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Green laser pointer first impressions
I recently ordered a 5mW green laser pointer. It arrived yesterday.=20
What prompted me was a few nights ago trying to point out comet Machholz = to my wife and son. I think my son saw it but my wife had a hard time=20 figuring out where i was pointing. The laser made quite a difference.=20 My son and i experimented (played) with the beam for a while. When = standing=20 next to the beam and pointing out stars it works quite well. But the=20 visibility of the beam falls off pretty quickly. I had my son point the=20 beam up and i'd step away. From 10 feet or so i could just barely see = it.=20 From across the yard it was invisible. In a way i was a bit = disappointed.=20 I had visions of this bright green beam slicing through the skies from = my=20 backyard. But on the other hand maybe it's good that the entire = neighborhood=20 won't be seeing it either.=20 Another test we did was to shine the beam on a hillside about 1.5 miles=20 from my house. Through binoculars a round spot was clearly seen on the=20 hillside. This was quite impressive. Sometime i'd like to drive over to=20 the hillside and have my son shine the laser from home. I'm curious what = the spot looks like from close up. I purchased the $59 model from z-bolt.com. It's a nice solid unit and=20 delivery was very fast. I doubt i'll really use it much for stargazing=20 but it will come in handy now and then. -Florian Stargazing.com Palm Springs, Calif. |
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All laser pointers are not equal. 5mw is a maximum, most are 1-2 mw. Also
if the laser is cold it the output is so poor it can barley light up an airplane. I keep mine in my pocket until it's time to use it. Steve -- Steven L. Dodds Nova Optical Systems http://www.nova-optical.com "Florian" wrote in message ... I recently ordered a 5mW green laser pointer. It arrived yesterday. What prompted me was a few nights ago trying to point out comet Machholz to my wife and son. I think my son saw it but my wife had a hard time figuring out where i was pointing. The laser made quite a difference. My son and i experimented (played) with the beam for a while. When standing next to the beam and pointing out stars it works quite well. But the visibility of the beam falls off pretty quickly. I had my son point the beam up and i'd step away. From 10 feet or so i could just barely see it. From across the yard it was invisible. In a way i was a bit disappointed. I had visions of this bright green beam slicing through the skies from my backyard. But on the other hand maybe it's good that the entire neighborhood won't be seeing it either. Another test we did was to shine the beam on a hillside about 1.5 miles from my house. Through binoculars a round spot was clearly seen on the hillside. This was quite impressive. Sometime i'd like to drive over to the hillside and have my son shine the laser from home. I'm curious what the spot looks like from close up. I purchased the $59 model from z-bolt.com. It's a nice solid unit and delivery was very fast. I doubt i'll really use it much for stargazing but it will come in handy now and then. -Florian Stargazing.com Palm Springs, Calif. |
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LOL on the airplane comment. Never thought us astronomers would be
public enemy number one in the war on terror. Tony Flanders's thong |
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Watching over my shoulder for FBI agents, I aimed my GLP down the
street last night onto a neighbor's house. At 100 yards the spot was at least 4 inches in diameter (or 40 times larger than a dark adapted pupil). There's no way a beam with a spread like that could be dangerous to a human eye at anything approaching aircraft distances. Visible or perhaps even annoying, but no more dangerous than a flashlight in the face. Florian wrote: I recently ordered a 5mW green laser pointer. It arrived yesterday. What prompted me was a few nights ago trying to point out comet Machholz to my wife and son. I think my son saw it but my wife had a hard time figuring out where i was pointing. The laser made quite a difference. My son and i experimented (played) with the beam for a while. When standing next to the beam and pointing out stars it works quite well. But the visibility of the beam falls off pretty quickly. I had my son point the beam up and i'd step away. From 10 feet or so i could just barely see it. From across the yard it was invisible. In a way i was a bit disappointed. I had visions of this bright green beam slicing through the skies from my backyard. But on the other hand maybe it's good that the entire neighborhood won't be seeing it either. Another test we did was to shine the beam on a hillside about 1.5 miles from my house. Through binoculars a round spot was clearly seen on the hillside. This was quite impressive. Sometime i'd like to drive over to the hillside and have my son shine the laser from home. I'm curious what the spot looks like from close up. I purchased the $59 model from z-bolt.com. It's a nice solid unit and delivery was very fast. I doubt i'll really use it much for stargazing but it will come in handy now and then. -Florian Stargazing.com Palm Springs, Calif. |
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Good, now go down to the nearest airport and try your experiment at the
flight line. See if the pilots there feel the same way about your "flashlight". Oh, when you make bail, let us know all the details -- LOL! Mark wrote: Watching over my shoulder for FBI agents, I aimed my GLP down the street last night onto a neighbor's house. At 100 yards the spot was at least 4 inches in diameter (or 40 times larger than a dark adapted pupil). There's no way a beam with a spread like that could be dangerous to a human eye at anything approaching aircraft distances. Visible or perhaps even annoying, but no more dangerous than a flashlight in the face. Florian wrote: I recently ordered a 5mW green laser pointer. It arrived yesterday. What prompted me was a few nights ago trying to point out comet Machholz to my wife and son. I think my son saw it but my wife had a hard time figuring out where i was pointing. The laser made quite a difference. My son and i experimented (played) with the beam for a while. When standing next to the beam and pointing out stars it works quite well. But the visibility of the beam falls off pretty quickly. I had my son point the beam up and i'd step away. From 10 feet or so i could just barely see it. From across the yard it was invisible. In a way i was a bit disappointed. I had visions of this bright green beam slicing through the skies from my backyard. But on the other hand maybe it's good that the entire neighborhood won't be seeing it either. Another test we did was to shine the beam on a hillside about 1.5 miles from my house. Through binoculars a round spot was clearly seen on the hillside. This was quite impressive. Sometime i'd like to drive over to the hillside and have my son shine the laser from home. I'm curious what the spot looks like from close up. I purchased the $59 model from z-bolt.com. It's a nice solid unit and delivery was very fast. I doubt i'll really use it much for stargazing but it will come in handy now and then. -Florian Stargazing.com Palm Springs, Calif. |
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Gee, was that supposed to be funny? Please don't even pretend to
understand the first thing about common sense. |
#7
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Mark wrote:
Visible or perhaps even annoying, but no more dangerous than a flashlight in the face. To put it simply, annoying a pilot is dangerous, especially when he/she is approaching a landing. Mark |
#8
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My point was that it could be little more than an annoyance. Surely
GLPs are not a pilot's only, most likely or even most serious source of distraction. |
#9
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No, generally that is the stewardess...
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#10
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Sky & Telescope just posted an article on laser safety...
http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/article_1429_1.asp The article links to the following interesting laser page... Sam's Laser FAQ http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/sam/lasersam.htm -Florian |
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