AN/VSS's Duel & Tank Lights Tangle, Who Wins?

[ddaadd]

Looking forward to more comparisons BVH!

Great work so far, kinda glad I went with -3a myself .....

Concerning the FAA, I came across this communication from '05 from an owner
of a 60" searchlight that i found interesting......(near end of page)....

Searchlight page

I intend to contact the FAA in a similar manner, as I am in a seldom
used approach path to MCI airport, this path seems to put aircraft well within
reach of the -3a beam. I doubt I could cause light to enter a pilots vision
as I am in a valley shooting upwards, but prefer to at least let them know what I am up to.....

Edit: Not sure why the aircraft would be so low at apx 20mi from the airport?
Guessing 3,000 ft altitude or less.......

 

[LuxLuthor]

Looking forward to more comparisons BVH!

Great work so far, kinda glad I went with -3a myself .....

Concerning the FAA, I came across this communication from '05 from an owner
of a 60" searchlight that i found interesting......(near end of page)....

Searchlight page

I intend to contact the FAA in a similar manner, as I am in a seldom
used approach path to MCI airport, this path seems to put aircraft well within
reach of the -3a beam. I doubt I could cause light to enter a pilots vision
as I am in a valley shooting upwards, but prefer to at least let them know what I am up to.....

That was interesting information at the bottom of that page. I also noticed they gave a link and high praise for a chrome paint that claims 98% reflectivity (which is hard to imagine) here.

 

[BVH]

ddaadd, thanks for the interesting website/info. I ended up getting ahold of the police chopper pilot like I wanted to. We had a good chat and he said he saw no issues with using my light and that he would put it on the board for all the other police pilots. That same evening , I fired the -1 and the Locator up. About 20 min later, I saw the chopper approaching and thought it was the pilot i had talked to since he was on-duty that night. Turns out, the tower was getting a lot of radio calls from aircraft about "laser-like/hi-intensity light at 5,000 feet coming from such-and-such and area. Not that anyone got "hit" with it, just a lot of traffic reporting something unusual that they did not want to put up with. So they sent a chopper - which happened to be from the LAPD, not my PD. They lit me up, circled for 10 minutes and finally went away. A local patrolman showed up and asked me to call the chopper pilot i had talked to earlier. (I didn't give him my number earlier) Got ahold of him and he said that the light was 'interfering with air traffic" according to the tower and that I should probably shut down. After a few days, I went into Google Earth to determine the direction of my beam relative to the runway - not the runway used at night. I thought I was shining about 15 degrees away from it but was probably more like 15 degrees towards it. But that runway is unused at night. That was probably my mistake though. I'm not sure I want to run it from my house any more.

 

[tvodrd]

Thanks for the cool link, ddaadd! I lit my -3A for ~45 minutes on the 4th. There was a police helicopter up, but they ignored me. A black and white did slow down for a look, but kept going. It's a common sense thing with aircraft but it seems operation near an airport can be problematic.

(BVH, you have mail.)

Larry

 

[modamag]

I thought I was shining about 15 degrees away from it but was probably more like 15 degrees towards it

Bob how is this possible? Calculation err?

If you don't want it, just send it up here and we'll shine it at the owls nest J/K

 

[BVH]

(Larry, you have mail)

 

[billhess]

FYI


http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=166860


Thanks

 

[Stillphoto]

which direction from anaheim hills should I have looked to see these things shining into the sky? Impressive. Nice job!

 

[tvodrd]

Towards Costa Mesa, you might have seen one for ~45 minutes on the 4th.

Larry

which direction from anaheim hills should I have looked to see these things shining into the sky? Impressive. Nice job!

 

[Stillphoto]

Did your light get any attention from the local fuzz? I know they like to fly their chopper around quite a bit down there.

Robb

Towards Costa Mesa, you might have seen one for ~45 minutes on the 4th.

Larry

 

[TigerhawkT3]

Cool searchlights. :naughty:

The beamshots looked fine to me, since I don't know what they were like with the naked eye, but I couldn't stand those other shots, so I Photoshopped them for you. I hope you don't mind.











Now you can, like, see stuff in the pics. Joy.

 

[tvodrd]

Did your light get any attention from the local fuzz? I know they like to fly their chopper around quite a bit down there.

Robb

Not yet. A black and white slowed down to check it out, but didn't stop. I'm only about 3 miles from John Wayne Airport but not in the flight paths, and had it pointed in the general opposite direction.

Larry

 

[LuxLuthor]

ddaadd, thanks for the interesting website/info. I ended up getting ahold of the police chopper pilot like I wanted to. We had a good chat and he said he saw no issues with using my light and that he would put it on the board for all the other police pilots. That same evening , I fired the -1 and the Locator up. About 20 min later, I saw the chopper approaching and thought it was the pilot i had talked to since he was on-duty that night. Turns out, the tower was getting a lot of radio calls from aircraft about "laser-like/hi-intensity light at 5,000 feet coming from such-and-such and area. Not that anyone got "hit" with it, just a lot of traffic reporting something unusual that they did not want to put up with. So they sent a chopper - which happened to be from the LAPD, not my PD. They lit me up, circled for 10 minutes and finally went away. A local patrolman showed up and asked me to call the chopper pilot i had talked to earlier. (I didn't give him my number earlier) Got ahold of him and he said that the light was 'interfering with air traffic" according to the tower and that I should probably shut down. After a few days, I went into Google Earth to determine the direction of my beam relative to the runway - not the runway used at night. I thought I was shining about 15 degrees away from it but was probably more like 15 degrees towards it. But that runway is unused at night. That was probably my mistake though. I'm not sure I want to run it from my house any more.

This is the type of thing I was anticipating. You can be sure if they are flying an LAPD chopper over to highlight you, followed by a car that took the time to have you call the one you talked to earlier (thank God you did), that this is not going to have a happy ending if they have to deal with pilot complaints another time or two. There may not be a specific FAA law, but if it is a public nuisance, and ANY danger to pilots (real or perceived), they will find a way to "get you taken care of."

To be honest, I even see the Maxabeam as a lesser potential problem if some private pilot calls in a complaint...even if I'm not near an airport. Man I love this light though.

 

[tvodrd]

Thanks, TigerhawkT3 for the PS job. I tried it on one of the beamshot pics without success. Wait until you you see the next iteration of BVH's VSS-3A.

Me warm and fuzzy!

Larry poke: BVH)

 

[BVH]

Posted VSS-3 pics here.

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/2073206#post2073206

 

[BVH]

Yeah, I probably won't use my lights from my house again. Not worth the risk. They are becoming mobile so I can take them somewhere else. Eventually when I move up north a bit to the Pismo area, I'll probably have no issues. They don't run PD copters nor is there a night operating airport within 10 lightbeam miles.

 

[BVH]

Thread revival. I've always thought that the reflector was precisely distorted to obtain the soft flood beam from the VSS-3a. I felt like opening up the back end of one of my lights to marvel at its design and construction again and now that I am older and wiser, I can plainly see that is not the case. The lamp holder is moved in and out of the reflector pretty much like all other focusable Short Arcs. You can see the thin, black plastic gear just to the right of the orange silicone donut. These really are works of art. Much more so than the VSS-1, in my opinion.

 

[get-lit]

Wow thanks for sharing those pics. They packed that well.

First time I came across this thread. Searchlight companies work with the FAA on a volunteer basis to avoid problems. They report when and where they will be operating and then the FAA helps keep nervous people and law enforcement from getting bothered if there's no actual threat.

A little OT, but I read a recent study regarding the affects of searchlights vs lasers upon aircraft which concluded that mW lasers cause instant and lasting flash blindness and even the largest carbon arc searchlights do not, even though the carbon arc lights were more intense, because lasers are harder on the eyes being concentrated to a single wavelength rather than the more natural full wavelength light from searchlights. It was a thorough study with lots of different types of lights upon different aircraft. Many photos included. Wish I could find it. I recall they tested with the Thor as well, but if the massive carbon arc doesn't cause lasting flash blindness, neither would the Thor.

 

[BVH]

When I had the 60" carbon arc, one of my clients was located on a very busy street that also doubled as the Instrument Landing System approach for the Burbank, CA (Bob Hope) airport. I was very careful to I.D. incoming aircraft many miles distant and then stopped the lights rotation and pointed it perpendicular to the approach so as not to cause any issues. Never had any law enforcement nor FAA issues with it. I actually called the appropriate FAA telephone number one time and reported my planned operation but without them really saying it clearly, I got the feeling that I did not need to do this as long as I was careful not to hit aircraft.

 

[Walterk]

I don't remember seeing these pics either, the ones of the comparison vss 3vs 1. Great to see.
I made a calculated guess sometime, the VSS-3 isn't that much smaller reflector surface as the vss-2. And the vss-1 arc size is much larger, although higher watt.
There have been vss-4 (or even vss-5), as prototype or just in small numbers, can't remember but do know I've googled a picture sometime. It was smaller in diameter, and round reflector.

I do no what report Get-lit mentions, its testing done by TNO in Texas with a chopper. Will place the link here later this weekend.
Edit: found, its referenced and linked at the frontage of www.laserpointersafety.com