Greg Albrecht W2GMD

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726 Posts
Public Safety Hacker & EMT

How common are drones (UAV, UAS) in urban environments?

Pretty common.

Here's a map showing drone detections in my neighborhood (Ocean Beach / Outer Sunset, San Francisco, CA USA) for the past ~2 weeks [since December 1 of this year (2024)].

Each dot represents a detection, and there are more than 20 unique drones pictured on this map.

I'm two weeks into owning my first 3D printer, a Bambu P1S, and I've already bought a companion X1C. That's how much I love this thing.
SOMETIMES XZ IS THE REAL LZMALIB
A couple of folks have asked how we captured the Drone Remote ID data: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrgKVNHT3uU
C-UAS with COTS: Build a Drone detection & tracking system with commercial off the shelf components.

YouTube

We've been capturing Drone Remote ID data in San Francisco for the past month, and one thing is clear: People fly drones every day (no surprise!)

What is interesting is that these tracks (and more) were captured by the single sensor we have in place near SF General Hospital ZSFG - our longest Drone detection was > 2 Miles away! I can imagine that a wider distribution of sensors would see more activity across the city.

C-UAS with COTS: Build a Drone detection & tracking system with commercial off the shelf components.

Counter Uncrewed Aerial Systems (C-UAS) with Commercial Off The Shell Components (COTS).

In this video I demonstrate a system for detecting & tracking UAS, built from COTS components and free & open-source software. This system can capture & analyze FAA Remote ID using WiFi 2.4 GHz, and many drones & UAS are now mandated by the FAA to support Remote ID.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrgKVNHT3uU

C-UAS with COTS: Build a Drone detection & tracking system with commercial off the shelf components.

YouTube
Survived 72 hours at the in-laws. AMA
Tomorrow (Saturday) @ 3 PM in Salon 2 at Pacificon in San Ramon, CA - I'll be presenting "TAK for Amateur Radio". We'll have case studies, real world examples. Heck, I may even tempt fate with a Live Demo! For more Details on Pacificon: https://www.pacificon.org
Pacificon 2024

PACIFICONâ„  2024 October 18-20 San Ramon Marriott 2600 Bishop Drive San Ramon, CA 94583

He was wearing Crocs.