Author Topic: "Backyard Scientist" - idiocy never fails to astound me  (Read 6107 times)

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Offline etiTopic starter

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"Backyard Scientist" - idiocy never fails to astound me
« on: August 01, 2020, 12:46:22 am »
Some of these "YooToobaz" seem to behave like their standing in YouTube stats databases somehow influences the outside world, AKA the military and military supplies, NATO stuff etc... this guy appears to sail close to the wind A LOT - here's his latest video... wow...

 

Offline Ed.Kloonk

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Re: "Backyard Scientist" - idiocy never fails to astound me
« Reply #1 on: August 01, 2020, 01:48:27 am »
Yeah, nar.

You know what they say about idle hands.
iratus parum formica
 

Offline Cyberdragon

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Re: "Backyard Scientist" - idiocy never fails to astound me
« Reply #2 on: August 01, 2020, 01:58:07 am »
Eh...who cares?

People do crazy stuff with advanced tech all the time. At least he isn't being destructive, could be way worse, could be this guy.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Heemeyer
*BZZZZZZAAAAAP*
Voltamort strikes again!
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Offline etiTopic starter

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Re: "Backyard Scientist" - idiocy never fails to astound me
« Reply #3 on: August 01, 2020, 02:01:54 am »
I couldn't believe how he thought some flight tracker app reporting no overhead flights was a valid justification for firing a high powered laser up into the sky. Wow... Dumb!!!

 
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Offline etiTopic starter

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Re: "Backyard Scientist" - idiocy never fails to astound me
« Reply #4 on: August 01, 2020, 02:05:19 am »
Eh...who cares?

People do crazy stuff with advanced tech all the time. At least he isn't being destructive, could be way worse, could be this guy.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Heemeyer

Okay, so he read the app wrong, there WAS a flight passing overhead, he blinded the pilot of a plane carrying your grandmother and many hundreds of others who crash landed... okay so now how'd you feel about this?

 

Offline Ed.Kloonk

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Re: "Backyard Scientist" - idiocy never fails to astound me
« Reply #5 on: August 01, 2020, 02:06:48 am »
It was my first thought when I read the OP.

Pilots aren't gonna like this guy.
iratus parum formica
 

Offline amyk

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Re: "Backyard Scientist" - idiocy never fails to astound me
« Reply #6 on: August 01, 2020, 02:43:19 am »
Eh...who cares?

People do crazy stuff with advanced tech all the time. At least he isn't being destructive, could be way worse, could be this guy.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Heemeyer

Okay, so he read the app wrong, there WAS a flight passing overhead, he blinded the pilot of a plane carrying your grandmother and many hundreds of others who crash landed... okay so now how'd you feel about this?
There are multiple redundancies built in to flight, which makes such a situation extremely unlikely.

That doesn't make what he's doing any less illegal, but I suspect these guys make so much $$$ they can afford whatever the fines are --- a "cost of doing business", as the saying goes.
 
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Offline jogri

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Re: "Backyard Scientist" - idiocy never fails to astound me
« Reply #7 on: August 01, 2020, 10:16:51 am »
There are multiple redundancies built in to flight, which makes such a situation extremely unlikely.

That doesn't make what he's doing any less illegal, but I suspect these guys make so much $$$ they can afford whatever the fines are --- a "cost of doing business", as the saying goes.

Airplane manufacturers usually don't account for the possibility of both pilots losing their eyesight at the exact same time... An autopilot is nice, but it won't save you if you can't see where it is and what it says.

I find the lack of even basic safety precautions in this video mindboggling: It starts with him using a 50 bucks amazon laser goggle that claim OD ratings of over 10 (just a wee bit high for goggles that cheap), goes on with him using the trusted tactic of safety squints when looking at a IR laser that is pumping out 200W and taking off his laser goggles to look where his active 100+ mW green laser is pointing...

And obviously the whole "let's just mess around with high powered lasers outdoors" bit. What even makes him think that pointing a 200W laser ACROSS A STREET AT OTHER PEOPLES HOUSES is a good idea?!
 
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Online m98

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Re: "Backyard Scientist" - idiocy never fails to astound me
« Reply #8 on: August 01, 2020, 12:58:24 pm »
 :wtf:
Don't know about US laws, but that guy would be in so many shades of trouble if he did this in Germany.
 

Offline dmills

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Re: "Backyard Scientist" - idiocy never fails to astound me
« Reply #9 on: August 01, 2020, 05:37:52 pm »
In the UK an outdoor laser show basically needs to notify the CAA 28 days in advance and they will issue a NOTAM to keep the planes away from you (You are also supposed to give the CAA a contact number so that if they need you to shut down they can call you).

This is subject to being more then certain distances from airfields and certain longer distances if within a few degrees of the runway centre lines, all in all, very sane.

That guy is a pillock, I mean an expanded beam IR laser in the 100W+ class? Yea NOT a cool toy, even if the beam quality is janky as fuck, only way to make the thing worse would be to use a Q switched source or mount the laser head on a drone....

 

Offline basinstreetdesign

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Re: "Backyard Scientist" - idiocy never fails to astound me
« Reply #10 on: August 01, 2020, 07:38:48 pm »
I also notice that he doesn't seem too worried about where that laser goes or what it hits if he misses his target.  Notice at first the backdrop to his wooden block is a window.  Then later he is shooting towards the backend of his car and beyond that is off his (urban) property! :palm:
STAND BACK!  I'm going to try SCIENCE!
 

Offline cdev

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Re: "Backyard Scientist" - idiocy never fails to astound me
« Reply #11 on: August 01, 2020, 07:53:51 pm »
I'm sure he would have been here in the US too. At times in the past I had to oversee various light show providers and although I dont remember the exact specifics, I do remember them being extremely cautious about laser safety. to the point of making it basically impossible for any member of the audience to be directly in the path of a laser (also they were always behind the audience, and they would always run their lasers on the lowest possible power whenever they were indoors.) We also would have safety + fire inspections constantly.  We had to do that to be able to continue throwing events.

:wtf:
Don't know about US laws, but that guy would be in so many shades of trouble if he did this in Germany.
"What the large print giveth, the small print taketh away."
 

Offline Lord of nothing

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Re: "Backyard Scientist" - idiocy never fails to astound me
« Reply #12 on: August 01, 2020, 08:09:46 pm »


 :-DD when you think the Laser Guy did dangerous thinks...
Made in Japan, destroyed in Sulz im Wienerwald.
 

Offline Cyberdragon

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Re: "Backyard Scientist" - idiocy never fails to astound me
« Reply #13 on: August 01, 2020, 08:28:05 pm »
Exactly, people "try it at home" all the time, what makes this case any more special? "Ahhh, lasers scary!" I mean sure, you could kill someone with it, just like a lot of stuff you shouldn't try at home...but...oh yeah?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hahn

(I read the book, this guy was bat shit crazy)

:scared:
*BZZZZZZAAAAAP*
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Offline Lord of nothing

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Re: "Backyard Scientist" - idiocy never fails to astound me
« Reply #14 on: August 01, 2020, 08:35:09 pm »
 :-DD Search for Tritium on Aliexpress. I got some Key Chain thinks for my Backpack to find the Zipper in a Dark envirorrment.
Made in Japan, destroyed in Sulz im Wienerwald.
 

Offline jogri

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Re: "Backyard Scientist" - idiocy never fails to astound me
« Reply #15 on: August 01, 2020, 09:06:48 pm »
Exactly, people "try it at home" all the time, what makes this case any more special? "Ahhh, lasers scary!" I mean sure, you could kill someone with it, just like a lot of stuff you shouldn't try at home...but...oh yeah?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hahn

(I read the book, this guy was bat shit crazy)

:scared:

Most of the stuff people do at home only poses a risk to themself, but not others. Even a neutron source in a shed isn't that big a deal when said shed isn't standing right next to your neighbours bedroom...
But an invisible, extremely high power and focused laser aimed at other peoples houses (or possibly airplanes) poses a thread to them, even if they don't enter your property.

So yeah, a device that can easily blind people over a mile away (without them having a chance to avoid it) definitely falls under the "Aaaah, scary" category...
 
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Offline Lord of nothing

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Re: "Backyard Scientist" - idiocy never fails to astound me
« Reply #16 on: August 01, 2020, 09:21:17 pm »
Well play with X Ray Lamps and Magnetrons isnt dangerous for Neighbors?
I feel bad ass when I install my Wifi Scanner.  :-DD

EDIT:
« Last Edit: August 01, 2020, 09:30:11 pm by Lord of nothing »
Made in Japan, destroyed in Sulz im Wienerwald.
 

Online m98

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Re: "Backyard Scientist" - idiocy never fails to astound me
« Reply #17 on: August 01, 2020, 09:39:12 pm »
Well play with X Ray Lamps and Magnetrons isnt dangerous for Neighbors?
Does one extremely dangerous thing negate the other? I for my part neither want to die of radiation sickness from sitting close to the wrong wall in my living room, nor getting blinded by taking one wrong look out the kitchen window.
Most people should feel similar, which is why activities that could lead to such results are strictly regulated.
 
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Offline jogri

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Re: "Backyard Scientist" - idiocy never fails to astound me
« Reply #18 on: August 01, 2020, 09:41:15 pm »
Well play with X Ray Lamps and Magnetrons isnt dangerous for Neighbors?
I feel bad ass when I install my Wifi Scanner.  :-DD

-the radiation from a x-ray tube is directed in one direction and gets heavily extenuated by walls (you can see that the reading drops by quite a bit when he is standing behind the door in the video)-> you only radiate your flat and even if a substantial amount of it gets inside your neighbours flat he won't go blind in a fraction of a second

-same goes for 2.5 GHz magnetrons, everything that contains water dampens them

But that isn't the important point, because both X-rays/Magnetrons/Neutron sources don't emit coherent radiation -> The intensity of those sources decreases with the square of of distance (Intensity ~ Radius^2). That's not at all the case with a laser beam, even the (presumably rather crappy) diode laser from this dude probably only has a divergence of ~5 mrad: That means the beam expands by 5mm for every meter it travels. Quite a difference to the Radius^2 intensity decrease of other radiation sources...

Edit: Too dumb to remember where the "square" part of the Inverse-square law came from, thx TimFox
« Last Edit: August 01, 2020, 10:39:52 pm by jogri »
 
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Offline Lord of nothing

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Re: "Backyard Scientist" - idiocy never fails to astound me
« Reply #19 on: August 01, 2020, 09:54:52 pm »
@m98 some People picked up some De pleaded Uranium Ammunition who was used in the illegal Yugoslavia War.

Quote
the radiation from a x-ray tube is directed in one direction
Well inside the Housing or even when the (idiots from Ukraine) took it apart and use the "naked" Lamp?
Quote
That's not at all the case with a laser beam
What we dont know if he was calling the Authorities before he perform his Test.
Sure some Youtuber dont show everything behind the scenes when it get into thinks who are maybe seem not so legal at first. I was talking with the Austrian Military Press Staff its possible to get Access to the huge Military Training Area for Filming. So in the case I would like show what happen back then I would maybe do some "sneak into" think to pretend I would do some illegal stuff but it would be approved by some officials. Maybe behind the Scenes are some poor Recruit over watch me.  :-DD
Made in Japan, destroyed in Sulz im Wienerwald.
 

Offline TimFox

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Re: "Backyard Scientist" - idiocy never fails to astound me
« Reply #20 on: August 01, 2020, 10:04:44 pm »
Radiation intensity from a point source, such as the electron spot on the anode of an X-ray tube, falls off as the distance squared, not cubed.  With a flat anode surface, there is an angular dependence with direction away from perpendicular to the surface.
 
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Offline coppercone2

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Re: "Backyard Scientist" - idiocy never fails to astound me
« Reply #21 on: August 01, 2020, 10:09:32 pm »
in regards  to the xray tomfoolery,

i don't know if you want the whole detector apparatus in a strong x-ray beam. I don't know if it could effect the ADC or other circuits associated with doing counts. Perhaps it can break something there. I think it should be a remote gieger probe on a shielded cable that connects to the ADC outside of the x-ray flux. The machine could possibly become decalibrated and fail to alert the operator of other dangers (like test source leakage).

This applies to everyone doing radiation experiments IMO. For strong sources you should use a remote probe (one without local amplification), and not irradiate a SMD circuit board. That is not equipment you want exposed to anything at all since its potentially life critical.

The way those portable machines work is that they expect you to run when it starts beeping. I doubt you get a super rad hardened circuit for 200$.
« Last Edit: August 01, 2020, 10:13:28 pm by coppercone2 »
 
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Offline jogri

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Re: "Backyard Scientist" - idiocy never fails to astound me
« Reply #22 on: August 01, 2020, 10:35:20 pm »
@m98 some People picked up some De pleaded Uranium Ammunition who was used in the illegal Yugoslavia War.

Quote
the radiation from a x-ray tube is directed in one direction
Well inside the Housing or even when the (idiots from Ukraine) took it apart and use the "naked" Lamp?
Quote
That's not at all the case with a laser beam
What we dont know if he was calling the Authorities before he perform his Test.
Sure some Youtuber dont show everything behind the scenes when it get into thinks who are maybe seem not so legal at first. I was talking with the Austrian Military Press Staff its possible to get Access to the huge Military Training Area for Filming. So in the case I would like show what happen back then I would maybe do some "sneak into" think to pretend I would do some illegal stuff but it would be approved by some officials. Maybe behind the Scenes are some poor Recruit over watch me.  :-DD

An X-ray tube always has a main beam direction as the target of your electron gun is a Cu/Mo plate sloped at ~45° -> the beam exits the tube at a ~90° angle. And since the sloped anode is inside the tube it doesn't matter that much if it still has a casing (sure, you'll get more radiation in unwanted directions without it but the beam form doesn't change).

And i don't think that authorities would approve pointing a 200W laser at your neighbours house, so i heavily doubt that he informed them about his plans...
 
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Offline TimFox

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Re: "Backyard Scientist" - idiocy never fails to astound me
« Reply #23 on: August 01, 2020, 10:45:42 pm »
The target material in an X-ray tube depends on the operating voltage.  Besides Bremsstrahlung (radiation from stopping the electrons), there are “characteristic X-rays” from inner-shell transitions in the target atoms.  Above maybe 80 kV, the target is usually tungsten, to exploit the 58 and 59 keV characteristics, but mammography is done at much lower voltage, using molybdenum.
 

Offline jogri

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Re: "Backyard Scientist" - idiocy never fails to astound me
« Reply #24 on: August 02, 2020, 11:20:53 am »
The target material in an X-ray tube depends on the operating voltage.  Besides Bremsstrahlung (radiation from stopping the electrons), there are “characteristic X-rays” from inner-shell transitions in the target atoms.  Above maybe 80 kV, the target is usually tungsten, to exploit the 58 and 59 keV characteristics, but mammography is done at much lower voltage, using molybdenum.

Bremsstrahlung (german for "breaking/deceleration radiation") doesn't stem from electrons being stopped (that would yield monochromatic radiation at the energy of your tube voltage), it comes from the interaction between accelerated electrons and the positively charged nuclei: The electron experiences an attraction towards the nuclei -> gets decelerated as it flies by -> the kinetic energy lost in the deceleration gets emitted in the form of a x-ray photon. Since this effect (attraction and loss of kinetic energy) depends on the distance between the electron and the nuclei (the electron speed is set by the tube voltage) you get a continuous spectrum.

Afaik you don't really use tungsten because of its K-alpha lines, it's used because it is one of the only materials that can withstand the extremely high voltages (up to 120kV) that produce extreme anode temperatures: Tungsten has a high melting point and doesn't get soft when it's heated, this drastically reduces the deformation of the anode and the sputtering of tungsten (you would just melt your Cu/Mo anodes and sputter them inside your tube).
Higher tube voltages drastically decrease the dose of radiation (higher energy photons have a higher penetration-> the number of photons (and therefore accelerated electrons) needed for an image with the same intensity decreases with increasing tube voltages as more photons reach the detector), so in radiology they are more interested in the 110-120 keV photons from Bremsstrahlung and not so much in the ~60 keV K-alpha photons.
 


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