Late introduction, Complexed here.

Long time lurker of this forum just recently decided to get into the hobby. Its not exactly easy to find reliable information about lasers. So I decided to sign up and start asking questions! My first laser will most likely be a 100-300mw 532nm from laserbtb. I Plan on getting a small collection of different WaveLength lasers. If I hadnt found this site I probably would have been ripped off a couple times by cheap green lasers that promise the world. Ive been a huge pc fan for a long time now and work in the IT field. Later down the road I might build my own laser. Im a tinkerer by nature.

Complexed said:

Long time lurker of this forum just recently decided to get into the hobby. Its not exactly easy to find reliable information about lasers.
... its not that hard either- & if you find no review or info here -move on- this is a big ass forum and not much out there has not been found-bought and used--


So I decided to sign up and start asking questions!

but you will search first right??..lol

My first laser will most likely be a 100-300mw 532nm from laserbtb. I Plan on getting a small collection of different WaveLength lasers. If I hadnt found this site I probably would have been ripped off a couple times by cheap green lasers that promise the world.

we get that a LOT- mostly asking about item already paid for or delivered & a bit late if it was a bad choice-- if it look too good to be true its a bad choice-
by from forum members first-
2nd,, buy from sources with good rep (like Jetlasers et al)

Ive been a huge pc fan for a long time now and work in the IT field. Later down the road I might build my own laser. Im a tinkerer by nature.

Click to expand...

WELCOME- HOPE you have completed your personal profile- we read that before doing much with new members- location is a MUST- if you want good info

Enjoy becoming a wavelenghth 'Jockey' as Dr Sam calls color 'collectors'- if you dont know SAM-- well ...you are not ready to own lasers (Sam's laser FAQ)
however many find even a complete collection, in time, kinda boring- so most move on to laser projector building- and lasershow creation etc- that where the real fun begins


also you are NOT ready for any laser (of power) until you FIRST have at least fair quality eye ware-- you wont need them very often but in some times they are absolutely needed to protect your' seeing balls' and complete corectly what you are trying to do--like taking beam size measurments to find divergance of a laser- you need size of dot NOT all the 'flaring' around the actual dot- cant see that w/o eyeware

most have to buy cheapies at first then save up for quality that covers almost or all lasers you may eventually own --keeping old ones for 'guest goggles'-- search for goggle info

wearing proper eyeware doeees NOT mean you can be reckless with lasers:tsk:-

treat like a gun at all times & you will be OK-

PM me anytime--hak:beer:

Welcome to the forums bud,

Im in the same boat as you! I had quite a few wavelengths but am slowly re-building my collection of wavelengths in a different laser host. Hope to see your rainbow grow

-Alex

Thanks for your input hakzaw1. I have done a considerable amount of reading on this forum during down time at work which lately I have a lot of... I like the gun reference I grew up around guns and have a lot of respect for them. I will treat Lasers the same way without a doubt. I did finish up what I found in my profile. Sorry about the late reply to your inquiry I wasnt aware it was there. I foresee a long and colorful relationship.

Hi and welcome! Something tells me you'll get along just fine here

KS--

well - say hi to Dorthy for us

we have people there-
one is not very active anymore- but there are others-
sometimes a member w/o a LPM will mail some lasers to a vet member who will meter and/ or graph each one then send them back-

not sure but the closest big LEM to you may be SELEM ( aug 15th this year iirc)

you can see vids from many LEMs at ytube

they are closed to the pubil affairs due to danger-
you will prolly never see that many projectors in one small auditorium ever let alone be able to go where you please (or dare)- meet the guys you run these & in many cases built thier PJs form parts- we have Co, demos- free stuff- door prizes and more laser **** than you can video-
go once & you will want to host your own LEM.
( I know becoz i did just that 2 months later)

as was said you will fit in here just fine- nice to have you- sending a +6 rep bump to get you started- dont take anyone too seriously- we all get grumpy on occasion-

when in doubt just 'walk away' arguing often wont help--


I suspect you will be hearing from 'locals' to you -

hak