AstroNova II laser pointer vs. AtlasNova 5mW with APC

This is my first post on the Forum, and if you want to know, what convinced me to sign up here rather than elsewhere is that everyone here takes safety so seriously.

I'm fairly new to lasers in general, although I've had a 632.8nm HeNe for a while, and just recently bought a pair of green laser pointers off of Amazon.

Both are by AtlasNova, 532nm dpss, they feel very solid and I've read good things about them. One pointer has APC, the other is an AstroNova II sky pointer without any power control. Both are rated <5mW class IIIa. However, the AstroNova II is a LOT brighter than the pointer with APC, and in fact I can feel a little heat from the beam if I aim it at my skin for a moment.

Does anyone have any experience with these pointers and/or know what kind of actual power they put out?

Tikilaser said:

EDIT: AstroNova? Sorry, never heard of them, I thought you meant this: www.atlasnova.com

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The "AstroNova II" is manufactured by AtlasNova, they bill it as an astronomy sky pointer.

I don't know if they qualify as "ebay" pointers or not. At any rate, they weren't the $5 variety at all - I avoided those specifically.

The pointer with APC was 50 dollars or so, the sky pointer was 100 dollars. I don't know, maybe I got ripped off.

With today's market, yes you did lose some money on the deal. If you can feel the beam (depending on how tight it is also) I would guess about 60mW, which most green laser pointers end up putting out. Quality on these do look good however, it shouldn't randomly die on you to say the least.

Next time for a better deal with the same (or even better) quality I'd recommend laserglow.

Thanks for your replies so far. I took a couple photos of the spots. The camera used is a Canon A2000, basically a point and shoot. The left spot is the pointer with APC, the right is the AstroNova II which is much brighter.

Nice! i will have to pick up a 635nm for that price!

Nope. Look at the red lasers on the same website..
They are under the green lasers.