Heli @ night @ tree top!

[Strainhunter]

OK here's the story:

A buddy who lives very rural and whom I know from while I lived in Florida is telling me he had a Heli fly a pattern @ night @ tree top for a solid 2+ hours out where he lives.

He used to grow big some time back but now only has 1/2 dozen plants out in a tight pattern & for personal use.

I know how FLIR works. It has been covered many times (including by a thread I wrote myself).
FLIR is NOT going to detect a difference in temperature for 1/2 dozen pot plants @ night growing in a tight pattern outdoors.



So does anyone have an EDUCATED idea what they might have been looking for after dark NOT using a spotlight?


.

 

[stihgnobevoli]

you're in florida, prolly criminals.

no one's out looking for weed plants in the dark with a goddamn flir. unless you have some of those new plants that generate a ton of heat at night, or your friend has a buncha 1000 watters off in the woods/swamps. i wouldn't worry about it, and they don't need flir to see lights in the dark at night.

also when i was in florida a few years ago i saw helicopters all over all the time. i thought thats how you rich miami, ft. lauterdale types did it with your helicopters flying all over the place?

 

[Strainhunter]

you're in florida, prolly criminals.

no one's out looking for weed plants in the dark with a goddamn flir. unless you have some of those new plants that generate a ton of heat at night, or your friend has a buncha 1000 watters off in the woods/swamps. i wouldn't worry about it, and they don't need flir to see lights in the dark at night.

......

LOL there's nice ppl & not only criminals in Florida!

Like I already said he has 6 plants outdoors where he lives and nothing else.
His country estate was part of the pattern. He has nothing growing indoors.
That doesn't exclude others don't though.

The key question here is why are they flying patterns @ NIGHT @ tree top???

 

[SOTF420]

Looking for a crashed UFO most likely?

How the hell is anyone here supposed to know the answer to this?

Any answer will be pure speculation so let me speculate, training exercises or FLIR looking for something who knows what maybe Cannabis maybe not.

 

[Strainhunter]

......

How the hell is anyone here supposed to know the answer to this?

.....

Actually *know*?

No one, hence the speculation aspect.

But maybe have an idea what it all could have been about.

FLIR @ night just doesn't make sense.

 

[stihgnobevoli]

flir at night makes perfect sense if you're looking for heat signatures. aka the cops looking for a criminal in the swamp-oods

In 2001, the United States Supreme Court decided that performing FLIR surveillance of private property (ostensibly to detect high emission grow lights used in clandestine marijuana farming) without a search warrant by law enforcement violates the Fourth Amendment's protection from unreasonable searches and seizures. Kyllo v. United States, 533 U.S. 27, 121 S.Ct. 2038, 150 L.Ed.2d 94 (2001).[3]
In R v. Tessling Canada's Supreme court determined that the use of FLIR surveillance by police was permitted without requiring a search warrant. The Court determined that the general nature of the data gathered by FLIR did not reveal personal information of the occupants and therefore was not in violation of Tessling's Section 8 rights afforded under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982).

from wiki so take it fwiw.

 

[SOTF420]

FLIR is almost always used at night because the sun is not out. It is far easier to find a heat signature with FLIR in the middle of the night vs the middle of the day with the infrared from the sun getting in the way and heating things up. You should always have lights on during the day on a 12/12 cycle and off at night when the outside temps are lower as FLIR is more efficient at spotting grows after dark. If you have your lights timed to go off right around the time the sun goes down the room should be much cooler by the time they start flying around running the FLIR cams in the middle of the night.

 

[Strainhunter]

FLIR is almost always used at night because the sun is not out. It is far easier to find a heat signature with FLIR in the middle of the night vs the middle of the day with the infrared from the sun getting in the way and heating things up. You should always have lights on during the day on a 12/12 cycle and off at night.

Yeah...I guess I was too focused on him NOT growing indoors hence what are they looking for if there is no indoor grow to detect and as far as I know FLIR won't detect outdoor plants whether it's day or night.

Then again they don't know he has no indoor stuff going...

I remember reading something about detecting outdoor plants by the difference in something something...but that was done during the day.
Gonna Google that now and see what I can find.

 

[BigDawg]

Any helicopter schools near-by? Could have been a night flying training session or something of the sort... never know. Helicopters cost a lot to operate so they must have had a good reason to be using it.

 

[SOTF420]

Everyone always says they cost alot to operate but there is a budget in place already and once they have the heli that is it they have it and they are going to use it. They don't rent them for the day. They service them and use them regularly as needed. They have a pilot on the force who is paid a good salary so I guess yes all that costs money but don't think they don't use them whenever they want that is part of that big enormous chunk of money spent on the drug war. If you tell yourself they are not flying overhead with FLIR because "of the cost" you are fooling yourself into a false sense of security. They are using it and it just takes a flick of the switch to activate their FLIR cam & screen. Most helicopters have it nowadays even the rescue helicopters have it for obvious reasons. It's not a luxury to have a FLIR unit that is just part of the standard setup on their aircrafts.

As far as detecting Cannabis outdoors most patches are irrigated regularly and they can spot the temp differences from the surrounding surface and supposedly there is something with the color of the plants compared to other native vegetation they pick up on the screen but I don't think that is with FLIR. I saw something on one of those recent documentaries about Cannabis on the flyovers and them picking up patches from the color temperature (in Mississippi I think?). Truth of the matter is you can see snake trails and other disturbances very easily from the air and most patches are not hard to find from overhead with a birds eye view. I have been up in a chopper a few times and even with my naked eyes could see outdoor grows in the middle of the redwoods they stick out pretty clearly unless people properly disguise the plants. If you are growing large plants outdoors they should be spread apart from each other and trained over sideways if possible, I used to even put plastic yellow & red silk twist on flowers all along the stems so it looks like something totally different to those in the air and keeps them from coming in close for a detailed inspection. Train your plants sideways, top them out so they are not in the classic christmas tree shape and make sure to take different routes to the patches when possible so you do not leave snake trails. Pick up any trash and do not disturb surrounding vegetation, if you are running irrigation to your plants like drip lines or something just remember they will stick out like a sore thumb to FLIR cam's and they can be followed right to your plants. I love having plants outdoors like anyone else but it really is a pain in the ass and causes so much worry & anxiety it's a shame really because they grow so happily outside under the sunshine.

 

[DuskrayTroubador]

Is LEO presence and cannabis searches outrageously high in Florida or something? I'm relocating to central Florida soon... Is this something to consider?

 

[BigDawg]

unfortunately, yes.

 

[BigDawg]

soft, you don't even know that it was a police helicopter.

flight instruction is by the hour. plenty of flight schools in Florida. They are required to log several night hours. On average, helicopters cost two to three times more to operate, maintain, and insure, than their fixed wing counterparts. They got one hell of a budget if it's the local average cops.. it's possible they were looknig for some criminal in the woods with the FLIR though...

depends on the area really... he said rural, but is that outside of a major city or somewhere in the boonies.. could've been national guard/military exercise. Two hours is a lot of night flying for helis. From what I've seen, they fly in the day looking for outdoor plants. Most likely it was a training exercise or they were using FLIR to try and find someone in the woods..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-ij6h33U1o

 

[supermanlives]

Yeah...I guess I was too focused on him NOT growing indoors hence what are they looking for if there is no indoor grow to detect and as far as I know FLIR won't detect outdoor plants whether it's day or night.

Then again they don't know he has no indoor stuff going...

I remember reading something about detecting outdoor plants by the difference in something something...but that was done during the day.
Gonna Google that now and see what I can find.

spectral analysis. 2nd page on google for me. if they implement it with the sattellites we got. big growers would be in trouble

 

[Strainhunter]

Is LEO presence and cannabis searches outrageously high in Florida or something? I'm relocating to central Florida soon... Is this something to consider?

Just about as bad as it can get.

A nice side effect: It keeps up the price.

And before someone starts bitching having to pay high prices in FL for the pot they smoke: Try growing your own and see if you can handle the growing AND the related stress.

 

[OMountainMix]

When my husband was working in an area known for growing outdoor, he worked with a guy that did flights and the guy said "I don't know why they don't grow it like shade tobacco."

 

[DuskrayTroubador]

Just about as bad as it can get.

A nice side effect: It keeps up the price.

And before someone starts bitching having to pay high prices in FL for the pot they smoke: Try growing your own and see if you can handle the growing AND the related stress.

Damn. I know South Florida is really bad, but even Central? I may have to reconsider where I move (I don't do indoors) and do you know of any good outdoor states that aren't as bad?

To the OP: I don't think it's any reason to be concerned, but keep it in the back of your mind. Remember, nobody ever thinks they're going to get caught but obviously some do and they usually went wrong somewhere.

 

[stihgnobevoli]

people pay high prices for weed in florida?
my friend told me he paid $50 for a gram of some weed once, i told him he was a dumbass no weed on the planet is worth that. when i come down there i get weed for $25 a quarter for some outdo. you guys are a major port for the world and you get all the exotic weed, $25 a quarter, cant beat that. plus like every other house is a grow op practically based on the news of busts.

 

[Strainhunter]

people pay high prices for weed in florida?
.....

I don't know about your friend...I only know what I used to get when I lived there and what the guy I am talking about in this thread is getting and it is well over 3k/lb.

 

[supermanlives]

tourists pay alot. i always made sure they got what they wanted.like anywhere its all about who you know which will dictate price.45an 1/4 was the going rate back then. a while ago. no idea now