Drones

Specially equipped drones designed to measure the signal strength of TV antennas are beginning to be deployed in the United States. Not only can they validate the coverage patterns of installed antennas against their design, but they also can help to identify problems with antennas that impact market coverage. Above, an LS telcom drone used to conduct signal strength measurements.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit last week determined that the FAA’s registration rule cannot apply to small unmanned aircraft (aka, sUAVs, or drones) operated for recreational purposes.

As the news crew at Tegna’s NBC affiliate KTVB Boise, Idaho, has learned, launching their drone for news coverage can draw a crowd. Executive News Director Kate Morris says this has been a good opportunity to educate the public about the opportunities the new technology offers journalists and assure folks of the TV station’s commitment to ethical journalism and safety. But crowds have also posed challenges. Morris talks about KTVB’s drone efforts.

In the nine months since the FAA issued its final regulations for small drones as Part 107 of FAA, TV stations across the country have started using drones to cover news. Most of them are flying DJI Phantom 4s or Inspires, which have good cameras and basic performance capabilities adequate for the job. The norm is for a station to have one or two drones and to solicit volunteers among its staff photographers to attend drone training and take the FAA test for remote pilot licenses.

Will McDonald: “Over the past few months, I’ve learned a lot about drone laws and the FAA. I’m now an FAA-licensed remote pilot, with authorization to fly in most of the restricted airspace that surrounds my newsroom, and a waiver to fly at night for the next four years. So here’s some of what I got a lot of headaches learning and wish someone had spelled out in one place. Hopefully it will answer a lot of questions you may have about using drones at your news organization.”

The U.S. Department of Transportation plans to audit the processes for approving and overseeing waivers for small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). These waivers by the Federal Aviation Administration generally grant UAS operators certain aspects of flight that current regulations prohibit, such as beyond-line-of-sight operation.

How can broadcasters counter the large and broad trend toward segmented news that is individually gathered and shared exclusively on social media platforms? The answer is drones and, more specifically, drone video systems that are enabling more and more broadcasters to go beyond what individuals can capture by putting drones and drone video systems into the very center of a breaking news story without endangering the lives of a pilot or a hard-to-replace helicopter.

For tower owners and inspectors, there is a growing appeal for using drones to perform inspections — and perhaps someday, when the technology is ripe, to actually make repairs. Given the risks involved in climbing towers, the ability to substitute a machine for a human makes sense. But be aware that the current FAA rules will restrict tower inspections by drones in certain situations.

It’s time to answer the most important question on everyone’s mind after Super Bowl LI: what type of regulatory approvals and deviations were required to enable Intel’s massive display of 300 choreographed unmanned drones that kicked off Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl halftime show?

The Birmingham, Ala., Fox affiliate is the first Raycom station to introduce a drone. It’s slotted for use in newsgathering, traffic, marketing and creative services, tower inspections and sales initiatives.

The National Press Photographers Association, the Poynter Institute, Google News Lab, Drone Journalism Lab,and DJI have unveiled an innovative program to train journalists in using drones, or unmanned aerial systems, for their news coverage. The program, which features hands-on workshops and online teaching, is powered by the Google News Lab.

San Antonio Fox affiliate KABB became the 10th Sinclair-owned station to launch a drone. The station put its chief photographer Lalo Garcia and its operations manager Luis Escamilla through training at Virginia Tech University to pass the FAA UAS Pilot Exam.

Sky Drone 58 made its debut on Weigel Broadcasting’s CBS affiliate during its 4 p.m. newscast yesterday.

Ten Sinclair stations are already equipped with drones and the personnel to operate them and 35 will get them next year, says Sinclair Chief Pilot Jeff Rose. “Viewers love drones, he says. “They go over really big.”

In response to the FAA drone guidelines formally taking effect this past August, the Drone Journalism Lab decided to release its operations manual as an open source, Creative Commons-licensed document. The 23-page guidebook (found at dronejournalismlab.org) covers everything from how to conduct a preflight briefing to the ethical issues journalists should consider before flying a drone.

Compared to paying hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to maintain and fly a chopper, a drone with a camera may seem like a dream come true. And in many ways it is — but there are also a number of things to consider.

Broadcasters and other organizations with newsgathering operations are increasingly taking advantage of the FAA’s new “Part 107” rules, which took effect on Aug. 29.  The small drones authorized offer broadcasters a cost-effective way to gather aerial footage, especially as compared to the cost of using helicopters. But  broadcasters and other potential UAS operators should keep in mind that some requirements must be met before UAS operations can commence.

Currently, Sinclair has drone teams in Washington; Baltimore; Green Bay, Wis.; Columbus, Ohio; Tulsa, Okla.; and Little Rock, Ark. According to Jeff Rose, chief pilot for Sinclair, the station group is emphasizing safe drone operation and has a policy of sending two operators with each aircraft in the field.

Drones are about as constant on modern terrain as driverless cars. Their use remains embryonic, but they are expected to take on even more demanding roles at some news outlets in months to come. At CNN, there is serious chatter about letting drone-captured video live-stream for the Time Warner’s outlet’s digital properties, or capturing hard-to-get footage for Great Big Story, the company’s site focused on millennial news aficionados.

The exam for FAA Part 107 certification to fly a commercial drone under 55 pounds, which first became available Aug. 29, covers far more than the drone itself. A mastery of knowledge on aeronautical concepts, charts, airspace and meteorology from an aviation perspective are among the areas emphasized on the initial test. Is it overkill for a media organization that will fly a done no higher than 400 feet? Not really, when seen in the context of maintaining safety, says the FAA.