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Things not looking good for lasers right now....

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lpfthings

Fri Apr 04 2008, 02:21AM

Registered Member #1361 Joined: Thu Feb 28 2008, 10:57AM
Location: Cairns, Australia
Posts: 305

I was reading the newspaper yesterday, and came across a article, stating that 6 MORE planes had to be diverted because of RED LASERS!!!! The Australian government is considering banning lasers completely. A petition has been made up

<-- Sign if you oppose bans on lasers please. We are trying our best to keep these devices unbanned, and we know how devastating it will be if they do get banned. This i mainly for Aussies, but people in other countries can sign too.
PS i hope this is in the right section, if not, can a mod plese move it t the right one, thanks

Chris Russell

Fri Apr 04 2008, 08:02AM

... not Russel!
Registered Member #1 Joined: Thu Jan 26 2006, 12:18AM
Location: Tempe, Arizona
Posts: 1052

It's a nice thought, but you could get everyone on earth to sign that thing and it won't make a difference. Nobody cares about online petitions. Please call or write the people who represent you in your government. If there's enough people up in arms about this, organize a demonstration.

Tesladownunder

Fri Apr 04 2008, 08:58AM

Registered Member #10 Joined: Thu Feb 02 2006, 09:45AM
Location: Bunbury, Australia
Posts: 1424

I understood it was green lasers. but still they diverted planes which must piss everyone off even though it was an over-reaction.
I spoke to an ophthalmologist who is a pilot who agreed that it is distraction value not sight risk involved particularly with the expected beam divergence that I explained to him. The culprits were in the vicinity of a MacDonalds or similar so probably not too close. I would expect the beam to be 1 to several feet in diameter at 1km (guess, not calculated from mRad dispersion) (comment needed)

Not good news for laser pointer forums, but I always understood the class II and above were illegal without permit anyway. As lasers get bigger and scarier I can't help wondering that I don't want some idiot shining his 200mW Wicked Laser at a crowd or bringing it to school . It was not a problem when only 1mW was available, and only a minor problem with 5mW but the new ones are potentially devastating to your sight.

Actually, my first thought was to rush out and get a big one before the laws change

I don't want to put my name on a petition, I don't want the laser people on my doorstep having already had the Dept of Energy Safety do so.

TDU

lpfthings

Fri Apr 04 2008, 12:42PM

Registered Member #1361 Joined: Thu Feb 28 2008, 10:57AM
Location: Cairns, Australia
Posts: 305

Thats a good point. And yes i know only <1mw is legal, but really lasers will still be around no matter what. If they are gonna ban lasers, are they gonna ban DVD burners/players/cd players/laser printers or even laser TV's??? I guess the point is that lasers will always be around, there is no way to ban them completely. TDU, i can understand how you dont want to put you name on a petition, no probs.

Proud Mary

Fri Apr 04 2008, 01:36PM

Registered Member #543 Joined: Tue Feb 20 2007, 04:26PM
Location: UK
Posts: 4992

Is this proposed ban on lasers, or on consumer laser pointers?

If I have understood the UK regulations correctly, the rules on 'classes' apply only to lasers offered on general sale to the public as a functional part of consumer goods, such as laser building levels and laser pointers, with further HSE rules on public laser displays.

The following extract from the UK Health Protection Agency website gives an insight into how the sale of laser consumer products is regulated in the UK:

After seeking advice from NRPB (now the Radiation Protection Division of the HPA) the then Department of Trade and Industry urged Trading Standards Authorities to use their existing powers under the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 4 to remove laser pointers of a Class higher than Class 2 (as defined in the British Standard) from the general market. Such devices are too powerful for general use as laser pointers and present an unacceptable risk in the hands of the consumer because they may cause eye injury in normal reasonably foreseeable use.

Thus, in the UK at least, there are at present few regulations limiting the activities of the amateur laser experimenter, or our ability to buy lasers, except those already fitted into a consumer product.

TheMerovingian

Fri Apr 04 2008, 10:18PM

Registered Member #14 Joined: Thu Feb 02 2006, 01:04PM
Location: Prato/italy
Posts: 383

Same here in italy. My class IIIa/IIIb laser (5mW) pointer constructed from a module is potentially illegal. (I mounted two modules also on two coilguns, so it is doubly illegal)

Proud Mary

Sat Apr 05 2008, 12:36AM

Registered Member #543 Joined: Tue Feb 20 2007, 04:26PM
Location: UK
Posts: 4992

TheMerovingian wrote ...

Same here in italy. My class IIIa/IIIb laser (5mW) pointer constructed from a module is potentially illegal.

I bought a batch of nice Class IIIa laser diodes for 1 EUR each because they could no longer be fitted into consumer products in the UK, though it is not illegal either for the seller to have sold them to me, or for me to own them, as they are not part of a consumer product like a laser pointer or builder's level on sale to the general public.

Avi

Sat Apr 05 2008, 12:56AM

Registered Member #580 Joined: Mon Mar 12 2007, 03:17PM
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 410

Tesladownunder wrote ...
Actually, my first thought was to rush out and get a big one before the laws change

Is the ban on buying or the possession or both?
no point buying one if someone's going to see your red/green dot and then call the police because they think your about to start pointing them at planes

Backyard Skunkworks

Sat Apr 05 2008, 06:15AM

Registered Member #1262 Joined: Fri Jan 25 2008, 05:22AM
Location: Maryland, USA
Posts: 451

Seems like everything will be banned before too long and we'll end up living in one big vacuum chamber! Then someone will figure out that allowing public access to high vacuum aparatus is too dangerous and ban that as well!

(Don't tell them air is made up of gaseous CHEMICALS or they might consider it!)

Simon

Sun Apr 06 2008, 04:09AM

Registered Member #32 Joined: Sat Feb 04 2006, 08:58AM
Location: Australia
Posts: 549

When I worked there, Jaycar sold 10mW laser diodes but the ready-built pointers were only <1mW. From memory, that was a legal thing.

I think that's the right way to go for smaller lasers. Dickheads are usually put off if they can't buy it off the shelf but hobbyists have no problem putting together a driver circuit.

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