[Laser] Laser "guide star"

[Brian Butler]

Folks:

Thanks for the mail reflector, it helps us that are new to Laser Comms get
started.
I am hoping the clear air and low winter temps (-40) north of the 60th
parallel will
get me farther with cloudbouce.

I noticed an article at Spaceflight Now -

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0402/29optics/

This is a 60 mile VISIBLE (sodium line: 589 nm) beam!
Has anyone in or near San Jose seen this beam?
Can we use it as a beacon or target for our amateur cloudbouce comms?
Can we use it to "calibrate" our systems ... using the reflections from it
to confirm our low-power system's reflections?
Any other ideas?

VY1BB
Brian Butler
Whitehorse, Yukon
Canada