What does this picture show ?

[cliff4278]

Hi, Prior to Sunday morning I had never heard of Tello drones, but on Sunday I found one in my backyard.
The owner (a neighbor) rang the doorbell. I took a photo of it which I will attach and gave him his drone - but I told him I didn't like that it was sent into our backyard.
I've looked about on the web but don't see any images quite like this one.
What is the piece which is sticking out to the right ? Is that a battery which has popped out or some sort of other adapter ?
Thanks

 

[BIGBAD]

Hi Cliff
That black object sticking out is the battery. It should slot into the body of the quad

Cheers

 

[volate!lo]

the drone on the photo is upside down, and the battery was ejected.
Consider Tello a toy just like a ball or some throw glider plane. Its harmless But if he looses Tello again he will probably send bigger drones for a SAR mission ;-)

 

[cliff4278]

Thanks for your replies.

Not sure I agree with you that a camera equipped drone is harmless.
I've spent a good part of this afternoon reading drone privacy issues.
We live in Mexico, but it remarkable how similar the laws are with the US - in many cases identical wording.
Used to be (2017) Mexico prohibited using any drones flying over people and animals. In 2019 they took that out of the law and now only 'micro' drones (your Tello) can fly over people (but not if the group is of 12 or more people).
I'm not too worried about such a little drone hurting me - well unless it came up on my back while I was on a tall ladder.
We just got done planting a tall bamboo hedge (for privacy) and now we have to worry about drones !!

The worst part of it is you can't always be watching for a drone.
Am I correct that the Tello drone really isn't practical for night use AND all image/video content is somehow sent back to the operator's cell phone and there is no storage on the device itself ?

Thanks

 

[volate!lo]

Tello is unstable in any sort wind. So its likely Tello was blown over by a little gust or by controller error in which case I would not be worried. Just like a ball or some other toy sometimes happens to land in the neighbor's garden.
If my neighbor complained about my kid's Tello I'd think he was kidding

Now if it was sent over intentionally for "spying" I'd have a serious talk with my kids about privacy concerns.

But if we are talking about adult neighbors Tello isn't the right choice for spying anyway. Its a nice and capable toy, not much more. If I wanted to spy on my neighbor I'd position a Mavic zoom 50m above my own property and get much clearer video both day and night.

Tello can't do any night flights as the position sensor requires good ambient light. Videos and photos are sent to the phone, no internal storage. Videos are fairly low quality and junk in low light, photos are good but also only in good light.

 

[cliff4278]

I know nothing of telephony - but - does the Tello broadcast a wifi SSID ? I know for example my Roku device does and I can not disable the broadcast. From time to time I scan the wifi area around our house to check how 'busy' it is and channel use etc. Might I be able to detect a Tello in that wifi space by finding its SSID ?

Without being too wordy / dramatic, we have a terrible relationship with this neighbor. His property sits 7 meters above ours and there is a retaining wall between the properties. We recently constructed a 'billboard-like' barrier in one area of the property line for privacy and to block the noise from a recently installed heater.

You would have to be standing on our property to see all of what we have done (the foundation for example). On Sunday morning the drone was lying on our ground at the base of that new barrier.

One aspect of the drone laws I've read is the concept of 'line of sight' operation. There really is no way ANYONE could send that drone down the wall (seven meters high) and keep it in view during its flight. For one thing they have a hedge sheer along the top edge of the wall such that their gardener can't trim it. I suspect one reason the battery was ejected from the drone was because it was a very bumpy journey between the wall and the nearby fruit trees. (It was a tight tunnel).

Thanks again.

 

[volate!lo]

Tello always broadcasts a Wifi which typically starts with "TELLO-" but can be changed to anything.

With regards to local drone laws I can't help - I'm German and have different rules to follow (in my case operation outside line of sight is legal for Tello due to weight, but never above your property).

Operation outside direct line of site often results in crashes, especially in tight quarters like a normal property. The wifi is blocked by walls, structures and even a hedge reduces range significantly. Also operation just by screen is much harder for most people. So I'd not be worried too much about Tello coming over on a daily basis for spying. It's camera can't look down but only forward at a slight angle, so its pretty useless for spying

But this doesn't sound like the drone is the problem but the relationship. Maybe you should seek some form of neighbor relationship counselling - or invite the local Hells Angels crowd for a BBQ at HIS property.