Laser beams being aimed at airliners?

Does anyone know if these are industrial strength lasers, or the green
laser pens that amateur astronomy buffs use for pointing out stars?
--
Gene Seibel
Gene & Sue's Aeroplanes - http://pad39a.com/gene/planes.html
Because I fly, I envy no one.

That's just what I was wondering, Gene, when I read some of the news
reports......

--
--
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"Gene Seibel" wrote:

Does anyone know if these are industrial strength lasers, or the
green laser pens that amateur astronomy buffs use for pointing out
stars?

And blinding the man on the moon.

"Gene Seibel" wrote in message
ups.com...
Does anyone know if these are industrial strength lasers, or the green
laser pens that amateur astronomy buffs use for pointing out stars?
--
According to a radio show last night, the lasers have been all "green"
except one. Sounds like it might be the laser pens, but do those have enough
strength to light up a target several thousand feet away?


Matt -- still using a wooden pointer (you can't scratch your own back with a
laser pointer).
---------------------
Matthew W. Barrow
Site-Fill Homes, LLC.
Montrose, CO

Yes, they do, the green lasers especially. In fact, there are several
varieties of emergency signallers which are *designed* to reach search
aircraft. They're obviously not designed to blind the searchers, however,
and this review makes it seem like it would be pretty difficult to keep a
laser trained on a cockpit long enough to cause any eye damage.

http://www.equipped.com/rescuelaser.htm


"Matt Barrow" wrote in message
...

"Gene Seibel" wrote in message
ups.com...
Does anyone know if these are industrial strength lasers, or the green
laser pens that amateur astronomy buffs use for pointing out stars?
--
According to a radio show last night, the lasers have been all "green"
except one. Sounds like it might be the laser pens, but do those have
enough
strength to light up a target several thousand feet away?


Matt -- still using a wooden pointer (you can't scratch your own back with
a
laser pointer).
---------------------
Matthew W. Barrow
Site-Fill Homes, LLC.
Montrose, CO

"Jeremy Lew" wrote in message
...
Yes, they do, the green lasers especially. In fact, there are several
varieties of emergency signallers which are *designed* to reach search
aircraft. They're obviously not designed to blind the searchers, however,
and this review makes it seem like it would be pretty difficult to keep a
laser trained on a cockpit long enough to cause any eye damage.

As I previously said, damaging someone's retina at that distance is
practically impossible. Anyone who's not comatose will shut their eyes well
before any damage is done. In decades of audience scanning with high power
lasers (not legal in the US) I don't think there's ever been a confirmed
case of permanent injury to a spectator. And the levels are much higher
than could be acheived at a distance of several miles.

moo

"Matt Barrow" wrote in message
...

According to a radio show last night, the lasers have been all "green"
except one. Sounds like it might be the laser pens, but do those have
enough
strength to light up a target several thousand feet away?

I have a bunch of high power visible lasers. All except one are Argon or
Argon / Krypton Gas Ion lasers. Argon produces a mixture of blue and green
colours and Krypton generally produces red. They range in output from 3 to
13 watts. The largest is a mixed gas Argon / Krypton. The same laser with
an Argon tube can produce over 20 watts. But they're *big*. The power
supply is the size of a small refrigerator. The head is over 7 feet long
and weighs about 200 lbs. They require 480V AC service and draw about 50
amps. They also require water cooling at a rate of about 3 US gallons per
minute. Hardly portable. And, they cost at least 25K for a decent used
one. A high level of technical expertise is required to operate them. Go
here and look for "Ion Lasers".

http://www.cohr.com/

There are portable systems that can produce power in these ranges though.
More later. I used to have one near the top of the CN Tower in Toronto. It
was a large frame Argon laser and produced about 20 watts. It was focused
on the ground about 3 miles away. I can't remember what the power level was
at the ground. But it was well below 2.5 mw/cm (the safety limit for brief
exposure). However, even at that level it's still bright enough to
temporarily affect night vision after a brief exposure.

The reports indicate a green beam. There are a few types of solid state
lasers that produce green at high power. Here's one of the largest:

http://www.laserfantasy.com/products_i2000.asp

Again, it requires a fair bit of power and water but I've seen portable
versions of them. They're expensive (~50K US) and require technical
expertise to operate. So I don't think they're practical for covert
terrorist activities.

On the small scale, there is a device (I happen to have one) that could be
used as a turbocharged pointer. Go to
http://lasers.mellesgriot.com/default.asp and look at "Diode Pumped Solid
State Lasers". These produce about three watts of green and only draw about
150 watts. They could easily be powered by a small Inverter in an
automobile. Cost is about 12K US new.

Now for a reality check. To actually blind someone at a distance of several
miles is practically impossible. It would require a very high power laser
and sophisticated tracking equipment. Even then, one would have to
intentionally stare at the offending beam for permanent damage to occur.
The same tracking system with a smaller (~2 watt) laser could be used to
make it impossible to carry out the visual portion of an approach. But, and
anyone experience with laser shows will tell you, holding a beam steady at a
distance of miles is really tricky stuff. However, I think that an amateur,
armed with a 3 watt DPSS laser could cause some serious problems just by
sitting in a vehicle at the end of a runway and eyeballing shots at incoming
planes.

Now, in anticipation of the question, here's what it feels like to get
zapped by one of these things at a distance. (It's happened to me many
times.) You will be momentarily blinded. It won't incapacitate your vision
for more than a few seconds, assuming that you blink. You will want to
abort the approach, not because you won't be able to land, but because the
same thing might happen again. Obviously you'll want to alert the police
and FSS or Tower. If the idiot shining the beam leaves it on, you should be
able to see their location. The colour produced by these devices is an odd
sort of green that doesn't occur in nature an is unmistakeable.

Here's some links on laser safety.

http://www.laserist.org/Laserist/Safety.html
http://www.laserfx.com/Science/Science4.html

moo

I have a bunch of high power visible lasers.

Well, Happy Dog, I suspect I speak for most everyone here when I ask:

What the heck do you *do* for a living?

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:TijCd.614532$wV.146573@attbi_s54...
I have a bunch of high power visible lasers.

Well, Happy Dog, I suspect I speak for most everyone here when I ask:

What the heck do you *do* for a living?


Doesn't involve mutant sea bass, does it?

"Jay Honeck" wrote in
I have a bunch of high power visible lasers.

Well, Happy Dog, I suspect I speak for most everyone here when I ask:

What the heck do you *do* for a living?

www.libertygrand.com
www.eventservices.ca
www.aerobatics.ca
www.bovinesexclub.com

The terrorist thing is just a hobby. :-)

moo