New here; Confused; Looking to buy 3x green lasers... help?

audiodane · Dec 2, 2016

Hi all,

I've been perusing the site for about a week, trying to read as much as I can, but I'm new to all this stuff and it's overwhelming.

I'm in the market for three (x3) green laser pointers, and I'm hoping that y'all can give me some guidance..

A green momentary pointer for my son; he wants to see the beam, but I'm nervous getting him anything over 5mW from what I've read. He's 10 and fairly responsible, but I don't mind playing the safe card... Can you see 5mW at night (stargazing)? also wanting the lens caps that make cool patterns for him... budget under $25
A green momentary pointer for myself for star-gazing and star-pointing... desire higher power but still pocketable. budget under $50
A green constant-on pointer for my telescope to replace the starfinder.. higher power to be easily seen when pointing the scope... can even use a larger battery pack with a cord ... budget under ... $75?

** need my son's by Christmas ... my two don't really matter...

I'm seeing a few recommendations for Lazerer (this one looks good for my son but is out of stock), sanwu (this one looks good for me, possibly.. the 80mW version), and laserbtb (this one looks good for my son but is 10mW rather than 5...) ..

There is so much information here but it's difficult to navigate; there are a number of sticky threads that seem to be pretty out-of-date, company-wise, since other threads have discussed how the quality of brands seems to ebb and flow.

Can anyone point me to a few more options to consider given my rough criteria?

thank you!
..dane

dden4012 · Dec 2, 2016

Your talking about 532nm. They are all over ebay. Power and quality a gamble.

Have a look here Laser safety info - Laser Pointer Forums - Discuss Laser Pointers

diachi · Dec 2, 2016

dden4012 said:
Your talking about 532nm. They are all over ebay. Power and quality a gamble.

Have a look here Laser safety info - Laser Pointer Forums - Discuss Laser Pointers

eBay is NOT the place to get a 5mW laser. They're usually advertised as 5mW, but usually considerably more.

301/303 lasers are a good choice if you want something that's likely going to do upwards of 30mW (possibly more than double that), for a cheap price with questionable quality. You can find those on eBay or places like GearBest.

Oddly enough, you'll pay more for a true 5mW green laser than you will for one advertised as 5mW that does much more than 5mW.

Dutch67 · Dec 2, 2016

Yeah, green eBay lasers are usually around 40-50mW every time I test one. A lot of those come with star caps. I have gotten plenty of greens from there and they are all still working pretty well.

Jhop · Dec 2, 2016

I would recommend the Sanwu 303/304 style ones. the 40 mw should be fine for your son, its not strong enough to burn anything, and comes with pattern caps.

I bought the 80mw sanwu 304. It came with one pattern cap, and I didn't even specify for one (surprise!) it was something like 26 after shipping, but from china thats at least 2 weeks, probably 3 this time of year, so if you need before xmas you will want to expedite it so another $20..unless you just wanna take your chances on reg shipping.

But in all honesty the 40 mw should be perfectly safe for you son, it wont hurt his eyes looking at the beam(which is visible-esp in the dark) unless he looked directly down into the diode when holding it on, but hopefully hes smarter than that. And even then, it wouldnt be severe damage, might see a spot for a bit, then it will go away.

I let my 9 year old nephew play with my 80mw one(supervised) and he never looked directly at it and he didnt have any problems with it. Just gotta explain to them not to shine at mirrors, picture frames, or anything reflective unless wearing glasses. otherwise outside at night is perfectly safe. Just always supervise and you should be good to go. You could chance buying an ebay 303 but either it will have a short life, or may be way over spec. Up to you. But I HIGHLY recommend Sanwu

OR you could look up member Pman, he is selling a bunch of homebuilt 532's various outputs, all under 100mw, and he is stateside, so FAST shipping. http://laserpointerforums.com/f39/various-lasers-4-sale-98934.html

AngelG · Dec 2, 2016

You said green. The 532nm ones are pure green, but they rely on DPSS tech. They're pumped by a high power invisible IR LASER inside. AFAIK, if you want direct green, they're usually 520..522nm (this is not pure, but aquamarine green).
Here are some pix: Skylaser - 520nm by Blord

Razako · Dec 2, 2016

I'd recommend a Lyra from laserglow for your son. Those are guaranteed to be under 5 mw, and are the safest bet. The stronger lasers you want for yourself are easier to get.

diachi · Dec 2, 2016

Razako said:
I'd recommend a Lyra from laserglow for your son. Those are guaranteed to be under 5 mw, and are the safest bet. The stronger lasers you want for yourself are easier to get.

Dragon Lasers also sell the same lasers, although they use different names. They're all produced by the same manufacturer.

Optotronics have some <5mW pointers too, although I prefer the CNI pointers from LG/DL.

audiodane · Dec 4, 2016

diachi said:
eBay is NOT the place to get a 5mW laser. They're usually advertised as 5mW, but usually considerably more.

301/303 lasers are a good choice if you want something that's likely going to do upwards of 30mW (possibly more than double that), for a cheap price with questionable quality. You can find those on eBay or places like GearBest.

Oddly enough, you'll pay more for a true 5mW green laser than you will for one advertised as 5mW that does much more than 5mW.

Thanks -- what do the 301, 303, 304, etc. designations mean? I can't seem to find that infromation anywhere. Searching those numbers brings up comparison of steel alloys.

Jhop said:
I would recommend the Sanwu 303/304 style ones. the 40 mw should be fine for your son, its not strong enough to burn anything, and comes with pattern caps.

I bought the 80mw sanwu 304. It came with one pattern cap, and I didn't even specify for one (surprise!) it was something like 26 after shipping, but from china thats at least 2 weeks, probably 3 this time of year, so if you need before xmas you will want to expedite it so another $20..unless you just wanna take your chances on reg shipping.

But in all honesty the 40 mw should be perfectly safe for you son, it wont hurt his eyes looking at the beam(which is visible-esp in the dark) unless he looked directly down into the diode when holding it on, but hopefully hes smarter than that. And even then, it wouldnt be severe damage, might see a spot for a bit, then it will go away.

I let my 9 year old nephew play with my 80mw one(supervised) and he never looked directly at it and he didnt have any problems with it. Just gotta explain to them not to shine at mirrors, picture frames, or anything reflective unless wearing glasses. otherwise outside at night is perfectly safe. Just always supervise and you should be good to go. You could chance buying an ebay 303 but either it will have a short life, or may be way over spec. Up to you. But I HIGHLY recommend Sanwu

OR you could look up member Pman, he is selling a bunch of homebuilt 532's various outputs, all under 100mw, and he is stateside, so FAST shipping. http://laserpointerforums.com/f39/various-lasers-4-sale-98934.html

thanks for that feedback on power, I really do appreciate it. I do want to ensure he has something visible at night, which 5mW seems kind of iffy from the charts that I've seen.. I have messaged Pman, and I am looking at sanwu and some other sites...

Razako said:
I'd recommend a Lyra from laserglow for your son. Those are guaranteed to be under 5 mw, and are the safest bet. The stronger lasers you want for yourself are easier to get.

I recall looking at that one, too. I will check back in there--thanks!

diachi said:
Dragon Lasers also sell the same lasers, although they use different names. They're all produced by the same manufacturer.

Optotronics have some <5mW pointers too, although I prefer the CNI pointers from LG/DL.

I'm not sure I've seen CNI or Optotronics yet. I'll check those out also.

Thanks for the advice, folks, I really appreciate it.

A few more questions:

AAA versus other battery types; I use NiMH (Eneloop Low Self Discharge) all over the house; will 1.2V NiMH's work in AAA style pointers? If so, is it just a simple linear power output reduction (e.g. if a 50mW with 1.5V AAA's, then would it be (50mW * 1.2V / 1.5V =) 40mW with a fuly charged 1.2V NiMH?
Anything in particular that I might need to know when looking for a click-on/click-off style pointer for my telescope? Any telescope folks here with recommendations in that direction?

cheers,
..dane

dden4012 · Dec 4, 2016

This reminds me of when my father gave me my first bb gun. Under his direction I learned responsibility, respect, and consequence for the handling of the gun. My point is I wouldn't be concerned with output numbers to an extent...training, education, and time well spent with your boy. But leaving room for graduation to more powerful lasers would be an enjoyable exercise. Memory lane

Pman · Dec 4, 2016

Actually there's a bunch of 100mW+ 532nm in that thread for sale

Sales thread has gone on for awhile and I update it but not many people seem to take a look again. Never know what I'm going to toss in there

In fact, I will be adding 4 more tomorrow.

Pete

audiodane · Dec 5, 2016

dden4012 said:
This reminds me of when my father gave me my first bb gun. Under his direction I learned responsibility, respect, and consequence for the handling of the gun. My point is I wouldn't be concerned with output numbers to an extent...training, education, and time well spent with your boy. But leaving room for graduation to more powerful lasers would be an enjoyable exercise. Memory lane

Great story, dden, thanks. He's a good kid, but his first knife isn't going to be a katana, either!

Pman said:
Actually there's a bunch of 100mW+ 532nm in that thread for sale Sales thread has gone on for awhile and I update it but not many people seem to take a look again. Never know what I'm going to toss in there In fact, I will be adding 4 more tomorrow.

Thanks Pete -- PM sent!

cheers,
..dane

audiodane · Dec 7, 2016

Have a few on their way from Pman .. Thanks Pete!

..dane

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