Outdoor moving heads and the FAA

[audjon93]

1. Has anyone used moving head beams outside and ran into problems with the FAA? I know they have guidelines for lasers, but what about ACL-type beams?

2. Has anyone used or seen those Sharpy knock offs sold on Alibaba that are IP65 rated and don't need an enclosure?

3. Any suggestions on products to achieve this look similar to the attached picture? Its the Morton Arboretum Christmas light display in Illinois.

I have considered using these waterproof moving heads from Alibaba since we have a 8-10K budget and the enclosures would take a good chunk of it.

I have to light a grove of 40' tall ever greens over a stretch of 500 meters. I'd like to up light them with a handful of 18x10 RGBW fixtures and some beams, but the display is within a 10mi radius of an airport.

I know this is more of a landscaping/guidelines question, but i have nowhere else to turn :O

 

[Les]

The FAA definitely prefers being informed about lasers (especially when in close proximity to an airport), but I have never heard anything about other types of lighting. I doubt it would be an issue. We shoot fireworks 800' in to the air and they don't care about that either unless... You guessed it... It's near an airport (but usually closer than ten miles). The best course of advice is to call them and get it straight from the horse's mouth.

I can say that I see nightclubs all over the place with their huge searchlights and I have never heard of any FAA issues. When you call them, don't mention "ACL-like" lighting fixtures. Just say it's like what nightclubs use for attracting customers. Sometimes the less detail, the better .

 

[irked]

Last time I ran a bunch of Syncrolites outdoors we needed to coordinate with the FAA to make sure we weren't throwing beams anywhere they might cause a commotion. Those 7Ks throw beams pretty far, though, I don't think I'd be as worried with normal fixtures.

 

[JD]

Lasers give you a near 0% beam and even 1000 feet away, a low power laser will saturate your eyes leaving you without sight for a few moments. This is why they are so dangerous to flights. Now, compare that with a Gladiator at 400 feet. Many thousands of times the power but far less damaging on the eyes. Another thing about lasers is the contrast index. Because the beam is so tight, your eyes are fully adjusted to darkness and your irises are wide open when the beam hits. Ever fly over a venue having a concert? It's a real neat thing to watch but I cannot think of a time that it was bright enough to disrupt vision.

 

[porkchop]

Just finished a corporate gig done with all knock off fixtures (I think the brand was Orion??) and they worked surprisingly well. Was talking to the TD for the company that owns them and he says they buy them knowing there will be some variation in the output and less reliability, but given the price they can buy 20-30% more fixtures and just turn any broken lights into parts skeletons. It's an interesting point of view, but he's got a point.