Article View: sci.physics
Article #7674Re: Can 31 party balloons aggravate 1 police RADAR?
From: WIlliam Swan
Date: Fri, 30 Sep 1988 20:51
Date: Fri, 30 Sep 1988 20:51
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In article <1405@cbnews.ATT.COM> wbt@cbnews.ATT.COM (William B. Thacker) writes: >>While driving an 11 year old Mazda GLC filled with 31 balloons and a >>passenger, I was stopped for speeding -- 88 km/h in a 60 km/h zone. >>The 31 balloons were filled with helium and had "metallic" colours. >> >I believe such balloons are made of aluminized mylar. I'd guess >that they could, indeed, reflect police radar. However, they'd probably >make a much smaller target than your Mazda, being of much "stealthier" >design (no sharp edges, etc) and generally less area. I wouldn't think >they caused the high reading; more likely, the radar was at fault. That many balloons in that car would be bunched together - you'd have your "sharp" edges there. The balloons would not likely make up the 28km/h difference by their linear motion, but I have no idea about vibration (I'd think it unlikely, though). I would suspect the radar. -- William Swan ..!tikal.teltone.com!sigma!bill
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Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!utzoo!attcan!uunet!convex!killer!ames!mailrus!cornell!uw-beaver!tikal!sigma!bill From: bill@sigma.UUCP (WIlliam Swan) Newsgroups: sci.physics,sci.electronics,rec.autos.tech Subject: Re: Can 31 party balloons aggravate 1 police RADAR? Message-ID: <1805@sigma.UUCP> Date: 30 Sep 88 20:51:24 GMT References: <880928.0208.11468@ontmoh.UUCP> <1405@cbnews.ATT.COM> Reply-To: bill@sigma.UUCP (WIlliam Swan) Followup-To: rec.autos.tech Distribution: na Organization: Bob Williams for Governor Lines: 19