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Registered Member #63
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 06:18AM
Location:
Posts: 1425
Thanks Avalanche,
Avalanche wrote ...
a scope, fluke meters, box of IGBTs and large filter capacitors (amongst various other bits and tools) without a problem... BUT they weren't in hand luggage.
So the scope/meters and IGBTs were in the hand luggage...?
Avalanche wrote ... The clear container of 'disposed items' in Poland contained (amongst other things) an ordinary extension lead, and some other various leads
Please could you clarify this "clear container of disposed items"?
Registered Member #193
Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 07:04AM
Location: sheffield
Posts: 1022
A week or so ago I went from the UK to Belgium .I was participating in an intercomparison exercise and I had a whole lot of air sampling equipment with me, including lots of small metal tubes neatly sealed with screw threads.. There's also a lot of kit with batteries and timers. The reagent I was using is an explosive- albeit in very small quantities. The case was over the 20Kg limit. Just to add to the posibilities of blatant bias on behalf of the security services, I have a full beard and moustache.
Nobody said anything about any of this. I guess they were a bit busy that day or (I hope) they noticed that the ticket was paid for by the UK government so they thought I was OK.
Registered Member #543
Joined: Tue Feb 20 2007, 04:26PM
Location: UK
Posts: 4992
teravolt wrote ...
you probibly all ready thought about it why not just ship ahead of time with DSL or something
I agree. The greater problem comes from ignorant self-important boot-lickers frisking passengers before passenger flights - one and all the graduates of very quick training courses.
Experienced customs officers used to dealing with air freight are unlikely to give it more than a second look.
Registered Member #96
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 05:37PM
Location: CI, Earth
Posts: 4062
Yeah, the latest thing is "if your laptop/PDA/etc doesen't turn on it could be a bomb!" nice little earner for corrupt "self important boot lickers" and their accomplices.
What worries me more is that if you are a businessman and carry important trade secrets on your laptop, you have very few options if the machine gets examined. This is where you *really* need a clever switch on the drive, so that if not activated the machine boots from a hidden drive with basic Windows image, a few innocuous documents etc.
I came up with a magnetic version a while back for pendrives, purely for the purpose of securely booting a machine under repair without compromising the primary storage. If one drive gets corrupted by viruses it can't affect the other.
Registered Member #103
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 08:16PM
Location: Derby, UK
Posts: 845
they always open up my laptop and examine it carefully to see if the case has been tampered with. Meanwhile my work colleagues laptop gets through with no problem. Happens every time! I think the reason for this is that mine is an IBM thinkpad with the titanium case, so it shows up as a solid box!
Matt Bingham wrote ...
Thanks Avalanche,
Avalanche wrote ...
a scope, fluke meters, box of IGBTs and large filter capacitors (amongst various other bits and tools) without a problem... BUT they weren't in hand luggage.
So the scope/meters and IGBTs were in the hand luggage...?
Avalanche wrote ... The clear container of 'disposed items' in Poland contained (amongst other things) an ordinary extension lead, and some other various leads
Please could you clarify this "clear container of disposed items"?
No, no components or equipment were in hang luggage. Even though it is totally harmless stuff, I didn't want to even risk running it past the security guys for the exact reasons Harry just mentioned.
The clear plastic container is just a large bin that peoples confiscated items get thrown into, for all to see. It generally contains about 10,000 cigarette lighters, a few pocket knives, sometimes a few tools like screwdrivers, and in this case a load of wires and an extension lead. We asked what happens to all that stuff, and apparently it just gets destroyed...
Registered Member #89
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 02:40PM
Location: Zadar, Croatia
Posts: 3145
Harry wrote ...
1. X-ray security devices are far more advanced than they were 20 years ago, with very low doses used. There is no known risk of destruction of semiconductors in Western countries. (I have qualified that because it is perfectly possible that an impoverished developing nation might have old, high dose equipment. But destruction of semiconductors still seems unlikely, and I have never heard of such a case.)
2. Some countries (such as the USA) have strict controls on the export of certain hi-tech devices, such as slapper capacitors, krytrons, VSLI chips, and so on. It depends on what your semiconductors are. Some destinations such as Bagdhad may also be looking for importers of devices useful in making IEDs, timers, and radio control devices, so it is not inconceivable your activities might become of interest to the secret police in some nation states.
3. Your last question seems more connected to customs control. Imports into the United Kingdom worth more than £18 are subject to payment of Value Added Tax, etc. Most countries will want to tax valuable cargoes, and see the documentation relating to them.
It's hard to be more definite because of the vagueness of the question, and because much would have to be discovered on a country by country basis.
It looks like Bert Hickman just busted the myth - his camera doesn't seem to mind the high energy bremsstrahlung at all actually, apart from pixel flashes. I doubt it's anywhere close to even most primitive airport X-ray scanners...
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Airport security, x-rays and semiconductors
