Just caught this on a Babbler Board - solar powered radar drones being installed along Nor Cal roads.

http://www.radarbusters.com/news/current/r...adar-drones.asp

Glad to see that they didn't go with the first Drone design.





Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!

nothing a .22 rifle won't take care of

QUOTE (MikeP @ Jul 11 2005, 10:24 AM)

nothing a .22 rifle won't take care of

Your hired!

That's kind of interesting. I'm assuming that these are all dummy
transmitters are not actually being used for speed tracking and
ticketing along with cameras.
About 20 years ago, several states proposed doing this along
highways to slow down drivers by tricking their radar detectors.

The FCC and the courts eventually declared that this was not a
valid use of the radio frequency since the frequency was specificially
reserved for "real" radar tracking devices and the dummy radar
trasmitters were not actually being used for anything but emitting
a radio signal and were declared to be illegal radio transmitters.

I'm not how they are now getting around this.
Perhaps, over the course of 20 years people have long forgotten
this, rules have been changed, or there is some BS in the something
like the Patriot Act that allows this kind of stuff.

I would encourage people to look around and do some research
because I bet that even today, there are some FCC issues with
doing this.


--- Bill

yup. i've noticed this already on my drives from SF to palo alto. my detector is constantly having a k-band orgasm.

doesn't matter as i now drive 55 to try and save gas.

A can of black spray paint will render the solar panels inop. That should quickly discourage the owners from leaving them out unattended.



This reminds me of the city I live in. They put a cop car in the median of the freeway with a couple of manequins sitting in it and a running radar gun.

About a week later, they found the cruiser up on blocks with no engine, transmission. All the electronics had been stolen, and to top it all off, the manequins were posed with their pants around their ankles, one bent over the hood of the car and the other posed like it's a$$raping the other.

This made the local news, but they didn't show the manequins.

The city never tried it again.

Oh, I don't need a radar overcast. As an American, I have a right to speed, and to get full service, from a Homo
sapien.


M

I just wonder how long before night time raids on those things start occuring. If these things see a rash of vandalism, which I would expect, state of California better halt the program. We cant waste money on this silly stuff. Especally on the Autoban of the SF Bay Area

You would think some wacky enviromental group could come up with a health concern about constant on radar assaulting people for miles. Or maybe some endangered bird or bat migh be effected by radar?

QUOTE (grantsfo @ Jul 11 2005, 11:52 AM)

You would think some wacky enviromental group could come up with a health concern about constant on radar assaulting people for miles. Or maybe some endangered bird or bat migh be effected by radar?

probably less of a health/environmental concern than a certain red, carbed 914 spewing out noxious exhaust at 98db going 115mph.


damn that k-band!

I'd be happy to help organize some re-painting of the state's radar drones. White just isn't in anymore. Black is. If it's not black, it's carrot top!

Or maybe hot pink. Think that'd stick out? Or orange, yellow or red... Hell, lets just repaint them all whatever color is on sale!

I sent an email to SNAFU alerting them of this. Stir the pot.



(SNAFU is the San Francisco Antenna Free Union).

Do these little monsters sit right next to the road? If so, balloons filled with paint would make the work quicker.

Or even paint ball guns.

Visible vandalism won't cure the problem. It will be obvious that something has been done and then it will get repaired. Instead, how about either snipping the wire to the solar panel or covering the antenna opening with a piece of foil. Or if its a horn antenna just stuff some alumium foil in there.

Better yet, these things are probably cheapo Gunn diode oscillators in a cavity that is tuned by a screw. It would probably be tough to get into the thing and tune the screw, but you could probably tune it well out of the K band that radar detectors look for. This would still show up as a functioning unit when they go to check them if all they are looking for is some microwave energy. The chances that they use a 24 GHz frequency counter to verify operation is probably low.

-Tony

My wife commutes along 280 and uses the 911 in nice weather. The 911 has a built in radar detector (special order item apparently).

Over the weekend she was complaining about getting false readings all the time on 280 recently. This explains it.

Bastards

Richard

these things are located way up high on overhead signs and such. ain't no way you're gonna get to them.

Here's what a friend found on the Los Altos police page:

Radar Drones - A radar device that is mounted on a utility pole or in a parked vehicle, which emits a constant radar signal intended to activate radar detectors used by motorists to avoid speeding citations.

Pros - Relatively inexpensive devices that do not require constant monitoring by police personnel. Will encourage compliance with speed laws by drivers using radar detectors.

Cons - Of little value in metropolitan areas due to the limited effectiveness of radar detectors in high-volume traffic environments. The common use of radar equipment by municipal police, sheriff and Highway Patrol departments in these areas provides fairly constant propagation of radar signals that activate radar detectors regardless of whether radar is being used in the immediate area for speed measuring purposes.

Do not always bet that the readings would be false, If I was a CHP I would sit by one of these and use the real radar. But then you might get a different kid of radar hit. I know my valentine can pick up if there is more than one unit.

mike

I wonder if a CHP officer has any communications link to an "active" radar drone. In any case, this sucks because I often cruise at 80 mph on 280. This is for the cops:

Oh yeah, one more thing: They call it Hwy 280 because the speed limit is up 2 80.

I'm usually on the freeway doing 80... keeping up with someone or following them.

It'd be nice if someone could get some paint on those solar panels...

why have them solar powered if they are actually being used. Wouldn't it make more sense to just have them powered by the police? something like power over ethernet, only it would be power-over-dronewire

I doubt they are legel if they are nothing more than a 10 or 24 ghz beacon. The FCC will most likely weigh in on this.

But with the way the courts, etc, Feds, etc are ruling these days, they can probably get away from it.

Found in today's San Jose Mercury News. They call it a traffic reporting system. Yeah right.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews...ow/12112101.htm

I swear that the "deer warning system" i've seen in IL and IN with radar guns are nothing more than drones. Same with the "construction" signs in non-construction areas again with drones attached. :-)

Okay, so it's for traffic reporting only however with your radar detector going off every time you pass by one of these things, you have no idea if its a drone or a cop. Did I mention that I don't like (or trust) cops?

Hmmm, very timely thread. My detector was having K band fits the last couple of days. I started looking up when it went off. I saw utility lines with delta shaped mesh objects with antennas sprouting out. Kinda like the model foil helmet Miles' wears....

I figured it was some kind of spoof.....most local yokel PDs use K band, but I was in an area exclusively patrolled by CHP which uses Ka band.

X is mostly used by the "how fast are you going" trailers (new ones use K) and door openers at K Mart.....

Soon, they will be tagging, and then releasing us back into the wild.


M

QUOTE (bperry @ Jul 11 2005, 10:43 AM)

The FCC and the courts eventually declared that this was not a valid use of the radio frequency since the frequency was specificially reserved for "real" radar tracking devices and the dummy radar trasmitters were not actually being used for anything but emitting a radio signal and were declared to be illegal radio transmitters.

That is what I had always thought but apparently it changed in '91. Found this:

USDOT/NHTSA directive DOT HS 897 753, August 1991, page 5, “At NHTSA’s request, the FCC has recently reconsidered its policy and will permit the use of unattended, continuously radiating radar, i.e. radar drones. The Commission continues to require that any radar units used in drone operation must be type accepted and licensed, by the Commission.”

tom...

QUOTE (redshift @ Jul 12 2005, 02:33 PM)

Soon, they will be tagging, and then releasing us back into the wild. M

Isnt that what CA is trying to do with in-vehicle GPS units that call home [DMV]?

How about we build some child molester drones, and let the honest guy enjoy his car? I know that's CRAZY and maybe I should be admonishd for thinking it, but my speeding has yet to kill, mame, disfigure, or even cause a nervous breakdown, much less RUIN some innocent childs life. Pigs you'll never catch me alive Andele, Andele, Arriba, Arriba Yehaha

the trouble with is that the real idiots are unaffected. I drive this road twice a week, used to be 5 times until I got lucky and can telecommute, and the racer wanna be's are still cutting back and forth across 4 lanes of traffic to get one or two cars down the road.

and of course the giant suv's will still tailgate you "because they can". If you ever had to do an emergency stop in a 914 you would be dead.

The whole idea of using radar drones to set off radar detectors is foolish. What percentage of motorists actually have radar detectors? 5%? Less? How long until everyone realizes that it's drones and not a CHP?

Traffic monitoring makes more sense. But I don't know what the real story is.

Thanks for the radio pollution, assholes.

This is retarded.... somebody made a few grand selling those things to somebody in the gov....

I try not to speed but do drive a little "fun."

btw, their need to control speed is somewhat legit.... 44k people died in car accidents last year. Now im sure there's a stat for people dying while making coffee or taking a crap too that would be suprising, probably more people died taking a crap last year than soldiers did in iraq, but you wont see that on the news.

The whole drones sending out K is just a big signal that people in general have all gotten fat stupid and lazy in this country... so much so that they dont even feel like hiring real cops to take care of something, just um, let the drones do it.... I hate photo radar and any other sort of passive "gotcha"

Next thing you know we'll get a ticket printing out of the f'n wall for swearing like on Judge Dred!

.22 - screw it, get out the ak or 45

Yeah....makes sense.....guy/gal in a hotrod crams on the brakes instinctively when a detector goes off.....and some dork who's tail gaiting, sipping on a latte and/or geting a blow job in a heavy ass SUV with inadequate brakes piles into the rear....makes a lot of fucking sense.

To the asshole that thought this up....

I've driven past them...on diff occasions.....they seem to pulse....from nothing to full on beam.....a detector with SCREAM....it's like a kid in the back seat that dropped a hot chocolate in their lap.

just drove 280 tonight, they were off. i figured that they could store their solar power, guess not...


speed all you want at night!!!!!