How do drone jammers work?

Jammers are designed to disrupt drones by emitting electromagnetic noise at the radio frequencies the drone operates and transmits video at, and at power levels sufficient to overwhelm any effective communication between the drone and its pilot. Typically, this is 2.4Ghz or 5.8Ghz ("RF interference"), which are "unallocated" public frequencies, meaning that drone jammer will not interfere with manned aircraft, cell phones, public addresses, or other dedicated radio frequency bands. In addition to legitimate RF interference to customers (depending on the jurisdiction, which may include military, law enforcement, first responders, and private users), GPS jamming can also be used, since a large number of drones also rely on GPS to balance wind, or to fly on predetermined routes. move between points.

When the drone is hit by a jammer's signal, the drone typically returns to its origin (unless the GPS is also jammed), giving the drone signal jammer user the option to track the drone back to the pilot. Sometimes, drones can even make a vertical descent and land on the scene intact, providing an option for forensic investigations. Landing in place is also a common response of drones when both RF and GPS are jammed at the same time.

Jammers can be effective against drones several kilometers away. Generally, the operation of the drone frequency jammer depends on the ratio of the distance between the drone and the jammer to the distance between the drone and its pilot. The farther the drone is from the pilot, and the closer to the jammer, the better. A typical effective jamming direction is a cone of about 15-30 degrees protruding forward from the muzzle (this is also affected by RF band and jammer power).