If you care about lasers and your right to own and import them, READ THIS!!!!

ElektroFreak said:

In theory, wouldn't hobbyist membership in ILDA have the same benefits and accomplish the same thing as we are discussing here?

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Only for display applications. ILDA's current point of view, as I understand it, is not going to embrace pointers.

Steve

Why would they not embrace pointers? They may not now, but with some carefully worded emails/phone calls from some members here... maybe they would? They're even promoting the Arctic right on their website right now, so they must have some consideration for pointers/hobbyists. Everyone who joins or renews their ILDA membership gets a chance at winning it.

Because they see pointers as a threat, and rightly so. If draconian laser regulations ever get put in place, it will be because of idiots being stupid with pointers... Not people with laser projectors.

And if you'd read Steve's posts, you'd see that most of the ILDA community isn't particularly happy that a high powered pointer is being given away.

**edit** Sorry, I thought the post was in this thread, but it's in another one. http://laserpointerforums.com/f44/ilda-58860.html#post832123

Electrofreak, nice try.

It seems our audience here prefers to hide, is against lobbying, or sees it as a futile prospect.


Major changes are coming to the regulatory system, if SB 501 passes the House. While 501 does not directly deal with lasers (As far as I know, have not read the whole thing, yet), it will change the regulatory environment in DC, it will step up enforcement in other areas, allowing resources to be freed up or created.

Steve

^You may be right Steve. But I say we give this thread the full weeks existence before we make a final call.. Sometimes these things take time and a lot of effort. My real wish is that I had more time to act myself, drawing up paperwork, learning the legal ins and outs involved in forming such a group. Many times in history major groups/associations have started with just a couple guys in a room chatting about their interests.. We'll see where this concept goes.. I hesitate to call it dead this early on myself.

@all LPF members: If you have ANY thoughts, comments or concerns about the topic presented in the OP and subsequent posts, please don't hesitate to weigh in here. All this silence from so many members is a bit disheartening.

Just saw this, and I know this is an excellent idea. One thing I see as a hurdle is though we may have a large member base here, we still lack some "capital". We need some more resources, and skills to do this properly, it can be kind of like getting a small business up and running.

We'll need more than a Facebook group is what I'm saying.

Most of these groups with have a website where they can provide safety material for free, and a lot of these groups are active in the industry conferences and whatnot. All of this means, that some people will end up having this as their full time job- and not a high paying full time job.

I would like to offer what I can to help out, and be an active part of this. Though, I'm not specialized in legal document examination, laser safety, or public relations, I may be able to help collect such resources.

Making videos, collecting useful and helpful information for public use is a cinch. Getting the GOV to notice though, will be the hardest part.

I almost feel like I would be of more use by writing letters to my congressmen. Though, Adrian Smith I'm afraid is not always after what Nebraskans want.

If this is to be anything like ILDA, where they set forth standards and regulations, we'll need some very influential people on our side.

Consider me available to help collect resources. I know a few "guys".

^We actually do have at least one influential person who is well, to avoid saying "on our side" I'll just say he's offered to help steer us in the right direction.. but I think he's looking for a real effort to define our group and what it will accomplish. We need some decent, intelligent people to serve as "board members" who would, if this idea ends up going somewhere, represent our interests through correspondence with gov't officials and by coordinating our (the community's) input, and arranging meetings, conventions, etc..

It's no small task, but the rewards could be incredible. If the hobbyist community were actually recognized as legitimate users of lasers and components we could find ourselves with more sources of lasers, parts and info than we have now, plus we could end up with the support of the manufacturing community which would probably embrace an expanded market if they feel that the people they are selling to are part of a responsible community-oriented association..

I'm not against this. But any persons stepping up to take this responsibility should be fully aware that it's definitely going to be an uphill battle. If someone unprepared to deal with it steps up, makes bad decisions, then gives up and quits, we could find ourselves in worse shape than we started.

^True, but that means it's much like anything else in life worth doing. If you stick to it you can potentially reap the rewards of a lifetime.. if you give up and half-ass it, you get no rewards and you could hurt your credibility.

Meatball said:

I would like to offer what I can to help out, and be an active part of this. Though, I'm not specialized in legal document examination, laser safety, or public relations, I may be able to help collect such resources.

Making videos, collecting useful and helpful information for public use is a cinch. Getting the GOV to notice though, will be the hardest part.

I almost feel like I would be of more use by writing letters to my congressmen. Though, Adrian Smith I'm afraid is not always after what Nebraskans want.

If this is to be anything like ILDA, where they set forth standards and regulations, we'll need some very influential people on our side.

Consider me available to help collect resources. I know a few "guys".

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Any and all assistance you can provide will be much appreciated! Thanks for stepping up..

*bump*.. just trying to keep this in people's minds.. If anyone has any thoughts to add, please don't hesitate. I've had a bit of a busy weekend so far, so no time to participate much myself.. I'll be back in this discussion full-time after the holidays.

I'm a 17-year-old longhaired brit (i added "longhaired" because my non-conventional appearance would mean that politicians would probably not take me seriously) so this isn't me "stepping up".

But if you're still looking for the acheivements of laser hobbyists, you could point out how much we've tested various diodes, probably obtaining information about them that even the manufacturers didn't. The best example would be the 445s we all know and love. And even if the body of knowledge we're accumulating is not useful outside of the hobby or the manufacturers already knew\could have worked out had they been interested it's worth some form of recognition, the degree to which we tested the 445s. Imagine all the potentially useful information that could be obtained with that sort of energy channelled "usefully".

Hobbyist acheivements are not the goal. the government understands people want to have fun. but this is a new technology and a dangerous one. Safety is the the key. and taking steps towards safety pre-governent is the key. that it is why it is so important for as many member here as possible to participate in this thread.

Hobbyist contributions aren't the goal, but they will be hugely important to establishing credibility for the hobbyist community as a whole..

Safety does have to be at the core of whatever code or creed that the organization adopts, though. It needs to be hounded like gun safety is.. Lasers are dangerous, as most us know, but it needs to be at the forefront of any organization dedicated to the laser hobby.

I think that our credibility will hinge as much on safety emphasis and dedication as examples of things that are explored and researched by hobbyists over the course of their time working with lasers.

^^^^ true!!!! You and jai. I guess there is technical stuff going on at the hobby level. But I'm just a little selfish and don't want my fun fringed upon.

What does "fringed" mean? Do you mean infringed?

Nobody wants their fun to be restricted or limitted, and many won't want theirs controlled. But imagine the government attempting to use our laser expertise to their benefit... how would they do it? Probably by creating a system where companies can give us new soon-to-be commercially-used diodes and we can test them. Personally, i think that sounds awsome.

The problem with this is that I doubt any government cares about about diodes of the powers we deal with, when speaking of them being used for their own applications anyway. And if they ever get to the powers that can do serious damage quickly to people/objects (more than just to vision) in small portable devices, you'll see them restricted/regulated in a hurry.

And consumer electronics manufactures don't care either. If the diodes work for the devices they're intended to be used in, which they do since they contract with nichia and other manufacturers to get they right diodes for the application, and they outlast the warranty period, then they're happy.

The only people who have any real interest in pushing these diodes far past what they were ever intended, are us. This is also combined by the fact that very few of us are scientists/etc, and have long in depth discussions with diode manufacturers about failure modes, coating efficiencies, etc.