Downtown Dallas, TX

DBeard said:
There's no 'reading' into the law.
Sec 423.003 (a)
A person commits an offense if the person uses an unmanned aircraft [FA1(5)-(6)] to capture an image of an individual or privately owned real property in this state.


There is reading the WHOLE section of the law:

Sec. 423.003. OFFENSE: ILLEGAL USE OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT TO CAPTURE IMAGE. (a)
A person commits an offense if the person uses an unmanned aircraft to capture an image of an individual or privately owned real property in this state with the intent to conduct surveillance on the individual or property captured in the image.
(b) An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.

And a class c misdemeanor is the same class as a speeding ticket.
 
And a class c misdemeanor is the same class as a speeding ticket.[/quote]

The bicycle cop that was with us said the technology is so new that the cops don't know how to charge someone and he said that most of them, including him were very interested in the quads.
 
Great video mate. Couldnt care less if it was done legally or not.
I saw nothing wrong with the video at all so to me its a great video.
Sometimes we just might as well lock ourselves up in a room and die. I don't allow others to tell me what I believe is right and wrong. I know what's stupid and risky and what's not.
So tell me what made you decide to get the lens? I am not up to date with it and have not seen any comparisons. Was it hard to replace?
I have just ordered 2 gopro look alike as my "rough stuff footage" cameras. These are cheap priced but great quality so it matters not if I loose one or break it for the price.
 
Hi cokeaddict, glad you liked the video for what it was and thanks for the positive feedback.

Earlier this year I got a GoPro Hero 3+ for my birthday. It was out of focus. I contacted GoPro and they had me jumping through fire hoops. Good thing the camera was purchased through Amazon. Got a full refund.

https://vimeo.com/95066841

Later this year I bought 2 more, not at the same time. Same problem, out of focus and sent both back. I ran across a thread about people switching out the lens on the 3+. Read the thread, asked some questions, a couple of guys took m under their wing and showed me how it's done. It's a piece of cake. Here's the thread if you're interested.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2057642

Here's another one you might be interested in.

https://vimeo.com/105456299
 
Sec. 423.003. OFFENSE: ILLEGAL USE OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT TO CAPTURE IMAGE. (a)
A person commits an offense if the person uses an unmanned aircraft to capture an image of an individual or privately owned real property in this state with the intent to conduct surveillance on the individual or property captured in the image.
(b) An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.

The problem is to define surveillance. Probably need a legal adviser on that. Is any photo/video without intent considered surveillance or is only intent considered?

I'll stick around in the sticks for now where personnel encounters are low.
 
Hey Skipper1
Thanks for the links mate.
Haven't had any issues with my 3+black but I will keep the links in case it happens later.
Hope it all goes well for you.
Angelo
 
Someone posted a scanned memo from the Dallas police dept. on facebook. It said that downtown Dallas and the love field area are class ? Airspace and banned for drone flight. On this memo are specific instructions for them to confiscate drone equipment and bringit to a certain address and equipment can only be released again with direct approval by an FAA official.
This may be new after that drone incident at love field recently.
I'm just passing this on. I would want to know if I was flying in that area.
 
knuckles said:
Someone posted a scanned memo from the Dallas police dept. on facebook. It said that downtown Dallas and the love field area are class ? Airspace and banned for drone flight. On this memo are specific instructions for them to confiscate drone equipment and bringit to a certain address and equipment can only be released again with direct approval by an FAA official.
This may be new after that drone incident at love field recently.
I'm just passing this on. I would want to know if I was flying in that area.

Thanks for the heads up, it would be nice to see that scanned memo.
 
well I would try to find it on facebook but it could take me hours. There's no decent way to search for old posts on facebook and I'm a member of about 7 different groups related to quads I don't know which group it was in. It was posted maybe 2-3 weeks ago. It was sometime after this incident http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2014/10/07/faa- ... ed-camera/ They put a picture of a phantom in the article even though they said it had wings..
I would be careful about flying directly downtown Dallas. You may be able to call the police dept and ask about it if you really want more details. I couldn't find anything further with a quick google search either.
 
Good video. Don't listen to the fear mongers. Some people get all hot and bothered when they see video of a drone flying in an urban landscape.

As for police confiscating drones flying in restricted airspace, I don't see how they can have jurisdiction to enforce federal airspace rules. Furthermore, as there are no rules for drones other than a 20 year old advisory that has been cancelled and then un-cancelled by the FAA, they have even less ground to stand on. If local law enforcement tried to confiscate mine, I'd immediately file a suit for unlawful seizure. So far, I've had many encounters with police while flying in urban environments and all have been positive.

Best practice is to not fly in class B and C airspace unless you're keeping it very low (under 100ft). Use skyvector.com to look up airspace nearby.
 
ianwood said:
Good video. Don't listen to the fear mongers. Some people get all hot and bothered when they see video of a drone flying in an urban landscape.

As for police confiscating drones flying in restricted airspace, I don't see how they can have jurisdiction to enforce federal airspace rules. Furthermore, as there are no rules for drones other than a 20 year old advisory that has been cancelled and then un-cancelled by the FAA, they have even less ground to stand on. If local law enforcement tried to confiscate mine, I'd immediately file a suit for unlawful seizure. So far, I've had many encounters with police while flying in urban environments and all have been positive.

Best practice is to not fly in class B and C airspace unless you're keeping it very low (under 100ft). Use skyvector.com to look up airspace nearby.

Thanks for checking out the videos. I know what you mean about the mongers. I wonder if they even fly? You know something else, I can't remember the last time I saw jets flying in between the tall buildings in downtown Dallas....and they are tall.
 
Nice video. I fly in the metroplex also and I always try to tell any police officers in the area what I plan on doing. They are always fascinated with the Phantom and very supportive. I have never had any trouble at all.
 
I flew at a car show a few weeks ago in a downtown area and 2 of the bike cops stopped and watched the FPV monitor over my shoulder and just kept talking about how cool it was.
 
Brad & Fatsmiles,
Thanks for taking time out to watch my videos, it's appreciated.

Both of you guys get it and so do a lot of other pilots. It's these forum cops that like to go around saying shoulda, coulda, woulda and what if. Well, it didn't and the local cops loved it too.

I remember reading on one forum where a guy flew over a large crowd and the forum cop came in and put his foot in his mouth by saying you could have hurt hundreds of people or even killed some. REALLY? At most a couple of people woulda, coulda gotten hurt.

https://vimeo.com/105456299

https://vimeo.com/107363433
 
Could you post a few details regarding that lens/modification to the GoPro?
Very intriguing... how does it look? Is it more weight on the front of the camera, if so did it cause any gimbal issues?
Thanks,
-Liam
 
LiamFrederick said:
Could you post a few details regarding that lens/modification to the GoPro?
Very intriguing... how does it look? Is it more weight on the front of the camera, if so did it cause any gimbal issues?
Thanks,
-Liam

Hello, Liam. Thanks for taking time to check out the videos. No issues what so ever with the H33D gimbal. Everything you need to know plus some very qualified people standing by to help is this thread. It's where I learned about everything and yes, I was nervous when I got started.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2057642
 
badbrad97 said:
I flew at a car show a few weeks ago in a downtown area and 2 of the bike cops stopped and watched the FPV monitor over my shoulder and just kept talking about how cool it was.

You're right about that. The cops seem to take the most interest in these quads.
 

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