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Old 06-04-2017, 09:15 AM
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sil (Steve)
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Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Canberra
Posts: 1,474
Quote:
Originally Posted by ninja2 View Post
Is a 1mW laser simply not powerful enuf to be visible from a distance and so doesn't attract police attention, but a 5mW is easily visible from a distance? Or is this only true if the conditions are right (e.g. humidity).

(only curious ... not planning to test police response unit)
want a bet? especially at night when the police helicopters are out with flir cameras sweeping for hotspots of dope growers or you're a block away from a major road where a patrol car is waiting for a break from boredom or a commercial flightpath is overhead. No you arent likely to blind a pilot from the ground but with the focusing effect of corrective glasses and refraction of windows you cant say its impossible. Certainly a momentary distraction is all it takes for a driver or pilot to cause an accident.

I know lasers are cool , but its rare to hear anyone responsible enough to handle one safely, its no wonder the clamp down in the laws. its just something to be so flippant about, in faster than a blink a person can permanently lose their eyesight.

Greg on the show firstly didnt have pointers like light sabres, they arent that bright in person, any just because they arent as visible they do have a lot of energy. Just like most uv torches only emit a tiny part of the uv spectrum (longwave uv and violet/blue visible light) but the other end of uv is the opposite (shortwave uv?) which is invisible to the eye but packs a ton of energy that can cause damage, this is the stuff you slip slop slap to avoid. If you paid attention you'd notice Greg raised raised the pointers skywards before turning them on, kept them on for the minimal time required, turned them off before lowering and immediately slid them face down into his pocket. Under the circumstances it was pretty much the best way to use them without them becoming the center of attention, they were never pointed towards people and no one was moving around (I guess everyone there was roped off behind the cameras)

sorry but as someone with a newly acquired permanent disability joviality on something as potentially dangerous as this is disappointing and somewhat offensive. People are going to do stupid things regardless and regret it later on but please dont give that impression here where we have young members. set a good example.
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