Laser Pointers

[Bo_almighty 0]

does anyone here have a laser pointer?
(automatically i would assume many people would reply yes)

let's change the question a bit, does anyone here have a laser that is more than 1mW, or have a shorter wavelength than 650nm?

recently, while i was down in Vancouver, my sister was playing with a 2mW red laser pointer, i became fascinated, and the next day we bought 3 of those little dollar store lasers (
i found at Canadian Tire up here a 2mW red laser ($10), but when it's batteries died, and i went to replace them, i discovered that it uses 3 hearing aid batteries which cost $4 each.

anyways, it wasn't long after untill i discovered green lasers. i don't know anywhere in my city that sells them, so i bought them online. First a 5mW green (that's 532nm). this green laser (for a price of $80) is visible for 7km, and shows a visible beam in low light levels. i was amazed by it's power. It also came with a free 5mW red laser.

the 5mW lasers are the legal limit for presentation pointers, these are all class IIIa lasers.

soon after, i began looking for stronger lasers (Class IIIb) because with the visibility of the beam, (especially more so in higher mW lasers) they make great astronomy tools, and the higher the power, the more usefull they become.

i stumbled onto a website called Wickedlasers.com i purchased a 55mW green laser (which to my amazement, has a range of 24 miles, and can also pop balloons.) the great thing about these lasers is the fact that thy use AAA batteries. which means with a couple NiMH rechargables, you're set forever. I also purchased a 100mW red laser. the red laser while it seems more powerful, is actually less, due to a wider beam, that results in more energy being spread over a larger distance.

but as far as red lasers go, this laser has a range of 5 miles, has a visible beam, can pop balloons, can cut through electrical tape, and with the aid of a focusing lens can light matches. all things that are unimaginable with red lasers.

the site i purchased them from was http://wickedlasers.com/index.php if you love things like this, or just have money to waste, i suggest you check it out (you can also use my discount code of 3962 to save 5% off purchases)

i've taken all kinds of pictures, and made lots of videos too, and uploaded them to the website (if they like your pictures, they pay you and add them to the gallery) none of my pictures are in the galleries yet, so i don't know whether or not i should link to them, but here are a couple anyways...

just a long exposure shot of me waving the laser at the mirrors.

the beam is visible in this picture. the red laser is a 5mW by contrast

this is from waving my red 100mW and green 55mW over steam

just a red beam

red and green combine to make white?

i have a ton more, as well as a couple videos of me burning matches, popping balloons etc.

[ephorex_77 0]

Wooo....very nice!!

Heh, I've always dreamt of owning a powerful laser and burning things. I mean, who hasn't thought of melting metal bars or burning through school walls with one of these things?? I never knew you could have rechargable ones that burst balloons!! If I've ever got money to burn, I'll get some.

 

*points laser at the mangy cat down the street...hears faint caterwauling in distance =) *

[vidioman 21]

A few years ago, a kid at my school was bet 5 bucks to shin3e one in his eye.

The centre of his feild of vision is occupied by dots.

When we have the batteries for it, ours is used to play with the cat. It's the only excercise he gets.

[Micah 16]

Yes, I once used a laser pointer about 4 years ago, and when I was using it was hitting a mirror which I didn't realize it was hitting someone's eyes far away down a hallway. Opps... Luckily the huge guy didn't find out who it was!

[Mikeaut1 261]

I have several... they shine a long distance... I like scaring people with them.

Also what vid said, my aunt uses her laser pointer on her cats and they go ballistic around the house chasing after it... its funny to watch!

[Voar Tok 4]

You can cut electrical tape with a red laser?  I know that it is possible, but I didn't know that they made them that strong for people to buy.  Now that I think about it, let me know when they put one in a Rolex.  When they do that, I'll get one, and then I can run around like James Bond!

[Bo_almighty 0]

the red lasers make great cat toys.

one of the reasons why the green lasers look so spectacular is because the human eye is more sensitive to green. with cat's, they see red more clearly, and so it's a more attractive target.

as for the stuff about electrical tape, you should check out the video gallery http://wickedlasers.com/gallery.php

[p2h5 3]

I don't know what countries you people live in, but in the EU powerful lasers are certainly ILLEGAL, unless you have a licence and good reason to need and use one (popping ballons and harming nature do not count!).  I forget what the max it is legal to buy 'over the counter' and import (ie. for pointers etc.) is, because if they fall into the wrong (or even right) hands they can cause serious eye damage.

[ephorex_77 0]

You can cut electrical tape with that thing??? *possibiliies*....

Awesome... But it's strange that you can light matches only with the aid of a focussing lens. I mean, if you can cut electrical tape, surely a measly match isn't going to cause you any difficulty??

[Bo_almighty 0]

ctually, lasers burn by creating heat. the heat is created when an object absorbs the light radiation and gives off heat radiation in return.

therefor, objects which absorb greater light (black, or opposite colours) will generate more heat.

thats why when i pop a balloon with my green laser, i use a red balloon, and when i pop a balloon with my red laser, i use a green balloon (blue would probably work too) Black balloons work for both of these of course.

that's also why you can cut electrical tape, and melt holes in garbage bags.

when i want to burn a match, first i have to colour it with a black pen.

as for why i used a magnifying glass, it was to focus the beam (if the energy is focused onto a smaller point, then it will generate more heat) that's the same reason that the equater gets more heat from the sun than other areas of the world.

as for legal, what you are thinking of is presentation lasers. in Canada and the US, those are limited to 5mW, in the UK, only 1mW. the reason behind this is if you are using one in a meeting, people will probably get headaches if they are looking at the reflection for an hour. and if you shine it into someone's eye it will hurt (and probably cause flash blindness, although it will clear up)

these lasers do make amazing starpointers, because you can use the beam as a guide if you are into astronomy.

i'm just a laser hobbyist, and like to create cool effects using the lasers, so aside from getting pigeons of the roof of my workplace, i don't use it for any specific application.

oh one other thing, see the 75mW lasers on that site? the US military is actually making them standard issue for soldiers in Iraq.

anyways, the wickedlasers forum has people from all over the world who use these lasers, (Canada, US, England, Germany, Australia to name a few)

[Duke87 1,070]

A $560 laser pointer, wow.... Then again, it is a pretty powerful laser.

 

I think we can classify that as an adult toy.

 

Also, before anyone makes this mistake: mW is miliwatts, okay? I know some of you may see it and think megawatts, but that would be MW. It would also be a decent output for a power plant. 2 AAA batteries won't do that.

 

 

[Bo_almighty 0]

yea, it's funny when people mistake mW for MW

anyways, the two lasers i own are my favorite toys, and they are worth every penny i spent on them, (out of sheer enjoyment, and the WOW! from all the kids at school and my work)

i'm trying to save up for a stronger laser right now