The Google Ads don't need to be moderated by the site owner. It is perfectly possible to arrange with Google for certain categories of ads to be excluded.
This already happens e.g. for sites associated with a particular product to prevent advertisements for competitors.
It just needs willingness (a) to do it and (b) to accept a small reduction in income.
I wonder which is the case here?

More l@zers around LHR
 

Hi all,

I thought it would be of interest to some to share another l@zer issue around Heathrow.

Casually listening to my scanner 118.70 - 09L, 19:10, 02/11/08. Green l@ser beam being fired up to jets on approach. Tower asking aircraft for location so police can home in.

...should anybody be interested, of if tower might see this and supply more info to those interested.

Regards :rolleyes:

Can we not send a couple of Tornado GR4s equipped with Laser-guided munitions to "sort the problem out".

:mad: idiots.

See posts 139 to 142 before complaining here!:confused::confused::confused:

I brought a 767 in from KIAD in the 13th October to LHR about 2100. came out of the hold at OCK and vectored downwind LH for 27L. Then taken north over airport at 5000 to position downwind RH for 27R. Took a green laser light as I started my turn downwind to East from a North heading. Told Director who seemed utterly uninterested. I expected the Fuzz or someone to ask me a few questions when I got to the gate - no one at all.

Guess they are not a big deal after all!

More
BBC NEWS | Scotland | Edinburgh, East and Fife | Police warning over green lasers

where is Tom Symonds . . . . . . ?
 

BBC News might care to follow-up on the story of another aircraft inbound to EGPH being endangered by a laser beam shone at it . . . . . .

. . . . . . by reporting to the whole nation that the self-same lasers are being openly advertised for sale on the best known Professional Pilots' web-site in the world !

:ugh:

A moderator or webmaster needs to change the filters on Google ads for this site. It's ridiculous.

a l@zer ad by any other name . . . . .
 

The ads are STILL there . . . . . and changing the thread title for the third or fourth time doesn't fool anyone at all.

:ugh:

Despite the rather sniping nature of the above posts, don't for a minute think this hasn't gone unnoticed amongst the moderators. As one who was targeted and temporarily blinded in one eye by a high-powered green laser recently, leading to two trips to the local eye clinic, I for one am particularly uncomfortable with this situation. There is a debate running in the moderators Admin forum on this issue, and has been for some time.

However, the selective banning of ads that fall outwith a definite category seems to be slightly more complicated than it would appear. Must admit, that slightly amazes me, a relative computer illiterate, considering we can put a man on the moon etc. etc. However, it seems to be the case.

Perhaps one of the sites new owners would care to comment with more authority. Meanwhile, those of us moderators who actually work in the industry share the concerns about the anachronistic nature of such adverts appearing on this, and similar threads.

Squid

Hummm..

I doubt somehow that the average chav "playing" with these "toys" is even aware of the existence of PPRuNe.

So, having all these ads pop up, whenever the topic subject matter contains the word "l@ser", may well be a good thing for US, because it alerts us to how much of this sh!t is now readily available and widely advertised.
"Ads by Google" does not just 'supply' PPRuNe with ads, you know!!

Ads
 

Come on... lasing chavs don't (couldn't?) read this text-based site.
Banning ads here won't impact availability of these devices around the world.
Dealing with offenders requires law enforcement not ad bans.
MOST IMPORTANTLY PROPER SENTENCES.
Thankfully, I think the physics means crews are generally safe from permanent injury (unless the scum who shine lasers at them cause a crash.)

As a handheld and professional, FAA-regulated retina-frying laser-using astronomer, and frequent SLF, I want the authorities to fix this.

principles . . . . . . . . .
 

That may be the case, but principles are involved here. I suspect that many eyebrows would be raised high if I allowed adverts for cigarettes on the notice boards in my surgery waiting room.

I'm not a pilot (though half the family is) but I do have a lot of experience with big research lasers (PhD in Physics, hence DrKev, big class 4 lasers, have given training courses etc.). It has been 8 years since I've worked in physics but here's what I believe to be the current state of things...

In the UK and US, sale of any of class 3B or class 4 lasers (anything greater than 5mW power) is illegal to the public. If you do know of anyone selling lasers of Class 3B or Class 4 report them to the appropriate authority (department of trade and industry in the UK). If laws are in place in other countries they will be similar. Online sales might also be covered by this but the greatest issue there is one of enforcement. However, there are no laws relating to the USE of the lasers themselves by anyone. I think that needs be changed in a hurry.

It seems that any arrests made over targeting of aircraft were to do with endangering the aircraft and not to do with use of the lasers as such. A few countries are considering classing lasers as weapons, which would mean that all use without a license is forbidden, but I don't know if anybody has gotten around to that yet.


The potential dangers of even 3B lasers are just too great. Even at the lower limit of class 3B, most lasers are many times brighter than the sun (in terms of the amount of energy per unit area). If you were to look directly into a class 3B laser beam, the blink response of the eye cannot act fast enough to prevent (at least temporary) retinal damage.

What sort of exposure pilots would receive in these incidents is likely to be much lower - exposure does of course depend on the beam diameter (they do spread out a bit over distance), not just a simple dependence on output power. That said, to somebody working in a dark-adapted environment, even a wide-beam (5m or 10m, say) low-power laser will almost certainly ruin dark-adaptation and temporarily impair vision. Much the same as what drivers get with oncoming traffic and full headlamps but possibly worse, certainly more distracting, and of course in a much more critical situation.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. Excuse the short delay, we have to hang around up here for 5 or 10 minutes until we can read the instruments clearly again and our night vision has returned. Hope you're enjoying the flight..."


I once got a "shot" from a 150mW laser, smack bang in the centre of vision. Freak accident - microscope slide falling over into the beam, very freakily passed through the beam at exactly the right angle to hit my eye. It was only the weak reflection that got me. The perfectly circular spot in the centre of my vision took two days to vanish (with no permanent damage, thank God) but it DID scare the ever loving crap out of me. Literally.

It went kind of like this....

:) ...... :ouch: ...... :eek: ...... :(


For the record, a class 4 laser is bright enough that even looking at the spot on a wall can damage your vision. Class 4 will also burn skin faster than a lit match, sort of smells like sausages when you do, AND HURTS LIKE :mad::mad::mad::mad: !!!!

this is quite surreal . . . . . . . .
 

An expert on these things is telling us that

and yet alongside that post is an advert for the sale of lasers of greater than 400 mW.

It's difficult to believe that one is seeing this on a site so supposedly reputable and responsible as PPRuNe. Very few times I am lost for adequate words . . . . . but this is one of them. I have no arguments with the moderators (well, only a couple), but my disgust at the owners/bosses of the site is getting greater by the day.

And where may I ask, did you purchase the offending laser which was responsible for the diversion and resulting delay in scheduled arrival of said aircraft, along with the resulting eye damage to the first officer.

Well milaud, it was advertised on that well known website for professional pilots Pprune :yuk:

After what DrKey wrote earlier, I start to agree more and more with the previous posts.

PPRuNe, Google, eBay, and any other "reputable" sites should be made fully aware of this kind of illegal trade, and at least try to eliminate THEIR advertising of such items.

Anything useful we can do from our end?

Yes. Stop writing the word 'l@ser'. The Google software detects it and generates the ads in response.



I seriously doubt that was the intention. Anyone paying attention would have noticed the thread title changes occured when several threads were merged.

fantastic . . . . . . . !
 

A new page, no mention now of "the word", and the offending ads are gone ! !

What a brilliant chap ! Why couldn't PPRuNe do that, if it was that simple ?

I don't think that works either...

http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t...2000/light.jpg

:ugh::ugh::ugh:

But the word is still in the thread title at the top of the page.

I did suggest another method, but it appears to have been 'moderated'.

Honestly, no matter how anachronistic it may seem, advertising for lasers on this thread is the last place we should really be worrying about (how many of us are gonna buy one start shooting at aircraft?). The mods and powers-that-be are working on the issue and it'll be dealt with when it's dealt with. Hell, use the ads as a tool. Find out who's selling, where they are, and then report them.

Would be very happy to do that, but to whom ?

This has now happened to 2 of my mates in the last week or so.

1 was going into SOU and the other was going into LGW.

For me, it seems as though the entire situation is getting a little bit out of hand here - we as pilots can only ever report when we've seen one, but I somehow doubt that the guilty parties will ever be caught as the area it's coming from can be so large.

But really, in my humble opinion, this is rapidly turning into a major problem.

Reducing advertising or making the sale of higher-power lasers illegal won't help, because there's a very common source of high-power lasers: CD and DVD players. Both contain lasers that can cause eye damage, and they can be modified to produce even higher powers. The players that can also record are even worse, since they need lasers with still higher powers to handle the recording operation. Such players have long contained warnings on the inside not to overcome safety mechanisms or look at the laser, and the warnings are not just for show.

The new Blu-ray players are a great source of the coveted violet laser diodes:

Blu-ray Reader Dissection by Leslie Wright and Sam Goldwasser - Main Page

I4U News - Exclusive! Sonar Blu-ray Laser by Wicked Lasers

I am 16 years old. I am a laser fanatic. I have several different wavelengths and they can light matches. That is power!
I believe I have the right to own them, but sadly there are so many irresposible idiots out there. I plan to become a commercial pilot and a hit to the eye whilst flying could impact my medical, and job.

Even though I am responsible with lasers, idiots are NOT. They also do not understand that shining a laser at an aircraft is no joke. Especialy on finals. I was hesitating at first, but now I have come to agree with the ban of handheld lasers above 1mW to been a restricted import.:D

I was reading through this thread and a pilot said something about wearing sun glasses while flying at night. I'm not sure if he or she were serious. But this will do NOTHING. Sunglasses are to protect the wavelength of UV. I dont need to explain UV here...:=

Bollocks. Sorry for the swearword, but I cannot stand inflammatory statements like that. CD and DVD lasers are not high power. Not even close.

Go back and read my posting on the maths of eye damage at altitude. You can overdrive a DVD-R laser to about 20mW, which is nasty if you a a few feet away, but cannot cause damage if you are a few tens of feet away, let alone a few thousand.

The primary reason for the warnings on CD and DVD players is that the lasers are infrared, so you don't have the blink reflex to protect your eyes. Perversely Blu-Ray lasers are safer, as they are visible, and it's really hard to stare into the beam for length of time required for permanent damage.

Simon.

LambofGod - I apologise in advance because I'm about to rain on your parade. As much as I highly value and encourage curiosity and fun in all things scientific, I'm sorry to say that unless you have had training in the safe use of lasers from an appropriately qualified person I'd be taking your lasers from you. Even at class 3B, the professionals do a lot to limit exposure to the beams, not just for others but for ourselves too, and with very good reason. If the experts do this why should anyone else be exempt? Please, leave the bigger lasers alone unless you are in an appropriate environment, at your age that will either be a school or university teaching lab.


AMEandPPL - I had said in my earlier post that in the UK you can report sellers to the Department of Trade and Industry. Of course the DTI as such no longer exists but the appropriate body is now called the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) (UK Dept for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform)


AnthonyGAI'll disagree and say that it certainly will help. I think you greatly overestimate most people's technical skills or inclination to take apart their CD or blu-ray or DVD player and get a working laser out of it. The vast majority will take the obvious (i.e. currently advertised) route and simply buy.

Of course, simply banning the sale of lasers won't help much for the lasers already out there. Banning unauthorised use of lasers, but allowing the sale of them, won't help either. A combination of both approaches would seem like a good place to start. To use a different problem as an example - if we simply ban people from using guns does that mean we can still allow the open, unregulated sale of them?

Some sick person is currently flashing a green laser at incoming aircraft into runway 28 in Dublin from somewhere off Howth Head which is just to the left of the flight path.

Still using 28 at the moment only one report in but every lander getting a full warning. To the credit of the ATC in EIDW in the past if there where several reports they have switched the active if possible.

theothersimon - A DVD burner has two diodes, an IR (infra-red) which is probably around 20mw. And, a 650nm (red). If teh DVD burner is say 20X, than you could run a safe current to the diode with an output of 300mW+

I have built a Blu-ray Laser and I think I am getting someone around 100mW's.

NO LASER IS SAFE! unless it's <0.5mW...:ok:

DrKev - I know I should stay away from lasers. Especialy when I dream to be a pilot. If anything happened at my age, I would ofcourse look back at it and say "damn I was irresponsibe".
But to assure you;

• I have some safety glasses on there way,
• I do not use lasers irresposibly, and
• I have had no physical training, although I am a member of a laser forum which has provided me with very helpful safety info.

Just remember, those safety glasses tend to be specific to a certain type of laser, you probably need more than one set if you're experimenting with DPSS lasers. The familiar orange safety glasses for a 532 nm laser won't provide much protection in the 650 nm range.

Heads up, some muppets around CYUL...

CTV.ca | Montreal pilots flashed with laser during landings

Presumably if you're not looking out (ILS) until minimums you're OK?

Another one..
 

From the aviation Herald:- The Aviation Herald

Accident: American MD82 near Austin on Nov 22nd 2008, green laser injures crew member

By Simon Hradecky, created Monday, Nov 24th 2008 16:22Z, last updated Monday, Nov 24th 2008 16:22Z

Did I miss something?
 

A quick question:
In the majority of posts in this thread, "l@ser" is used instead of "L*SER" which is the acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation - why is this?





Edited. Please let's not go through this again.

Duck

Look at posts # 161 and #162. Google adverts were previously being generated for the very items being complained about ! Interesting to note that the PPRuNe software has NOT automatically substituted "the word" when you put it in capitals, though !

London City
 

I haven't read the preceding pages of posts, just the last page which makes me wonder what on earth this thread is about... but...
Walking along the south bank of the Thames in the early evening near the Superfluous Inverse Meniscus a couple of weeks ago I was surprised to see at least two enormously powerful lasers projecting into the sky at variable angles. These seem to be extremely close to flightpaths at London City.
What's the deal here?

Green Laser in East London
 

Skridlov,

The lasers you are on about a from the Greenwich Royal observatory and marks the prime meridian:-

BBC News | UK | Laser lights up London sky
Prime Meridian - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I am not qualified to say but I would imagine that discussion/permission from the CAA regarding issues were sorted out beforehand - the laser has been there since 98 with no issues reported that I can find.

Cheers

Forgive the ignorance, but exactly what recreational use do lasers have in the hands of private individuals (as opposed to organisations that do Son et Lumiere)?

Maybe Lambofgod could elucidate?

Edit: I didn't write laser with an @ symbol in it, but it got converted on posting. What's going on here?

Another edit; re-read the thread and apply a bit of lateral thinking re-Google adverts. Not an elegant solution, more of a sticking plaster, but it is working. If only you had any idea the grief we went through to get to THAT solution....

Squid