Green laser requirements

[RoDnSuE]

Hello all,

I've been wanting a green laser for some time now, so I think it is the time

There are many sellers and some of them claim ridiculous specs and capabilities for their lasers. (and I'm getting confused as well)

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone could make a recommendation based on my priorities for the laser... In order from most wanted to least.

#1 Very Visible beam!! Not the spot...the beam! (mainly for astronomy pointing and just the "COOL" aspect Even in normal ambient room lighting if possible.

#2 Powerful enough to turn off street lights when needed.

#3 IR filtered. (Not really a requirement, since I already know the dangers involved and the intended use of the laser)

#4 Reasonable battery life and rechargeable batteries would be ok.

I don't need to pop balloons, light matches, or kill bugs, but that may be a normal consequence of the laser power I want. (and fun for a short while

I would appreciate any advice/recomendations.

Thanks,
Rod

 

[Xplorer866]

A laser that you can easily see the beam in normal lighting conditions means it'll have to be very powerful right off the bat. In the 120+ range. I'm sure you know, but technically there is no such thing as a laser that you can see the beam of. You need a substance that can scatter the light out of it's linear path. So if your house is particularly dusty that you might be happy with 50mW. Haha.

As to the street lights thing I don't know how much power you'll need, but you shouldn't be doing that anyways.

If the laser is really cheap it probably doesn't have an IR filter. Usually only the nicer, more expensive companies supply lasers with IR filters. Like NOVA Lasers, and Laser Glow.

Battery life will depend on ow powerful the laser is and what kind of batteries it uses. Any AAA laser that is more that 100mW will have pretty bad battery life. But it also varies depending on what brand you buy.

Take a look at these places:

Very reputable:
http://www.novalasers.com/
http://www.dragonlasers.com/
http://www.laserglow.com/index.htm - expensive but they're good
http://www.optotronics.com/green-laser-pointers.php - located in the US
http://www.o-like.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2

Semi reputable:
http://www.wickedlasers.com/ - looks good but bad CS, on the import watch list
http://www.rayfoss.com/ - cheap but shady quality
http://www.dealextreme.com/products.dx/category.911 - cheap but wont sell to the US if >5mW

Basically buy the most powerful green laser that you can afford and watch your eyes.

-Tony

 

[RoDnSuE]

Dust should not be a problem. I have 3 dogs and there is dust everywhere Where I live is pretty humid most of the time, so outside at night should be ok too. I ordered a CHEAP 5mw 532nm just to do some testing.
I am mainly curious how visable the beam will be. I guess experimentation will be the clincher depending on how much crap/humidity is floating around.

I know turning off the street light might not be the nice thing to do but there is 1 particular light in my back yard that kills my night vision when I'm out looking at the stars. I just want the dang thing to go off sometimes and the police would take exception to me shooting it out!! LOL

I think the IR filter is really a non-issue for my intended use.

Thanks for the battery info. I kinda figured an AAA powered laser over 50mw or so would be hard on batteries.

Thanks for the reply,
RoD

 

[CobraMan]

I recently purchased a couple of green laser pointers from Beam Of Light Technologies (BTG 6+) and am very happy with them. Here is a link:

http://www.z-bolt.com/home.htm

http://www.z-bolt.com/green-laser-pointers.html

I believe they still have a 25% off discount going so check them out!

Cheers,
Tim

 

[RoDnSuE]

Thanks Cobra,
Can you see the beam well with these?

 

[AJ_Dual]

No offense, but Z-Bolt is hugely overpriced for what you get.

For their prices you can get into the "scary" mW territory with sellers like O-like.

Something like this will blow you away if you've never had a green before. http://www.o-like.com/index.php?mai..._id=65&zenid=c1771859ca12e512fa04776e95aab31b

Something like this is getting into the scary "please please please buy some goggles too" http://www.o-like.com/index.php?mai...s_id=3&zenid=c1771859ca12e512fa04776e95aab31b for only $165...

 

[CobraMan]

Well I did some research and shopping around before buying Z-Bolt and found their prices comparable to Wicked, Nova, Laser, and Dragon. The quality is very good and with the discount going that is what sold me on them.

As far as seeing the beams - the BTG 6+ output is between 4 and 5 mW and is very visible at night - good for astronomy pointing.

Cheers,
Tim

 

[CajunJosh]

When I was looking to purchase a green laser for similar purposes a while back I went to a reputable laser enthusiast forum and one of the highest recommended lasers was the Optrotonics RPL series lasers.

 

[RoBeacon]

My 5mW greenie from ebay sell Kun Yan. The blue one is 5mW 405nM same seller. the Green one is VERY visible in the night sky.

 

[LuxLoverr]

A laser that you can easily see the beam in normal lighting conditions means it'll have to be very powerful right off the bat. In the 120+ range. I'm sure you know, but technically there is no such thing as a laser that you can see the beam of. You need a substance that can scatter the light out of it's linear path. So if your house is particularly dusty that you might be happy with 50mW. Haha.

As to the street lights thing I don't know how much power you'll need, but you shouldn't be doing that anyways.

If the laser is really cheap it probably doesn't have an IR filter. Usually only the nicer, more expensive companies supply lasers with IR filters. Like NOVA Lasers, and Laser Glow.

Battery life will depend on ow powerful the laser is and what kind of batteries it uses. Any AAA laser that is more that 100mW will have pretty bad battery life. But it also varies depending on what brand you buy.

Take a look at these places:

Very reputable:
http://www.novalasers.com/
http://www.dragonlasers.com/
http://www.laserglow.com/index.htm - expensive but they're good
http://www.optotronics.com/green-laser-pointers.php - located in the US
http://www.o-like.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2

Semi reputable:
http://www.wickedlasers.com/ - looks good but bad CS, on the import watch list
http://www.rayfoss.com/ - cheap but shady quality
http://www.dealextreme.com/products.dx/category.911 - cheap but wont sell to the US if >5mW

Basically buy the most powerful green laser that you can afford and watch your eyes.

-Tony

great list! thanks

 

[RoDnSuE]

Thank's to everyone for the recommendations and info.

I just want to give a review as a "NEWBIE" to green lasers.

I just received my *cheap* $13.79USA 532nm 5mw laser from an Epray seller located inside the USA. I looked for someone inside the US to cut down on shipping time. I paid a bit more than getting one from a china seller but the difference in cost was only a few dollars and I'm impatient to boot

I'm not going to give the sellers name or auction number (unless someone wants it) because I am NOT affialted with this person or trying to do any advertising for them. This is just my impressions as a new owner.

As I stated in my first post, I wanted it mainly for starpointing and having a VISIBLE beam.

This laser has some kind of cap that can be rotated to provide different difraction patterns of multiple dots as it's rotated. The grandkids think it's cool and it is rather amusing for a while.

When you remove the cap, you have a standard "Dot" type of laser.

OK, let me back up a few days....I had never seen a green laser in person so I went to Radio Shack to examine theirs. Yes, you could see a green dot on the wall but it was about as bright as my cheapo red laser. I WAS NOT IMPRESSED!!

Anyway, I installed 2 new energizer brand alkaline AAA batteries and pushed the button. I still had the difraction cap on and was amazed to see lots and lots of green dots all over the ceiling and part of the walls. I could rotate the cap and the dots would twist and swirl similar to a kaleidoscope.
It reminded me of a discotech
After the novelty wore off, (a few minutes) I unscrewed the cap and pointed it at my light blue/greeninsh wall about 10' away. WOW! That was bright! Much more than I had expected based on my short experiance with the Rad Shack unit.

It was still daylight outside and we have a rather large window in this room so the room is quite bright with ambiant light. I tried to hold the laser up at eye level (pointed away from me of course) to try and see the beam. I could see it, but it was VERY weak. As the outside light started diminishing, I could see the beam much better even with the lights on. I tried the laser in a completely dark room and could see the beam VERY well so long as I placed the spot on a dark background so the laser light didn't light up the room from reflections.

Once the sun had set behind the mountain, I took it outside and could see the beam VERY well even from the side. It wasn't DARK outside, but I would call it dusk. Still able to read a book amount of light. The beam seamed to stretch out to infinity. VERY nice and just what I wanted it to do. It was cloudy and the beam seemed to go to the clouds and stop at that point.
I pointed it at trees 200-300 yards away and could easily see the beam all the way to the point.
The temperature was in the low 80's and the humidity was 90% so I'm sure the excess humidity helped me see the beam so well.

Now like I said, I don't have 1st hand experiance with laser's and different power levels or know what to expect from them but I don't think the Rad Shack unit could hold a candle to this one under the same conditions. At least, not the one that was demonstrated to me at Rad shack. Could have been low batteries, a defective laser, or just a lower power laser.

Anyway, this laser seems to be doing the trick for me but time will tell. I'm going to try it when the humidity isn't so high and the are less clouds.

If you have read this far, thanks! I just wanted to share a first owners experiance with a low powered green laser in case there were others like me that were interested.

I am curious IF this laser is indeed 5mw or actually higher. Is there any way to determine the PO without purchasing a LPM?

Geesh, just what I need...another expensive hobby But I can see the amazement alot of people have with lasers now. I am still fighting the urge to purchase the O-like 200mw:devil:

Thanks again to everyone.

Rod

 

[Barrie]

go for it get one ordered
im waiting on a 200MW red coming from O-like and as it cost a lot less than i had budgeted for i just ordered a 150MW green with the rest of my money
these will be my first lasers hope they don't take to long to arrive

 

[RoBeacon]

Thank's to everyone for the recommendations and info.


Geesh, just what I need...another expensive hobby But I can see the amazement alot of people have with lasers now. I am still fighting the urge to purchase the O-like 200mw:devil:


Rod

Just make sure you order a couple set of glasses desinged for 532nM lasers. One slip and you or the grandkids could be seeing out of one less eye. Even staring at the dot on the wall from less than 30ft away with a 200mW can cause artifacts in your vision.

 

[tsask]

Just make sure you order a couple set of glasses desinged for 532nM lasers Even staring at the dot on the wall from less than 30ft away with a 200mW can cause artifacts in your vision.[/QUOTE]

Scarry but TRUE! The thrill of owning a powerful ( illicit?) laser could be an attraction to some, yet the real consequence of the inhernet danger could have a permanent lasting impact on sight!

 

[RoDnSuE]

Barrie..

I might! I just worry it won't make it through customs, and also actually getting ripped off with a lower power unit. Being a noob, I wouldn't know the difference if it was a lower power unit than specified

That's why I asked if there was an inexpensive method to check the power output (PO) of the one I have. I have a suspicion that it's higher than 5mw but I have no way to really know.

I noticed a meter/sensor made by lasersbee that will measure up to 200mw using a VOM/DMM on the 200mv scale to convert the laser power on a 1mw-1mv scale.

Robeacon..

You can be SURE, I WILL order a pair, (or more) of glasses for 532nm!! My eyesight is bad enough as it is
This laser MAY be 5mw, but to me it seems like it should be stronger than that. I really don't have enough practical experiance with other lasers to know the truth.


Tsask..

Thanks. Even this SMALL laser worries me.

 

[RoDnSuE]

Oh..BTW

I checked last night and the humidity was 58%. I could still see the beam just as well. Maybe a little bit thinner.
Definitely farther!

Could 90% humidity have been attenuating the beams distance on the 1st night?? Seems logical, but what do I know

With 58% humidity, the beam seemed to go out forever when pointed at the sky. There were very few clouds and the beam seemed to touch the stars! Definitely a good star pointer! Amazing!

just my .02 cents worth

 

[RoBeacon]

The laser you purchased from ebay is probably a little bit over spec. The quality control is awful they are very hit or miss. I have seen more be over spec than under, some even upwards of 30+ mW. I think the two that I purchased are over spec. I was actually very interested in a 150 + mW laser. I thought the ability to burn dark objects and ignite matches with light was amazing. Now I discover you need to be wearing glasses for any kind of close up work to be safe. PS The glasses usually make it very difficult to see the beam because they filter the light. For me high power and glasses kind of defeats the purpose since you wont really be able to see how magnifcent your laser really is unless your being extremely careful without glasses.

 

[RoBeacon]

Oh..BTW

I checked last night and the humidity was 58%. I could still see the beam just as well. Maybe a little bit thinner.
Definitely farther!

Could 90% humidity have been attenuating the beams distance on the 1st night?? Seems logical, but what do I know

With 58% humidity, the beam seemed to go out forever when pointed at the sky. There were very few clouds and the beam seemed to touch the stars! Definitely a good star pointer! Amazing!

just my .02 cents worth

The more "stuff" the laser has to shine through whether it be humidity or transmission gratings the less distance you'll get. For instance my beam shots in my home were after frying up some chicken fingers. Just from the hot grease popping put enough "stuff" in the air to make the beams fully visible even with lights on. The more "stuff" the more beam the less distance. The less "stuff" the less beam the more distance. =D

 

[RoDnSuE]

That's what my "brain logic" was telling me
The more stuff in the air for the beam to deflect off of, the less distance but the brighter the beam and vice-versa.

Well.... what do you know....my 1st observational Laser experiment
At least it sounds better than me just PLAYING with my laser.

Thanks,
Rod

 

[RoDnSuE]

OK,
Another day...another experiment. I installed new energizer brand alkaline batteries and placed some thin black plastic directly over the aperture. (point blank range) The plastic is about the thickness of cellophane plastic wrap. I can measure the thickness with my micrometer if it would be helpful.

After about 4-5 seconds it burned through. I tried 2 more times just to make sure it wasen't a fluke and it burned through each time at about 4-5 seconds of exposure.

Based on this, could someone with more experiance than I, give me an idea of what the power might be?

From reading the various laser forums for a few days, it seems to require 50mw+ to do this.

I don't know why this is bothering me, but I would really like to know an approximate power rating for this laser. Almost to the point of purchasing a lasersbee HLPM II power sensor to find out.:shakehead

The only problem I see with doing that, (besides another $55 just to satisfy my curiosity for a $14 laser) is it doesn't differentiate between IR and the actual 532nm light.

I'm betting it does not have an IR filter based by the fact that shooting the beam at my televisions IR sensor and trying the remote at the same time, the remote stops working. It acts like a remote control jammer. This was from about 20-25' away. If it does emit IR, It must be pretty well collimated since the dot has to be almost directly on the sensor.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Rod