Hidden Level BYOTx Sensor

The BYOTx sensor from Hidden Level (USA) is a quickly deployable passive RF sensor for the manufacturer’s airspace surveillance network. Its target class is Group 1 to 3, the US Department of Defense classification of unmanned aircraft by weight, altitude and speed, from the smallest drones to mid-size systems. The manufacturer names police, military use, critical infrastructure and events as fields of use.

The detection range is 10 km; with extended sensors it is over 10 km. For the network the manufacturer gives an average of 5 km in urban and up to 25 km in rural terrain, angular accuracy is 2 degrees, and up to 12 targets are tracked at once. The receive range extends to 6 GHz and is continuous, so it covers more than the ISM bands in which most drone links lie. The sensor weighs 20.4 kg (45 lb).

The sensor is passive and does not interfere with the drone’s radio link. Whether and how receiving and evaluating third-party radio signals is permitted (secrecy of telecommunications, data protection) has to be clarified for Germany and Poland before use. A sensor network that determines the positions of signal sources produces location data and additionally touches data protection. Jammers may be operated only by authorities in Germany and Poland (Section 91 TKG, Article 42 of the Polish Electronic Communications Law).

In selection, separate the single figure from the network: the 5 km urban and 25 km rural apply to the networked system, not to one sensor. At 2 degrees of angular accuracy a position arises only from several sensors. The manufacturer lists further sensors in the network, including Breaker and Surge (passive radar and direction finding); passive radar closes the gap for non-transmitting drones that a pure RF sensor does not see. Power supply, networking, antennas and software version need checking.