Suspicious subjects in car chased away by drone

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I live at the entrance of a cul-de-sac and have a through street on the side of my house. This section of street is only a half block long. The only thing facing the street are the block side walls of the houses- no way to enter a home from here. There is no reason to park here as people visiting pull around the corner to the front of the house they are visiting.

One of my security cameras faces this area. For several months I have seen cars park here late at night and shut their lights off. Nobody gets out of the cars. I have discovered some people are doing drugs and sometimes the wild thing right on the side of my house.

Late last night another car arrived, backed up away from the street light, parked and shut its lights off. After several minutes I decided it was time for a "drone-intervention".
Solo is in for RMA, so I grabbed my Syma X8C which is modded with strobing red, green, and white led's. I took off from my back yard, rose vertically to about 50 feet and slowly moved over the top of the car. I descended to about 20 feet AGL, while moving towards the front of the car. From here, the occupants could hear the roar of the motors and had a sky full of flashing lights in front of them.

After a few seconds, the engine fired up and the car took off without its lights. It raced out of the neighborhood and never returned! I wonder if the strobing white light made them think they were being photographed? I don't know what they thought but they couldn't leave fast enough! Very funny!:)
 
I wonder if the strobing white light made them think they were being photographed? I don't know what they thought but they couldn't leave fast enough! Very funny!:)
Maybe they thought it was a UFO?
 
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I'm thinking about putting some really bright LED "headlights" on Solo to see if I can film anything at night with the GoPro. It's really not any good in the dark or in dim light unless you do a long exposure.
 
Meanwhile, in Oregon, outdoor marijuana growers have been using drones to watch over their grass, too lol.
I'm seeing a common thread here..hmm.
If drones could carry more weight, I'm sure they would be flying north across the southern border carrying some "alfalfa".
 
I'm thinking about putting some really bright LED "headlights" on Solo to see if I can film anything at night with the GoPro. It's really not any good in the dark or in dim light unless you do a long exposure.
It actually does a much better job at night with pictures instead of video. You could always set it to shoot continuous stills and there would be a few worth keeping.
 
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Have you tried to call the police when they first park? That may also help.
 
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It actually does a much better job at night with pictures instead of video. You could always set it to shoot continuous stills and there would be a few worth keeping.
I didn't know that- I'll try it out!
 
Have you tried to call the police when they first park? That may also help.
I have but they never show up before the vehicle leaves, which is kinda funny because we live 3 blocks from the sub-station that patrols this area.
I ignored them in the beginning but it seems like "word" is getting out that this is a good place to park. I want to nip this in the bud so it doesn't turn into a bigger problem.

Also, I never know if they're going to jump over my fence into the back yard.
 
Post pictures of the car and close ups of the license plate in your lawn warning neighbors of suspicious activity. I doubt they will come back :) It's all in public view on public land, so you can film them no problem :)
 
I live at the entrance of a cul-de-sac and have a through street on the side of my house. This section of street is only a half block long. The only thing facing the street are the block side walls of the houses- no way to enter a home from here. There is no reason to park here as people visiting pull around the corner to the front of the house they are visiting.

One of my security cameras faces this area. For several months I have seen cars park here late at night and shut their lights off. Nobody gets out of the cars. I have discovered some people are doing drugs and sometimes the wild thing right on the side of my house.

Late last night another car arrived, backed up away from the street light, parked and shut its lights off. After several minutes I decided it was time for a "drone-intervention".
Solo is in for RMA, so I grabbed my Syma X8C which is modded with strobing red, green, and white led's. I took off from my back yard, rose vertically to about 50 feet and slowly moved over the top of the car. I descended to about 20 feet AGL, while moving towards the front of the car. From here, the occupants could hear the roar of the motors and had a sky full of flashing lights in front of them.

After a few seconds, the engine fired up and the car took off without its lights. It raced out of the neighborhood and never returned! I wonder if the strobing white light made them think they were being photographed? I don't know what they thought but they couldn't leave fast enough! Very funny!:)
I am so doing this! I have a very similar situation and that's a great Idea, Love it Ill post my vid, if I get the chance to do it!
 
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Post pictures of the car and close ups of the license plate in your lawn warning neighbors of suspicious activity. I doubt they will come back :) It's all in public view on public land, so you can film them no problem :)
I just don't have a camera that works well in the dark. I'll try taking still pics when Solo comes back, but I think it would need to be pretty close to get a pic of the license plate.

I'll do some testing and post the results.
 

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