Green Laser Pointers??

[Pete E]

A couple of miles from where I live, there is a park where the teenagers gather of an evening and do what ever teenagers do.

It a few of them have bought some green laser pointers as every so often, I can see one, two or three beams shining skyward after dark.

I am not sure if these are legal in Oz, but if they are, they struck me as a brilliant night time signalling device, one that's relatively cheap as well.

The green ones are the most viable and can be seen from long distances, and of course mark exactly where the user is...

 

[Moneybox]

A couple of miles from where I live, there is a park where the teenagers gather of an evening and do what ever teenagers do.

It a few of them have bought some green laser pointers as every so often, I can see one, two or three beams shining skyward after dark.

I am not sure if these are legal in Oz, but if they are, they struck me as a brilliant night time signalling device, one that's relatively cheap as well.

The green ones are the most viable and can be seen from long distances, and of course mark exactly where the user is...

Perhaps we should all learn a simple SOS signal?

 

[Hawkear]

A couple of miles from where I live, there is a park where the teenagers gather of an evening and do what ever teenagers do.

It a few of them have bought some green laser pointers as every so often, I can see one, two or three beams shining skyward after dark.

I am not sure if these are legal in Oz, but if they are, they struck me as a brilliant night time signalling device, one that's relatively cheap as well.

The green ones are the most viable and can be seen from long distances, and of course mark exactly where the user is...

As with so many things, the laws in Australia governing laser pointers are all over the place with different states having different laws.
I use a laser pointer attached to my telescopes as a finder. That way aligned with the main telescope, I can just look at the path the laser traces into the night sky to see what object the main telescope is pointed at.
Two general conditions appear to make their use permissible.
1. That their power output be below 1mW
2. One should be a member of an organization where their use is needed eg an astronomical society or club in my case.
Outside of these and even in some states with these needs, Nightmarish conditions exist to getting permits as they seem to classified as weapons.
I like to take my telescope with me on interstate prospecting trips to take advantage of dark sky conditions. I just have to trust that if seen to be breaching local state laws some common sense would prevail.

 

[grubstake]

Halfwits pointing them at aircraft (and even police helicopters!), is the reason strict action was taken in Australia. The last thing a pilot on approach for a night landing needs is a powerful green laser flooding the cockpit, destroying his night vision and potentially leaving him with lasting retinal damage. Hence, anything stronger than a lecturer's pointer is treated as a possible terrorist weapon unless you have a permit or in Hawkear's case, it's below a specified wattage, you're using it for astronomy and it's permanently mounted on a telescope.

 

[Pete E]

As with so many things, the laws in Australia governing laser pointers are all over the place with different states having different laws.
I use a laser pointer attached to my telescopes as a finder. That way aligned with the main telescope, I can just look at the path the laser traces into the night sky to see what object the main telescope is pointed at.
Two general conditions appear to make their use permissible.
1. That their power output be below 1mW
2. One should be a member of an organization where their use is needed eg an astronomical society or club in my case.
Outside of these and even in some states with these needs, Nightmarish conditions exist to getting permits as they seem to classified as weapons.
I like to take my telescope with me on interstate prospecting trips to take advantage of dark sky conditions. I just have to trust that if seen to be breaching local state laws some common sense would prevail.

View attachment 7517

It is going the same way in the UK..Under a certain power, lasers are legal to have, but there are specific offences if you shine one at an aircraft ect...I would imagine that if you were caught carrying one in your pocket while out and about in town, the Police would give you a real hard time even if you weren't technically breaking the law..

Laser over that power level can still be owned, but for astronomical use and with similar restrictions/laws as yourselves...

 

[Pete E]

Halfwits pointing them at aircraft (and even police helicopters!), is the reason strict action was taken in Australia. The last thing a pilot on approach for a night landing needs is a powerful green laser flooding the cockpit, destroying his night vision and potentially leaving him with lasting retinal damage. Hence, anything stronger than a lecturer's pointer is treated as a possible terrorist weapon unless you have a permit or in Hawkear's case, it's below a specified wattage, you're using it for astronomy and it's permanently mounted on a telescope.

Sadly we have the same halfwits added to which it seems to be relatively easy to get overly powerful illegal versions, and I can understand why the Police are wary about people who carry them...

Drones were in danger of going the same way following a week or so of disruption caused to Heathrow airport (the airport was effectively closed) but the use of drones is selflimited somewhat by their cost, where as any halfwit can afford a £10 laser pointer off eBay...

 

[David-Karratha]

They’d potentially be great at attracting attention, however as I’ve previously discussed (or posted in a long-winded somewhat pointless diatribe), something like this is only useful if people are actively looking for you.

If you come to grief, you can signal in a dozen different ways, to a dozen different aircraft and other vehicles, until you’re blue in the face. But unless someone is inquisitive enough to actually go and see what you’re doing, 99% of people will simply see something, and then go on about their business. You can flash S.O.S in morse code all day, but again, most people in all likelihood won’t recognise it as a distress signal. Morse code sounds simple in practice, but every single time I’ve tried it, the recipients just saw a bunch of random flashes (we’ve tried this amongst friends when out camping, with mirrors. Torches worked ok, but had a surprisingly small range).

If you’re going bush (or even just going travelling through areas with poor phone coverage), carry an epirb or PLB. They’re small, they’re cheap, and best of all, they’re really very reliable in doing their job.

I know of two different people, who came across very nasty road accidents, well out of mobile phone coverage, and who used their PLB/epirb to get emergency services out there as quickly as possible.

 

[Pete E]

They’d potentially be great at attracting attention, however as I’ve previously discussed (or posted in a long-winded somewhat pointless diatribe), something like this is only useful if people are actively looking for you.

If you come to grief, you can signal in a dozen different ways, to a dozen different aircraft and other vehicles, until you’re blue in the face. But unless someone is inquisitive enough to actually go and see what you’re doing, 99% of people will simply see something, and then go on about their business. You can flash S.O.S in morse code all day, but again, most people in all likelihood won’t recognise it as a distress signal. Morse code sounds simple in practice, but every single time I’ve tried it, the recipients just saw a bunch of random flashes (we’ve tried this amongst friends when out camping, with mirrors. Torches worked ok, but had a surprisingly small range).

If you’re going bush (or even just going travelling through areas with poor phone coverage), carry an epirb or PLB. They’re small, they’re cheap, and best of all, they’re really very reliable in doing their job.

I know of two different people, who came across very nasty road accidents, well out of mobile phone coverage, and who used their PLB/epirb to get emergency services out there as quickly as possible.

Surely the most famous case of that was during the sinking of the Titanic, when the captain of the Californian failed to respond to rockets fired from the Titanic....

 

[nucopia]

Many different uses for lasers.
Laser levels, for building trades
Lasers on telescopes.
Lasers on range finders used in golf and hunting
Lasers pointers on IR night vision scopes, even some shops have them at the entrance when you walk in and break the beam..
Its the idiots abusing them and creating a dangerous nuisance that has become a problematic .. as always the few , stuff it up for the many.