Drones

Hurrache · 23-09-2025 08:48AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123840555#Comment_123840555

Sound pollution also comes within environmental concerns.

blanch152 · 23-09-2025 09:46AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123842357#Comment_123842357

It does, but is the sound of a drone really louder than the sound of a car or motorbike? It is just different people exposed to the noise.

Former Former Former · 23-09-2025 10:28AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123842527#Comment_123842527

A big difference is not just the type of noise but where it comes from.

When a drone flies overhead, there is nothing between you and it, just fresh air. There is nothing to act as a baffle.

When a car or bikes goes past, chances are there are walls, trees, houses, whatever between you and it.

So even though the car may be louder, the drone might well create more noise to the person hearing it.

blanch152 · 23-09-2025 10:30AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123842708#Comment_123842708

So there is a reduction in noise to wildlife, but slightly increased noise for humans?

Disagree with drones because you don't like them, but the idea that they are worse for the environment is nuts.

magicbastarder · 23-09-2025 10:37AM

Just because they deliver benefits in one area does not mean they don't cause problems in another.

What I'm seeing is the slippery slope argument, that because we already have deliveries, a new form of delivery is nothing new. Because we already have road noise, a higher pitched noise from overhead is nothing new...

I'll go back to my suggestion that they only be allowed follow roads to get to their destination. Absolutely no overflying of public parks or recreation grounds. Or where people go to escape traffic and traffic noise. Such as their own back gardens.

Former Former Former · 23-09-2025 10:42AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123842717#Comment_123842717

I think you're replying to the wrong poster?

I'm just observing on a basic rule of physics which explains why a car might seem less noisy than a drone.

AndrewJRenko · 23-09-2025 10:56AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123842717#Comment_123842717

They idea that they are better for the environment because they'll reduce car journeys is nuts. Car journeys will continue, and the drones will be (literally) on top of that.

Flinty997 · 23-09-2025 11:04AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123842708#Comment_123842708

Most people do not have constant line of sight to a drone. It's blocked by houses, buildings and trees. If you're inside obviously your roof etc.

There's a bit of artistic licence going on here though. Opponents are saying it's louder than it is, mamma saying it's quieter than it is. Some of those online videos have weird sound like it's been badly edited. Everyone seems to be bias.

Loudness measuring doesn't work as people it's not the loudness but the type of sound. No winning that one.

I think people don't like the idea as much as the reality.

blanch152 · 23-09-2025 11:08AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123842830#Comment_123842830

No, your post is the one with the crazy assumptions. You are assuming that every delivery made by drone is additional to the existing demand for deliveries and that these deliveries would not happen if there were no drones.

That is madness.

Former Former Former · 23-09-2025 11:31AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123842864#Comment_123842864

Loudness measuring doesn't work as people it's not the loudness but the type of sound. No winning that one.

That's pretty much my point though? Like, saying a drone is 80 dB and a motorbike is 100 dB is pretty meaningless, it's all about how you receive and perceive the sound.

I think people don't like the idea as much as the reality.

I think it's the opposite tbh. The original promise was that the Manna drones would be "invisible and inaudible at cruise speed". As recently as last year, Manna were maintaining that you could only hear them when they hover to drop their cargo. The reality is very different. They are very visible and very audible, at all stages.

I don't mind them too much right now but if they're scaled up to the levels that are being touted, it will be a nightmare.

AndrewJRenko · 23-09-2025 11:59AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123842881#Comment_123842881

Manna's business will be an absolute and complete failure if it is limited to replacing existing car journeys. It will only succeed if the numbers of drone deliveries grows exponentially, along with the associated noise.

You're also assuming that existing deliveries are made by car, and not (as often happens) by eBike.

blanch152 · 23-09-2025 12:00PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123843081#Comment_123843081

Moving goalposts.

AndrewJRenko · 23-09-2025 12:01PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123843092#Comment_123843092

It's true though.

blanch152 · 23-09-2025 12:05PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123843100#Comment_123843100

You have pivoted to a different point because your earlier point was untrue, which suggests the arguments aren't being made in good faith.

Flinty997 · 23-09-2025 12:17PM

Well it's not meaningless .

"...A 100 dB sound is significantly louder than an 80 dB sound; a 20 dB increase on the logarithmic decibel scale corresponds to a 100-fold increase in sound intensity and is four times as loud to human perception, with 80 dB sounds being considered loud (like heavy traffic) and 100 dB sounds being very loud (like a rock concert or nightclub), posing a greater risk for permanent hearing damage with even short-term exposure. ..."

I mean people complaining about them flying at hours when they don't actually fly. Or sound like jet engine flying over head. Which it doesn't

AndrewJRenko · 23-09-2025 02:16PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123843118#Comment_123843118

I haven't pivoted to anything. It's the same point - that the drones are NOT going to take a significant number of car journeys off the road.

Manna's business plan is about very large numbers of trips, the vast majority of which will be sh1te food and drink, which is going to have significant consequences on our health service down the line.

KGLady · 23-09-2025 05:51PM

When anyone in my small estate is getting a delivery via bike, ebike motorbike or car we are none of us very aware of it. But if someone in the estate is getting manna delivery we all hear it as it flies overhead and my arse is it up at 65m until it reaches the destination. I live in a place where the immedate houses are in a U shape and the location of my home centred at the bottom of the U shape is such that for 28 out of the of these thirty houses, the drone delivery routes right over my house to reach the row of back gardens. Sunny weekend days there would be multiple deliveries and they're loud enough that we have to pause conversation if we're sitting outside and wait for it to pass to continue. Heat wave days there was 1-2 per hour and its just a constant disruption.

Listening to one flying overhead as I type now, and whatever it is about the frequency of the noise it makes, its just a really irritating sound. I've never used the service but its negatively impacted my quiet enjoyment of my private garden all bloody summer.

Flinty997 · 23-09-2025 06:07PM

Once you hear Ride of the Valkyries you know the coffee and donuts are on their way.

Former Former Former · 24-09-2025 01:36PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123843162#Comment_123843162

Well it's not meaningless .

See, this is the difference between googling and understanding.

If an Aer Lingus A330 is making a noise of 150 dB as it's taking off, the walls in my house should be shaking, right? No, I can't even hear it because the airport is 10km away. The noise that I perceive is 0 dB.

If a drone is at 70dB and it's right overhead, it's probably going to sound like 50 or 60 dB to me. A car out on the street will seem significantly quieter and that's the relevant measurement.

It is complicated so maybe just stick with the snide comments and aggressive shilling. Play to your strengths like.

thenuisance · 24-09-2025 02:03PM

When all the ebike deliveries started around me I could hear every one - especially the ones on the fat tires with that weird rumbling noise. I'm used to them now and don't notice. I suspect this is also the case of the drones - they're rare enough at the moment that you'll notice them.

However eBikes go right past my front window but don't drive through my back yard. I think I would be more upset by the visual intrusion than the noise - so I get why people are upset. Seems that a lot of drones come with cameras - probably not the Manna ones but others could piggy back on that - filming you in the nip sunbathing in your back garden. It's just another example of the tech bros taking advantage of weak pre-tech regulation and public space to make money. I'm sure if we could find a charging mechanism that allowed home-owners to benefit from overflights they would find no problem following streets. Do they have to pay some kind of 'air space fee' to the government? - maybe like a road tax.

Flinty997 · 24-09-2025 04:50PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123846911#Comment_123846911

You're the one who made the mistake about sound measurements. I didn't create the explanation. You're arguing with science not me.

Maybe you'll argue with NASA. A known shill of drones lol.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/a27390/drones-annoying-noise/

It's more annoying at the same volume for a number of reasons, the frequency, because it's loiters when delivering, because we've normalised other noises like traffic. Like we do trains and aircraft. So the annoying noise seems louder.

If someone lives in a cul de sac they probably don't have traffic noise as there is no passing or through traffic and a drone delivering at the front will bounce sound off all the houses.

Not because you can hear it through your roof.

Flinty997 · 24-09-2025 05:03PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123847001#Comment_123847001

You will always hear them when delivering as it's sounds like a lawnmower in your garden. Hard to miss. Not going to get used to that.

The argument about the of them passing over head being annoying depends on a number of factors. I guess you can only tell that from first hand experience in the exact location that's complaining about them.

I suspect you're right about the weak early adoption regulations. There doesn't seem to be any mechanical in legislation to deal with the noise. Open to correction on that.

Former Former Former · 24-09-2025 08:54PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123847544#Comment_123847544

You posted something that you found on Wikipedia about decibels. That measures loudness.

Now you’ve found something else on google that you don’t understand that talks about frequency which is entirely different and cannot be measured in dB.

If your argument is now that drones are both loud and annoying, then yes, I agree.

Flinty997 · 24-09-2025 09:34PM

You said a 20dB difference was meaningless.

The quote explained why it isn't. NASA is explaining why two things of the same loudness may annoy differently. Not just because of the frequency but because of normalisation.

You don't seem to have got past "Loud" ....

Flinty997 · 24-09-2025 09:39PM

Drones

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