Re: Laser lunacy

From: Mij Adyaw (mijadyaw_at_nospamforme.com)
Date: 12/30/04 

Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2004 09:53:41 -0800

Correction:

A Laser pointer < 5mw is "Class-3A". A laser with a power output > 5mw is
"Class-3B". Note that these Class-3B devices are "lasers" and not "laser
pointers".

-Mij

"Chris L Peterson" <clp@alumni.caltech.edu> wrote in message
news:su28t0l7guhars6mslavr9isd9jtcibhdi@4ax.com...
> On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 01:23:42 -0500, RichA <none@none.com> wrote:
>
>>I think anyone using a laser in this way should have a nice
>>five-year jail term, but is it possible to do what the second
>>article said? I guess the plane would have to be a distance away
>>from the laser'r in order for the beam to have entered the cockpit?
>>Another thing; Wouldn't the laser have to be mounted on some
>>kind of stable tracking device? The deviation due to body shake
>>(from someone holding it) from the distance claimed means that it
>>would be about impossible to hold it on target with any kind of
>>timeframe on the order of "seconds."
>>-Rich
>
> This is something that is impossible to do with a typical class 3b laser
> pointer. As you note, there is no way to hold one still enough from
> several
> thousand feet away, and it wouldn't be bright at that distance. A
> searchlight
> hitting a plane would be brighter and more distracting (something that
> happens
> regularly).
>
> Supposedly, this happened again shortly after in Colorado Springs.
> Frankly, I'm
> suspicious that there is an element of hysteria in all this. Lately the
> Department of Homeland Security has been running around warning that
> terrorists
> with lasers are a threat to airplanes, and suddenly you have three reports
> of
> bright green lights, from different locations, with no physical evidence
> at all?
> Hmmm....
>
> _________________________________________________
>
> Chris L Peterson
> Cloudbait Observatory
> http://www.cloudbait.com