Need a little laser help...

[GTi474]

Hey all,
I am pretty well versed in flashlight stuff, and have a few projects under my belt. However, Lasers honestly baffle me...

I am a SWAT officer, and am wanting to see if something would be possible, and if so, what it would take to build such a laser.

We currently use a suppressed .22 pistol to "extinguish" street lamps and such prior to an approach. This, however, causes damage to light fixtures and the like, as well as showering people and object below with hot glass particles.

I know that if a light's filament gets overheated, it will burn up. With this in mind, I need answers to the following.

Would a laser aimed at a street light bulb be able to heat the bulb to the point of exhaustion. If so, what mW laser might this take? I know anything over 5 mW is illegal for civilians in the US, however from what I can tell, LEO's are exempt from possessing these types of devices, and should be able to obtain them from overseas without violating any FDA regulations. (I still think it is weird that they oversee lasers...) I have seen the instructions for using the laser from a DVD burner to make a laser that will pop a balloon, however I just don't think that would be powerful enough, or have the range to do what we need.

Also, would a laser of a certain output be sufficient for disabling a surveillance camera. We encounter a lot of nefarious sorts who like to "guard" their humble abodes with numerous small IR cameras of the type that can be easily obtained off of the internet. Needless to say, we can't exactly shoot these out like a street light.

Your help will honestly be greatly appreciated. Of our tactics, we hold the ability to disorient, confuse, and suprise in the highest regard. This honestly saves lives, and the more tools we have at our disposal to accomplish these tasks, the more likely it is we will go home to our families.

In addition, if anyone has the access to the items needed for this, and the expertise to build it, I will pay for the build.

Cheers, and thank you all in advance!

 

[kongfuchicken]

Street lights (the orange ones) are supposed to be sodium vapor arc lamps and don't have a filament to burn.
Even if it were a tungsten filament light bulb, using a laser to burn a lamp to death sounds far more dangerous than the white hot glass shard shower that would result from blowing it.
A laser beam in that tier of power may well set the lamp-post on fire before it burns through it setting the building behind it on fire, burning through it and going into the next building etc...

Temporarily disabling a camera ccd with a laser is a very feasible trick though. Most cheap cameras (such as the ones that come with the ebay kits) will overcompensate for a large level of one hue and make it so dark that nothing will be visible. As long as a laser as weak as 25mW is steadily aimed at it (this is crucial, you need the beam to go straight into it; I've seen a cheap scope do the trick), you won't see anything on the screen except a huge white scar.
I can easily see a cheap pointer set on a tripod aimed at a camera to disable it.

However, be warned that with a red laser you'll only overload one component of the image and therefore, it is perfectly possible to adjust the output to still see through it if the user is expert enough and has the right tools. If you want to completely blind it, you'd need a red, blue, green and IR laser therefore, it is much more practical to simply use a single Maxabeam to do the same...

It is also possible to damage the CCD of the camera (read: permanently kill) with something above 100mW (such as the dvd-burner diode you mentioned) point blank in about 10 seconds of exposure. Obviously, the further you are from the camera, the harder that task will become as you'll need to hold it very still for longer and different cameras can very well sport more rugged CCDs which may take more or less time to destroy. On the bright side, the color of the laser won't matter for that.

Of course, I highly suggest you to get a lot more opinions from people with more experience on this.

 

[GTi474]

Thanks for the input. That is what I was afraid of, that we would need too powerful of a laser for that task.

As for the cameras, considering the type of people we deal with, permanent destruction of the ccd is what we are looking for. Our financial liability for the cameras is not our concern in this type of situation...

 

[comozo]

You are a swat officer like I'm the Queen of Sheba

 

[Kenom]

why is it so hard to believe he's not a swat officer?

To elaborate on the previous post. In order to kill the street light, you'll need a pretty high powered laser. Although, it is kind of pointless as the lens on the lamp would diffuse the beam to uselessness. However, there is a way to hit the sensor on the top of the lamp to temporarily disable the lamp (thinks it's daylight)

A CCD sensor however, needs a pretty powerful spread beam to totally disable it. Imagine drawing on a screen with a very sharp pencil that doesn't dull. Since the tip is so small it takes a long time to fill the whole page with color. This is what trying to disable the sensor would be like with a thin beam from a laser. However if you increase the power to still burn the ccd sensor but widen the beam then your coloring with a sharpie and it works much better.

 

[GTi474]

You are a swat officer like I'm the Queen of Sheba

Nice to meet you queen.

Sworn POST Level 1a Officer in the great state of Colorado, faithfully serving the public for 7 years, 3 as a SWAT officer. I'd be happy to show you my ID if you like.....

 

[GTi474]

Thanks for all the help. Looks like I will probably be abandoning this one. Looks like it will take something too powerful, and I don't think our civil liabilities will allow that....

Would have been nice if it were as simple as it seemed in my head.... Of course, things rarely are.

 

[Kenom]

I wouldn't abandon the laser solution for the streetlamp. It will work as long as you shine the beam on the sensor on top. In some instances this will work, in some it won't as you'll need to keep the beam on it the entire time, and need to be high enough to actually see the sensor or hit it with the beam.

 

[Kenom]

How about a directed EM pulse for the camera?!?!

 

[GTi474]

Directed Electro-Magnetic Pulse.... Thought that was just sci-fi stuff. What would I need to make that work? I am guessing just a large coil and some capacitors? I don't want to fry our radios, NVG's, and other delicate electronics though...

 

[Kenom]

Sorry, I was kind of kidding. I'm not sure if it's possible to do this or not.

 

[luvlasers]

Haha never imagined that police would go round blowing up street lights for real.

Must be why so many street lights are down in rough neighborhoods, cos the SWAT often visit there :twothumbs