Worried Abour Helicopters.

Hello-

Just starting out as a gardener. Got the gear, the info and the advise on growing.

Only thing that worries me is detection by Helicopters. How good are they (in England?)

Basically, we've boarded a section of the loft out, seperating it from two voids on either side. We plan to exit the air though a carbon filter into one of the voids. The air would then leave this area through the long vent that runs along behind the gutter.

Could this be picked up by a heat seeking helicopter. My partner thinks I'm a little paronoid (in this business i think this a desirable thing.) Any thoughts will be much appreciated!
Thanks

you wont have to worry about helis if you use LED uv grow lights nstead of hps or hid lights also if u can put them under cfl lighting 300w in total per plant should be fine

grimreeferthe1 said:

you wont have to worry about helis if you use LED uv grow lights nstead of hps or hid lights also if u can put them under cfl lighting 300w in total per plant should be fine

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led's suk and cfls u have 2 have mucho lights unless u use a 125-200watt envirolite which once they get over 30 watts r far less efficient in luman per watt category

It may be a bit of an unneaded accessory but what the hell, its only money, I'm thinking of getting a air cooler in the void part of the loft where the air is outputted. I'm using 3 x 600 + 1 x 250.

Let just say better safe then sorry and the helicopters are very good at spotting these things on the off chance doing something else and seeing a roaring heat source out of your ceiling.

you honestly think putting 3 600's and a 250 in the top of your house ISN'T gonna light your house up on a infrared like a Xmas tree... fuk the loft.. put it in the basement and vent your heat through your chimney...then the heat disipitates into your house and the heat from the chimney looks normal... the key to not looking suspicious is you be smarter than them ..

How come you don't have any snow on your roof?

Unfortunately in the UK I don't know many houses that have the benefit of a basement.

I doubt you are big enough for them to put a helicopter up for you.

i would be very carefull using loft space as all lamps mh/hps generate alot of heat and the only thing between your grow room and outside is a few bits of wood felt and tiles. i get twitchy with it in a closet in my spare room with 1 600w hps.
alot of the time the fuzz use the thermal imaging cameras for detecting criminals that are hiding in fields etc. not really to scan for hotspots but if you are running a few lights then you could be as noticeable as a christmas tree in JULY.

just my paranoid take on growing in the uk

When I was growing in the South, we regularly used to have a Police helicopter roaming around, and it's said that at times it's taken out with the specific intention of finding grow rooms. (This would certainley explain all the raids that used to happen.

But my findings are I've had the helicopter hover over my house with a 200 watt envirolight, (freaked me out!) despite an envirolight being relatively cool, but nothing ever came of it,

And a "friend" and I were doing a grow a different time, I had a 400 watt hps, he had a 600 watt hps, helicopter was around, a few times, and nothing ever came of that, either.

We didn't even have the minimum recommended amount of loft insulation, let alone insulation for the grow room, it was a cheap knock up made out of pvc, more so to prevent light spill.

I remember watching Nightwatch, and they were chasing a car theif, I think. The ground units were chasing him on foot, but he dissapeared.

The air unit was on its way, but by the time they'd arrived, the bloke had climbed up a bushy tree, and his heat signature was masked by the tree, and was only found to be up there due to a less dense part of the tree, otherwise he probably would've got away.

Alot of people make the helicopter saga sound ten times worse, but in all honesty, isn't being over precautious, better than not caring?

However, loads of lights, on the other hand, just search google for something along the lines of "bbc Jimmy's marijuana factory"

Okguys thanks. There's always helicopters around here, its a bit rough!! Think it will be okay because I've made a seperate compartment as I said. Does anyone know of someone being busted like this?

all i can say is look for the documentary by bbc3 called britains hidden cannabis farms.

the chopper is always out around my area (north wales) in fact it was flying over earlier but was only passing by. from other info i have found that a single lamp -600w should be undetected as alot of ppl have attic conversions tv radiator lights etc

if you go ahead using this space i wouldn't use more than 1 light

3x600hps and 1 250hps in the loft will show! there was a doc on bbc3 the other day about it, the police dont have heat-seeking cams but borrow them from power companys and helis only fly for a few hrs b4 refuel etc im in the uk and personally in the winter i wouldnt run them lights in my loft, ud be better using a downstairs bedroom.

i run simarlar lights in a small flat but its got many more heat sources above it and ive never had a tug.

Am I Norml said:

you honestly think putting 3 600's and a 250 in the top of your house ISN'T gonna light your house up on a infrared like a Xmas tree... fuk the loft.. put it in the basement and vent your heat through your chimney...then the heat disipitates into your house and the heat from the chimney looks normal... the key to not looking suspicious is you be smarter than them ..

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^Correct, I really do not understand why people do this kind of shit!

Straight up G said:

^Correct, I really do not understand why people do this kind of shit!

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next they will wonder why when they held up the big sign screaming im a pothead with the sign saying PLEASE ARREST ME ...why they went to jail...

some peoples kids ... I SWEAR !!

Am I Norml said:

next they will wonder why when they held up the big sign screaming im a pothead with the sign saying PLEASE ARREST ME ...why they went to jail...

some peoples kids ... I SWEAR !!

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I really think these pigs should back the fuck off as well, what harm does growing do?

Mickey Love said:

Okguys thanks. There's always helicopters around here, its a bit rough!! Think it will be okay because I've made a seperate compartment as I said. Does anyone know of someone being busted like this?

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The easy, but not cheap, way to stop this is to buy IR block, Its a heavily insulated Mylar lined matting that blocks all IR rays. Its expensive but buy a nice big roll and line the ceilings of your sectional about a foot over on either side. If you want to be super sneaky, tie that vent into a chimney and wrap the tubing with IR block as they can see a hot flexible pipe oddly running around to an outlet (this is how they get the easy busts)... Not to sound like a know-it-all but I use FLIR cameras at work all the and its not that hard to fool aslong as you take the right measures and IR block is the best way to sleep at night as long as your ventilation is normal for anyone the way it is configured.

SeanIzen said:

If you want to be super sneaky, tie that vent into a chimney and wrap the tubing with IR block as they can see a hot flexible pipe oddly running around to an outlet (this is how they get the easy busts)... Not to sound like a know-it-all

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don't worry you don't, shocking actually