Idk if anyone had a similar problem before, but I live in EU by the countryside, at first there were only a few but now it happens more and more often to see drones passing over my house, I am sure they are civilian drones because law enforcement has no reason to use them since the area is quiet (and honestly I doubt they would be able to do so), however it bothers me enough to know that there are people who get over the fence and enter my property going to look at what they want, does anyone have any advice on what to do?
I think you have the legal right to prohibit flying above your property. Do it, make a sign and report everyone who violates it to the police. Flying on someone’s property with a camera drone is illegal anyways.
EDIT: Also check if you legally can physically eliminate the drone in that case. It’s the most effective strategy.
EDIT: Also check if you legally can physically eliminate the drone in that case. It’s the most effective strategy.
Just tell the police you were clay pigeon shooting and the drone flew into your path.
Honest question, but I couldn’t help but package it sarcastically:
How would you report that? Catch the drone and ask who it’s owner is? Ask the police to do a 100 man wide area search around your house?
New drones being sold in the USA are equipped with something called remote ID. In theory, it enables law enforcement to wirelessly identity the drone, who it’s registered with, and where the pilot is standing. This is very new though, and very few, if any, police departments have the tools needed to make use of it. It’s also possible to read remote ID from phones, but without the database, it only gives you so much info. Owners of older drones are supposed to attach a remote ID module to them in order to maintain legal flying, but someone being voyeuristic with their older drone probably isn’t following the rules.
OP is in EU, but here in the US property owners do not have rights to airspace.
However, spying with cameras or nuisance noise would be reasons for legal action.
Not in the US. You can report it to the police and the FAA, but it’s a federal felony offense to shoot down any aircraft, regardless of whether it’s a $100 drone or multi-million dollar full on airplane. But like the other poster said, voyeurism and harassment laws still apply. And also, if the pilot is out of sight of the drone, that’s a hefty FAA violation (assuming they don’t have a specific FAA waiver that’s hard to get) and something you can report.
In the US, you own the airspace up to the highest point of your property, including structures (and maybe trees). You also technically own your underground property to the center of the earth, but you may not have mineral rights to it.
you own the airspace up to the highest point of your property
Nope. Part 103 pilots often fly inches off the ground and it’s totally legal- usually farm fields. This is called class G airspace and extends from surface to 700 or 1200 ft AGL. The United States government has exclusive sovereignty of airspace in the US from the surface up, and any citizen has the right of transit through that airspace.
That’s incorrect. At least as a generalization. For example: In The Netherlands, you do not own the airspace above your property. The EU laws for drones do state that you can’t just film people without permission, though. Operators of camera drones also need to register and get an operator id.
I would go and have a look around, because usually they would be close by and ask them. I gly drones for 10+ years and if it’s a sports drone, it’s annoying and they should be pretty close. If it’s a dji (slow moving around) they might be just nosy assholes.
I would give them the benefit of the doubt that they just fly there because like you said it’s in the middle of nowhere. But flying over a house or property on purpose is not only a dick move, it’s also dangerous annoying for all sides.
“I think there’s something wrong with the door switch on my old microwave oven. I’ve been testing it outside for safety, that’s why it’s out in the back yard pointing upwards with the door open.”
Wait… other than cook any bird or animal that might land inside, what would this do? I thought household microwaves were nowhere near capable of doing anything at any distance.
I’d just go to the local print shop and have the most disturbing image put onto some large poster. Like a Hi-Res close up of a butthole with some form of issues.
I think the idea is to create a ton of noise in the 2.4GHz band which is commonly used to control drones. It’s not going to “cook” a drone at distances further than a few feet, you’d need a maser (microwave laser) for that.
Precisely.
A 1200 watt microwave is essentially like a 1200 watt bar heater if you’re outside the oven cavity. To a person, it will feel pretty warm at a distance of a few feet as the energy is basically unfocused as it exits through the open door.
But to a drone, it’s 1200 watts of RF noise near a receiving device that’s tuned to listen for signals that are typically around 0.00000001 watts. It would be like trying to hear a pin drop at a rock concert.
Do need to make sure you point it upwards though as it will cause havoc with microwave motion sensors and a bunch of other sensitive listening stuff. Also, good luck getting wifi within a hundred metres of it.
The best bet is to let your local aviation authority know. They are generally the ones with the actual powers, as well as the knowledge to apply them.
At least in the UK, the laws cover anything that leaves the ground under an open sky. There are exceptions for RC toys and drones, but they have limits. One of the limits is you cannot fly within a certain distance of anyone or anything not under your control.
Basically, most places require your permission to fly over, or near to your land. If they are overflying, they are breaking the rules.
It’s worth noting, depending on the size of the system, it can be difficult to judge distances. The ones I work with are large. We regularly have officials insisting we are massively out of our flight area. GPS logs show that it was well within the entire time.
