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Unbelievable Email just received ...

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7 replies

by older mycroft

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This just arrived in my email account:

[u]Lasers and fireworks , made for each other[/u]

It goes without saying , NO POINTING your laser at cars or planes or people or anything silly like that , you will end up in prison ... BUT tonight is an ideal night for taking your laser outside for that Star Wars light saber effect , all the smoke and residue from fireworks in the air means theres lots of little particles for the laser light to bounce off , creating some spectacular effects.

Ideally a nice bright green laser pointer would be perfect but last year we even tested a small 1mW red laser and the air was so full of particles for the first time we could even see a little red beam ... so cute after the thousand zergawatt laser explosives we get to play with :-)

We LOVE lasers , we love fireworks and we are going out for some fun tonight , hope you do too ... tonight the big kids get to play ( SAFELY ) , remember and send us pics and youtube vids of lasers and fireworks.

http://www.laserpointers.co.uk : http://www.megagreen.co.uk : http://www.fireworkcrazyuk.com

[i]So, there you have it folks. The world and his wife are worrying needlessly about kids bringing down approaching aircraft with lasers tonight - because tonight is Bonfire Night and the lasers won't do any harm.[/i]

[b]Can you believe the stupidity of this??!![/b]

Forgot the links.

7 replies

by locolobo

What's the occasion? I'm not familiar with UK holidays. Or is it any occasion is a good one?

Didn't know they had green lasers.

by older mycroft

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes_Night

Sorry, I went all British with my original post, assuming that everyone else knew what I was referring to. ;)

by jamesrl

I've seen a recent interview with a pilot who's eyes were damaged by some doofus with a green laser. He will recover in 6 months. The technical expert the same news show brought in said the green ones, often used by stargazers because they are very powerful and useful for pointing out far off objects in the sky, are more powerful than the red ones.

The first time I heard of this issue was back about 10 years ago, before they became so common.

The incident then involved an American helicopter pilot on exchange with Canadian armed forces, flying a Canadian Forces chopper off the west coast. They went to check out a Russian ship just near the border of international space, which was suspected of being an electronic evesdropping ship. Someone on the ship used a green laser to dazzle the pilot and the guy had major eye damage.

So yeah, its like the idiots who smoke while pumping gas, even through smoke using a laser as a toy by kids could easily end up resulting in damage.

James

by locolobo

A few years ago, I used to get "painted" regularly driving in my neighborhood, by a red pointer. Either they grew up or they painted a cop. Either way it only lasted a few months. I know several people in the neighborhood were complaining.

Didn't know about the green ones being more powerful. Only seen the red ones.

by jamesrl

Supposedly the ones legally for sale in most countries are supposed to be "safe" at least from eye damage, but there are some being imported from Russia and China which are not.

Obviously even the low power ones are a problem if you get flashed at the wrong moment while driving.

Especially worrying are the idiots who flash planes as they land. One second of inaability to see the instruments or the runway could impact the safety of the whole plane.

I've seen it in movie theatres but thankfully never around an airport.

James

by mjd420nova

Yes, there is something about the eye/retina that makes it more vulnerable to damage from a green laser than any other color. Here on the west coast/best coast of the US, fog is an almost nightly occurance and very thick. The red laser pens are very low wattage but make for spectacular effects in the fog. No worries about any aircraft as thay can't fly in this stuff and the laser looses any intensity beyond a couple hundred feet.

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