone flying over your property is actually doing something illegal with forethought and malice. It is up to you to obtain actual proof of wrongdoing, not just assumptions. In truth, we do not own the airspace over our property, never have and never will. Right or wrong, that's the law.

People have been looking at what goes on in your backyard for decades. Some doing it with cameras that can read your license plate from low earth orbit.

[jmra]

I think when you guys start looking at some FAA regulations as well as some case law, you're going to find that manned helicopters are not restricted over your property as low as 500 feet. Not even helicopters with high resolution cameras are restricted. And IIRC some case law says you don't have any expectation of privacy from those aircraft.

There is also the burden that is on you to prove that anyone flying over your property is actually doing something illegal with forethought and malice. It is up to you to obtain actual proof of wrongdoing, not just assumptions. In truth, we do not own the airspace over our property, never have and never will. Right or wrong, that's the law.

People have been looking at what goes on in your backyard for decades. Some doing it with cameras that can read your license plate from low earth orbit.

I don't doubt what you are saying, but there's much less likelihood that a multimillion dollar heli is looking in my backyard than a $500 drone.
Given he popularity and abuse the general public has seen, state and federal regulations will be abundant in the near future which will greatly limit where and how drones can be flown. As stated previously the actions of a few greatly affect the whole.

[Taypo]

I think when you guys start looking at some FAA regulations as well as some case law, you're going to find that manned helicopters are not restricted over your property as low as 500 feet. Not even helicopters with high resolution cameras are restricted. And IIRC some case law says you don't have any expectation of privacy from those aircraft.

There is also the burden that is on you to prove that anyone flying over your property is actually doing something illegal with forethought and malice. It is up to you to obtain actual proof of wrongdoing, not just assumptions. In truth, we do not own the airspace over our property, never have and never will. Right or wrong, that's the law.

People have been looking at what goes on in your backyard for decades. Some doing it with cameras that can read your license plate from low earth orbit.

I don't doubt what you are saying, but there's much less likelihood that a multimillion dollar heli is looking in my backyard than a $500 drone.
Given he popularity and abuse the general public has seen, state and federal regulations will be abundant in the near future which will greatly limit where and how drones can be flown. As stated previously the actions of a few greatly affect the whole.

[MadMonkey]

Go browse around this link and then come back and tell us how unreasonable we're being about our privacy.

While I can understand and agree with much of what you say, the more juvenile among you is poisoning the well of public perception.

Most of those hits, including the first result on the page, are of the same staged video of the sunbathing girl on the rooftop (as fake as the drone hitting the airliner wing that made the rounds recently). While I'm sure it has happened in real life, don't trust videos made by a site called "ViralHog" (ETA: Oops, missed Jim's reply... redundancy!)

Also don't forget that the media will almost ALWAYS portray something like this in a negative light, just as they do with guns. As I said here years ago, this is a massive industry just now getting rolling, and will provide many, many thousands of jobs. It's a good thing... there are kinks to work out, and people to educate, but overall it'll be a boon to many industries. But as usual, it will be twisted into doom & gloom by anyone who hates progress or anything positive for the country.

You mention way point navigation, unless the guy was walking around on guard duty with his shotgun, the drone was hanging around for a while and he had time to see it and then go get his shotgun. That isn't just a pause in navigation. There might be other reasons, but not that one. I agree that pulling out shotguns is extreme, but so is assuming all air space is open with no restriction, IMO..

I'm automatically going to assume that someone shooting into the air within city limits is going to be predisposed to making bad judgement calls. We don't know exactly what happened, but the last I saw, his daughter had told him about the aircraft, then the father went out, saw it at the neighbor's house, went inside and got a shotgun, then shot it when it went back over is property. He claims it was then hovering, which could have easily been a couple of seconds.

Regardless, I wasn't making excuses for the pilot, I was pointing out how easily intentions can be misconstrued. Whether this guy was trying to spy on an adult male in his backyard, I don't know. What I do know is that it doesn't take much to knock a multirotor out of the sky; a single shotgun pellet can fracture a wooden prop and, in the case of a quadcopter, there is no redundancy to keep it aloft so it would come right down. I'd say that's well within the capabilities of a lot of shotgun loads at under 200 feet.