Military use of drones and surveillance have exploded in popularity over the past decade. The reasons are obvious. Unmanned drones – being unmanned – help save American lives. The perspective of several hundred feet to a few thousand feet certainly provides insight as to what is going on in the area. The fact that unmanned drones can also be weaponized makes military drones a major combat multiplier in our Armed Forces.
Drones are not only for the military. The quality of civilian drones is constantly going up while pricing has been fairly steady or even trending downward slightly. A great example of a civilian drone with real uses for the prepper is the Phantom 3 Standard. Running under $400 on sale the Phantom 3 Standard provide exception ease of flight and real-time camera viewing. Of course it also records during flight and the camera’s angles can be adjusted during flight.
A friend of mine recently purchased a Phantom 3 Standard and has shared his flight video’s with me. Impressive! I wanted to post one here however file size was rather large so check out the video below. It provides a good overview of the capabilities of a $500 drone. Remember – all the footage can be seen by the pilot in real-time.
I believe in short order I’ll have a Phantom 3 Standard on a bench in my garage. Besides preparedness – these things are FUN!!
Rourke
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Need clean water?
I remember mentioning on here to PR, about using a drone retreat security.
Great!
Welcome to the Drone zone. We have 7 and one, a fixed wing (RV Jet) will stay up nearly 3 hours on the pattern I assign it–quietly monitoring an area. It will also fly just over 20 miles from where launched.
A few months ago I stuck a simplex repeater on a Phantom 3 advanced and popped it up to 400 feet. The repeater hit 51 miles away from a handheld on the ground on GMRS UHF. Impressive.
Now, thermal cameras are getting affordable.adding a powerful detection capability.
Have fun.
PB
I’ve been looking at that simplex repeater trial as well. Cool!
I wouldn’t mind having a squadron of them, you know (property surveillance, airborne repeater, electronic countermeasures) etc.
Yup. While the Phantom gets all the press (for good reason-their sales are 10 times the nearest competitor), other products like the 3DR Solo that use the Pixhawk flight controller, can do much more because of the Ardupilot interface they use.
Hoping to add a drone this year. This one looks really good.
Any information on the Just Right Carbine? I have a Ruger Camp Carbine in 45 that I love. Thought it might be nice to have one in 9mm.
– Keep Looking UP
JBernDrApt – no info on the JRC. For some reason I do not have any interest on an AR in 9mm. Hey – that could change. Maybe its just I want to have something different. Maybe an AR pistol in 9mm would be pretty cool.
JR,
I hear you on the 9mm AR but…
If,
You want to pair with a side arm with interchangeable mags
And If,
You need a short range weapon for 200 meters or less (i.e in the south)
And if,
You want to suppress the weapon at some point
And if,
You’re seeking velocity gains that are pretty impressive for a pistol round.
Then, the 9mm is a good choice. Out of my 92FS, I got ~900 FPS. Out of my Thureon Defense I got 1430 FPS with the same load. That’s .357 velocity.
PB
Oh I agree PB. I may look at a 9mm AR later this year.
Sounds like a good add. Of course in my thinking, it’s also something to be defended against potentially. They can be used offensively as a force multiplier just like most defensive weapons. I’m sure civilian can be jammed … And I’m sure military are more hardened. Though I don’t know Thier domestic plans for drones, I am sure it’s been considered and added. Time to get research in…
The Phantom 3 standard does not use lightbridge. If you pay a wee bit more and go wire the Phantom 3 advsnced, you get a better camera and 5 times the range over a standard. The good news is they’re still cheap because they’re older models. BTW, the signal is very difficult to jam–frequency hopping spread spectrum.
PB
Thanks for all the info Patriot Believer.
gg58 – I think the chance that someone in your area may have the capability to jam any drone you have is extremely remote. I see for someone such as yourself a drone being extremely remote. More likely bird shot.
JR on an average guy you are right .. especially in my area (very rural). As I read it the primary signals used on civilian Drones is the same band width and freqs as you cordless phones and wireless routers. Between two and three separate signals to from other functions.separate command and control
http://www.jammer-store.com/drones-frequencies
Those signals can be jammed for 250.00 to 500.00 out of the box. The more sophisticated the more north the price.
http://jammers4u.com/drones-jammer
or build your own
http://www.qrz.ru/schemes/contribute/security/jammers/drone-jammer.pdf
(note the country web site address)
I am sure there is more to read.and given they are LOS, then ,limited in scope and range, for the small dollar ones. I am positive it would be good for sneaky locals or monitoring critters (2 and 4 legged). Like a mobile game cam essentially, only real time.
I suspect military radios and drones are a good deal different in the radio’s they employ etc… I suspect that the mil and maybe LEO type are capable of jamming if need be. But as an early warning measure they still make a good security measure.
Good post though.. It made me read and learn a little, and maybe add something to my list.
GG58
Our adult daughter just suggested we get a drone to be a security tool for our farm property.What does a small one cost? I am concerned that someone would shoot it down. Ideas ? Thanks.Lightning
Look gents,
There’s LOTS more to know about the usefulness of these things–both by patriots and by threats. This will not go away and will only continue to grow. There is much we as a nation are doing to defeat them as threats (which is incredibly tough) and to use them to take the fight to the enemy. Warfare as we know it has changed…