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Amp. Airline. Security?

post #1 of 25
12/28/09 at 8:19am
Thread Starter 
Hi. Sorry if this is a daft question.
I am off on a short haul flight tommorrow and would like to listen to my rig on the plane.
I am concerned that security might take exception to my collection of wires and black boxes.
Especially after recent events, Anyone ever had a problem? Thanks.
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post #2 of 25
12/28/09 at 8:50am
I've been on a plane several times with a few headphones, a laptop, couple portable amps , couple of DAPs, and all the hookups necessary for that and never had a problem.

I read a couple of times how someone was stopped once and asked what they had, all some do is explain outright that it increased the sound level for a portable mp3 player for more demanding headphones. I think I even read once how someone just lied and said it was an external power source for a DAP.
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post #3 of 25
12/28/09 at 1:45pm
My rule of thumb is to only take recognizable consumer devices onto airplanes. Anything they don't recognize is automatically seen as a threat, whether it is or not.

And be sure to consider the level of education and intelligence of the screeners. They probably barely made it through high school (if at all) and they're getting $8 an hour or something. So don't expect an enlightened attitude or a willingness to learn. Consider whether you could explain it within five seconds to a retarded child. It's pretty much like that.

Something like an iPod and headphones/IEMs shouldn't be a problem.

I'll be taking the car on my next several trips. Air travel just isn't worth it.
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post #4 of 25
12/28/09 at 2:13pm
Many people use amps on planes without problems, but there have been a few notable horror stories.

These are my rules:

Nothing DIY/homemade.
The smaller, the better.

My 3g nano/tomahawk rig is the cleanest, most innocent looking rig there is. Anything even remotely more complex looking (in other words, any other rig) is asking for trouble. Better safe than sorry.

I have flown a handful of times with my rig but I'm probably going to keep it simple next time. You won't be able to hear the difference while flying anyway.
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post #5 of 25
12/28/09 at 2:52pm
Thread Starter 
Hmmm. Reckon I'll go minimal then. Just iPod and 'phones. Don't really want any grief. Thanks.
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post #6 of 25
12/28/09 at 2:58pm
I was thinking earlier that a 1/8" to 1/4" screw-on adaptor could probably be construed as a bullet.
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post #7 of 25
12/28/09 at 3:08pm
I brought my iRiver-iHP120/iBasso D10 on board without any problem. The D10 has labels on the front and back, and the iHP-120 clearly looks like an MP3 player.
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post #8 of 25
12/28/09 at 3:23pm
I have flown multiple times with my rig without difficulty or even a question of what it was. However, after this Xmas day incident, I have no idea what to tell you. But better safe than sorry, and maybe just the phones and DAP.
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post #9 of 25
12/28/09 at 4:04pm
Someone often flies international told me, bring a copy of invoice. If any doubt, the invoice should ease their mind.
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post #10 of 25
12/28/09 at 5:01pm
I have never had any issues bringing portable (or full size) rigs as hand luggage on international flights.
DAPs, IEMs, headphones, SRD-7 Pro transformer, laptop, ...

Never tried to bring anything DIY though.
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post #11 of 25
12/28/09 at 10:22pm
I fly about 18-20 times a year and have taken iMod, LODs, amps (Xin, RSAs, Minibox-E (and only in Albuquerque did they look at my Xin SuperMicro....twice on the two times I flew home from there this year!).

Flight attendants have asked and I told them it was a headphone amp. Most think the amp is an external battery.

I always take a pre-stamped (over stamped!) padded envelope with me, so if the worst happens, I will mail home whatever TSA is balking at. Never had to do that.
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post #12 of 25
12/29/09 at 12:52am
wow..now thats being precautious! having an envelope to mail it just in case :P

if you are worried i would just bring your dap+phones. the invoice is something i never thought of..thats actually not a bad idea for an amp if its not diy
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post #13 of 25
12/29/09 at 10:19am

Where do you get off

Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Erik View Post
My rule of thumb is to only take recognizable consumer devices onto airplanes. Anything they don't recognize is automatically seen as a threat, whether it is or not.

And be sure to consider the level of education and intelligence of the screeners. They probably barely made it through high school (if at all) and they're getting $8 an hour or something. So don't expect an enlightened attitude or a willingness to learn. Consider whether you could explain it within five seconds to a retarded child. It's pretty much like that.

Something like an iPod and headphones/IEMs shouldn't be a problem.

I'll be taking the car on my next several trips. Air travel just isn't worth it.
Those people provide a service so highbrow morons like you can travel in relative safety.
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post #14 of 25
12/29/09 at 4:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rawrster View Post
wow..now thats being precautious! having an envelope to mail it just in case :P
This is great advice. I've often carried a battery operated muscle stimulator for sport on planes. They are very expensive, so I bring it in a shipping package pre-addressed to home in case it doesn't make it through security.

I could see how this might make someone leary:
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post #15 of 25
12/29/09 at 11:11pm
Can it get any worse? Read on.
Electronics banned on us flights - The Inquirer
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