Posted on 11/24/2007 1:02:06 PM PST by stevie_d_64
Oh that's a bothersome sentence. Let's worry about the rules later! Good grief.
Houston police contacted KPRC from the test site, claiming the entire airspace was restricted by the Federal Aviation Administration. Police even threatened action from the FAA if the Local 2 helicopter remained in the area. However, KPRC reported it had already checked with the FAA on numerous occasions and found no flight restrictions around the site, a point conceded by Montalvo.I could’ve smelled that lie a mile away.
What’s to stop terrorists or the cartels from developing their own rc flying gadgets? Can you imagine the skies over the border (or for that matter a large metro area) filled with tiny little jet fighters, midget bomb-laden race cars or mini Apaches with even tinnier missiles, doing battle day and night? Welcome to the future?
In terms of border us, UAVs would be deployed nearby. They don't need long runways and there is also control and range issues. Possibly there could be some restricted airspace around border imposed to allow them to work.
There are Helicopter UAVs both in the USN (Firescout) and being used as crop dusters (RMAX).
The real issue is how to keep the UAV away from other users. If sense and avoid can not be solved in a practical manner (and it wont for some time IMO), then the UAV will have to carry a fairly sophisticated 3-D map of where it is allowed and where it is not. Not hard, but not trivial either. Remember that the hardware and data need to be robust since there are lives at stake.
If you are concerned about hamming, another key issue is GPS. If it goes down or is lost, that kind of UAV is clueless as to where it is. Most do not have inertial navigation systems due to cost and weight
In terms of control stations, there are means of doing hand offs between control stations and doing relaying. No magic there. If someone was spoofing or jamming command radios, the FCC would be on it rapidly, since its a serious safety issue. That said, its doable, all it take are watts. Presumptively the control signals themselves are authenticated and encrypted to insure that a hostile takeover is not possible.
Stae and local agencies do that all the time, and generally get ignored. Only the FAA can do that, and its nothing they do at the drop of the hat. Police agencies may *ask* that you keep clear, but that is about it.
KPRC needs to cram this down HPD’s throat quite publically.
They want more toys for writing more traffic tickets (it is embedded in the article details) but this city is a “safe harbor” for illegal aliens.
They will enforce the laws that they select to enforce and tax/fine the populace to fund more wasteful projects.
And the DA doesn’t give a damn about laws permitting you to carry a gun. He IS the law. And don’t try telling him about no F-A-A.
I do believe there is a Muslim group living north of Houston, last I heard they were going to build a Mosque and the locals were going to have pig races next door.
I can understand having these UAVs circling over any Islamic camps here in the US or down on the border, as far in as such for drug interdiction and or crop spotting why would anyone want to stop that?
HPD doesn’t have jurisdiction on the border. They won’t be used down there. Gov. Goodhair (R-INO) is putting up webcams on the border instead.
And don’t expect them to be flying them over the mosque. That is Homeland Security’s job.
This is for harassing the locals and traffic enforcement. Read the article and not just the mandatory excerpt.
Safety above security...I believe we were always on the same page there despite my rants implying the contrary...
;-)
The FAA, if they are smart will not back down on that issue one bit, no matter how hard the pressure is for them to do so...
The whole useage issue at the border to me is actually a more workable deal...As long as the data gained is used right then and there by boots on the ground...
Otherwise the program is a complete waste of time and money...
Agreed, good stuff...
I just don’t think anything is un-spoofable...But that falls into the safety issue we agree on...
I just believe the way this all has been demonstrated to the HPD and other VIP’s, is just so that when it is officially unveiled, it will be difficult for the naysayers to have any real chance to make a dent in the ever present Houston “Awwww, but we’ve done so much work on this already! We can’t cancel it now!?!?!” crowd...
If they had been a little more open about why they want this, and how they are going to pay for it...It might have been at least a straight up fight, but they ducked behind the bushes and tried to sneek it by...
Whats the saying???
“That dawg don’t hunt!”
Thats why there are going to be a few calls tomorrow morning...
Just to make a few polite “WTH” inquiries...
That’s just about all we can do...
Besides, I can get 3 minutes before counsel, and that is an eternity with what I simply have to say about this...It won’t be my first dance there...
Don;t you love it when it all starts to come together???
The pieces fall into place and the picture gets painted all by itself almost!
$60 million budget windfall...And a few months later, a nice littel demonstrations of some wiz-bang UAV system to be used for traffic and mobility observation...
They are so full of crap I need to don my hip-waders!
At least if they were halfway (brutally) honest with us...There are actually enough stupid people in this area that would either not notice, or not care enough to not bless the intrusive capability of these systems...
But thats just my opinion...
“You can’t handle the truth.”
Besides the powers that be in Houston never answer to the public. As the Clintons say “Sit down, shut up, and let me talk.”
When Houston voters voted Mayor Bill White into office, he began to push a lot of extra laws on the citizens of Houston and brought Police Chief Harold Hurtt to implement his ideas into the community.
For instance:
Slashdot.com |
Houston Police Chief Wants Cameras in Homes - Houston Police Chief Wants Cameras in Homes - article related to Privacy
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/02/18/066218
Mayor White, Hurtt, and the City Council also approved the police using tazers as soon as Hurtt was brought into his position.
Also - They got a law called Safe Clear which was used to clear stalled cars - but ran into problems when two people were killed because of that law which failed to give the owners of the stalled cars a choice about how to clear their cars.
In Houston the situation is just going to get worse as long as Mayor White, Hurtt, and the same City Council is elected over and over.
Now it’s this drone situation which is another questionable tactic.
Houston Police Chief Wants Cameras in Homes - Houston Police Chief Wants Cameras in Homes - article related to Privacy
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/02/18/066218
I remember that...At the very least they should have fired the dunderhead (on the spot) for uttering such a stupid idea...
I think we can survive for a while without a politician with a badge in times like these...Especially in this city...
See, the ACLU is good for something after all. I keep trying to tell people that.
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