Hi Richard,
You are preaching to the choir. I doubt anyone on the Photofurum thinks xrays will hurt a memory card and anyone who has traveled on an airline, cruise ship or entered a federal building knows the difference between the xray machine and the walkthrough scanner. The the topic of "airlines and hand checks" was whether the walkthrough scanner can harm memory cards.
Walter
===========================================================================================================
On Monday, July 26, 2004, at 09:50 AM, Richard Martin wrote:
--- Walter Holt <locnleave@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi Rand,
I am unable to find a reliable source for my statement. It
may be
hearsay as I did a lot of google searching and everything I
read said
the cards can't be harmed by airport security . Kodak site
says cards
can't be harmed. Sandisk site says cards can't be harmed.
Neither of
these sites however differentiate between airport x-ray
machines and
the walk-through airport scanner. They speak of the
checkpoint
machines as though the xray and scanner is the same item or
they say
call the xray machine a scanner.
I thought I had read my info on an ASMP advisory, but I could
not find
the advisory anywhere on ASMP's web site.
X-ray scanners and metal detectors are two different things.
The kind of portal you walk through is a metal detector, a
device that generates a brief magnetic field. A metal object
will interfere with the field (as I understand it) and an alarm
rings when it does so. No x-rays are involved.
X-ray scanners (the device your carry-on bags go through) are
exactly what they sound like, enabling the technician to see
inside your bags.
I've never tried walking through the metal detector with a
memory card in my pocket. Cards do have metal parts, though
quite small so I don't know if a card would set off the
detector. As I said before, I doubt the field is strong enough
to damage any card but frankly I don't care to test it.
As for x-rays, I've seen no evidence that those will damage
cards. If anyone knows of any, please post the info. I'm sure we
are all very interested!
Richard
=====
Richard Martin specializes in Cityscape
and Waterscape stock photography.
E-mail: marphoto@xxxxxxxxx
Web: http://www.marphoto.com
Web: http://www.poetographycreations.com
