AIRLINE pilots have called for hand-held laser pointers to be banned after a number of pilots were dazzled by them while landing.
Thugs have hit pilots at Dublin Airport with the lasers just 90 seconds before landing, and in a worst-case scenario they could suffer temporary blindness, which could lead to a disaster.
Yesterday, Captain Adrian Hinkson of the Irish Airline Pilots Association (IALPA) said that up to a dozen incidents had been recorded at Dublin Airport since September, prompting Aer Lingus to issue guidance to its pilots on what to do in the event of being targeted by thugs wielding the potentially deadly devices.
"This has been happening quite a bit where idiots are using them to shine into the cockpits of airplanes on approach when they're quite close in," he said.
"Some of these things would almost have a military specification. Our problem is it's currently not an offence to have one," he added.
"If it gets you in the eye you're going to be incapacitated for up to half an hour, and you can also suffer retinal damage. Gardai and the air traffic controllers have been extremely good; but without legislation, people could escape with just a fine."
Captain Hinkson said the lasers should be classified as weapons, making it illegal to possess one except under licence.
The high-powered pointers are used by professional astronomers and enthusiasts for pointing out stars, but people should require a licence to own one, he added.
In the US, a San Jose, California man was arrested in November on suspicion of pointing a laser at an aircraft.
Another man was sentenced to two years probation in 2005 after he pleaded guilty to interfering with pilots of a passenger aircraft by shining a hand-held laser into the cockpit of a plane at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey.
The Irish Aviation Authority said 10 such incidents have taken place since September and that gardai have used aerial support to try and pinpoint the laser sources. And Aer Lingus said six of its flights had been targeted with laser light beams in recent months.
Gardai said it had received reports about people aiming the lasers at aircraft coming into Dublin, but could not confirm if a file was pending over any of the incidents.
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/pilots-urge-ban-on-laser-pointers-to-avoid-disaster-1592102.html
2009-01-07
intro7 colour laser optics
A warning before we start, this project should give little trouble to experienced laser modders, if you have never built your own laser I would suggest starting with something more basic.
Using inexpensive and easy to get parts, build a 7 colour, including of course white, hand held laser.
The following parts will be enough to build a bare, 7 selectable colour laser, it is up to you to make the housing of your choice. This could easily be built into a project box but I wanted a hand held pointer. Video link below shows what I decided to do with it.
http://www.instructables.com/id/7_colour_laser_optics/
Using inexpensive and easy to get parts, build a 7 colour, including of course white, hand held laser.
The following parts will be enough to build a bare, 7 selectable colour laser, it is up to you to make the housing of your choice. This could easily be built into a project box but I wanted a hand held pointer. Video link below shows what I decided to do with it.
http://www.instructables.com/id/7_colour_laser_optics/
2009-01-05
BeamQ Technologies and Laser Pointers
BeamQ Technologies(BeamQ Tech), is focusing on researching,producing and distributing laser pointers. The only product selling on the BeamQ Online Store, is laser pointers. The lowest power is 50mw and the highest is 200mw.
They also make low power laser pointers for promotional laser pen. You can have your company's logo or other images imprinted on laser pointers.
They also make low power laser pointers for promotional laser pen. You can have your company's logo or other images imprinted on laser pointers.
2009-01-04
All you wanted to know about green laser pointers
About green laser pointers
Green laser pointers have been around for a few years but what are they? We have all seen the red laser pointer but green is completely different. The most common type are DPSSFD, ( diode pumped solid state frequency-doubled). They are much more complicated than standard red laser pointers because laser diodes are not commonly available in this wavelength range and are more expensive to produce. They are also 50 times brighter than red. With green laser's, you can see the beam as well as the very bright dot. Green laser pointers are the preferred laser pointer because green is the most visible laser pointer color. The reason why green is more visible is the human eye is most sensitive to green light. The other reason is the effect of light in the earth's atmosphere. Light is visible in the sky when the atmosphere scatters it and higher wavelengths are scattered more than higher wavelengths. Green is a medium wavelength so it scatters more and is more visible than longer wavelengths such as red. Class 3B lasers may have an output power of up to 500 mW (half a watt) and a laser with an output power of around 100mW and above is easily capable of melting black plastic, making holes in bin liners and popping black coloured balloons or balloons marked with a black marker pen. To give you an idea of what to expect, if you were to enter a room that is pitch black and used the laser on the ceiling, you would be able to see everything in the room. The beam would also be very visible looking like a green rod stretching out. When used outside, the beam seems to reach the stars. The power output of laser's are measured in mW (milliWatts) and can range from 5mW to around 300mW. of course the more power you have, the easier they will burn and the brighter they are.
Infra red filter warning
Laser pointers give out a lot of infrared light which you can't see making them less bright. Laser power meters however cannot distinguish between green light and infrared light. Some inferior laser pointer will normally be made up of mostly infrared light. For example a 100mW inferior laser pointer is likely to have a combination 20mW green (532nm) and 80mW infrared (808nm). All genuine green laser pointers and portable lasers have infrared filters inside them that blocks infrared light. Some laser pointers have had this filter removed or have been manufactured without the filter. Without this filter, these laser pointers are very dangerous because the infrared light can damage your eyes. All the laser pointers we sell contain the correct IR filter.
What to look out for when buying
I have recently noticed cheap fake laser pointers selling at lower than trade prices. i.e. 100mw for about £20 and 200mw at about £40. These are pretty much underpowered lasers like 20mw with a 100mw label attached or 50mw with a 200mw label. If you are buying a laser of about 100mw and above and do not pop black balloons and put holes in black bin liners e.t.c. then it is more than likely that you have purchased a fake.
Important information about a laser lens
The lens on a laser is very sensitive to any dirt or grease particles and when contaminated, it is almost impossible to clean and will require a replacement lens. Most lasers available do not have interchangeable lenses and you will be stuck with a laser that shows a dot surrounded by a blur of dots and lines. The lens on our lasers can be changed in about 30 seconds and we always keep spares for that reason.
Fun things to do with laser pointers
Laser pointers over about 100mW can pop balloons and melt plastic. Dark or black balloons are required because they are better at absorbing green light. White or light coloured balloons will have too much reflection and the absorbed energy will not be enough to pop the balloon. If you don't have any dark/black balloons, you can use a black marker pen to put a black spot on the balloon that you can aim the laser at. These lasers will also burn plastic and put holes through bin liners, of course black objects are better. When pointed on some dark materials, you can literally see smoke rising.
Common laser power output available: 5mw 20mw 50mw 75mw 100mw 125mw 150mw 200mw 300mw
So Many Uses:
Astronomers
Teachers
Students
Bird Watchers
Presentations
Tour Guides
Construction Workers
Scientific
Military
Security applications
Use to point out distant points of interest
Just for fun
How can you be sure the laser you are buying has the correct power output?
Some unscrupulous sellers will offer a high powered laser that is less than half the real power or may not even know the correct power as most sellers do not have access to a proper calibrated power meter. We test each and every laser pointer before it is shipped to you with our state of the art optical power meter from Thorlabs pictured below. The PM121 enables us to accurately measure the precise output power of every laser pointer we supply and guarantee the power before it is shipped! If you are calling to collect the laser, we will demonstrate the equipment for you to see.
Green laser pointers have been around for a few years but what are they? We have all seen the red laser pointer but green is completely different. The most common type are DPSSFD, ( diode pumped solid state frequency-doubled). They are much more complicated than standard red laser pointers because laser diodes are not commonly available in this wavelength range and are more expensive to produce. They are also 50 times brighter than red. With green laser's, you can see the beam as well as the very bright dot. Green laser pointers are the preferred laser pointer because green is the most visible laser pointer color. The reason why green is more visible is the human eye is most sensitive to green light. The other reason is the effect of light in the earth's atmosphere. Light is visible in the sky when the atmosphere scatters it and higher wavelengths are scattered more than higher wavelengths. Green is a medium wavelength so it scatters more and is more visible than longer wavelengths such as red. Class 3B lasers may have an output power of up to 500 mW (half a watt) and a laser with an output power of around 100mW and above is easily capable of melting black plastic, making holes in bin liners and popping black coloured balloons or balloons marked with a black marker pen. To give you an idea of what to expect, if you were to enter a room that is pitch black and used the laser on the ceiling, you would be able to see everything in the room. The beam would also be very visible looking like a green rod stretching out. When used outside, the beam seems to reach the stars. The power output of laser's are measured in mW (milliWatts) and can range from 5mW to around 300mW. of course the more power you have, the easier they will burn and the brighter they are.
Infra red filter warning
Laser pointers give out a lot of infrared light which you can't see making them less bright. Laser power meters however cannot distinguish between green light and infrared light. Some inferior laser pointer will normally be made up of mostly infrared light. For example a 100mW inferior laser pointer is likely to have a combination 20mW green (532nm) and 80mW infrared (808nm). All genuine green laser pointers and portable lasers have infrared filters inside them that blocks infrared light. Some laser pointers have had this filter removed or have been manufactured without the filter. Without this filter, these laser pointers are very dangerous because the infrared light can damage your eyes. All the laser pointers we sell contain the correct IR filter.
What to look out for when buying
I have recently noticed cheap fake laser pointers selling at lower than trade prices. i.e. 100mw for about £20 and 200mw at about £40. These are pretty much underpowered lasers like 20mw with a 100mw label attached or 50mw with a 200mw label. If you are buying a laser of about 100mw and above and do not pop black balloons and put holes in black bin liners e.t.c. then it is more than likely that you have purchased a fake.
Important information about a laser lens
The lens on a laser is very sensitive to any dirt or grease particles and when contaminated, it is almost impossible to clean and will require a replacement lens. Most lasers available do not have interchangeable lenses and you will be stuck with a laser that shows a dot surrounded by a blur of dots and lines. The lens on our lasers can be changed in about 30 seconds and we always keep spares for that reason.
Fun things to do with laser pointers
Laser pointers over about 100mW can pop balloons and melt plastic. Dark or black balloons are required because they are better at absorbing green light. White or light coloured balloons will have too much reflection and the absorbed energy will not be enough to pop the balloon. If you don't have any dark/black balloons, you can use a black marker pen to put a black spot on the balloon that you can aim the laser at. These lasers will also burn plastic and put holes through bin liners, of course black objects are better. When pointed on some dark materials, you can literally see smoke rising.
Common laser power output available: 5mw 20mw 50mw 75mw 100mw 125mw 150mw 200mw 300mw
So Many Uses:
Astronomers
Teachers
Students
Bird Watchers
Presentations
Tour Guides
Construction Workers
Scientific
Military
Security applications
Use to point out distant points of interest
Just for fun
How can you be sure the laser you are buying has the correct power output?
Some unscrupulous sellers will offer a high powered laser that is less than half the real power or may not even know the correct power as most sellers do not have access to a proper calibrated power meter. We test each and every laser pointer before it is shipped to you with our state of the art optical power meter from Thorlabs pictured below. The PM121 enables us to accurately measure the precise output power of every laser pointer we supply and guarantee the power before it is shipped! If you are calling to collect the laser, we will demonstrate the equipment for you to see.
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