Greetings, friends!

Hello all,

My neighbor recently acquired a small green laser pointer. (I'm not sure of the power/wavelength, as I've not actually seen it up close.) Every night, he stands on his front porch and waves it around like a madman (which isn't safe, I know :tsk, giddy as a schoolboy. Watching the beam zip across the sky entranced me, and now I've got the bug. I ordered a 30 mW 532 nm pointer from Optotronics yesterday, and I'm stoked! I also picked up some safety glasses from Amazon, because Survival Lasers won't ship to my address. :cryyy:

I'm so happy I stumbled across this forum! I look forward to getting to know and learning from some very knowledgeable, fascinating people.

Welcome.

Welcome
Good to see you're thinking about safety. This is a great place to learn and make fiends.
Ed

Welcome to a new hobby, just be careful not to accidentally hit an aircraft, one of my cousins was playing with a small pointer turning off a street light near his house to amuse himself, a helicopter in the distance saw it and thought he was trying to flash him, was arrested for it.

MrLaze said:

Hello all,

My neighbor recently acquired a small green laser pointer. (I'm not sure of the power/wavelength, as I've not actually seen it up close.) Every night, he stands on his front porch and waves it around like a madman (which isn't safe, I know :tsk, giddy as a schoolboy. Watching the beam zip across the sky entranced me, and now I've got the bug. I ordered a 30 mW 532 nm pointer from Optotronics yesterday, and I'm stoked! I also picked up some safety glasses from Amazon, because Survival Lasers won't ship to my address. :cryyy:

I'm so happy I stumbled across this forum! I look forward to getting to know and learning from some very knowledgeable, fascinating people.

Click to expand...

Welcome!

Did you use the survival lasers USA specific site?

Survival Laser USA Home

Not sure how much fun you'll have with glasses and 30mW - you can't burn with that little power, and with glasses on you won't be able to see it either.

Good job for thinking about safety though, it is important.

diachi said:

Welcome!

Did you use the survival lasers USA specific site?

Survival Laser USA Home

Not sure how much fun you'll have with glasses and 30mW - you can't burn with that little power, and with glasses on you won't be able to see it either.

Good job for thinking about safety though, it is important.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure if its budget related but yes 30mw might not give you the thrill of your neighbors. If its not to late Jack at Opto is a great man and if money is doable maby you can upgrade to a little higher output. Even his 55mw will be a big difference. Great laser either way your getting
Yep like diachi mentioned look at his USA listings.

GSS said:

I'm not sure if its budget related but yes 30mw might not give you the thrill of your neighbors. If its not to late Jack at Opto is a great man and if money is doable maby you can upgrade to a little higher output. Great laser either way your getting

Click to expand...

30mW should be reasonably bright outdoors at night, but it doesn't matter if you're wearing glasses, you could have 10W and it wouldn't be bright enough to see the beam.

Welcome to LPF MrLaze! :yh:

-Alex

Welcome to the forum. Stay safe and have fun. Watch your pocket.

Antharak said:

Welcome
Good to see you're thinking about safety. This is a great place to learn and make fiends.
Ed

Click to expand...

Fiends are evil spirits lol . As Curtis says below, I'm sure you will find a large number of helpful enthusiasts.

Fiends can either be evil spirits/demons or enthusiasts/devotees of a particular thing (lasers).
It is up to you what definition you take MrLaze.

Crazlaser said:

Welcome.

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Thanks, glad to be here! Love the quotes in your signature, by the way. They made me chuckle. Is your name Sean? Mine is, too.

Antharak said:

Welcome
Good to see you're thinking about safety. This is a great place to learn and make fiends.
Ed

Click to expand...

It certainly seems that way!

Alaskan said:

Welcome to a new hobby, just be careful not to accidentally hit an aircraft, one of my cousins was playing with a small pointer turning off a street light near his house to amuse himself, a helicopter in the distance saw it and thought he was trying to flash him, was arrested for it.

Click to expand...

Sorry to hear that about your cousin. I understand that antagonizing pilots with lasers is no joke. I've been reading up on laser safety in the last few days, so I know that it's important to search the sky for aircraft before sending my sweet, sweet photons into the cosmos.

diachi said:

Welcome!

Did you use the survival lasers USA specific site?

Survival Laser USA Home

Not sure how much fun you'll have with glasses and 30mW - you can't burn with that little power, and with glasses on you won't be able to see it either.

Good job for thinking about safety though, it is important.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip! I was using the international site. Whoops. I opted for a 30mW laser because it will be my first foray into >5mW laser ownership, and I want to start small so I can learn the basics without hurting anybody.

GSS said:

I'm not sure if its budget related but yes 30mw might not give you the thrill of your neighbors. If its not to late Jack at Opto is a great man and if money is doable maby you can upgrade to a little higher output. Even his 55mw will be a big difference. Great laser either way your getting
Yep like diachi mentioned look at his USA listings.

Click to expand...

Part of the reason I chose a 30mW laser is that I live with a few other people. I'd hate to be messing around with a 1W laser and have someone walk in unexpectedly, as I've heard that the "dot" from lasers that powerful can cause retinal damage. Also, as I mentioned above, this one is supposed to be my "gateway" laser. Once I've grown accustomed to handling it, I'll upgrade to something a bit more powerful.

diachi said:

30mW should be reasonably bright outdoors at night, but it doesn't matter if you're wearing glasses, you could have 10W and it wouldn't be bright enough to see the beam.

Click to expand...

Yep, I mainly plan to use this one for pointing at stars and other faraway things at nights. :can:

Hap said:

Welcome to LPF MrLaze! :yh:

-Alex

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Thanks! :yh:

CurtisOliver said:

Welcome to the forum. Stay safe and have fun. Watch your pocket.

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Ha, that's good advice! Sadly, I've been known to blow all my money on my hobbies in the past. In 2009/2010 (can't remember which one), it was a grand piano. In 2015, it was building a PC. 2017 may be the year of lasers. On the bright side, it looks like I'm in good company. :beer:

Crazlaser said:

Fiends are evil spirits lol . As Curtis says below, I'm sure you will find a large number of helpful enthusiasts.

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Typos make life much more entertaining. op:

CurtisOliver said:

Fiends can either be evil spirits/demons or enthusiasts/devotees of a particular thing (lasers).
It is up to you what definition you take MrLaze.

Click to expand...

I dunno, Curtis, they could be one and the same. I guess I'll have to stick around for a while to find out.

MrLaze said:

On the bright side, it looks like I'm in good company. :beer:

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You sure are. :beer: Lot of fiends on here.

CurtisOliver said:

You sure are. :beer: Lot of fiends on here.

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:takeit:

Lol, where there are positive fiends you will always find evil ones.
:gh::gun: :eg: