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FrozenGate by Avery

Help - I need distance

Actually, it takes ISS 92 minutes to orbit the earth. So if you take that from horizon to horizon, it's a bit longer than minutes.
 
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Too fast, I know they have peered out the window and taken a photo of a large group of people who set up a big gathering with spotlights in the past, as well as someone with a Wicked Lasers pointer, but it took a lot of coordination to do that and just one lone wolf wanting to shine at them, I don't think they will take the time to even look.

 
Alaskan said:
What I learned in a nut shell:

You don't need high power if you can get a low divergence laser diode which has a tiny emitter and expand it, they can be only a couple hundred milliwatts if single mode and produce a beam which can stay in a relatively tight beam to be viewed as the brightest spot of light coming from the earth (if you are away from other light sources so it can stand out). However, if the beam is uber tight, it is also uber difficult to put on a target too, perhaps too difficult.

Here's what I'd do, I'd mount and align a low divergence IR laser diode which has been expanded to a few inches diameter directly on a telescope, mount it right on top of the telescope so you can spot properly. Alignment is going to be extremely tedious and might not work out very well for extremely long distances over a couple hundred miles, but I haven't researched that aspect well enough to give advice on it.

You can also use a high power source (which I just said isn't necessary) and get the same low divergence of a single mode low power diode by expanding the beam to a very wide beam. Doing so can produce a beam just as tight as an extremely low divergence diode, but with more power. However, still difficult to put the spot on something because the output won't be very wide a long distance away.

If you want to attract something out there, might be better to use a 1064 nm YAG laser, expand the output as wide as you can and then collimate it. After that put a large number of optical line rods in front of the collimated beam, just stack them to cover the entire output. Now you will have most of the power converted into several laser lines and can sweep a very large area without missing your target, that is, if you want to make a beacon. The power which will land on the target will be extremely reduced, but if you are using a YAG laser with several million watts of peak power all packed into nanosecond pulses, I think it might still show up at the distant end as a very bright source, even if 100 or more miles away.

What I don't know is how safe this is, it might not be safe, might not be at all advisable. If you hit someone close by, especially since it would be a wide line, it could blind someone. So, I don't advise doing something like that until you have had a professional run the numbers to give you a good idea how hazardous the beam could be to someone close by, or within a mile or more distant etc. Off the top of my head, I'd guess this is very hazardous as well as illegal. Maybe this isn't a reasonable project to build, maybe too dangerous, I just don't know. However this might produce a flash of IR light which can be viewed from extreme distances and then you don't have the trouble of trying to target something with a very tight beam which is nearly impossible to put on something and keep it on it if they are moving, or even if stationary, when very far away.

Maybe better not to go the YAG route, you could however use the same concept with a single mode laser diode which has much lower power and constant, instead of a short pulse. Just expand the output as big as you can get it and put a bunch of line producing rod lenses in front. You could make a fairly small hand held laser pointer to do this with, but I don't know I would build something like this in the visible spectrum. Expanding the beam will produce a very low divergence output, putting a line lens in front will produce a line which expands very little in thickness as it travels forward and you would be certain to be flashing a lot of aircraft out there which is illegal. Would the line be weak enough it doesn't matter? If it is that weak, then it isn't effective for your use either, but if you can get enough power at IR into a line being produced from a uber low divergence beam, it might work, but still hazardous close up, I am sure.

Some membeers will certainly caution you against doing this, I am too, but wanted to share some ideas, might be work arounds so it can be done safely, but the beam will need to be expanded to a huge diameter to reduce the power density to be safer.
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Dear Alaskan,

Thank you so so much for your very detailed advice. I have copy and pasted all comments in this thread and I will research everything everyone has suggested, when I have time. I am very new to laser technology (wiki stage) so, as in my last reply, I will have to investigate all that you are saying and it will take me a while because I've other commitments. When I've studied all you've explained, I may understand it, first time around, but if I didn't, could I please contact you are regarding your knowledge. I have to wrap my head around all this :)

You have given me many options here and you are right - what I'm seeking is for my laser to be a 'beacon'.

RE safety and cost: I can assure everyone here that I will take the greatest care with all of this, for myself and others. I'm a mature adult so I'd have no intention of pointing a laser at aircraft or even people's butts lol. I have to weigh cost and time-commitment against other concerns: I want to act as a beacon for EBE craft but who far I go on that depends on 2 things:

1. EBE technology may be advanced enough to even detect the cheapest lasers so having a laser at all may be enough.
2. I'm already experiencing close contact, below the stratosphere, so maybe I don't need a laser that is visible beyond that.

Regardless, I am sure that even if I don't need to 'grade up' on my laser, the topic is interesting enough to get involved in other 'laser projects'.

I really appreciate all the effort you put in here, Alaskan, just to be helpful. Such sense of community is rare, nowadays.

Thanks again,
Patrick
 
Encap said:
The problem with it is NeedDistance's budget for such an activity----keep in mind the OP only had funds for this lowest level quality and output mass produced laser 303, see: 10 miles Green + Star Cap 5MW 532NM Laser Pointer Pen Lazer Light Beam Zoom Burn | eBay based on typical Chinese reseller misrepresentations as too distance and output.

I doubt anyone even imagines any ability to contact people, places or things in space with minimum quality and output, mass produced laser 301 303, or 305/just generic toy quality 532nm laser costing almost nothing --$5-$15.

Many $1000s of dollars or more on a hope, wish, and dream chase, in this case, are probably out of the question.
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I could stretch my budget but not to the $1000s of dollars, especially if investing in just a hope. I am at least learning what is possible from the forum her to limit my dreams :)
 
I'm walking a fine line suggesting such high power put out into the open air, these threads can stay for years and I have to speak for anyone else who comes along how unadvisable this is.
 
Alaskan said:
I've seen some craft I thought were alien, so advanced I was sure they were, but they could be ours, we very well may have secret advanced anti-gravity vehicles which regardless of being secret, are flying around a lot, hovering over cities and making a show of themselves :p



All of the vets here know my position on this subject, personally I think there must be a way to travel through space without being limited by our theory of nothing with mass being able to travel near, or beyond the speed of light, but warp space and you are not violating that law. Doesn't matter if what I think is correct, I simply don't know anything in regard to these things for sure, but I can guess.
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Thanks for the video link, Alaskan - I'll watch that :)
I also believe that there could be secret advanced anti-gravity vehicles, operated by humans. Abductions might be being done by humans, to deter others from investigating the phenomenon. There may even be good and bad ET. Thus, I'm taking a risk by investigating all of this but after a lifetime of 'experiences', I've moved beyond wanting to look at strange lights in the sky - I want to know what these lights are.
The difference between us, Alaskan, is that I'm from Ireland, not the US, and I doubt it any 'manned ufo' would be bothered with coming to my little country. Also, we have a tiny military, being a neutral country, so i doubt if we would have this technology. But, I and others with me have seen things that aren't aircraft or celestial bodies ...
 
Alaskan said:
I'm walking a fine line suggesting such high power put out into the open air, these threads can stay for years and I have to speak for anyone else who comes along how unadvisable this is.
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Dear Alaskan,

You have been extremely generous with your information, so of which is 'dangerous knowledge'. I have copied all that you and others have said, so it is okay with me if moderators choose to delete this thread, for safety reasons.
 
Alaskan said:
I'm walking a fine line suggesting such high power put out into the open air, these threads can stay for years and I have to speak for anyone else who comes along how unadvisable this is.
Click to expand...

It's hard to show how appreciative I am of your input, Alaskan. If you were here in Ireland, I'd take you out on a tour of Dublin's pubs and give you a place to stay. So, if you're ever coming this way, gimmie a shout and you have a 'spot' for some shuteye :)
 
NeedDistance said:
Hi Alex,

~~~I have had many sightings and they're getting madder so I want to get to the bottom of this, so to speak. ~~~
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Using your own words;

If their getting "madder" why would you want discourse with them? Sounds like they don't have your best interest at heart?

:thinking:
 
BobMc said:
Using your own words;

If their getting "madder" why would you want discourse with them? Sounds like they don't have your best interest at heart?

:thinking:
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By 'madder' I mean more unbelievable and impressive, thus I want more of this 'madness', but closer :)

I've had years of sightings - not one anal probe, yet :)
 
My primary interest in lasers is low divergence, or lasers which deliver the highest power density and smallest beam diameter at great distances as possible. I wish I was here to give me this information when I first started, I spent a lot of money on high power lasers I didn't need to spend. If I had known low power single mode diodes with tiny emitters produce the least divergence, compared to other laser diodes, I would have bought them instead. However, for even lower divergence, expand the beam of a single mode laser diode to 6 inches using a large photographic condenser plano convex lens, and now you have something with extraordinary low divergence. There is more to this than that, the diffraction limit comes into play, but you won't bump up against it at six inches diameter with a single mode laser diode, probably not for most any laser diode. Someone with more understanding in that area would need to post, or google it. I haven't read up on diffraction limits for a couple of years and rusty on the subject now.

If you PBS cube combine two single mode laser diodes you can get near twice the power of two diodes into a single axial output. Using a single mode laser diode with a big lens seems to be the best way to get power a long distance without much spreading, but as I wrote before, pointing and keeping it on a target which is many miles away is near impossible by hand, probably impossible. I'd put a large plano convex cylinder lens in front as big as the collimated lens used for the laser diode to produce one line and try sweeping with that. I wish I knew how much power power is lost when putting the output of an uber low divergence laser into a line, I just don't know. I'd be willing to pay money to get someone to work up some figures for me.
 
Alaskan said:
My primary interest in lasers is low divergence, or lasers which deliver the highest power density and smallest beam diameter at great distances as possible. I wish I was here to give me this information when I first started, I spent a lot of money on high power lasers I didn't need to spend. If I had known low power single mode diodes with tiny emitters produce the least divergence, compared to other laser diodes, I would have bought them instead. However, for even lower divergence, expand the beam of a single mode laser diode to 6 inches using a large photographic condenser plano convex lens, and now you have something with extraordinary low divergence. There is more to this than that, the diffraction limit comes into play, but you won't bump up against it at six inches diameter with a single mode laser diode, probably not for most any laser diode. Someone with more understanding in that area would need to post, or google it. I haven't read up on diffraction limits for a couple of years and rusty on the subject now.

If you PBS cube combine two single mode laser diodes you can get near twice the power of two diodes into a single axial output. Using a single mode laser diode with a big lens seems to be the best way to get power a long distance without much spreading, but as I wrote before, pointing and keeping it on a target which is many miles away is near impossible by hand, probably impossible. I'd put a large plano convex cylinder lens in front as big as the collimated lens used for the laser diode to produce one line and try sweeping with that. I wish I knew how much power power is lost when putting the output of an uber low divergence laser into a line, I just don't know. I'd be willing to pay money to get someone to work up some figures for me.
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I stress again, I'm a complete novice, but I am getting a bit of what is needed re divergence and i can see what you mean about a photographic condenser. But then there is the defraction issue.
'I wish I was here to give me this information' - I am so glad you're here for me. Spending tons of cash, like you have, on something that may not work, would be very frustrating + I ain't rich :)
I wouldn't actually need to keep the laser on a target - as you said, a beacon is what I'm aiming for, or 'the sweeping' that you suggest. Even if I could I wouldn't even point it an EBE vehicles.
Hopefully, as I learn more, I may find the answer to YOUR query - 'how much power power is lost when putting the output of an uber low divergence laser into a line'. If I do, I will definitely be passing the info onto your good self, gratis (along with the beers, tour and accommodation) :)
 
Hi All,

Things are busy for me at the mo and they may be for a while, so if I don't reply immediately, please don't be insulted - I will reply when I've time.
There is much for me to learn, from what's in this thread already, and even more for me to absorb, in the long-term.
I only hope that some day I will become knowledgeable enough to be as helpful to someone else as you have all been to me, here.
I really do appreciate all input.

Regards,
Patrick
 
NeedDistance said:
By 'madder' I mean more unbelievable and impressive, thus I want more of this 'madness', but closer :)

I've had years of sightings - not one anal probe, yet :)
Click to expand...

Be careful of the doors you open up. Things are not always what they pretend to be. Stay safe :)
 
I found it educational to see just how dim the light in the 2012 lighting up of the ISS was. One would have to look hard to see it. I suspect they were only trying during the space station's orbit that was directly overhead as trying at the larger angles closer to the horizon would have been pointless.
 
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