Article on laser warning device with movie link

[comozo]

From alt.lasers

"Found an article on the Visual Warning System developed by
NORAD for warning pilots they are in restricted airspace.
A link to a video is included...."
page link

media file

[PhotonWrangler]

Huh. Looks like it blinks in R-G-RG-R-G-RG so they effectively get three colors out of it. Very distinctive looking.

[James S]

[ QUOTE ]
The 1.5-watt lasers are diffused through lenses to produce wide, low-intensity beams covering an area roughly 100-feet in diameter 10 nautical miles from the turret. The lasers are visible at distances up to 20 nm.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmm, 1.5 watts diffused to 100 feet... Still seems like a lot more power shining on the cockpit than a 5mw laser pointer from the same distance which would diverge even more...

Somebody do that laser power math again and tell me how dangerous a laser pointer is compared to this.

[Raccoon]

I'll do the easy part, and let someone else figure out the PiR^2 stuff (i still don't completely agree with).

100 ft diameter is 50 ft radius, or 15.24 meters.
A nautical mile is 1852 meters, so 10 n.miles is 18,520 meters.
The kRad is the radius of the beam at one kilometer.

15.24/18.520 == 0.823 kRad

A standard laser pointer (and even high power modules) is 1.2~1.5 kRad.

You heard it here folks. The government is shining 1500 mW CLASS IV lasers at aircraft, with greater power AND density than we could ever dream. We're all going to DIE!

--
PS. The video in the original post depicts a laser being shown into the night sky. Just because our own government can get away with illegal activities, doesn't mean we should advocate such behavior.

[Lasernerd]

when I do outdoor shows some of the show goes un-terminated
that means in the air,,this is legal if you do the proper paperwork with FDA,FAA no problems there...