Laser Pointer with a Square/Flat Body

[MixingWizard]

Hey all,

First up, while I've never made an account on here I've gotten a lot of good advice from you guys over the years (my Armytek Wizard has served be well) so thank you that.

This time I'm looking for a fairly specific thing. I need a laser pointer that's bright enough to see in daylight and that has a flat sided (rather than round) body. I'm a sound engineer and part of that requires using calculation software to work out coverage for various PA systems. I'll often to need to fairly roughly but very quickly work out the slope of a field.

I currently use the pointer on a cheap laser distance measure taped to a digital level, but it really isn't bright enough for outdoors use. The pointer has to sit flush to the digital level in order to get an accurate readout, and I don't think it would be practical with a round one.

I'm not too worried about safety issues, it will generally be used in a completely empty field and only pointing at ground level. Ideally it would be powered with 18650s as I have loads already

If anyone can think of something that fits the bill it would be much appreciated!

Thanks,
MixingWizard

Edit: Having just watched a bunch of videos of you guys setting fire to things I retract my statement about safety not being an issue 😁

 

[etudiant]

Not sure this helps, but there have been complaints elsewhere in this forum that the Sanwu 3000 pointer generates a flat sided spot, about 2" max width at 10 feet.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Hey all,

First up, while I've never made an account on here I've gotten a lot of good advice from you guys over the years (my Armytek Wizard has served be well) so thank you that.

This time I'm looking for a fairly specific thing. I need a laser pointer that's bright enough to see in daylight and that has a flat sided (rather than round) body. I'm a sound engineer and part of that requires using calculation software to work out coverage for various PA systems. I'll often to need to fairly roughly but very quickly work out the slope of a field.

I currently use the pointer on a cheap laser distance measure taped to a digital level, but it really isn't bright enough for outdoors use. The pointer has to sit flush to the digital level in order to get an accurate readout, and I don't think it would be practical with a round one.

I'm not too worried about safety issues, it will generally be used in a completely empty field and only pointing at ground level. Ideally it would be powered with 18650s as I have loads already

If anyone can think of something that fits the bill it would be much appreciated!

Thanks,
MixingWizard

Edit: Having just watched a bunch of videos of you guys setting fire to things I retract my statement about safety not being an issue 😁

Can you use a large binder clip to stabilize it? Alternatively I've seen a number of handheld lasers built into an aluminum housing that resembles a miniature gatling gun. While it's still round, it's easy to stick something iinto ont of the ribs to keep it from rolling off a surface. And it has the added benefit of being it's own enormous heat sink.

 

[MixingWizard]

Not sure this helps, but there have been complaints elsewhere in this forum that the Sanwu 3000 pointer generates a flat sided spot, about 2" max width at 10 feet.

Thanks for the reply! That's interesting, can it still be considered a laser if it creates a square beam? I actually meant the body of the device itself - if it has flat sides it would allow me to place a digital level on it.

 

[MixingWizard]

Can you use a large binder clip to stabilize it? Alternatively I've seen a number of handheld lasers built into an aluminum housing that resembles a miniature gatling gun. While it's still round, it's easy to stick something iinto ont of the ribs to keep it from rolling off a surface. And it has the added benefit of being it's own enormous heat sink.

View attachment 19882

Can you use a large binder clip to stabilize it? Alternatively I've seen a number of handheld lasers built into an aluminum housing that resembles a miniature gatling gun. While it's still round, it's easy to stick something iinto ont of the ribs to keep it from rolling off a surface. And it has the added benefit of being it's own enormous heat sink.

View attachment 19882

Both suggestions are genius! The binder clip would work well, but as I don't actually own a decent pointer I'll look out for one of these designs. Thanks!

 

[louie]

Can you use a laser made for construction trades? Here in the colonies, $20USD gets you a small level meant for this kind of use:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001H1ERQ4/?tag=cpf0b6-20

You may need to spend more money for a brighter laser.