Posted on 01/05/2005 5:05:27 PM PST by AmericanMade1776
CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — A Corvallis luxury bike company has been tied to the recent rash of laser beams pointed at airplanes.
The outdoor company Bigha — famous here for it's fully loaded recliner-style bicycles — manufactured the laser allegedly aimed at a helicopter last Friday by Parsippany, N.J. resident David Banach.
Banach, who was questioned by the FBI, said he was merely demonstrating the laser to his daughter.
Banach was released on $100,000 bail. If convicted, he could get a maximum of 25 years in prison and $500,000 in fines.
The incident was one several nationwide since Christmas. When pointed at an aircraft, lasers can distract pilots and impair their vision, but authorities have not found evidence of terrorism.
Bigha founder John Acres was unaware that one of his company's products was used in last Friday's incident until he received a call from Oregon Public Broadcasting Monday.
"I was really surprised," Acres told the Gazette Times.
Bigha handheld lasers, which retail for $119 each, produce a bright green beam that can be seen up to 25,000 feet, or 4.7 miles away. They are used by bird watchers, astronomers and lecturers to point out faraway objects. The company warns users not to aim the lasers at aircraft, cars or homes, Acres said in a press release.
(Excerpt) Read more at oregonlive.com ...
What is it with these idiots dragging their daughters into the fray when they're caught?
As if pointing a gun isn't enough, now we are threatened by finger pointing. A finger in the eye can cause about as much damage as a laser so do we regulate fingers?
Protect us from the protectors please!
Used by astronomers to point out "faraway objects"? Like what? Stars light years away?
For $120 it had better reach stars a couple LY away.
I'm not in a hurry, we'll wait for the light to travel to the star and bounce back.
Reporters are such morons. Really.
Used by astronomers to point out "faraway objects"?
...............
Yup, you use the green beam, you can see it in the air, to point to a star or nebula that a noob has trouble IDing. I've been to star parties where folks do that, it's pretty common these days.
Considering that a quick check of ebay and froogle will turn up hundreds of opportunities to buy a green laser pointer, I wonder why the media swoops down on this particular vendor, like the company is at fault.
I smell a government push to outlaw lasers in the public hands (soon to be called "on the street"). The tactics they are unfolding are a lot like the assault weapons propaganda, and WOsD propaganda.
Of course the media loves every opportunity to be absolutely clueless on technical, legal, or cultural things so they will gleefully whip some misinformed people into a frenzy until the government "does something" to solve the "problem".
Did you know that they had to bust the guy in NJ on Patriot act charges? He did nothing wrong according to Federal law and FAA guidelines, so they had to use PA to claim that he "interfered with a mass transit vehicle".
Otherwise, if a laser beam from an outdoor laser light show hits a plane and the power levels are below the FAA guidelines for the distance from the airport, there's no crime.
Since you can see the beam, you can use a green laser pointer to point out a star at night to another person. It removes the parallax error when you try to use your finger. It really works. Of course it isn't putting a beam on a star, just using a line drawn in the atmosphere to point to a particular star.
Sounds cool!
Note the automatic power control connection conveniently provided for the adventurous and creative souls among us. Just look up the LD spec sheet and find out what the maximum short duration laser current is limited to, and adjust the circuit as required! Mount on an al-taz scope mount along with a 10x finder scope and you're off and running!
--Boot Hill
They'll get my laser when they pry my cat's cold, dead paws from around it...
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