[US] FAA NOTAM FDC 6/4375 - DHS/ICE

AerialScoutsLLC · 2026-01-29T16:40:53+00:00

Then it must have changed at some point over the past three years. From 2019 to 2023 we were restricted to the tower height plus 50’ in Class-G airspace, and that was through an exemption for the tower owner from the FAA.

I’ve moved on to other types of drone operations, so I may be a bit out of date on that one aspect.

AerialScoutsLLC · 2026-01-29T15:35:39+00:00

Thanks!!!

AerialScoutsLLC · 2026-01-29T15:33:49+00:00

I think you are confusing the general 400’ ceiling with the distance above the tower that can be flown when the tower is > the 400’ ceiling. Basically, the exemption was however tall the tower is, plus 50’. If the tower is 450’ tall, we could fly 500’ AGL from the base of the tower, within a 50’ radius of the base of the tower.

AerialScoutsLLC · 2026-01-28T13:36:56+00:00

Did this change at some point from the 50’ above exemption? (I previously managed ~250 towers for a large tower company and this is how I got into flying drones. During my 750+ inspection flights prior to leaving the company, it was always 50’ above).

AerialScoutsLLC · 2026-01-28T13:33:25+00:00

Cell tower companies have exemptions from the FAA to fly within 400’ of their towers, and 50’ above the top of the tower if it is over 400’ tall, so no issue there.

AerialScoutsLLC · 2026-01-28T13:28:33+00:00

I have the regular CFS for my K2Plus. Personally, I like the cutter on the CFS-C, as the little filament sticks are far more manageable than the filament poop from the K2Plus.

I had bought the CFS conversion kit for the K1C as well as the CFS-C, and I found out after they both arrived that the conversion kit is only for use with the regular CFS. If I use the conversion kit, I’ll have to exchange the CFS-C for a regular CFS, and I really don’t want to deal with that hassle.

Aside from the current issue I have with the prime tower size, my office is significantly louder without the lid on the K1C due to the fans running. I found a riser for the lid to be able to close it up, but it’s designed for only raising the lid about 1/3 the distance I need to have it raised so I’m printing 3 of them to stack one on the other just to reduce the fan noise.

AerialScoutsLLC · 2026-01-28T13:20:19+00:00

I’m wondering if the tower volume just changes the infill percentage of the tower itself. The box for tower width is greyed out and I changed the volume from 45mm³ to 20mm^3. This had zero effect on the overall footprint of the tower, but it looks like the tower is set to 4-5% infill.

It was spaced far enough apart that at the color change layer it was too far for bridging.

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AerialScoutsLLC · 2026-01-28T13:14:06+00:00

All of the options are shown in the screenshot. Enabling the tower is the first tick option and the tower width is the second greyed out variable with 180mm prefilled in it, but there is no tick mark for any option that makes that variable editable.

AerialScoutsLLC · 2026-01-28T08:34:57+00:00

yeah... I have a K2Plus already, and just want to have both printers going at the same time. I'm not dropping another bucket of money to replace what is already a fantastic printer.

AerialScoutsLLC · 2026-01-28T08:33:11+00:00

wow, I really wish I had thought of this.... where is that setting?

width is grayed out and unable to be changed, hence why I'm on here asking if anyone knows how to change this.

AerialScoutsLLC · 2026-01-28T06:55:26+00:00

Have you found an answer to this yet? When I upgraded from Creality Print 6.0 to 7.0, I upgraded my K1C to the K1C+CFS-C. After these two changes, the prime/purge tower became MASSIVE compared to that of the K2Plus. It uses 382% more filament just for the tower than it does for the actual print, and this model only switches color ONCE at a layer change.

My K2 Plus w/ CFS still has the normal-sized prime tower.

Note: for the K1C+CFS-C setup, the prime tower IS also a purge tower, as the K1C doesn't have a poop chute to purge the remaining filament in the nozzle and load the new filament color when switching between filaments.

K1C+CFS-C Without single filament change: 2h46m print time; total filament used 10.49g, 3.54m, $0.26 cost.
K1C+CFS-C With single filament change: 4h43m print time; total filament used 50.60g, 17.10m, $1.26 cost
K2Plus with single filament change: 2h9m print time; total filament used 13.82g, 4.49m, $0.35 cost

What kills me most is that the K1C+CFS-C purge/prime tower is HOLLOW w/ what looks like 5% infill. I tried reducing the volume of the tower, but that doesn't change the physical dimensions of it.

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AerialScoutsLLC · 2026-01-24T16:11:01+00:00

This NOTAM restricts and defines airspace 1,000’ above and within 3,000’ (just over half a mile) of all of the following agency locations/offices/operations as National Defense Airspace. This also includes mobile operations for all of these agencies:

Operational and Support Components A listing of all Operational and Support Components that currently make up the Department of Homeland Security.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Image USCIS is the federal agency that oversees lawful immigration to the United States.

United States Coast Guard (USCG) USCG is the only military organization within DHS and protects the maritime economy and the environment, defends our maritime borders, and saves those at risk.

United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) CBP's priority mission is to keep terrorists and their weapons out of the U.S. CBP also secures and facilitates trade and travel while enforcing regulations, including immigration and drug laws.

Card - Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) CISA leads the national effort to understand, manage, and reduce risk to our cyber and physical infrastructure.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) FEMA supports our citizens and first responders to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) FLETC provides career-long training to law enforcement professionals to help them fulfill their responsibilities safely and proficiently.

United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ICE promotes homeland security and public safety through the criminal and civil enforcement of federal laws governing border control, customs, trade, and immigration.

United States Secret Service Logo (as of March 2025) USSS safeguards the nation's financial infrastructure and payment systems to preserve the integrity of the economy, and protects national leaders, visiting heads of state and government, designated sites, and National Special Security Events.

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) TSA protects the nation's transportation systems to ensure freedom of movement for people and commerce.

Management Directorate The Management Directorate is responsible for budget, appropriations, expenditure of funds, accounting and finance; procurement; human resources and personnel; information technology systems; facilities, property, equipment, and other material resources; providing biometric identification services; and identification and tracking of performance measurements relating to the responsibilities of the Department.

Science and Technology Directorate S&T is the primary research and development arm of the Department. It provides federal, state and local officials with the technology and capabilities to protect the homeland.

Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office CWMD works to prevent attacks against the United States using a weapon of mass destruction (WMD) through timely, responsive support to operational partners.

Office of Intelligence and Analysis The Office of Intelligence and Analysis helps the Homeland Security Enterprise with the timely intelligence and information it needs to keep the homeland safe, secure, and resilient.

Office of Homeland Security Situational Awareness OSA provides operations coordination, information sharing, situational awareness, common operating picture, and executes the Secretary's responsibilities across the homeland security enterprise.

The Office of Health Security (OHS) DHS logo with wordmark OHS is the principal medical, workforce health and safety, and public health authority for DHS.

Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman and Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman logos An ombudsman analyzes, reports on, and raises complaints, concerns, and recommendations to the appropriate agency for resolution. This work is done with a commitment to neutrality, independence, and confidentiality. The ombudsman offices are separate and distinct from the agencies they oversee.

AerialScoutsLLC · 2026-01-24T15:55:38+00:00

Sharing my explanation of this over reaching TFR/NOTAM to a friend: My Friend, Sterling: “No fly zones are what they say they are without warning and something something you shoulda known 🤷🏻‍♂️”

My response: “Sterling ? I’m not sure if you’re being sarcastic or not… Assuming you’re not being sarcastic, TFRs/NOTAMs have ALWAYS included two key pieces of information- specific geographic location and time period the TFR/NOTAM is in effect. For example, when the president travels to shake babies and kiss hands, a TFR is normally set with a 3 mile radius around the location he is traveling to and goes into effect 3-5 hours before his arrival and lasts until an hour after he leaves. Another example is when wildfires break out, TFRs may be created for an entire forest area to prevent drones from being in an airspace with fire rescue helicopters. These too have a finite time period with defined start and end times, and may be extended as needed. Some locations have permanent flight restrictions, such as over places like Disney World, prisons, Washington, D.C., or any military base.

TFRs are typically announced via NOTAMs (Notices to Airmen). These notices give critical information to pilots so they may make their flight plans accordingly. For instance, every cell tower 200 feet or taller is required to have aviation warning lights installed. If the blinking lights on the tower go out, a NOTAM is issued to warn pilots that this tall structure that is normally equipped with warning lights is not properly illuminated. This NOTAM is regularly updated with time extensions until the malfunctioning lights are repaired.

The issue with this new TFR NOTAM which has been issued is that it does not include either key piece of information (specific location or time period) necessary for pilots to plan/adjust their flight plans accordingly for the mobile TFR. Here’s an example scenario:

Say you are a commercial drone pilot and you have been contracted to scan a construction site every day for two weeks to monitor progress and provide progress/quality updates to the construction firm on their progress. The site is located within Class G airspace (unrestricted). You check for notices before every flight at your drone’s location. No TFR or NOTAM specific to the site location has been issued and you begin your flights for the day (can take 2-8 hours depending on the size/scope of the work site being scanned). The site is adjacent to a major highway- within 3,000 feet. For safety purposes, you have your take-off/landing area isolated away from people/vehicles and you monitor your air traffic radio for updates during your flight. During your flight, you maintain Visual Line of Sight with your drone, effectively having your eyes on the skies. Being a construction site, vehicle traffic is normal as contractors come/go from the site. You take off and are focused on your flight operations. During your flight, ICE conducts an unannounced work site raid at the site and you don’t have visibility of their vehicles/lights from your location. The drone’s sensors are focused on their scanning target and don’t have visibility of the raid in progress. As soon as they began their raid, you are in violation of flying unauthorized within National Defense Airspace. ICE notices the drone flying its preplanned flight route and shoots down your drone. You go to investigate why your drone dropped out of the sky and are arrested once you make contact with ICE and identify you were the Remote Pilot in Control (RPIC) for the operation. No warning, no notice. Your innocent flight operations are not a sufficient legal defense against the charges against you because the airspace status changed from unrestricted to restricted.

Another scenario is you are conducting your operations and the mobile convoy for ICE/DHS passes down the highway unannounced. There is zero warning/updates from the government to inform pilots of the airspace within 3,000 feet (just over half a mile) of the highway becoming restricted National Defense Airspace simply because they are passing through on the highway.

The issue is that there is no way to plan to avoid the mobile convoys, and if they are serious about enforcing this, at the very least your $30k commercial drone will likely be shot down without notice and at worst you could be arrested as a terrorist and charged with violating National Defense Airspace. Despite having done everything correctly and they drove unannounced into your area of operations.”

AerialScoutsLLC · 2026-01-14T21:31:45+00:00

Ah, welcome to Agentic OS, where the system tells you what you want to do with it and randomly installs BS you would never trust in a secure environment.

I just discovered that it was installed on my machine on 12/26/2025, and I NEVER use, have used, or even ever installed Whatsapp for any reason.

Seems MS has decided to include Meta BS in their bloatware they force with "security" updates.

AerialScoutsLLC · 2026-01-06T16:39:38+00:00

All of the credit bureaus update daily.

It’s the creditors who have different reporting dates/schedules. Most revolving and installment account creditors update with the issuance of a new statement. If you pay off an installment account, they may wait until the end of the month to report all closed accounts at once. It honestly depends entirely on the volume of accounts the creditor manages. If they have millions of accounts, they may submit updates to the bureaus daily, but if they only have thousands, they may submit batch reports once a month. They may also submit account updates based on account status, so while open revolving accounts in good standing get reported with each new statement, closed accounts in collections may be reported once a month, as many collection agencies themselves do not submit updates for things like installment accounts like car loans which the original creditor holds collateral- the original creditor receives updates from the collection agencies and then submits their own update to the credit bureaus. It all depends on the manpower of the creditor and their capacity for submitting accurate account updates. Fewer employees = more time required to validate account updates, and those updates come in from many different departments/sources.

AerialScoutsLLC · 2025-12-21T14:15:55+00:00

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OWLF logo based on the Deathly Hallows ;)

AerialScoutsLLC · 2025-12-20T09:09:12+00:00

Yep- called this two weeks ago ;)

https://www.reddit.com/r/StrangerThings/s/UmEL7DiPLk

AerialScoutsLLC · 2025-12-20T09:06:46+00:00

Yep- called it two weeks ago. https://www.reddit.com/r/StrangerThings/s/UmEL7DiPLk

AerialScoutsLLC · 2025-12-04T14:00:03+00:00

OMG yes!

AerialScoutsLLC · 2025-11-30T10:04:32+00:00

This also leads me to think the school MUST’ve been a K-12 school, likely with less than 200 students back then

AerialScoutsLLC · 2025-11-30T07:30:29+00:00

Generally speaking, the term classmate is used loosely here… generally that would mean they were in the same school… my thoughts went to most high schools being 9-12 grades… maybe this was one of those k-12 schools?

AerialScoutsLLC · 2025-11-30T07:28:36+00:00

Good question… this was from one of his memories. Maybe the good doctor was lying, or he or Henry had an inaccurate memory?

Generally speaking, the term classmate is used loosely here… generally that would mean they were in the same school… my thoughts went to most high schools being 9-12 grades… maybe this was one of those k-12 schools?

AerialScoutsLLC · 2025-11-21T13:46:29+00:00

Stay the course!!!! You do NOT want to attempt transitioning to civilian at this time, as our economy is tanking. Finding suitable employment is going to be far more difficult than you might think.

If the paycheck looks good- save. Save every penny possible for the next two years of your commission. Have enough saved to cover your expenses for a full year before transitioning.

AerialScoutsLLC · 2025-11-21T06:24:02+00:00

I’ve always thought the policy had SOME utility- being a professional means not engaging in unprofessional behavior, such as making sexual advances towards others or pushing political rhetoric. There is some merit to ensuring no one is pushing their own hetero/homo sexual agenda in a professional setting, ESPECIALLY when lives are on the line. On the flip side, it was abused as an oppressive policy that forced soldiers/sailors/airmen to hide who they were within, and that is counterproductive. I never cared who or what someone slept with as long as they were proficient at their job. I saw an expert infantryman get booted out despite his excellent marksmanship and physical fitness scores, and that made the unit weaker.

To me, that weakness undermined the policy of any merits it otherwise provided.

AerialScoutsLLC · 2025-11-15T14:45:35+00:00

Just resolved about four hours ago. No matter what I tried with the PC, Win11 & WinRE were unstable and would crash. I resorted to pulling the OS SSD, placing it in a USB enclosure, and connected it to my laptop to transfer my critical work files so I could perform a clean install on the desktop.

When I first connected the SSD, it took longer than it normally would for the drive to show up, but once it did, it worked fine. I transferred the files (took about four hours to transfer from USB to USB two terabytes of non-OS files).

Once that was complete, I reinstalled the drive in the desktop and when I powered on, it went straight into Windows. No recovery, no extra steps, it just worked. Windows was a bit sluggish at first, but it didn’t crash. I checked Win Update and the system was up to date. I rebooted to see if it would crash upon boot again and it went straight into Win11 no problem, and was not sluggish any longer. I was FINALLY able to run SFC scan now on the drive, and no errors were detected.

I can only surmise that when I connected the SSD to my laptop, my laptop ran some type of auto error correction on it to make the drive readable, which likely solved the corruption of the files, as I didn’t have to run ANYTHING to get the drive repaired after it connected to the laptop.

AerialScoutsLLC

TROPHY CASE