I was out for a walk in the woods near my home today and found a DJI Spark drone. It looks like it’s slightly damaged from falling through the trees, but not seriously.
How can I trace the owner so they can get it back?
I have searched online for a lost and found service, but didn’t really come up with anything.

Any local facebook groups you’re a member of where you can place a generic “found a drone near wherever” type message and ask for potential owners to let you know what type of drone and where they think they lost it ?

The SD card may also have footage on it that shows where it’s been that could help too.

They don’t have an electronic footprint which a traceable

There is no SD card in it. Does that mean it was just beaming footage back to the controller?

There is no SD card in it.

Is that the SD socket is empty or you can’t find it? (Sorry obvious question.)

SD socket is empty.

Odd, our DJI has a GPS tracker on it.. I would have thought the owner was on their way to collect it and you’ve half hinched it 😆

Lost/found forum https://mavicpilots.com/forums/lost-found-suas.27/

Somebody posted on here a few weeks ago about losing a drone…

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/lost-my-dj-spark-any-dji-experts-about

The poster from that thread lives in Edinburgh….as does our OP.

It couldn’t be…. could it…. 😯

Would be good if it was…

Fly it around until you find someone looking forlornly up at the sky – there’s your guy.

I’ve sent a PM to tpbiker in case it is his.
His posts in a more recent drone thread suggest that he has either found or replaced his.
If I email DJI presumably they will be able to trace the owner using the serial number?

No mine ..I got mine back !

I have sent a message to DJI via their website form with the serial number to ask if they can help me get it back to the owner.

Good man Tom. Very decent of you.
Might be worth handing it in to police lost property?

DJI got back to me and said nobody has reported it as lost.
Might be time to see if I can hand it to police lost property.

Not sure how the fine my drone thing works but if you remove the battery you can find the wifi password and, as long as it’s not been changed join the device. Might help once the drone is connected to the network and has access to satelites to notify the owner of where it currently is. Don’t know if this might work but It could help the owner who I suspect assumes the battery had died and that was the end of it.

Drop it in to the local police station. If it’s that anonymous it might have been used to fly contraband over prison walls.

aye police station, I think it’s unlikely you’ll find the owner.

Saying that, they maybe turn up at the same location with another drone, so you might be lucky and bump into them, unlikely though, and your chances of verifying ownership, out with them having the controller to prove it’s there’s is probably unlikely.

Long shot but it might have been bought from Marionville in Livingstone. They’re the local “bricks and mortar” DJI supplier.

A call to them might come up with something.

Sounds like these drones should have a ‘contact details’ label on them.

Just a wee update on this – I handed it in to the police who initially said that if it wasn’t claimed after 2 months I could have it back.
When I contacted them to see if it had been claimed I was told that it hadn’t been claimed, but that “it is Police Scotland’s operating procedure not to return anything with a camera or recording device attached due to the Data Protection Act”.
So they are going to bin it even though it doesn’t store data internally (there was no SD card in it when I found it).
It does seem a bit of a bizarre procedure, as I will guarantee that pretty much anyone who finds a digital camera will look at the photos to see if they can easily identify who it belongs to before handing it in to the police.

Police Scotland’s operating procedure not to return anything with a camera or recording device attached due to the Data Protection Act”.

I would FOIA the procedure and the list of what has been disposed of and by what route. The drone will have batteries so it isn’t a black bin bag job.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they are going to auction

(hmmm..I’ve wanted a drone….)

Erm, yeah, it’s mine…

I’m right down on the Sussex coast, but it’s pretty windy ehre and I THINK it gone blown North.

Can you just fly it back south – I’ll shout when I can see it overhead….

DrP

As a result of this my advice to anyone who finds a drone, a camera or anything similar in Scotland – DO NOT HAND IT IN TO THE POLICE unless you’re happy for it to be needlessly destroyed.
Instead inform the police that you have it and all the details so that they can identify it if the person who has lost it comes forward.
You will have discharged your responsibilities under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 by doing this: “[a finder] shall take reasonable care of it and shall without unreasonable delay deliver the property or report the fact that he has taken possession of it to a constable”

You’ve probably not lost much. If you wanted to use it yourself, you would have had to pay for any repairs needed and buy the proprietary DJI radio gear, (about 80 quid) charger, (about 60) and maybe another battery. Doubt a second hand, damaged spark would be worth much on e-bay either.

If you wanted to use it yourself, you would have had to pay for any repairs needed and buy the proprietary DJI radio gear,

Can’t a Spark be controlled by a phone (in short range at least)?

Can’t a Spark be controlled by a phone

Yes it can. Also it can be charged with a usb cable.

I may (ahem) have taken it for a wee test flight around my garden to check it was all working.

Police Scotland’s operating procedure not to return anything with a camera or recording device attached due to the Data Protection Act”.

I’d be challenging that if I were you. The policy makes sense as far as it goes but the DPA surely can’t apply here if there isn’t any data to protect.

Can’t a Spark be controlled by a phone (in short range at least)?

Oh aye, appears you can, I’d not thought of that. Looking at the website it seems it will even do gesture controls without a phone or controller. Clever!

So sorry OP, looks like you’re bang out of luck. 🙁

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