What causes laser falses??

[Silverstreak98]

It seems like I've been getting a ton of these lately, and I'm not really sure why.

I was in the city pulling up to a red light and it starts going off for about 5 secs then stopping then starting again. I was the first person at the stop light, and didn't see any luxury cars that could have the laser cruise control.

I've probably gotten about 7 laser alerts and haven't been able to locate an LEO any of those times.

Any ideas?

[stray444]

anything thats emits light at the same or very similar wave length as laser guns

[Silverstreak98]

Hmmmm I wonder if a laser pointer could set it off?

[TQUILL]

Possibly, but I would guess no. The jammers are attempting to detect infared light, not anything in the visible spectrum (a laser pointer for example). I'm not really sure how much of the light a laser pointer emits is in the infared spectrum. If it did, I would think it would be too small for a jammer to notice, plus jammers looks for pulses of infared light, not just a constant stream of it. I guess it's worth a try though.

[jdong]

No, the "laser" that's being detected are pulses of IR light at 904nm +/- 10 or 20 nm with most detectors, sometimes more tolerant.

A visible light red laser pointer doesn't emit anywhere similar. The most likely common object you have around the house that MAY set it off is a remote control, which is typically 850nm but can be higher.

I've heard of laser based redlight sensors before, which may be causing your issues. Other sources of laser falses include laser cruise control systems in luxury cars, airports (could be caused by insanely powerful radars used by air traffic control, or wind sheer measurement LIDAR), fastpass lanes at toll booths, or a loose spark distributor cap in your car.