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Green Laser Pointer
After having seen a couple in action at some recent star parties, I am
interested in purchasing one of these - they seem ideal for pointing directly at stars and planets to help people locate objects. However, I am at a loss as to what I am looking for in one - a quick perusal of ebay shows models from 5mW up to 100mW. Obviously the more powerful one is, they brighter the beam, and the further it will travel, but I dont want to go overboard - they seem to increase in price quite rapidly, as well as being more dangerous! Can anyone help advise me on this? |
#2
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Green Laser Pointer
John Ruddy wrote:
After having seen a couple in action at some recent star parties, I am interested in purchasing one of these - they seem ideal for pointing directly at stars and planets to help people locate objects. However, I am at a loss as to what I am looking for in one - a quick perusal of ebay shows models from 5mW up to 100mW. Obviously the more powerful one is, they brighter the beam, and the further it will travel, but I dont want to go overboard - they seem to increase in price quite rapidly, as well as being more dangerous! Can anyone help advise me on this? 5 mW or less lasers have no licensing requirement (in the U.S. anyway). They work great for showing things to people standing conversationally close to the user. Good ones can be purchased for less than $100 U.S. I like mine and find it very useful when observing with small groups. Make sure you know the GLP policy of any big star party you attend. There are some militant anti-laser types out there. Just watch where this thread goes to see what I mean. :-) Shawn |
#3
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Green Laser Pointer
"John Ruddy" wrote in message
. uk... After having seen a couple in action at some recent star parties, I am interested in purchasing one of these - they seem ideal for pointing directly at stars and planets to help people locate objects. However, I am at a loss as to what I am looking for in one - a quick perusal of ebay shows models from 5mW up to 100mW. Obviously the more powerful one is, they brighter the beam, and the further it will travel, but I dont want to go overboard - they seem to increase in price quite rapidly, as well as being more dangerous! Can anyone help advise me on this? You can't go wrong with buying a 5mw green laser from Howie Glatter: http://www.skypointer.net/ He is a fellow astronomer as well as a manufacturer of laser collimators, etc., and is a supporter of astro events. Dennis |
#4
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Green Laser Pointer
John Ruddy wrote:
After having seen a couple in action at some recent star parties, I am interested in purchasing one of these - they seem ideal for pointing directly at stars and planets to help people locate objects. However, I am at a loss as to what I am looking for in one - a quick perusal of ebay shows models from 5mW up to 100mW. Obviously the more powerful one is, they brighter the beam, and the further it will travel, but I dont want to go overboard - they seem to increase in price quite rapidly, as well as being more dangerous! Can anyone help advise me on this? I got an 8mW one off eBay for about a tenner. I use it to align my Tal1 (I strapped it to the finder scope). You would think it's going all the way to the stars (in reality it reached about 1500m). However, before anyone moans, this one does not switch on, I have to hold the button down to operate. This is Ok, as I only flash it on for a few seconds to get a rough alignment. Also be aware that using these near airports can result in a knock at the door. -- Andy Hewitt http://web.mac.com/andrewhewitt1/ |
#5
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Green Laser Pointer
Dennis Woos wrote: "John Ruddy" wrote in message . uk... After having seen a couple in action at some recent star parties, I am interested in purchasing one of these - they seem ideal for pointing directly at stars and planets to help people locate objects. However, I am at a loss as to what I am looking for in one - a quick perusal of ebay shows models from 5mW up to 100mW. Obviously the more powerful one is, they brighter the beam, and the further it will travel, but I dont want to go overboard - they seem to increase in price quite rapidly, as well as being more dangerous! Can anyone help advise me on this? You can't go wrong with buying a 5mw green laser from Howie Glatter: http://www.skypointer.net/ He is a fellow astronomer as well as a manufacturer of laser collimators, etc., and is a supporter of astro events. Dennis Howie Glatter may be the king of laser collimators, but he advocates using a laser pointer as a finder. That's just asking for an aircraft to encounter your beam. I'm not a member of the anti-laser horde. But, they need to be used responsibly. They can easily cause permanent eye damage at close range, and pointing them at aircraft can be a felony. I do think they're great when carefully used as intended. I use a powerful flashlight instead since I always have kids around and also live 10 miles from a major airport. If you don't, the laser is certainly better. Greg |
#6
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Green Laser Pointer
Howie Glatter may be the king of laser collimators, but he advocates
using a laser pointer as a finder. That's just asking for an aircraft to encounter your beam. There is nothing wrong with using the pointer as a finder - just don't point it at low-flying airplanes. I guess it depends on where you observe vis-a-vis flight path, etc. We don't have our pointer mounted on a scope, but we do use it as a finder. One of us will locate a target in our mounted binos, and illuminate it with the handheld laser so that we can find it in our scopes. The binos (9x63, 20x80, and even 7x50) are much better than any finder we could mount on the scopes. Dennis |
#7
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Green Laser Pointer
On Sat, 04 Nov 2006 15:42:14 -0700, Shawn wrote:
There are some militant anti-laser types out there. Just watch where this thread goes to see what I mean. :-) Shawn I just made a bowl of popcorn....let 'er rip! Uncle Bob Fairfax, CA Uncle Bob's bonus joke of the week: Q: How did the astronomer know his wife had passed away? A: Sex was just about the same, but the dishes were beginning to pile up. rim shot |
#8
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Green Laser Pointer
Don't Be Evil wrote:
Howie Glatter may be the king of laser collimators, but he advocates using a laser pointer as a finder. That's just asking for an aircraft to encounter your beam. I'm not a member of the anti-laser horde. But, they need to be used responsibly. They can easily cause permanent eye damage at close range, and pointing them at aircraft can be a felony. I think it may be here in the UK as well. I live in quite a rural area, the nearest airport is about 15 miles away, and thats what is classed as a sub-regional one - few night flights and only a million passengers a year. It should be fairly easy to avoid troubling the local constabulary! I do think they're great when carefully used as intended. I use a powerful flashlight instead since I always have kids around and also live 10 miles from a major airport. If you don't, the laser is certainly better. Greg Having recently moved here, I've discovered that quite a few neighbours have admired the starry night, but don't know whats what. I thought using such a pointer may help to identify objects to intereste passers by, rather than as a finder. My own telescope is an autostar equipped Meade, so I dont need a finder as much. |
#9
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Green Laser Pointer
John Ruddy wrote: Don't Be Evil wrote: Howie Glatter may be the king of laser collimators, but he advocates using a laser pointer as a finder. That's just asking for an aircraft to encounter your beam. I'm not a member of the anti-laser horde. But, they need to be used responsibly. They can easily cause permanent eye damage at close range, and pointing them at aircraft can be a felony. I think it may be here in the UK as well. I live in quite a rural area, the nearest airport is about 15 miles away, and thats what is classed as a sub-regional one - few night flights and only a million passengers a year. It should be fairly easy to avoid troubling the local constabulary! I do think they're great when carefully used as intended. I use a powerful flashlight instead since I always have kids around and also live 10 miles from a major airport. If you don't, the laser is certainly better. Greg Having recently moved here, I've discovered that quite a few neighbours have admired the starry night, but don't know whats what. I thought using such a pointer may help to identify objects to intereste passers by, rather than as a finder. My own telescope is an autostar equipped Meade, so I dont need a finder as much. |
#10
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Green Laser Pointer
Several comments on Green Laser Pointers: I use GLPs for small "star parties" of neighbors or just another person. They are great for pointing out individual stars, no matter how faint and for outlining constellations. In addition I use GLPs for finders on my telescopes. I have standard finders but rarely need to use them. I think the problems of GLPs ruining the images obtained by astrophotographers have been greatly exaggerated. I would be interested in knowing how many of these photographers have actually had their pictures corrupted by GLPs. It is true that more and more sky parties, especially the larger ones, are banning them. Some even kick you out if you turn one on during nighttime hours. It's a shame that they couldn't set up fields a short distance from the main observing field for use by people who want to use GLPs. Someone mentioned Howie Glatter as a good source for these pointers. I will back that up - I have three from him. He also makes brackets so you can mount the GLP on your telescope. All or most GLPs do not have an on-off switch and you must keep a constant pressure on the GLP button for it to work. You can get around this by using a common wooden clothespin or a small rubber "O" ring that will slide over the button and thus free up your hand. I have never had any problems with airplanes or helicopters. At night they all have lights so you can just wait until they leave the section of the sky you are interested in. GLPs can definitely harm a person's eye but I think most people are overly concerned about this. Just use common sense and keep the GLPs out of the hands of kids. There is an interesting article about the effects of GLPs from the Mayo Clinic. The researcher doing the study states, "This is a potential hazard to people's eyes, but rarely is it going to be a practical hazard because the aversion reflex we have naturally will cause a person to blink or turn away from a laser light." The complete press release can be found at http://www.mayoclinic.org/news2005-rst/2800.html Although I obviously like GLPs, I have found one negative thing about them. When you are showing people locations of stars, DSOs etc, I find that many, especially kids, are more interested in the GLP than in astronomy |
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