RB astro
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- Joined
- Apr 6, 2014
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There is only one exemption. If you are a member of an approved astronomy club you can use them at astronomy meetings without a licence. What's weird though, There is no power limit. My 8 Watt Nubm44 is legal to use at the astronomy mettings.
Don't be too sure about that.
As you know I do astro photography and belong to one of the biggest astronomy clubs in Australia.
I had arranged to buy a Krypton Grooves from overseas, the seller even split the unit up into two separate packages and shipped them a few weeks apart.
The body arrived soon after but the head didn't show up, even after a month.
Then I get a letter from Customs that the head has been confiscated because it's greater than 1mW and unless I have a valid reason to own, they'd destroy it.
I filled out the forms explaining that I'm an astro photographer and I do sky tours for small groups, even provided evidence of my work and a letter from the astro society.
Nope, rejected and destroyed.
So don't rely on the vague wording of the law as it stands and for goodness sakes don't think you can justify an 8 Watt 'pointer' to the police thinking it's legal for astro work.
They'll get you if it's greater than 1mW or 5mW (depending in which state you live in) according to how they want to define the law.
RB