Renewed Laser Pointer License $200!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Merlin66]

Just renewed the Permit to carry and use a Laser Pointer.....
$200 with fees!
Ok, maybe for three years but still a significant hit to wallet.

[multiweb]

Nany state... :shrug: Does this include collimation lasers?

[multiweb]

This NSW police page (https://www.police.nsw.gov.au/online_services/firearms/laser_pointers/laser_pointers_-_questions_and_answers) says you're exempt from a permit if you are an amateur astronomer and are a member of any of these clubs (https://www.police.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/139895/Astronomical_Societies_Internet_Nov ember_2016_V1.4.pdf).

[Merlin66]

In Victoria, lasers >1mW must be licensed.

[Hans Tucker]

Don't you have to secure these in the same manner as a firearm?

[AstroJunk]

I gave up on them a few years back. I have a pen torch that does just as good a job for pointing objects during outreach and isn't 'cooler' than the targets themselves.

I have listened to many of my workmates who have come back off holiday having done a sky tour and the only thing they recall is the laser :rofl:

"What did they show you?"
"the laser was AWESOME!!!!"
"Did you see a planet?"
"It was green and went forever...."

etc :sadeyes:

[Merlin66]

Hans,
Yes, here in Vic it's a "Prohibited Weapon"

My laser(s) are used in spectroscopy and used for the design and construction of spectroscopes and spectroheliographs.

[AstroJunk]

Now that's a real reason to use one :thumbsup:

[Kunama]

The Victorian law only relates to handheld, battery powered laser pointer. A pointer permanently attached to a telescope does not fall under the definition, nor do lasers used on tripods for construction etc...

"A hand-held battery-operated article commonly known as a "laser pointer" designed or adapted to emit a laser beam with an accessible emission limit of greater than 1 mW."

So if it is mounted in a permanent way i.e., not hand held, such as in Ken's testing equipment it would not fall under the provision of that legislation.

[billdan]

What are you saying Matt, that Ken wasted $200 ?

[Merlin66]

I won’t argue the case, but a collimating laser can be removed from the telescope and “hand held”.....
Sure, if it is permanently built into a devise - laser leveling devise then you may be correct.

[Rkonrad]

Is this for any laser ? including the low power collimation ones ?

[Merlin66]

Applies to hand held lasers over 1mW.
I've seen laser collimators advertised as <1mW, and when received have been marked "Output Power"<5mW.......

[AndrewJ]

Gday Matt
There was a long thread on this a few years back and someone got the Vic Police to confirm this, as all the states were different.
IIRC the answer was if it was a normally hand held device "temporarily" mounted in a bracket, it was still classified as requiring a permit.
Only if it was "designed into" and permanently fitted to a piece of equipment ( like a laser level etc ) was it treated differently,

Need to see if the thread still exists, but it didnt sound like the Vic Police were interested in doing anything that required discretion, which is probably why the astro society exclusion that works in other states is ignored here.


Andrew

[brian nordstrom]

:shrug: Just another money grab by the so called ' Powers that be ' its getting out of control , for crying out loud I just re did my car and motorcycle licence for 5 years at $149 , it was $35 only 5 years ago , this is getting out of hand !

Brian.

[Merlin66]

Brian, I disagree.
For various reasons hand held lasers are controlled in Vic as a weapon and as such require a permit.

[CanopusA]

License for a small laser! What sort of nuttiness is that?

[brian nordstrom]

:question: Well if you are happy giving them $200 every couple of years for nothing , all the best , I personally agree with CanopusA , nothing but NUTTINESS ! .

Brian.

[Merlin66]

Ok,
Here in Vic my work with spectroscope design demands the use of these lasers...there are no legal alternative options.

[LewisM]

That's very expensive.

For a firearms licence, with 5 year validity, I pay MUCH less.

I am sure you could get a waiver though Ken, if you showed your scientific application. Perhaps even if you got the setup accredited by a University, CSIRO or similar?

[billdan]

Won't be long before we have to do a Certificate 4 course and pay an annual license fee to use a BBQ.

[LewisM]

Not to mention a:
Working with Vulnerable People card
Police check
AGSVA Negative Vetting
15 OH&S courses
Gas Safety certificate
Working with Flammable gases
And a participation award


Nanny State level 2.0. Live update coming soon.

[Merlin66]

Lewis,
The application is quite clear.....you want to use a laser, you pay the permit price......

[LewisM]

Well that's a bugger!

[AndyG]

C'mon Lewis, you're getting slack... You forgot:
"Genuine Reason for working with fire" form.

Same here, I pay around that for my Cat A,B & H licences...

@Ken, Not at all mocking you. This is genuinely sad to see someone else's stupidity forcing you to pay, to participate in tasks that are the opposite of "stupid".

What you're doing is intellectually beyond most of the population, yet the system treats you like the rest and imposes these dis-incentives, pressuring you to be like the rest. Even sadder would be say, an old pensioner where $200 could represent a real barrier to such pursuits, etc.

/rant.

[Merlin66]

Andy,
Understood.
I realise it's difficult for some to understand the position taken by the police in Victoria, but such is life.

""Even sadder would be say, an old pensioner where $200 could represent a real barrier to such pursuits, etc."" Unfortunately this is exactly my situation as a unemployed retiree with no pension income.....my wife questions my sanity.....

[DarkArts]

You must be doing something right, then. :D

[Shano592]

I was going to state that Ken is just like the rest of us, then! :rofl:

[doppler]

The sadder thing is that the ones up to no good don't bother to get permits or licenses.

[Shano592]

And the fines probably don't match the licence fee.

Although I am making a large assumption, here.

[gaseous]

Exactly Rick!


"Yes officer, I've bought a $10k telescope with another $10k worth of accessories as a cunning cover story so that I can drive for an hour and a half to the middle of nowhere once a month to shine a $20 laser at passing planes - guilty as charged".


I can see the potential need to register people using lasers, but $200? That's obscene. In the name of progressing science, the permits should be free. I could be very wrong, but I doubt they'd be issuing more than a few dozen every year anyway - unlikely to make a huge demand on government services.

[bojan]

It's probably just default fee for license in general.
We need amateur astronomer in police force to represent our case....

[doppler]

In QLD there was representation by Astronomical Associations when the laws were being tabled, so no permits / licenses and a 20mw limit for recognized users, ie astronomy, teachers etc.

[Peter Ward]

The simple fix would to get one powered by an A/C power pack.

That said, the legistalion is loopy. A handheld laser pointer is clearly not a threat. I know some morons have illuninated aircraft with them, but despite what must be over 100,000 illumination events by now, there has not been a single aviation incident as a result.

I have sveral lasers, including a Class IV device that I treat with a good deal of respect for my retinas, but is it a “weapon”? :lol: The legistators that thought so have clearly no idea.

“Stop or I’ll shine my torch at you!” And if you stand really still I can get out my laser and maybe put a pock mark in your black plastic raincoat. :rofl:

[AndrewJ]

Yep, but you need to understand that down here,
the govt and councils gets a big chunk of their budget from fines and fees.
Making ownership vs misuse the crime makes it much easier for the wallopers to get a conviction :-)


Andrew

[Merlin66]

http://www.laserpointersafety.com/rules-general/lawsuggestions/lawsuggestions.html

Well worth reading.....

[doppler]

There are already severe penalties for misuse of laser pointers (federal and state laws), this is just about making being unlicensed a crime.

What a plane may see at altitude.

http://laser.physics.sunysb.edu/~wise/wise187/2005/reports/deb/report.html