Would it be legal to place a cell phone on a drone and send it up to 400′, so that you could possibly get a signal in a remote area? While out camping last summer in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, we met up with a feisty little rattlesnake about a mile from camp. We and the dogs successfully avoided him and moved on, but the little rattler got us to thinking.. What if one of us were to get bitten, way out here? After attempting some first aid, we’d definitely head out toward the nearest town in our vehicle, but what if a flat tire, washed-out road, or other misfortune stood in our way?
We like to be as self-reliant as we can, carrying self-rescue gear, first aid, spare parts, water, etc., and rely as little as possible on being rescued, but serious accidents do happen, and sometimes you have no alternative but to call for some outside help.
Using A Drone To Send An SOS
Melissa tells me that I often go to the darkest place immediately in my thought experiments, and she’s probably right. As we continued to talk about “what if’s” on our hike back to camp it occurred to me there might be another way of calling for help besides our Garmin InReach satellite communicator. The InReach works great, and has near global coverage, but the Iridium satellites that it uses may take 20 minutes or more to pass by, before your SOS or message is even sent, much less responded to.
Back at camp I decided to do a little experiment. To summarize, let’s just say the answer is yes, it’s technically possible to get a cell phone signal in some places where you don’t have one – by placing your cell phone on a drone and sending it up in the air. If your car’s Bluetooth is able to control your phone, as ours is, you can dial a call from down on the ground while your phone us up in the air, attached to your drone. Without Bluetooth, you could compose and send a message, send the phone up on your drone, and wait for it to be sent after your phone picks up a signal at altitude.
A DJ-Mini2 can lift up to 10 ounces, as seen in the YouTube video below. My Android smartphone weighs 6.2 ounces.
Our location was no more than 30 miles from the nearest cell phone tower, yet the canyon we were down inside blocked any signal from it. Just up above the rim, there were four bars of cell phone signal. (Of course I hiked up there, ahem…, and the phone was able to make a call, which could be initiated by bluetooth device down below.)
Drones Have Already Been Used To Send SOS Calls
During a severe flooding incident in a remote part of Queensland, Australia, a motorist who was trapped by rising water used his drone to send his cell phone high enough to send a distress message. “State Emergency Service area controller James Gegg said it was a unique call for help. “He was clever enough to think that if he typed the message on his phone and pressed send that it would keep trying to send until it got reception,”.*
Is It Legal To Send A Cell Phone Up On A Drone To Call For Help?
The FCC still prohibits cell phone use aboard aircraft that are in-flight in the United States. One of the reasons is that cell phones aboard any aircraft – including drones – can interfere with ground based cell towers. Companies such as Verizon use drones as mini-cell phone towers in disaster stricken areas, under special provisions. It would be most likely be illegal however, for ordinary citizens and amateur drone pilots – operating under FAA part 107 regulations – to use a drone to lift a cell phone for better reception.
Drones are considered aircraft by both the FAA and the FCC. The following FCC statue, 22.925 would apply:
In a life of death situation however, it’s technically possible to use a drone to call 911 by sending it up to an altitude where there is cellular reception. As you can see from the weight test above, a small drone could also move your Garmin In-Reach or other satellite device to a spot where it could get satellite reception – if you were trapped under an overhang, etc.. (Remember the movie “127 Hours”?
Because the extra weight would not allow a very long flight time, you would have to establish and complete an emergency call within a few minutes.
Is it legal to put a cell phone on a drone? According to 22.925, no. It is technically possible though, and could get you a signal that allows you to call for help in a life or death situation.
See our article on GMRS radio for another means of communication for your overland vehicle: GMRS Radio – Best 2-Way For Overland Use
*https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-07/stranded-man-uses-drone-to-send-sos-sms-on-phone/13039190
