Help needed to reduce laser out put

[Dennis G]

REDUCE THE OUT PUT OF A LASER POINTER FROM 10mwTO 5mw.
Can this be done? Your assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Dennis G

[Cerberus]

do a pot mod in reverse?
but seriously, most want to increase output, why do you want to reduce it?

[dannat (Daniel)]

use really cold batteries??

[Cerberus]

you could reduce the voltage to the lowest it will work with, providing it doesn't have a constant current driver

[MrB (Simon)]

Use a ND filter?

Or halve the amount of current going to it with a series resistor, though this might drop it below the point of lasing(?) and make it an expensive LED, and won't work if it's got a constant current source as Cerberus has said.

[Dennis G]

The reason I ask this question arises from the new West Australian regulations preventing the use of lasers over 5mw. If this can be done successfully without destroying the laser, I'll pass the word on to users of laser finder. This then brings up the question : are 5 mw laser finders of any use?

[Harb]

I'd wait and see what happens.....common sense may yet prevail.....

[Popeye (Bert)]

G'day Dennis. I have a 5mW laser pointer and find it very useful. Another member of our local group has the same pointer as well as a 10mW pointer and finds that the smaller value pointer is the better of the two.
Cheers!
Popeye
(ex Sandgroper!)