DO NOT FLY WITH YOUR MINTYBOOST

Ideas and questions about MintyBoost kits

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jason1
 
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Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2012 7:22 pm

DO NOT FLY WITH YOUR MINTYBOOST

Post by jason1 »

I was stupid enough to leave it in my work bag. Bad move. Spent half an hour in security being interviewed. Just don't bother bringing it.

adafruit
 
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Joined: Thu Apr 06, 2006 4:21 pm

Re: DO NOT FLY WITH YOUR MINTYBOOST

Post by adafruit »

jason1 wrote:I was stupid enough to leave it in my work bag. Bad move. Spent half an hour in security being interviewed. Just don't bother bringing it.
jason,

that's not really a fair thing to scare people about when hundreds if not thousands of people have traveled with mintyboosts all the time (customers email us all the time). a few questions about any type of electronics is not unreasonable, a half hour is something we've never heard of (we can imagine any time wait feels long of course).

can your provide any facts at all, what they asked, why, what airport, what was the outcome, etc? that would be helpful besides an ALL CAPS scary title.

from personal experience of flying hundreds of thousands of miles with almost every kit you've seen here at adafruit i've not be delayed more than a few minutes asking all reasonable questions. the mintyboost has been out for 5+ years by now, flying with electronics isn't a problematic (there are only a handful of examples where it's been an issue based on millions of likely screenings). and before everyone piles on the TSA --- i know it's fun and easy to poke fun at the TSA but the majority of people working the screening areas are good at their jobs, yes - there are always the rare ones like any profession that need better training and we're sure there will be some rare event where someone without proper training overreacts too.

any way, please do not scare people here and if you choose to - please be more specific so we can all learn about your experience with more details.

thanks,
adafruit support, phil

jason1
 
Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2012 7:22 pm

Re: DO NOT FLY WITH YOUR MINTYBOOST

Post by jason1 »

I didn't intend to scare anyone. I apologize for the capital letters in the title.

I was interviewed for 25-30 minutes. I was interviewed by a TSA agent, then his boss, then his boss, then the Homeland security bomb detail. I am not exaggerating.

They didn't ask many questions. Name, why I was flying, what it was, etc. They spent most of their time running tests and taking pictures, then waiting for the bomb detail.

I was there for a science conference, showed them my credentials and conference info, and was sober.

This was at BANNED airport, Sunday.

They told me not to fly with it anymore, in fact they said do not fly with any modified electronics. If you have to, check it. That's what they said, not me. They did let me take it on the plane, and I was able to board.

In my post I did not denigrate the TSA at all, please re read it. I said I was stupid, not them. I was actually happy that they take security so seriously. I prefer it that way.

I like your company, and don't want to hurt your business at all, you've been great. I don't want anything, I'm not mad at anyone, just letting you know.

I probably should have emailed you instead of posting here, and for that I am sorry. I can delete these posts if you prefer.

Jason

adafruit
 
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Joined: Thu Apr 06, 2006 4:21 pm

Re: DO NOT FLY WITH YOUR MINTYBOOST

Post by adafruit »

that's an extraordinary story, thank you for providing some more details, this is the first and only one we've heard like this, ever. did you get any of the TSA staff's info? we'd like to talk to them directly since traveling with a AA battery charger (assembled kit or bought at the apple store) does not warrant "the Homeland security bomb detail". at the most a quick swab, or worst case, removing the batteries would have been the usual and most reasonable thing to do. we don't know any more details than what you've told us, so we won't guess if there are any circumstances outside what you provided.

the TSA is there to serve and help all of us, if they need to be educated on what harmless hobbyist electronics are that amazing people are making and sharing, it's our job to help them too.

please email [email protected] with the details, we will follow up with with the BANNED airport.

just to put it in context, both ladyada and i travel with bags full of kits, carry on and checked on, around the world, and we also look like gothy weirdos - we've never had anything even close to this occur. when i was full time at MAKE magazine i was also traveling around the world with all of these types of items and the only thing that was ever odd (once) is a TSA agent asked if they could keep my copy of MAKE magazine they saw in my bag since they liked to do electronics themselves too (i gave it to them and my biz card). the maker community is chatty, if this was a common occurrence we'd all know about it. the only close one i am aware of this story from awhile back:

http://blog.makezine.com/2011/08/10/tsa ... -mint-tin/
http://blog.tsa.gov/2011/08/wierd-scien ... made.html/

as far as policy goes, here's a direct quote from the TSA:
http://blog.tsa.gov/2009/03/traveling-w ... dgets.html

"We're not implying that you cannot travel with these types of items, we're just pointing out that they could be of concern, or possibly even hold you up a little bit. Listen, we think these things are cool too, but this is just a friendly "heads up" and not a threat." - Bob (TSA) EoS Blog Team

thanks,
adafruit support, phil

jason1
 
Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2012 7:22 pm

Re: DO NOT FLY WITH YOUR MINTYBOOST

Post by jason1 »

I emailed.

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darkmatter
 
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Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2012 1:45 pm

Re: DO NOT FLY WITH YOUR MINTYBOOST

Post by darkmatter »

On Monday March 10 2014 just before noon I was stopped by TSA at the Chicago O’Hare airport, they needed to search my carry-on back pack. When the agent opened my backpack up and found my MintyBoost the look on his face became very concerned. Thea agent asked what it was and I explained to him that it was a cellphone charger. Like jason1 I got to explain to increasingly higher up TSA officials what it was. All my items were rescanned and I was given a thorough pat-down. They ended up confiscating my MintyBoost and I was the very last one to board my flight due to the extended delay at security.

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minwedar
 
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Re: DO NOT FLY WITH YOUR MINTYBOOST

Post by minwedar »

I rarely fly and I had to take a trip along the west cost from Seattle to San Jose and I had to pull out my electronics for the first time...but it wasn't my Raspberry Pi and a bunch of jumper wires it was just that I had so much electronics (couple laptops, iPad, etc) that they couldn't scan all of it. I was pretty worried I'd have to explain a few of my kits but they said it was cool, just couldn't scan through all of it. The TSA agent was really wowed when when I told him this little $35 mini computer could do. So next time I'll just pull out more stuff from my bag and spread it out more.

Illum3415
 
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Joined: Sun May 11, 2014 12:09 pm

Re: DO NOT FLY WITH YOUR MINTYBOOST

Post by Illum3415 »

Hmm, sorry to hear that Jason.

I have flown with the "mintyboost" design without causing any series delays. Mine was a homebrew LT1302 design that uses 3 CR123A in parallel [3V 4AH] installed in a black Hammond 1591BSBK enclosure and usually tossed into the laptop bag with every other computer peripheral. So far the airports that I have passed through at least half a dozen times without problems: ATL, BOS, HKG, LAS, LGA, MCO, NGO, NYC, SIN, TPE.

Did get delayed occasionally at ORD and DFW, but not for that, but for the series of other homemade stuff in my laptop bag. At BGR I had to demonstrate its function by plugging my phone in. As far as I can tell, they are only upset when the scanner can't see through something, and metal clad enclosures seems to be the most troublesome. By profession they have to be curious, by propaganda they naturally assume worse case scenario. Surprisingly they don't seem to give a hoot about plastic enclosures, just don't have a ton of wires sticking out. Use panel mount connectors when suitable.

On a side note, not many travelers [beyond the business pro] carry laptops now a days, so it is likely those who still do may face more scrutiny, or less.

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clarkj
 
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Re: DO NOT FLY WITH YOUR MINTYBOOST

Post by clarkj »

I was a bit worried when I first saw this post, as I'd bought the MintyBoost specifically to take it on the airplane with me -- I was going to be flying from CT to AZ, and on the way from AZ to CT my tablet didn't have enough battery life. I figured if I used the MintyBoost for the 40+ minutes on the ground during the one stop, I'd get enough additional to be able to use the tablet the rest of the way home. (Also, I was fortunate in being able to have the time/tools to build it while in CT.)

I didn't have any problems with the MintyBoost and the TSA. (I use a scooter, so am a bit of a hassle to TSA to begin with.)

I will mention that I only used the MintyBoost on the ground, since I haven't done any checking for RFI [Radio Frequency Interference] with it. As warned elsewhere, it DID get hot!

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