Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 16:13 EST
From: CDCLARK@INDSVAX1.INDSTATE.EDU
Subject: Planes, X-rays and my Mac (Summary)
Here's the summary of articles I received today 9-9-92
I would like to thank all of the follwoing persons for responding to my
query on
x-rays and macs. Thanks again for the quotes and personel stories you passed
on. c-
8 IN%"dy@shire.math.co 8-SEP-1992 Traveling with a Mac
9 IN%"degroot@ips.id.e 9-SEP-1992 Mac and Airport
10 IN%"hp48sx@wuarchive 9-SEP-1992 RE: Planes, X-Rays and My Mac
11 IN%"JM144%MOLECULAR- 9-SEP-1992 Xrays and IIsi
12 IN%"jensen@itd.nrl.n 9-SEP-1992 Computers thru airport security
13 IN%"burton@cs.sfu.ca 9-SEP-1992 RE: Planes, X-Rays and My Mac
14 IN%"grant@itd.nrl.na 9-SEP-1992 Planes, X-Rays and My Mac
15 IN%"davegrow@tecnet1 9-SEP-1992 [ANS] Planes, X-Rays and My Mac
16 IN%"herren@middlebur 9-SEP-1992 x-rays & Macs
17 IN%"EGS2G1B@MVS.OAC. 9-SEP-1992 RE: Planes, X-Rays, and My Mac
I have traveled with both a Mac Plus and a Mac SE/30 and have
never had any problems. They've both gone through X ray machines
and have even been checked as baggage.
Nevertheless, I don't recommend doing either, if possible.
Foreign airlines, like Air France or KLM, seem to
have special handling for fragile baggage, but the domestic
airlines don't.
As for X ray machines, I'm pretty sure you only need to worry
about your hard disk. The other thing I do, when I don't feel
like setting up and turning on the computer, is I back everything
up onto floppy disks. I then send the computer throught the X ray
machine and ask for the floppies to be inspected by hand. However,
I have never had any problem with the X ray machine messing up my
hard disk.
Deane Yang
-----
Hi Chip,
I now nothing specific or general about your "phobias",
I just had my Mac on a plane once. This was going from Zurich to
Duesseldorf (ZRH->DUS). It was a Mac Classic and I carried it
with me... There was no damage (or anthing else worth mentioning)
done to my little friend by the X-rays. Maybe somewhere else
this will be different. (I have no affiliations with X-rays,
am just a satisfied customer.)
Sincerely,
Claas de Groot
-----
I do not think x-rays will harm your monitor any way. x-rays are not
extremely bad for your harddisk and floppies either, as they are
primarly effected by electromagnetic wvaes. The main risk for
floppies/hd is the motors that drive the belt you put your stuff on.
They generate enough electric field to damage floppies. Also the metal
detector uses simple magnetic fields to check for weapons. It is VERY
bad for floppies. But you may have luck
--
Povl H. Pedersen hp48sx@wuarchive.wustl.edu
HP48sx archive maintainer
All Opinions (C) Copyright the Intergalactic Thought Association
-----
Hi Chip
I live in England and have an SE30. During 1990/1 I travelled extensively-
Germany, USA and Canada.My Mac went through numerous Xrays at: Gatwick,
Heathrow, Frankfurt, Newark and Montreal. No harm seemed to be done at all.
Of course I took the precaution of having all my Harddisk's files on floppy
with me. These were usually passed through too- but the people are far less
suspicious of these than a cased computer.Generally, only the hard disk is
at risk and I've heard that the xrays at most airports won't harm computers
these days. Don't take my word for it though-try it (with full back up)!
All the hassles are a pain, but I feel safer that they're in operation. I had
a bad experience with Newark once: They wanted me to switch on the mac to prove
that it really was a computer and not a bomb. My UK plug to US plug adaptor was
in my (checked in) suitcase, but they insisted that they had adaptors for
"every
place in the world". They hadn't ever seen the UK monster plugs we've got!
(Very
chunky, but also very safe). Because they didn't have an adaptor they let me by
without checking my machine! Now if I were a terrorist...
Anyway, my advice is don't be too paranoid- I know several people who've taken
(compact) macs thru xrays at airports without adverse effects.
Cheers
Joe Makkerh
Wellcome/CRC Institute
Cambridge
UK
-----
Chip,
Iassume you'll get other responces, but here is my experience
at Washington Dullas Airport.
I wanted to send an old 512 mac to my sister-in-law with
my wife when she went down to visit. Put it in carrying bag with extra
padding on the front to protect the CRT, so just put whole bag thru
the x-ray. I STILL had to get it out and turn it on!!! The reason
is that the shielding that the STUPID FCC requires to prevent TV
interference (reather than make the TV manufactures make better TVs)
causes the computer to show up as a solid BLACK object!!!! Makes
security people VERY nervious!!!
I suspect (in fact am sure) you will have the same problem.
Even though I feel sure that the x-ray machines are probably not
harmful to your computer or HD, they almost certianly will show up
as BLACK on the X-ray screen and you will have to show that they
are indeed a computer system. Just got to plan on taking longer
than usual to check in and get thru security.
Have a good flight to where ever you are going.
larry
-----
I will be very interested in finding out what you learn.
I left London Heathrow on Saturday with my powerbook, and was told that
absolutely everything had to be x-rayed. My powerbook survived, but I
was very unhappy about it. The User's Guide that comes with the machine
says clearly "Do not allow your computer or any hard disk or floppy disks
to pass through X-ray machines."
Warren Burton
Simon Fraser University
-----
I am not sure about the computer materials, but in photography
circles, the old warning was that US machines were generally safe for
passing film through, due to the low level of radiation and frequent
testing of the machines' calibration. Machines outside of the US
varied quite widely. The level of radiation was sometimes quite
reasonable, but often it was excessive. This was blamed on the lower
liklihood that the machines' calibration was regularly tested and had
drifted quite badly.
Best of luck.
==================================================================
Hopes and wishes, Daffodils and kings...
Leprechaun Liam Grant@itd.nrl.navy.mil
Code 5541, NRL, Wash. DC 20375 (202)767-0552 W (301)937-2567 H
-----
Some of your questions have been on my mind as well -- specifically,
do the X-rays have any potential to harm the computer. As a frequent
flyer and MacPortable (much cheaper - you can get a 4/40 for about $1300 with
2400 baud modem through Sun Remarketing in Orem, UT) owner, I am also
frustrated by the long boot time (made longer by my list of inits). Here
is your answer:
1. Several types of integrated circuits exist. Nonerasables,
uv-light erasable, and electrically erasable ROMs are available on the
market. I do not know which are used by Apple, but assume them to be
non-erasables. The warning you got likely refers to the prominence
of uv-eraseable ROMs in various circuits. X-rays typically use
ultraviolet (UV) light, and thus can erase this type of chip. End
result: a non-functional computer.
2. Even if you do send your computer through the X-ray machine,
you will still have to power i up - very likely while a gun is aimed at
you - or surrender it to police. Your computer's internal wiring, on board
battery, and hard drive will make the "box" in the X-ray look quite bomb-like.
The FAA instructs their inspectors to call appropriate authorities in such
a situation and to detain (often spelled "c-u-f-f") the person carrying
the luggage.
3. As for your sccreen, I am uncertain of the risks in sending it
through the X-ray, other than those listed in item 2.
I agree with the problems you are having, but the airlines are
doing you a big favor. I know that there was discussion during the Gulf War
on not allowing ANY electronic devices on aircraft. Sorry the news wasn't
better for you.
- Dave Grow
-----
I trave a great deal with my mac (at various times an SE/30, SE, Plus, mac
IIsi, Powerbook 145, etc.) Like you I was initially reluctant to send them
through the x-rays so I had to set the darn thing up, turn it on, wait for
WAY too many inits to load and then shut it back down. One day my plane was
late for a connection and I simply didn't have time. I was on my way home
so I thought "what the heck, if it's toast when I get home, I'll have time
to fix it." I got home and it was fine. Since then I've sent hard drives,
monitors, CPUs, powerbooks etc. through on a regular basis and I have NEVER
lost a single bit of information. Your mileage may vary, I always send a
boxes of utility and back-up floppy disks through in my luggage as well as
hand carrying them (so I can just hand them to the inspector to hand
inspect while my computer goes through the machine).
Best of luck in your travels. Backup often and carry backups with you, and
X-Ray away.
Oh, BTW, I almost always have to fly through Kennedy and LaGuardia if I
want to go anywhere from here in the boonies of Vermont--no problems with
those places either though I haven't flown every single airline at both
airports).
-David
__________________________________________________________________
David Herren | Internet: herren@middlebury.edu
Academic Computing | BITnet: herren@midd
Middlebury College | Applelink: Herren
Middlebury, VT 05753 U.S.A. | Ma Bell: 802-388-3711 x5558
__________________________________________________________________
-----
Chip,
Here's a direct quote from Info World in response to your question about X-Rays
and computers in InfoMac. Please preserve the citation if you use this quote
in your summary.
Good luck,
Phil Harriman
The Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities
egs2g1b@mvs.oac.ucla.edu
Glass, Brett. Buyers Advisory: Know how (and from what) to protect your data
when traveling. Info World. 1992 Aug 31; 14(35): 76.
Q: What things can happen to floppies and laptops passed through metal
detectors?
A: The metal detector you walk through at the airport, and at some courthouses,
uses a powerful electromagnet (uaually mounted overhead) to detect metal
objects. Fortunately, since the intensity of the magnetic field decreases as
the square of the distance from the source, a floppy disk in your pocket is
unlikely to be affected. And the hard disk in a laptop can withstand much
stronger magnetic fields thanks to its metal case.
Interestingly, the airport device most likely to damage your disks is not the
metal detector the the X-ray machine. X-rays themselves can't erase magnetic
materials, but the transformer that generates high voltages for the X-ray tube
may create a powerful magnetic field. What's more, if your floppy disks are on
the bottom of a bag, they may be carried directly over the hefty induction
motor that drives the moving belt.
Again, it is unlikely that a hard disk will be affected by these fields, but
I have on several occasions lost data on floppy disks in carry-on luggage. I
now keep my floppies inside a ferrous metal cookie tin, which offers some
protection against magnetic fields.$
Thanks again. c-