n00b question about laser wattage

How many mw does a laser need to be visible in standard night conditions, no fog, etc.
is 10-15mw adequate? I dont want to hack $100+ out of my flashlight fund for a laser...Im not a laser guy.

I bought a <5 mw from ebay...sucks... twice as bright as red maybe, but its but a dot...

More power is better, of course, but how well the laser shows in the air depends on many factors. If you live in a place with pristine air you might be disappointed with 15mW. If you live in a humid or smoggy area (like I do), 15mW shows up pretty good at night. If you are expecting "light saber" brightness you need a lot more laser than 100 bucks will buy.

You might do a search for "Atlasnova CPF Special" - Arnold's got some nice 30mW greens for 79 bucks until the end of this month (Jan.) if he's not out of them.

Ragnarok said:

More power is better, of course, but how well the laser shows in the air depends on many factors. If you live in a place with pristine air you might be disappointed with 15mW. If you live in a humid or smoggy area (like I do), 15mW shows up pretty good at night. If you are expecting "light saber" brightness you need a lot more laser than 100 bucks will buy.

You might do a search for "Atlasnova CPF Special" - Arnold's got some nice 30mW greens for 79 bucks until the end of this month (Jan.) if he's not out of them.

Click to expand...

not light saber brightness, but something thats visible to others with "not so 20/20 vision"

Down here where I live, central Florida...humidity's pretty high
another reason I dont prefer to have 100 mws...I figured the runtime of the cells is proportional to the output, I figured "something in the middle" would equate to good runtime and good intensity. However, with previous experience in red pointers from ebay, the diodes dont seem to last all that long

With the humidity you are bound to have, even 5mw will be enough. 20mw will be easier to see for a large group though. I live in a humid place as well, and from the city, with all the light pollution, my 5mw pointer is easily visible at night.

P.S.: there are no airports around the city I live in, and I only use the laser outside, at night, to show stars and constellations, which means it's on for about 10-20 sec at most. Unless there's a spy satellite passing by, I see no harm done in this case . I do not want people to get a wrong idea, hence the disclaimer

These things (green lasers) are sold everywhere as astronomical pointers, and are perfectly legal as long as you abide by common sense. No aircraft pointing, no vehichle illumination, etc. Be careful, and have fun ! I just moved to San Antonio from Jacksonville, Florida, and I bought a 5mw greenie from ebay that looks like a nose hair trimmer - the beam is very visible at night time, of course you will get much more spectacular results from higher powers, but I have found my 5mw "nose laser" to work just fine at night.

alright...

where can I find a good 20mw laser?
Dont call me cheap but...around $50+/-?

Illum_the_nation said:

alright...

where can I find a good 20mw laser?
Dont call me cheap but...around $50+/-?

Click to expand...

Call Arnold at AtlasNova, and ask for the CPF Special. It's a 30+mW for $79. Great price and great lasers.

Mine was 38mW!

+1 on Atlas Nova. He might do better if you can use a chrome instead of black. I have bought four from Mr. B (2 CPF specials,and 2 before Christmas) and the products are great with a smooth transaction each time. Both my chromes were nearly 40's, but I think I got lucky.

sc

AtlasNova is the best! All of my transactions with them have been fast and flawless and good bargains.

CPF Special at AtlasNova ended on 1/31. If you call him and ask nicely he might still give you the good price.

He's only got Chrome left. (I got the last black...)

ill wait for now.... something came up and my funds just got tranferred to something more important