Green Laser Pointer 532nm 5mW

[andrew]

Hey guys, I'm planning on buying this (http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Super-Bright-Green-Laser-Pointer-5mw-532nm-Astronomy_W0QQitemZ280037165156QQih Z018QQcategoryZ14954QQrdZ1QQcmdZVie wItem) Astronomer's laser pointer off Ebay. Just wondering, I know the 532nm is fine, but will 5mW be okay? I want to be able to easily point things out in the sky, as in, preferably the beam to look as if it is reaching the full way to the stars and be easily visible.

Does anyone have one of these lasers out of interest?

Regards,
Andrew

[WadeH]

Hello Andrew,

I have had a 5m/W, 532nw green laser for a couple of years now and find it does everything I could expect of it :thumbsup: Just dont tell the goverment over here as you cannot officially buy them in this state :whistle:

[janoskiss]

I have a 10mW unit and after one second it switches to low-power mode, 5mW or less, and even then it's plenty bright enough. You might like to consider AOE instead of buying off ebay. They've got 5mW units listed on their specials page for $75.
http://www.aoe.com.au/on_sale_now.html
and you also get AOE's great after sales service, just in case you need it. ;)
(btw. I'm not affiliated with AOE - just a happy customer.)

[anthony2302749]

It should be noted that a hand held laser greater then 1mW are classed as a prohibited weapon in Victoria. So any laser greater then 1mW be it red or green will need a license issued by the Victoria police. Generally $150 for a two year license

http://www.justice.vic.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/DOJ+Internet/Home/Community+Safety/Weapons/JUSTICE+-+List+of+Prohibited+Weapons

[janoskiss]

Strange law Anthony. Roger Davis told me about this. He also said that as soon as you mount it on your scope it's no longer hand held so the law no longer applies as it explicitly states "hand-held laser".

I see that my environmentally friendly mower, the scythe, is also prohibited. Funny that when I was bringing them into the country, after looking at the x-ray scans at Melbourne airport, customs officers asked me: what's in the box? I told them I have two scythe blades. They asked what they are for. I told them they are for mowing the lawn. They thought it unusual but were satisfied with my explanation and sent me on my way. And they did not even raise an eyebrow to the 10mW laser in my suitcase (2 years later).

Surely this list only concerns things you are not allowed to have on your person in public streets and not things you would own and use off the streets. :shrug: If not, then one could be arrested for possession of a letter opener. :confuse3:

[norm]

Hi Andrew,

I bought the same one and unfortunately its a fizzer. Dunno, maybe I just got a bad one out of 100 who knows. But knowing what I know now I should have just bought it locally, either thru AOE or Andrews Comms. At least if you buy it locally, you should get some form of warranty, even 3 months.
I think I paid $35 all up, if I had paid more I would have been very annoyed, however the return policy didn't justify sending it back.

The problem with mine is that it comes on, then switches off. I need to partially unscrew the damn thing, jiggle it, hoping it comes back on again, then slowly tightening it again. This could go on all night!

I've given up and will actually buy a new one but locally. They're great for showing people the night sky, but do use them wisely.

Good luck!

[acropolite]

Interesting about the licencing thing, sounds like a typical government grab for money. If a licencing system is really necessary then a modest fee to cover costs should suffice.

[Starkler]

Looks the same as the one i got from ebay and it too is a fizzer !

After less than a second brightness drops to next to nothing so i have to keep pulsing the button to see it.

The seller was based in Vic yet the laser arrived directly from China :confuse3:

I now know that in the manufacture of green lasers, there is a high proportion of duds and it seems ebay is a channel for selling off these duds that dont meet spec.

I strongly recommend buying from a store that will guarentee replacement if you are not satisfied.

[rogerg]

I have a 5mw lazer and it's plenty bright enough. I know people with 20mw ones and they are definitely easier to see (not that mine is hard to see). But this is the way I see it: 5mw is easily enough, and already strong enough to blind someone. 20mw may be better, but accidentily point it at a reflecting surface or someone else and the resutl could be very bad, not worth the extra brightness.

You know how it is in the dark - thumbling around for things and all, it can be possible to not realise you have it pointing the wrong way, or accidentily hit the on button when it's not fully in your grip pointing the correct location, etc.

So I'd go with the 5mw.

Just make sure you keep it in your pocket. I find an enormous difference in performance based on temperature. Once the batteries get a little cold it becomes significantly fainter. Same for all strengths.

Roger.

[anthony2302749]

True, but one must cover one's behind, you never know what people will do. If you live in Victoria it is recommended that a bracket is purchase along with the laser so that it can be mounted on a telescope, thus making it a laser finder which is not covered by the law.

[andrew]

Thanks for all your help guys, I really appreciate it :) I've been taking a long hard look at the feedback this guy has gotten from other Ebay members and I have to admit the 943 positive comments to 0 negative comments is hard to ignore (and also he's based in China, where the laser comes from).

I think I will take a risk on this one, given the low price of $16 I won't be too annoyed if it's a fizzer as some of the above were, but hopefully there won't be any problems with it.

I'll be sure to tell you how it goes:eyepop:

Thanks again,
Andrew

[janoskiss]

But then you'd still better leave positive feedback if you don't want to get negative feedback in return. :whistle:

I think I see the ones you mean. Don't forget to figure in postage costs too! I also recommend you read some of the neutral and mutually withdrawn feedback comments.

I'd guess from people's descriptions in posts above that the laser is briefly overdriven when you turn it on in order to get anywhere close to 5mW of power, and then quickly drops to <1mW. Kind of like quoting max PMPO instead of RMS power for speakers. (Actually if you read the ad the power is stated as <5mW, between 2.1 and 4.9mW.)

[Gargoyle_Steve]

Forget all that small power stuff ... get one of those Wicked Lasers, ala Ving's recent thread (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=13684) .... I'd like a 450mW unit but might settle for a 100mW due to price .. now if I can just find a pleasantly helpful member of the Russian mafia perhaps I can get my hand held death ray smuggled into Australia inside a shielded cannister of weapons grade nuclear material.....

:thumbsup:

[circumpolar]

I belive in NSW they are considered Resricted. Meaning that you may own one but can't take it to public places unless it is inside a locked childproof container. The same applies to other tools and devices like knives, ammo and regestered firearms. I also think it's because these items can be consealed on the person.

[Suzy_A]

One of my friends is the radiation safety officer at a university. One day, he went wandering around with a laser power meter and started checked people's laser pointers. Anything over 3 mW he would confiscate. After an hour or two he'd collected a shoebox full of laser pointers. Emails started going around telling people to hid their laser pointers.

He gave me a few - some were over 20 mW.

I also recently bought a '5 mW' green for $75. On the meter it shows up as 13.5 mW. It's great for pointing things out - even in the city.

[g__day]

You don't commonly get class 3 lasers - or any over 50 mW without knowing the right folk. But who really wants a 500 mW laser or higher? You'd need to exercise so much care with it it would soon take all the fun out of owning it.

Apart from zapping annoying street lights that is!

[Harb]

Yeah they are great for that........er I mean that could be a good use for them:whistle:

[reemixx]

Did you purchase the '5mW' laser from your friend also, or from a retailer? I'm in Perth, too, and they're hard to find here, for legal reasons...

[Dobman]

Bintel advertise 2 green laser pointers- models BGLP-10 & BGLP-20,for $129 & $189 respectively. does anyone know what milli-wattage they are?

[stephenmcnelley]

Well, i just ordered the BGLP-10 from bintel for $129 two days ago, because I am tiring of object aligning other peoples scopes and I am hoping using this can help them do it themeselves.

The boys at bintel told me it is a 10mW unit but what it operates at nominally might be something else, from what i am told a 5mW unit is quite satisfactory for most astro situations.
But then i have only seen the 10mW units in action:shrug:

[MakMan]

Hi Andrew
Have to agree with Geoff on this one as I have the exact same experience with my e-bay cheapy.
Like you, I thought I would take a punt due to the low price but unless you have very dark skies you probably wont use it much due to the rapid dimming of the laser beam. It's absolutely useless in light polluted skies
I guess the old saying "you get for you pay for" rings true with these cheap laser pointers. Try Googling "green laser fades", as I did after the event, and check out the results.
From my experience I would pay a little more and get one locally
Best of luck

[ashley.gale]

I bought a 10mW from a stall when I was in Bangkok in October. It took alot of searching to find someone who sold a green laser but after alot of work I managed to find someone.

Mine does not drop down in power like everone else is talking about and it only cost me about $60:eyepop:

I got a business card and was thinking of getting some sent over to sell, but they are not returning emails :shrug:

[darksky1770]

hi.
i have a new Wicked laser a 35mw:eyepop: and wow it's the best, makes pointing my scope a brease but i have to be carefull where i point it, i operates just as advertised mine cost me $175 au but they do a 10mw for less than $100

[Glenn Dawes]

Hi Darksky,

You're the only person I know that when they observe people from 50Km away know it (official exaggeration). Not to mention their loss of dark adaption.
Just don't bring those aliens down on us! ;)

Regards

Glenn

[darksky1770]

lol, thanks Glen i think, i know it's overkill but who out there hasn't wanted a kick ass laser to play with:D.All i need are some ill tempered sea bass.
Oh and well the closest person to where im at is about 10km away, have to let them know somehow when to come look at the stars:)
It's ok for dark adapted eyes as long as i are careful how i use it ,ie:don't let anything get in the path of the beam the reflection from it is amazing, so yeah i use it with caution! But since it's a mometary switch it is only on while im pointing to a new object.

[stephenmcnelley]

Recieved the 10 mW unit from bintel a few days ago and it works very nicely. Comparing it to a 5mW unit a fellow astro dork has, the only detectable difference might be in the thickness of the beam, not penetration of the diode laser beam itself.
Still, you would want to be extremely careful where you point these things, the 10mW unit will put a point of green light on any solid object up to 1.5 Km away in the dark.
Use with a lot of caution me now thinks..
But astro people i reckon have a good measure of sense.

[993mario]

I bought a laser from minniinthebox 2 weeks ago and it was not allowed here and you guys are saying you have 10mw and 20mw so how did you get them??

[gb_astro]

Well that was six years ago.

gb.

[Merlin66]

The Laser pointers law changed in Nov 2011.
They (>1mW) are now illegal in most states. You need a permit to import, store and use them.