police helicopters how do they catch you

bobandtom

Active Member
like it says how do the police catch so many people besides of course snitchs and the sort

what im asking is dont they pick up on heat?

is it from the lights?

or from the roots of the plants? i have heard that also

if its the lights what if you do a cfl grow they dont put off any heat would that be invisible to the heat sensor stuff

how do they find like one individual plant in the middle of the woods?
i have actually heard of that
 

RASCALONE

Well-Known Member
with a birds eye view you would be suprised what u can see!
a dude on here had a pic of a helicopter with the infra red cam on bottom,it picks up the heat.as for a cfl grow, i dont think it has enough heat for them to pick up,but not sure...
a guy told me along time ago that they have a cam that can spot a plantthat it kicks off a diffrent color on thier screen,but thats gotta be bullshit,thats why i never brang it up b4 on herte,lol
 

devilwacause

Well-Known Member
One guys, without a valid warrant to search your premises, any finding based off an arial iinfa-red heat scope would not be valid as evidence in court, nor would it be grounds to obtain a search warrant or warrant an investigation in itself....now if they did it because they think you grew...that could be a diff story.
 

medical.use

Well-Known Member
In my area the police rent military choppers this time of year. Two choppers will take off and fly over the hills searching for plants. I also know of a privite chopper equipped with infer red that also gets rented by police. They sure wast a lot of money looking a harmless plant.
 

DND

Well-Known Member
Thermal imaging my friend, google it. CFL's do put off heat not much but they do. If using enough to make a grow worthwhile, it would show up depending on how accurate the system is. I'm sure an AC unit and good ventilation can cut down on that.

If they find an individual plant in a field somewhere, than the grower didn't do a good job of trying to camo it, they are just plain lucky or someone came across it and called about it.
 

bobandtom

Active Member
devilwacause

One guys, without a valid warrant to search your premises, any finding based off an arial iinfa-red heat scope would not be valid as evidence in court, nor would it be grounds to obtain a search warrant or warrant an investigation in itself....now if they did it because they think you grew...that could be a diff story.

not being smart but i have come to learn that no matter what they can come up with some story of suspicion or some kind of bend to do what they want to do

i dont see how they would tell the difference in like just normal lighting for a room or air compressors freezers etc etc im just trying to be as safe as possible thats part of the reason im going cfl
 

Smoke2Live420

New Member
dude.. if they could check for cfl lights..n see one in ur house n decide to raid that ...
think of how many lights u got!!!
U could use it for reptiles that need lighting...fish tanks..bunch of things..jus cuz they see a little light gives them no right to search anyone!!!
They need to catch real fuckin criminals.. stop worryin so much bout a damn plant!:evil:
 

DND

Well-Known Member
I think you'll be fine with CFL's or an HPS either way. Don't tell anyone, pay your bills on time and do not give the LEO a reason to knock at your door. Keep odors and everything from your grow discreet as possible (trimmed plant matter, soils, pots...etc).

Just my 2 cents. Good Luck.
 

fabizpwn

Well-Known Member
they use choppers to find big outdoor grows, 100 plus plant plots.. the police really dont give a shit about the people getting high, but rather the people making the money off of getting people high. its all about the money, and the goverment wants yours.
 

devilwacause

Well-Known Member
Bobandtom I didnt say they couldnt come up with a reason. But they'd have to have that reason first before obtaining a surveillance warrant then search warrant. The Supreme Court already held up that it is a violation of privacy to use a heat gun on a house without prior suspiscion and conviction. Therefore as long as you keep your nose clean and your business your business its all good.
 

biggie

Well-Known Member
the police can normally catch ppl from nothing more than there own stupidity.

i mean for example if you live in a street which is for exampled a terraced street with house,s all in a row and you decide to do grow in your loft and your house is the only one showing in up bright red on thermal image.. Hmm i think they might suspect - that person would of spent his cash on all his lighting and equipment but not realised that your actual roof is pretty thin!! that which y have insulatin material in ya roof space to keep heat in... so thats not down to police lookin but that person might as well put flashing light on his roof with arrow sayin weed grow here.

And at end of day i agree cops dont give a shit about billy nobody grown a couple of plant its mr big with 100,s of plant in rented propertys etc

so i,d not worry about it dudes
 

jrinlv

Well-Known Member
and remember infra red can only take surface readings, it can't look inside your house, it can read off your roof or exterior walls, and maybe read through an unobstructed window into your house but thats it. Keep the heat in the middle of your house and your fine....Good luck JR
 

potlike

Well-Known Member
Usually for indoor grows this is not a concern. Thermal imaging detects heat not light and heat is the byproduct of the electricity. It is relative to the insulation and materials such as metals in your home as well as the structural integrity of the roof itself.

Thermal Infrared cameras(FLIR) are quite expensive usually upwards for 2k for basic ones and go much higher from there. Ones mounted on helis/planes are several times that making it cost prohibitive to police forces for SMALL grows.

Unless you're using about 6000+ watts of lighting you really shouldn't have anything to worry about. Space heaters use around 2.5k-3k watts of electricity and like the previous poster said using it in the middle of your house is a great idea. The more barriers(walls, insulation, piping, wiring) in between you and the camera the lighter the footprint and the more likely it would be dismissed.

Now, I really don't know how nosy power companies get but it would stand to reason they use the "don't ask- don't tell" philosophy considering the more power they get out of you the more money they make.

That said for the paranoid and EXTREME diy'er:

1. .Build a faraday cage to lessen the heat signatures. Given the high frequency of heat ~300ghz a mesh isn't going to cut it but one to two layers of galvanized steel most likely would do the trick. Here is a link that demonstrates the concept: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t23iXhEiQUc

2. Take your grow off the grid...
Purchase the diesel generator(or build, but I won't get into this- in this post) sized to your operation then build a biodiesel processor: http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-Your-Own-Biodiesel-Processor/
Essentially what this does is it converts used vegetable oil(usually obtained for free from a restaurant) into Biodiesel which is MORE EFFICIENT, less emissive and overall better quality than standard diesel. Some ingredients include sodium hydroxide(lye) and methanol. But when done you can have your own biodiesel fuel that will operate your diesel generator MORE EFFICIENTLY than standard diesel for anywhere between .50 - $1 per gallon.
Keep in mind gasoline engines CAN be converted, however diesel requires no conversion due to the variable compression rates between to the two systems.


Remember I said EXTREME DIY'er lol...



-potlike
 

fureelz

Active Member
please remember they cant just turn it on and start flying over neighborhoods. Do they? yes. It is illegal though and wouldn't be submissable evidence in court (unless a warrant had been issued prior). With that being said, if the county, DEA, even Feds, had a warrant, most times they won't even do a fly over especially if it is a house in a residential area. Its just cheaper for them to post two shmucks up the street with binoculars..
 

fureelz

Active Member
It would also be easier to obtain a 'Power Company' Customer Energy Consumption Report and see what kind of power a place may use per hour, per day, per month, even peak times.
 

atomicronick

Active Member
first thing you have to do, is realize that these guys do this for a living. they know what they are looking for, even without FLIR.
Big plots, are easy to see. why you ask , well, alot of busts on big plots were set up for ease of tending, very unnatural lay outs. plants dont grow in perfect lines. be sporradic.
Ganja gives off a higher level heat signature than say, a pine tree. ganja is a seasonal plant, same with numerous small shrubs, bushes, and especially berry bushes or any flowering plants.
Before you decide to plant anything, big or small, survey the area. i am talking like a mile either way. get to know what is growing, how tall , reaserch it if you are unaware of the local veg chracteristics. what looses its leaves in the fall, what keeps its leave untill late in the season.
once fall hits, and your babies are still going strong, you had better hope you picked a damn good spot. thats when they light up on FLIR. buuuuut......if they are nice and spread out, kept low as possible, looks like stuff if just there on the ground.....no plots, no underground water res, give them as little to work with as possible. get to know your area. i suggest scoping for a good year before deciding on a garden. the best soloution, is prevention. best of luck brother.
 

a dog named chico

Well-Known Member
my 2 cents(what i have been told): Helicopters can pick up on the unique thermo signature of MJ, in the wild the signature is easly seen where groupings of more than three plants are found togather, IE one plant in a field probably will go unnoticed (by imagining) while it could and probably will be seen by the naked eye(brown field with a green bush in the center...pretty easy to see) now one plant in a heavly wooded area is probabl safe. second as metioined above if they aint got a warrent the cant/wont do a fly by of your place(why waste the money) if they pick up you CFLs remember they will also pick up every other light in your home also heat traped in the attic should produce a nice heat blanket and will mask over head viewing. the area's you should wory about are the windows, thin glass will allow for a great thermo picture of whats going on inside. i saw news footage of a bust, when they did an over head look it was consistantly 85-90degrees F but when they scaned the grow room window (covered with blinds, drapes, and what looked like a blanket) it lit up like a jack-o-lantern comparied to the other windows, i believe the high power bill was the tip off in this case
 
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