My reviews on some quadcopteres (drones)

[papux]

Check them here Pick Your Drone Never Buy The Wrong Drone Again pickyourdrone.com

 

[Delta4Embassy]

I remember when radio-controlled toys were called radio-controlled toys.

 

[waltky]

Granny says she don't like drones peekin' inna window when she takin' a bath...

Drone owner calls shooter 'drone slayer'
Sep 13, 2015 - The man who owned a drone shot down by his neighbor calls him a "drone slayer." "Stop telling everybody we was hovering in his yard and in his neighbor's too because it just didn't happen," David Boggs, the owner of the drone said.

The man who shot the drone, William H. Merideth, 47, said it was hovering over his fenced-in yard where his two daughters were sitting outside. Merideth said he shot it down because he felt it was an invasion of privacy and that he was concerned about his family’s safety. "We live in a society now where we don't know what these people are doing," Merideth said. "We don't know if they are pedophiles looking for kids, we don't know if they are thieves, we don't know if it is Isis."

The drone that was being flown by David John Boggs and was shot down by William Merideth.​

Boggs has a different version of what happened. He shared video of his drone's tracking device, given to him by the drone company. He claims it shows the drone did not hover over the home, but rather flew by at more than 250 feet. A neighbor told WAVE 3 News the drone did hover over the property. "If he would have shot it with a shotgun from 10 feet, it would have destroyed it."

Boggs also said the drone, which is estimated at a value of $1,800, was shot while flying over a field, not Merideth's home. Boggs also said he has a right to fly his drone. The story has made national headlines, and some call Merideth a hero, fighting for privacy rights. Meredith does regret how he reacted with Hillview Police. "That officer did an excellent job of keeping a bad situation from getting worse," he said. Both men say the facts will prove they're right.

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Man charged after shooting down drone
Aug 05, 2015 - A man is facing charges after he used a shotgun to shoot down a drone. Hillview police arrested William H. Merideth, 47, at his home on July 26.

Hillview Police say this was a first for them. While officers say they can understand Merideth's concern for privacy, they stand behind the charges. Along Earlywood Way in Bullitt County, neighbors couldn't ignore a certain buzz Sunday evening. “What is that?” neighbor Cindy Diebold wondered. “Then you see this thing fly by.” Diebold said for the first time in person, she saw a drone and what looked like a camera, on board. “What in the world are they looking for?,” she said.

She wasn't the only one on the block concerned about the tiny unmanned aircraft. So was Merideth, especially when he says it stopped to hover over his fenced in backyard where his two daughters were sitting outside. “I wanted to see if it was going to stay there and it did and I reacted,” Merideth said. Merideth says he went and got his 12 gauge shotgun and took matters into his own hands. “They had it low enough that he hit it,” Diebold said. “It's an invasion of privacy,” Merideth said. “We were in our own yard, had he been flying around and never stopped over my house, we wouldn't be having this conversation.”

So are there rules for drones? The FAA strongly encourages those flying for hobby or recreation to follow certain safety guidelines. Some include fly below 400 feet, keep the aircraft within your sight at all times, and do not fly near people. A spokesperson tells WAVE 3 News, it would be up to law enforcement agencies to enforce. After Merideth shot the drone down, he says he was approached by four men. “They were pretty irate,” Merideth said. “Some words were exchanged, 'Was I the guy that did it?' I said 'Absolutely' and the four of them started this way and I let them know that I would defend my property.”

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[waltky]

Judge comes down on side of drone shooter...

Judge rules man had right to shoot down drone over his house
Technically Incorrect: A Kentucky judge dismisses all charges against William Merideth, saying the drone was an invasion of privacy.

It was a case that gripped the nation. Or at least Kentucky. Should it have temporarily escaped your pressured memory, William Merideth in July said he saw a drone flying above his property in Hillview, Kentucky. He believed it was spying on his 16-year-old daughter who was sunbathing in the garden. So he took out his shotgun and blasted the drone out of the sky. He was arrested for wanton endangerment and criminal mischief. Now a Kentucky court has declared Merideth an innocent man. Bullitt County District Court Judge Rebecca Ward on Monday dismissed all charges against Merideth, reported local TV station WDRB-TV.

The drone's owner, David Boggs, had produced flight data that insisted his machine had been flying higher than Merideth had claimed. The judge, however, seems not a fan of big data. She's a woman of the people. She declared that two human witnesses saw the drone below the tree line. This evidence was, to her, conclusive. To her, this was an invasion of Merideth's privacy. Amateur drones hovering willy-nilly have disturbed more than just private citizens. Airline pilots' reports of drone close-calls on takeoff and landing have increased exponentially over the past year.

This summer, amateur drones flew over California wildfires, purely to capture dramatic pictures. This grounded helicopters which were desperately trying to drop water on the flames. There's still a $75,000 reward for anyone who leads authorities to those responsible. The FAA's recommendations include not flying above 400 feet. "Don't be careless or reckless with your unmanned aircraft -- you could be fined for endangering people or other aircraft," the agency adds. For his part, Merideth believes his case should never have gone to court. "I don't encourage people to just go out and start blasting stuff for no reason," he told WDRB. "But three times in one day, three times over the course of a year, six times total, over one property? That's not right, that's harassment." Boggs is reportedly considering his legal options.

Once Amazon and other retailers begin their deliveries by drone, there will surely be an almost permanent buzzing in the sky. How will people know whether the thing that's overhead is spying on them or merely delivering fresh underwear or zucchini to the nice people next door. Every time technology thinks it's solving a problem, or at least creating new forms of entertainment, it brings with it new annoyances and potential for conflict. This isn't necessarily a good thing in a nation where so many people own guns.

Judge rules man had right to shoot down drone over his house