Laser pointer opinions

DaveH

Enlightened
Joined
Aug 11, 2000
Messages
207
I'm thinking about a getting a nice laser pointer, fairly powerful say 5 mw. Any reccomendations?

Also I'm thinking about this, can I buy a 10 mw ?
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http://www.calpaclab.com/product77.html

DaveH
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by DaveH:
I'm thinking about a getting a nice laser pointer, fairly powerful say 5 mw. Any reccomendations?

Also I'm thinking about this, can I buy a 10 mw ?
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1: If you want a decent pointer with good beam quality, look for a 635nm model around (or just a bit over) $30. $30 to $40 is common for a GOOD pointer with a 635nm diode.

You can buy pointers for less, but these typically have longer wavelength diodes, and with some, the optics aren't that great.

2: You can buy the 10mW module if you want, but I would probably not want to put it on your keychain and whip it out at the next party. Once you go over 5mW, these things *can* become dangerous to the eye, even for shorter exposures.
And although an injury is unlikely at 10mW if it were quickly scanned across an eyeball, the increased brightness could alarm the victim, and cause additional problems for you, such as a fist sandwich or a call to the cops.

(There have been documented cases of "Laser Rage" whereupon a victim is unintentionally zapped with a laser pointer, and said victim then goes apeshit and beats the crap out of the pointer owner or pulls out a more potent weapon and hoses down the pointer owner with it!)

Staring into it for more than 0.25 second will probably result in some degree of eye damage, however minor it may be. It would take a lot of 10mW blasts before you actually noticed anything yourself, but a good eye doctor might be able to find it.

Keep this one in the house or yard, or use it for longer-range shooting at night. Once the beam expands beyond about 0.7cm, it will inherently become safer, so don't worry about accidentally blinding people 100' or 200' downrange. That doesn't mean you won't **** them off though.
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And DON'T (and I mean *never*) aim it at cars, especially a cop.

No laser pointer should be shot at a car or a cop anyway, but the higher powered red ones could get you a belly full of lead a bit faster than some of the others.
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Also, that 10mW unit you were referring to does not have any mention of wavelength.
Find out that first - if it's 635nm I'd be all over this one like flies to a pile of $%@&!. But if it's a 670nm model, it's outdated and will appear dimmer than a good 635nm laser pointer.

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Concerning shining a Laser Pointer at a cop, it won't just get you shot at (although it will do that to) in Tennessee. A cop friend of mine said that they recently passed a law that makes shining a Laser at a cop a FELONY!!! Yes you read right, a felony! Talk about overkill in a law.

Just think about trying to explain on your next job application that you are a felon all because you did something stupid with a Laser Pointer. LOL, it would suck to be that poor idiot.
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What about the keychain laser Supercharging hack on telephony's site ?

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06-17-01: Updated the Laser Diode page http://ledmuseum.home.att.net/laser.htm
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I tried this, increasing the number of batteries from 3 to 4, and am very pleased at the results, (though I've no method of measuring it) it is considerably brighter.

Incidentally, I just Scotch-taped the 4 batteries together to avoid the shorting out problem mentioned - I couldn't get a piece of thin paper to roll up properly AND stay in place.

Not sure if this would work with 5 batteries - could it ?

Lite-Lover
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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by LightLover:
...can you please refer to -

Topic - Laser Pointer Opinions

'Cos I'm a-wanting to try the 5 battery supercharge...
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Most of the info you need to know is on the site.

But I'd keep it to 4 batteries if I were you, or else you could end up needlessly wasting a lot of laser diodes.

There was ONE report (more like a rumor) that someone stuffed 20 batteries in there at once and got a "brighter beam".
But a small diode laser like the kind used in cheap pointers is incredibly easy to burn out, and can only go so far before catastrophic damage (exceeding optical flux limitations within the resonator cavity) occurs. This level appears to be right around 10mW, and assumes the newly modified pointer is only used in short bursts or with active cooling for continuous operation.

They'll run around 7-8mW continuously without apparent damage or heating.
At least those I've changed have.
 
Thanks greatly, Gabumon
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Your patience is appreciated.

The 5 spares I have are pretty good output, chosen as the best of about 25 in my local electrical shop.
The guy (A friend of mine) watched in amazement while I loaded each one with the 3 batteries, carefully compared the visible outputs, and then unloaded all 20 discarded ones to go back into the display boxes ......

I like the 4 battery supercharge so well, that I think I will risk trying some of the others - as you advise, for short burst use only. And well, I just hope that one of them makes it !

Happy lightreviewing

Jahn
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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by LightLover:
Thanks greatly, Gabumon
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Just when I was gonna pull a fast one. :-O


<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by LightLover:
I like the 4 battery supercharge so well, that I think I will risk trying some of the others - as you advise, for short burst use only
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The 4 battery modification is the only one I recommend. Pointers with active regulation may not show much, if any output power change. Cheap pointers - those consisting of a barrel, pushbutton switch, and bare laser diode on a C-mount (rather than laser diodes in the can), tend to work best.

laser1.jpg

Yes. (Close-up of C-mount diode in cheap pointer)

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No. (5mm "can" type laser diodes, sometimes found in better pointers)

One GOOD reason for using "only" 4 batteries is that in many cases, all four can be stuffed in the laser pointer barrel and you can still install the screw-on tailpiece - either all the way, or threaded on good enough that it will stay in place.

Using any other configuration will require you to "hot wire" the thing in some manner, and it wouldn't be convenient to use as an actual pointer any longer. And you will likely see NO gain with the additional battery beyond four - either the diode will pop or the resistor will be over-wattaged and burn out, possibly taking the diode along for the ride. These pointers seem to use a SMD resistor rated somewhere around 0.1 to 0.15 watts total power dissipation.
So the resistor can be smoked pretty easily along with the diode.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by X-CalBR8:
A cop friend of mine said that they recently passed a law that makes shining a Laser at a cop a FELONY!!! Yes you read right, a felony! Talk about overkill in a law.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

There have also been documented cases of "Laser Rage", where somebody is accidentally hit or scanned with a laser pointer; then goes bananas and beats the **** out of the pointer owner or even going so far as to pull out a more potent weapon and hose down the pointer owner with it.

Pointer users have been known to have expensive green pointers confiscated & destroyed by club bouncers after an accidental activation, or when the beam strikes a disco ball and shoots green sabres across the top of the ceiling. Now that's also OVERKILL, in my opinion.

It's not as if they smuggled the umbilical of a 65 watt YAG system in the club and started setting fires with it or blasting urinals off the bathroom walls with it or something.
I mean sheesh... it's a little 2mW light. :0
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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by LightLover:
Gabumon, <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Like I said... I pulled a fast one.
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Both characters are from the same show anyway.
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Let us know how your laser supercharging mod goes, how many diodes & resistors you smoked, and how that chair "somehow" got a fire started in it after you crammed 21 batteries in a keychain pointer.
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Stingmon, it WORKED !

I bust out one, (what are "diodes & resistors", btw ? ), but got two working, one using 5 batteries, and one using 6.

The 5 battery *mod* (as we electrical engineers term it) doesn't seem much less bright, if at all, than the 6 though.

Both have survived at least 2 full 30 second constant on times, and a lot of momentary bursts. So I guess I did it - the beam itself is much more visible as well as the point being about 2x brighter.

Also, I already have a perfect small case, with a "childproof safety interlock system".

I am really pleased ! That's probably enough experimentation, especially since the brightness doesn't seem to increase beyond 5. (The one that blew was running 10 batteries. It just died without so much as a *puff* of light)

I think I must have got a good batch.

Anyways, so I've two left over, will send them to the LED Museum, as a small token of - well, something, anyway.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY,

lightlover
 
OK, so does anyone know of an online retailer selling 635nm 10mW units? Or would a 5mW unit with 4 batteries be brighter then a standard 10mW unit? We use cheap ones at work a lot and it is hard to spot them after 100 yards with all the lights on.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Brock:
OK, so does anyone know of an online retailer selling 635nm 10mW units? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Give Roither a look. Sometimes you can get things in Austria easier (but only sometimes).
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by *something ridiculous:
Stingmon, it WORKED !

I bust out one, (what are "diodes & resistors", btw ? ), but got two working, one using 5 batteries, and one using 6.

The 5 battery *mod* (as we electrical engineers term it) doesn't seem much less bright, if at all, than the 6 though.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


Sounds as though the internal battery resistance was high enough to allow for the LD to survive... but that little SMD resistor on there could start to smell funny after awhile. :O

I don't know what the theoretical limit is on those diodes, but I'm guessing it's just under 11 milliwatts before the point of cat failure. That is, when the total flux inside the laser cavity is high enough to destroy the tiny mirrors and other parts by heating and maybe even a bit of low-level ion bombardment.
You can only cram so many photons inside a space the size of a bacterium.
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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by *something ridiculous:
(The one that blew was running 10 batteries. It just died without so much as a *puff* of light)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The voltage across the LD was high enough to destroy the junction before it even got a chance to oscillate & lase.... awwww, the poor thing.
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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by *something ridiculous:
Anyways, so I've two left over, will send them to the LED Museum, as a small token of - well, something, anyway.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


Way cool, thanks!!!
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Sorry I haven't been on CPF much over the last day... I've instead had names like Amplifone and Wells-Gardner drilled into my head... some of you may recognise these names from the early 1980s.
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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR> Sorry I haven't been on CPF much over the last day... I've instead had names like Amplifone and Wells-Gardner drilled into my head... some of you may recognise these names from the early 1980s. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ye Ole Atari Boob Tube
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Spend much time here?? ...Fix Atari
 
My favorite laser pointer uses aingle CR-123A lithium battery (3volt) -- but it's no longer stocked by the only retailer I know of (Herter's). Maybe someone knows a source? It's the shape of a shotgun shell, class IIIa (<5mw) -- made by Opcom OE, Xiamen China.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by KenBar:
Ye Ole Atari Boob Tube
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Spend much time here?? ...Fix Atari
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Nope...but I probably will if I ever end up with a Tempest or Major Havoc in my playroom.
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Fortunately, all my monitor needs is a cap kit (Sam calls them "get well kits" in his pages) and all will be right.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by hank:
My favorite laser pointer uses aingle CR-123A lithium battery (3volt) -- but it's no longer stocked by the only retailer I know of (Herter's<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I've never seen one that uses that battery.
My favorite (red) pointer was a fatter than usual pen style 635nm made by Vector something-or-other, and used "N" cells.
I bought it out of the Damark catalogue a few years back, when 635nm was just beginning to show up in pointers.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by *something ridiculous:
Anyways, so I've two left over, will send them to the LED Museum, as a small token of - well, something, anyway.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY,
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I got them today, thanks!
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I see the UK has a different "standard" for laser pointers than the US does.
The two you sent were less than 1mW at (eyeballing...) somewhere between 665 and 670nm. They're honestly not nearly as bright as what I'm used to seeing.

I guess it's picture time again...
*snap*
oh boy, the fotomat's gonna love this one.
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Pay particular attention to the reflection from the shelf above the target. That gives a truer indication than looking at the spots themselves.

Guess which one is yours...
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(My red one's on the left, my green one's on the right, and your red one's in the middle just above the sensor thingie)

At least if I ever go overseas, I'll have a pointer that won't **** off the custom's guy.
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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by LightLover:
.........The 5 spares I have are pretty good output, chosen as the best of about 25 in my local electrical shop.
The guy (A friend of mine) watched in amazement while I loaded each one with the 3 batteries, carefully compared the visible outputs, and then unloaded all 20 discarded ones to go back into the display boxes ......

Jahn
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, thank you Stingmon.

But how patriotically embarrassing - and these models seemed to be about 40% brighter than the usual ones on sale over here.

So not only are American members bigger and better, but their pointers are brighter too !
And I thought that I had the Queen of Brit Laser Pointers.

Jahn
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