Laser Rating Confusion

[VegasSteve777]

Maybe someone can help me with a question or 3 regarding lasers....

I'm BRAND NEW to lasers, (love my flash lights, and purchase a new light about every 8 to 12 weeks) and after purchasing a very cheap laser pointer/led flashlight/writing pen combination, the distance thrown from this $2.99 pen really intrigued me....

What I do not understand thus far is the following:

#1. "DEAL EXTRMEME" Sells a 2OOmW (TWO HUNDRED mW) Green Laser for $12O...In the specs. it states that is has a range of 6,OOO ft....

#2. "DESTRUCTIVE GEAR" Sells a 1OOmW (ONLY ONE HUNDRED mW) for $37O, but it states that it has a range of 6O (SIXTY) MILES!!!

What is the dealio there?? I'm thinking of grabbing a good laser to mess with, and when I saw the 2OOmW laser offered from Deal Extreme for $1OO+, I was sold until further shopping seeing that the 1OOmW laser from Destructive can shoot a beam SIXTY MILES????

Lastly......Being brand new to lasers, I don't want to ruin my eyes....I've seen warnings stating that you can't look at the laser, and naturally not to point it into the eyes of another....

Does this mean that you must have eyewear, even if you're simply holding the laser in front of you and pointing it at the sky, for example?? Would visually observing the beam into the sky hurt your eyes?? OR is the warning for the obvious, which would be not to look directly into the beam from the front of the device??.......

Lastly.... Any one know of some affordable glasses for protection that doesn't cost $1OO??

Thanks to the brave sole that attempts to answer even one of these questions!!

~Steve ~ :thanks: Las Vegas NV

 

[stevetexas]

there is no clear answer to "range" - since it is light, it can travel a near infinite distance. The question is how far is it observable - it depends in the detector. it stands to reason that given equal or near equal divergence, the more powerful laser will have a longer observable range.

be careful with ratings - most say less than (or <) so even a 1 mW pointer is technically a <200mW pointer and can be marketed as such.

As far as goggles/glasses - get them. For <$50 you can protect your eyes. Even with eye protection you shouldn't look at the laser source. Looking at the beam (along it's axis away from the pointer or from the side) should be fine - just don't look at the business end of the laser. Be careful with the reflections from the spot since it can come back at your eyes. That is one of the reasons to get glasses

Most glasses do not have IR protection - until you start spending over $100. It is questionable if you need it or not, especially with a well filtered pointer, or a pointer used at great distances for things like astronomy.

I got mine on Wicked Lasers site, but nova lasers appear to carry the same ones. (made by NoIR) This looks like where I would buy my next set.

http://www.novalasers.com/NOVAstore/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=11

 

[Aseras]

most questionable lasers are marketed by peak power...

the laser may hit 200 mw ( of either the speicified wavelength or of combined wavelength and IR leakage for DPSS lasers ) for a brief period of time before settling.

Good laser compaines ( so not the cheapest ones,.. but don't let price fool you either ) will rate their lasers by average continous output power, and they usually offer some sort of certification of that output.

as far as the range. why they may be as bright if one laser has good optics a small beam diameter and superior collimination ( the expansion of the beam over distance ) it will go much farther before the laser diverges and ceases to be a beam. Most lasers over 5 mw are visible for miles, if you have a telescope or binoculars to find them. range is completely subjective.

for cheap green protection get these http://www.toolbarn.com/product/dewalt/DW0714/

I reviewed them at the end of this thread:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=125688&page=2&pp=30

 

[comozo]

Vegassteve777 read this thread http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?p=1914759#post1914759

 

[Ashton]

I just wanted to add that Laser gogles come in 2 main flavors - red protection and gren protection. My laser goggles (BLPS green specs) diminish my red laser wonderfully, but woudl ENHANCE the brightness of a green laser! likewise green alser gogles (typically red) enchance red lasers! so be careful!

 

[money]

that answers the questions about the range and the protection but how do you account for the vaste variation in price... why to some companies have a 5mW red laser at $20, some have it at $500 and other at $1500.....

 

[luvlasers]

The variations in price are due to

-quality: manufacturing a high quality crystal and lens assembly with a decent diode especially at higher powers has a high cost that translates into higher prices. With lasers you generally get what you pay for.

-power: very simply the more watts the laser is the higher the cost. Many of the cheaper lasers have a power that is the maxiumum power out put where as the more expensive lasers normally have average power out put. Some lasers have no IR filiter (very bad) that makes the laser cheaper and boost the power rating. Very deceptive practice.

-brand: a number of well known sellers have a well known brand that enables them to charge higher prices. In many cases, their lasers and even their customer service is not any better.

-features: such as water proofing, longer duty cycle, beam divergence etc all add to the price.

 

[picrthis]

that answers the questions about the range and the protection but how do you account for the vaste variation in price... why to some companies have a 5mW red laser at $20, some have it at $500 and other at $1500.....

Some of it comes from Capitalist GREED, example I just got a catalog in the mail from a nationally known company selling a well known brand of a green laser.
They advertised it as 5mw Rare Green Laser and want $156.00 for it, yet the same brand laser can be easily bought for $30.00 on the Internet. When green lasers first came out yes they were expensive and rare, not any more!

I have seen other places selling "high power" lasers $500.00 - $800.00 and yet they can only put out that power level for less than 60secs and some even less, hardly a quailty laser worth that kind of money; also in short time their laser diode will loose alot of it's power, leaving you with a very expensive low powered pointer.

Most are made in China for pennies on the dollar and then sold in the USA as if they were made of gold & diamonds.

There are some that are really good ones out their that don't gouge you, that have good laser diodes that are not being overdriven, have good optics and quality and sell for a fair price.

You have to do your research, just because one laser cost say $500.00+ for 125mw doesn't mean it's any better than another laser rated @ 125mw selling for $300.00, in-fact sometimes it's worse. Lots of slick ads and marketing would make you believe otherwise, they are just making a killing and laughing all the way to the bank.

I know of one perticular brand where atleast three people I know just bought their "high quality, high priced" laser from and out of the box it had problems, RMA'd it three times and it still doesn't live up to what they advertise; yet IF you get a good one from them, you'll be happy; problem is hardly any QC when they make them, let alone QA before they go out the door; so the end-user becomes the QA person and spends lots of time and money on RMA'n it just to get that "good one".

Take a closer look at how long the laser can run before dropping it's rated power, overheat, optics and power source, build quality, etc. A laser rated at 125mw that can only peak at that rating for 20secs probably isn't what you had in mind when buying it.

Again, do the research and don't pay too much attention to marketing hype. High Price doesn't always = quality.