Green Lazers Cheap

[astronut]

I've just checked Andrews Communications price on their Green Lazer pointers. The prices have dropped to $49 for the 5mw.
$79 for the 10mw.
$119 for the 20mw.
Definately worth buying one.:D

[netwolf]

I saw this too and am tempted.. Is there any real need to go more than 5mw?

Regards

[astronut]

Not really, I've seen 5mw's work very well in most situations.
In a heavily light polluted sky the 10 & 20mw would be easier to see.:)

[davewaldo]

These prices are only a few dollars more than bintel, however I remember reading somewhere that the andrew's ones only have a 3 month waranty. However bintel has a full year. I can't find it on their website now though....

They are still great prices either way! I'm thinking of getting one.

[astroron]

Afriend brought a twenty mw lazer to my place and there was no difference to my 5mw, in my oppinion there is no need to go any bigger.

[Gargoyle_Steve]

My brother and I brought 2 "identical" 10mW laser pointers at the same time from the same vendor in the same order - as soon as we had them outside in the dark we realised his was slightly brighter than mine, even swapping batteries to eliminate any possible difference there revealed his beam to appear slightly brighter.

These pointers are sold, like any common electronic device, within certain tolerance levels. Some brands / units do occasionally seem MUCH brighter by comparison than others, which is hard to explain I grant. Perhaps occasionally they sell a 5 as a 10 or vice versa??

(Astro)Ron and I have sometimes compared his 5mW to my 10mW (when the fog rolls in and the serious viewing lapses) and his oftens seems a little brighter than mine. I do tend to mess around with mine at home a lot :rolleyes: and as a result my batteries now are rarely fresh. That may affect comparisons with Ron's laser, but not the initial tests with my brother's unit.

I DO know that mine took a very quick roll through some water in a bathtub once, this may have caused some internal issues, who knows?
:rofl:


I DO have my eye on a certain 130mW green laser available from certain places OS, that will truly be MUCH brighter! :D
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"there is no need to go any bigger" ...... says the man with the 16" scope.

;)
We believe you Ron, we really do.


Cheers !!
:thumbsup:

[casstony]

I DO have my eye on a certain 130mW green laser available from certain places OS, that will truly be MUCH brighter! :D
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What would one do with a 130mW laser? Just curious if there is another product that I didn't know I needed :)

[ving]

cook eggs...

hmm... I have a little money floating around :)

[g__day]

Just a point of caution guys, my wife heard on 2BL that a pilot issued a warning the other day over light entering a cockpit - he thought it may have been a laser.

They're not toys, so you need to keep them away from kids. I'd hate to see their use further restricted because idiots ruins things for astronomers!

[casstony]

I'd be very sad to lose my laser. When I know where an object is it makes pointing the scope so easy, and when I run across something new I switch the laser on to see where it is in relation to surrounding stars. It is a very useful tool.

[rmcpb]

I heard that bit on 702 and they actually said the "terrorist" word in the same sentence!!

Be careful, be very, very careful with how you use them, especially near a flight path.

[snowyskiesau]

Airline pilots have been reporting this for some time. In the US, it can be against the patriot Act and get you 25 years in jail.

It's not the astronomers that are the main cause of this:

Check out this story: http://swiftreport.blogs.com/news/2005/02/more_aircraft_l.html

:lol::lol::lol:

[erick]

I have one darkish sky site that is directly under a flight path to a big airport. Early evening there can be flights every 15 mins. So I've been exceedingly careful.

Interestingly, if I'm dark adapted and have my back to the flight and am observing, I see the strobe lights casting shadows in front of me before I hear the plane!

You definitely have to watch children. If they get one in their hands, it's Luke Skywalker in action!


ps. 5mW green is plenty! What do you want to do, burn holes in passing birds!

[rogerg]

My 5mw has no problems. I have seen brighter ones that must be the 10's or 20's. More chance of killing someone's eyeball with a 10 or 20.

[ving]

hmm...:confuse3:

just kidding ;)

[rockit]

Hi, I would like to see a 5mw green laser collimator. Wonder if it will help with checking the secondary height? The 130 would create an artificial star in the outer atmosphere, does anyone have corrective optics. If so can I come over---please.

[AstroJunk]

Still twice as much as ebay!

[Starkler]

I beleive lasers are sorted by class ie <5mw , <10mw, <50mw (less than) so a "10mw laser" could be anything between 5 and 10mw, and a 5mw can be anything between 1 and 5mw.

In the manufacture of GLP, there are a high proportion of duds that dont meet spec. The good ones sell at retail, and the duds get sold on ebay where I bought mine:(