A news report from Florida

[earthsciteach]

Well folks, this is what we are up against, apparently. Please take the time to watch this report, use a discriminating and critical eye, and draw your conclusions as to the validity of what is reported. I'd love to hear what you think.

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/lo...ida/-/1637132/20611692/-/seec0uz/-/index.html

 

[FlyingMonkey]

Just another case of why you can't trust the news you see on TV. They edited the footage, without telling the viewers what was actual footage, and what was doctored. At best the misreported the story, because the narrative they tell is not supported by the footage they had available.

The entire report was spun with an agenda.

Or it was staged, with an agenda.

 

[Fishbonez]

Just blows my mind makes my eyes bleed.
It proves the dumbing down of america. I honestly believe that this was staged just to many BS Factors in the story. The problem is people will and do believe its true.

 

[Cyberdactyl]

It appears the "reporter" found around $400 worth of quad and "DRONE CAM".

I would be a LOT more excited if I had lost it and someone delivered to my door.

This was painfully staged.

 

[FlyingMonkey]

It appears the "reporter" found around $400 worth of quad and "DRONE CAM".

I would be a LOT more excited if I had lost it and someone delivered to my door.

This was painfully staged.

$400 nothing. The camera would have been at least $300. The flight control system, with GPS was at least $400. He's running six motors and speed controls, and probably not budget ones, so he probably had $200 just the power plant.

But, now you're pushing $1000, and that doesn't sound quite so affordable/dangerous.

 

[Tritium]

It would appear to me that the News Media IS in violation of the voyeurism law since they broadcast this with the intent of ABUSE to all multirotor flyers!
Somebody down there file suit against them please!

Thurmond

 

[PaulT]

State Representative Dana Young is an idiot.
That is the only conclusion I can come to, from his statements.
Is there no euthanasia laws down there?
"I would not be surprised at all if people are abusing this technology,"
REALLY? Like the government? The CIA?
Sensationalism at its best!

 

[aiidanwings]

Sensationalism, maybe.. I can think of another word to better describe the act of using fear to control people.

 

[JasonEricAnderson]

Seriously doctored footage. "Drone Cam"?! I ran out of hands for facepalms watching this. I would like to see the actual footage without the zooms and such added by the 'News' team. "High definition video of this sunbather" then why is she zoomed in and pixelated so much that she looks like princess peach from Super Mario? That's not very high def.

What did I learn from this? Keep your electronics separated as far as you can on your airframe, just like David tells us. Now if he had had a Black Hornet Drone, that might have been something that people wouldn't have heard very well.

 

[aiidanwings]

My favorite part was when they said "...has state lawmakers worried about YOUR privacy."

 

[Cyberdactyl]

$400 nothing. The camera would have been at least $300. The flight control system, with GPS was at least $400. He's running six motors and speed controls, and probably not budget ones, so he probably had $200 just the power plant.

But, now you're pushing $1000, and that doesn't sound quite so affordable/dangerous.

Could be. But it appears to be the DJI F450 quad, more likely the F330 and a Gopro. From the crap res, it might be the low-end White Addition. But that kicks it up to around $550 as a lower end.

What irritates me is the reporter says the "Drone" is hovering "right above her", yet they have to do an extreme zoom to even see her. "We spent weeks tracking down the mystery pilot". So they found it on a Friday, and contacted him the middle of the next week. "The drone races toward an apartment window" yet they do another extreme zoom to make appear it STILL is only 30 or so feet away. And I don't see it wobbling at all when it's over the highway. geesh.

Your local news outlet doing cutting edge investigative reporting.

 

[Tritium]

Insert Don Henleys "Dirty Laundry" here!

Thurmond

 

[FlyingMonkey]

Could be. But it appears to be the DJI F450 quad, more likely the F330 and a Gopro. From the crap res, it might be the low-end White Addition. But that kicks it up to around $550 as a lower end.

What irritates me is the reporter says the "Drone" is hovering "right above her", yet they have to do an extreme zoom to even see her. "We spent weeks tracking down the mystery pilot". So they found it on a Friday, and contacted him the middle of the next week. "The drone races toward an apartment window" yet they do another extreme zoom to make appear it STILL is only 30 or so feet away. And I don't see it wobbling at all when it's over the highway. geesh.

Your local news outlet doing cutting edge investigative reporting.

Then they talk about it wobbling over the highway. It had not crossed over to the highway yet, it was off to one side. It wasn't wobbling, as someone else pointed out, it appeared to switch over to "return to home". Had crashed as they claimed, then it wouldn't have been nearly as intact as the video showed. They lead with "drone falls from the sky" yet there's no video from onboard the aircraft to show this.

 

[colorex]

Then they talk about it wobbling over the highway. It had not crossed over to the highway yet, it was off to one side. It wasn't wobbling, as someone else pointed out, it appeared to switch over to "return to home". Had crashed as they claimed, then it wouldn't have been nearly as intact as the video showed. They lead with "drone falls from the sky" yet there's no video from onboard the aircraft to show this.

Exactly - it "cut out" before any evidence of lost control could be noticed. Also, he was "just hovering over me" when he "lost control" and it went over the highway.

I wonder how much they paid him to do that.

 

[JasonEricAnderson]

This 'news' story has irked me more and more as I think about it.

Breaking it down:

• 00:00 Opens with go pro video of flying over apartment pool
  [Fairly sure news added "DRONE CAM" to the video]
  .
• 00:07 "That's a woman sunbathing right there completely unaware....hovering right above her."
  [post production zoom into an area around 20pixels high in the upper left corner of the frame all the way on the other side of the pool from the drone, NOT hovering above her]
  .
• 00:23 "We spent weeks tracking down the mystery pilot"
  [Weeks? Really? You knew where it 'crashed' you have all this video of it's flight and you have Google. Weeks?]
  .
• 00:32 "Each flight starts innocently enough..." Again with the 'DRONE CAM' video overlay.
  [So the camera has video from multiple flights? Weeks? Don't think there is a setting in the GOPRO for ADD DRONE CAM text to video]
  .
• 00:39 "Watch as it races toward an apartment window, getting within feet from the glass." Another digital zoom added in post production with an added WHOOOSH sound.
  [It actually looks like the pilot was starting to fly the gap between the buildings. '...feet from the glass'? At the point where they artificially zoom in, yeah, about 30 feet or more.]
  .
• 00:43 "Or look that sunbather, the high definition camera records her and she doesn't even look up" zoom in on the 20 pixel tall woman
  [Again on the other side of the pool from the quad]
  .
• 00:52 "...the drone wobbling over I4"
  [Quad is actually stable and appears to be turning away from the highway and at no point in the video they show does it actually go 'over I4']
  .
• 00:59 "...out of control.." "...seconds away from crashing..."
  [Looking at the video it does NOT look 'out of control' but rather just turning.]
  .
• 01:05 "... but the camera cuts out right before that happens..."
  [So there is no video of it crashing, how convenient.]
  .
• 01:06 "This is the drone." A news person holds a quad copter up to the camera
  [From the looks of it it is a quad with GPS, a GoPro Hero3, ]
  .
• 01:10 "How did we get it? Well a local 6 employee was walking down this side walk..."
  [I find it odd they don't mention the employee's name or any details at all like 'John Doe, an administrator here at Local 6 news...' I've heard this type of detail when someone from our local news becomes part of a news story.]
  .
• 01:25 "...this guy. By carefully analyzing the video we found out exactly where he lives."
  [Yes, and by looking at the apartment number you clearly show in the video 1142 and his name, and the name of the apartment complex you mention later, now you've shared his address with everyone else. I'm sure he was fine with you sharing all of that personal information.]
  .
• 02:06 "...the electronics onboard interfered with each other giving the drone a mind of its own. And sending it of all places over I4" More 'DRONE CAM' footage
  [SARCASM: And now it will connect with SKYNET and start Judgement Day. 'A MIND OF ITS OWN'? Seriously?! Again the video shown fails to show it over the highway]
  .
• 03:32 "I would not be surprised at all if people were abusing this technology." Dana Young
  [Because anything can be abused and misused. Like you know, cell phone cameras.]

I would have liked to hear the pilot's whole story and see the unedited footage. Personally, any airframe that I put together with that much gear on it will have my cell phone number on the side just incase.

 

[crlock]

you guys should do something (i don't live in the us, so i don't know how to help you), they are clearly misleading the public, in an attempt to put people against hobbyist or simply to induce fear. Sooner rather than later people will start shooting down everything that resemble a "drone"

irresponsible journalism like this makes me sick, the editing, the shameless "Drone Cam" graphics!! and not to mention "the pilot" what a shame, if they edited his comments, then shame on the "news station" but if he accepted some kind of payment for his comments... that is a shame.

 

[earthsciteach]

Beautiful analysis, Jason. I'd like to add that there would be absolutely NO reason for the GoPro video to cut out before the "crash." That is, unless by insane coincidence the card on the camera was filled just at the point where the copter fell to Earth.

The above critique should be posted in response the video on the website!

 

[JasonEricAnderson]

The above critique should be posted in response the video on the website!

Done.

 

[earthsciteach]

Awesome!

 

[Cyberdactyl]

Yes, along with Jason's comment, the bottom of the news page is now populated with comments the story was a tad exaggerated.

* * * * * * * * *

Ok. . .back with an edit. It took them "weeks". It took me minutes.

Here's the location. If you have google earth, just run the kmz HERE.

Or go to 28 degrees 39' 23.22"N and 81 degrees 23'00.79"W

If it truly took them weeks, someone needs to find another line of work. I went purely off the mention of I-4 and an orange roof near the highway.