A bit shocked

Iv'e have been talking and showing pic's of my lasers to a friend in CA for a while now. He likes his gadgets and gizmo's is a blue collar guy a likes to work with his hands. He always showed some interest in what I told him about what lasers were capable of. I took Pman up on his offer of selling some 532's and sent my friend a 90mw in a pretty host. All do's and dont's and safety issues written down.
My friend is petrified of it and after only one night he sent it back
Its all due to the news of idiots and aircraft pointing. He has a house though in the Lemon Grove area of San Diego which is near the Mexican border and the air is heavy with police helicopter and plane traffic. I can see his point and regards for safety but its brought him so much fear of being sued or jail time that he doesn't even want it in his house even to use in his work shop.
Maby this is a silly thread to open but this is a bummer cause iv'e been wanting to send him one for a while and not the reaction I was thinking of:can:

Hey GSS,

I personally think that it's a good choice he made! He realizes the risks which could come with using it outdoors and determined that the risks outweigh the benefits of having fun shinning it into the sky. When I shine my lasers into the sky I tend nowadays to only shine on surfaces which prevent the beam from continuing into the sky(for example a large wall, or the huge rock in my town next to the ocean). You could let him know that if he ever goes camping or takes a trip to a less populated area that he might enjoy what such a laser could do.

-Alex

Hap, I did mention for him to tuck it away till the day might come that he can enjoy it. Still a no go, and even to bring it with him when he drives some long runs for work in some desert area's for safety.
Like you said its a good sign of maturity for him as I remember the days years ago that we would put away a few 12 packs or so:shhh:

Well, he doesn't need to take it outside, then no problem unless the law changes to where we can't own laser pointers over a certain power, I mean own..... I believe we can own them at any power right now, just can't sell them above a certain power when in a laser pointer configuration according to FDA rules. Of course we can and do sell the parts to build them so the user can put them together themselves. I imagine it could be legally risky to sell all of the parts to make one at one web site, but I know of some who do and so far, no problems. You can buy lots of stuff on ebay to make something which would never be authorized as a ready to play device.

For my wood burning art I would like to go 1550nm or longer so it's eye safe and won't alarm anyone while I am burning outside on my own property.

I love the pretty beams, but I use them much less these days outside, if I wake up early around 4am and there is zero observable air traffic I may point at a distant stand of trees, but I keep it to myself as much as possible.

NOTE: Please understand that all lasers are dangerous and proper eye safety equipment must be used at all times, the 1550nm and longer do not readily penetrate the eyes lens and easily cause retinal damage from inadvertent diffuse refection's, although cataracts and cornea damage are still a hazard 1550nm and longer wavelengths are much safer as far as the accidental exposure to diffuse reflections, but ALWAYS WEAR PROPER SAFETY GLASSES, glasses that attenuate the wavelength you are working with, even if it's 1550nm or a 10200nm C02 laser none are truly eye safe, that is a misleading terminology.

p.s. Good catch Alaskan. :beer:

I knew what you meant regarding ''eye safe", but just about every time someone posts that, a gremlin pops up to nay say the term Better you nay say it first to deprive them from getting food after midnight.

Yes, and I always try to remember not to say anything that a new member could misconstrue and end up hurting themselves because of, it's just easy to forget when we understand the terminology ourselves, but it's worth clarifying even at nausea if it saves someone from a disaster.

There was a time when we didn't know jack, but yea, some you would think were born knowing it all from the way they can come across.....but still, if it saves someone from a disaster it's still worth correcting, even if we get yelled at, I really should pay more attention, I'm likely already on a dozen watch lists for expressing my political opinions. :na:

My 4 am outside shots are also getting far and few. I'm not in really any air travel space, there are hospitals near by and do see some medical helicopter flights every now and then but its so easy to make a mistake as in one big one that really got me thinking a while back. The front of my building has a long tunnel like walk way the whole length of it and I shot my green down it only to forget that the fire station was right at the end across the street. It hit the garage door just about 3 feet down from the its window.
If they were to see it, every busy body in my building would have known its me. Very careless and stupid on my part and my only excuse is that I just wanted to have the most fun I could for a few minutes at 4 in the morning because the frustration of not being able to enjoy them.
Yes my fault but the jerks abusing them have made a "beam of light" illegal and rushing to have some fun can make you make some bad decisions.
Now I did tell my friend about IR and inside use and reflections but he just doesn't want it due living so close to the wrong place.

A. I live in Montana. (No laser regulations and very little in state incidents reported involving lasers)

B. I'm within an Indian reservation. (Feds don't poke around here as much as the rest of the state, local cops could care less)

C. Just south of a little rural town called Ronan. (I hear regular gunfire out here "occasionally mine" but it never attracts law enforcement.)

D. Missoula is the largest airport near me 60 miles south. (All flights go east or west. Polson 30 miles north has a small private airport. There is a local guy who a few times a month does aerobatics right over my house but he accounts for 90% of the air traffic I see.

Using lasers outside is all about location, law enforcement and aircraft.

If I lived in another aria I would need a light sealed room and wouldn't take my lasers outside without them sealed in a locked case for transport.

GSS said:

Maybe this is a silly thread to open but this is a bummer cause iv'e been wanting to send him one for a while and not the reaction I was thinking of:can:

Click to expand...

Not silly at all. I have had the same reaction from people I made the attempt to give a laser to and who understood the safety and legal situations.
In my case the guy loved the lasers I was able to show him but he hadn't considered using one himself and he was worried about one of his young kids getting into a laser related problem if he had one around so he declined the gift.

Kudos to your friend for being so cautious and aware of the potential consequences of misusing lasers! After seeing a laser that produces a visible beam it isn't surprising that your friend is afraid that it may attract unwanted attention. We need more citizens such as him!

If you really want to get him into the hobby and feeling secure in owning such equipment I would: buy (or have him buy) some certified protection goggles; buy a sturdy tripod and grip so that the lasers don't accidentally fall and blind someone; go somewhere remote to enjoy the lasers. In that manner, he can feel and be as responsible and safe as a well-trained and responsible gun owner. He'll also be able to claim that he's not one of those irresponsible idiots who don't properly respect the power and responsibility of owning a high-powered laser.