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Matzi

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May 18, 2016
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Hello all, please allow me to introduce myself.

I am a 17 year old residing in sunny Southern Africa. Since I was a child laser pointers have always been the most fascinating objects. Becoming older I became more and more involved with them and eventually came across this community. :yh:

I've been lurking around quite a while and today finally decided to join all my fellow wannabe jedi and beam masters. I assure you that even though I am somewhat new to taking the hobby to this level, I have read through many stickies and threads before. I hope this will keep my silly and/or repeated questions to a minimum.

Other than that hello lads, my name is Matzi :) I am currently using a 532 Green with an mW that I cannot figure out. The label seems to say "Max Output Power < 3000 mW. Seeing as this is a pen sized laser and I bought it in a Chinese store, I assume this is very wrong :undecided:

Is there a method besides a specialized Laser Measuring Device that anyone could point me in the direction of? :thanks: Would love to know what mW I am working with.

Besides my current one I have my eyes on a little guy I spotted while on my countries goods exchange website.

Laser Pointers - 1000mw Rechargeable Green Laser pointer + Rechargeable battery + Battery charger + FREE GIFT BOX for sale in Durban (ID:230106852)

According to the fellow beam enthusiasts here our country has no laws regarding lasers and according to them the website in question is cheap and authentic.

Thread in question: 200mW Laser Legal?

That is all I really have to say for now :yh: If anyone has any ideas or suggestions id love to here from you all. Stay great lads. Don't burn your retinas.
 





diachi

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Feb 22, 2008
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Welcome!

That laser you linked to, the "1000mW Rechargeable" isn't going to be 1000mW. It's even advertised as "<1000mW" so it's anything less than 1000mW. Looks like a very common cheap Chinese made model - you'd be lucky to get 100mW out of it. :(
 

Matzi

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Joined
May 18, 2016
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Thank you for the welcome Diachi :)

I appreciate the input, I was skeptical as a laser that strong would never be that cheap :oops: I suppose this also explains why my other "<3000mW" is so weak as well :whistle: Nonetheless I will indeed keep looking for a good starter laser, my friends step-father develops lasers for the military, he sometimes takes them out to play with, I asked him to try grab me one and he said he would :drool: As of now I am looking for products that avoid the "<Amount mW" deception :banghead:
 

diachi

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Thank you for the welcome Diachi :)

I appreciate the input, I was skeptical as a laser that strong would never be that cheap :oops: I suppose this also explains why my other "<3000mW" is so weak as well :whistle: Nonetheless I will indeed keep looking for a good starter laser, my friends step-father develops lasers for the military, he sometimes takes them out to play with, I asked him to try grab me one and he said he would :drool: As of now I am looking for products that avoid the "<Amount mW" deception :banghead:

Yeah, a lot of lasers are advertised as "<xxxxmW" - which is technically correct most of the time. :whistle:

Those cheap ($7USD) 303/301 lasers aren't a bad deal - they are cheap as hell but some of them will do 100mW or so - luck of the draw. Decent starter laser - of course you'll need to exercise caution at those powers, it's plenty of power to cause eye damage.

IF you want something higher quality try somewhere like Sanwu or LaserBTB. I'm very happy with my Sanwu purchase! I'd recommended buying a decent pair of laser safety glasses for whichever wavelength you are using - the Eagle Pair from Survival Lasers are good.

Would be interested in seeing some of these military lasers you're talking about! :D
 

Sta

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Jan 27, 2014
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Welcome! We're glad to have you here. Nice to expand the LPF map. :)
 
Joined
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Hello and welcome. Maybe it's me, but it seems the median age of members is going down these days. You have a lot of years to ply your hobby and to fill out your collection. :)
 
Joined
May 14, 2013
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Hello Matzi, welcome to LPF.

Welcome! Possibly the first member from Africa?

No there have been several, at least 2 from South Africa, one was still active recently, and there have been at least 3 from Egypt but they didn't stay around, as far as I know no one from other African countries yet.

Look here to see a list of where our members are located, and new members please post there:

http://laserpointerforums.com/f57/countries-lpf-where-you-94536.html#post1371800

Alan
 
Joined
Nov 1, 2015
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I am currently using a 532 Green with an mW that I cannot figure out. The label seems to say "Max Output Power < 3000 mW. Seeing as this is a pen sized laser and I bought it in a Chinese store, I assume this is very wrong :undecided:

Is there a method besides a specialized Laser Measuring Device that anyone could point me in the direction of? :thanks: Would love to know what mW I am working with.

Welcome!
The only thing you can be sure of, is that 532 isn't putting out anything close to what it claims! As far as getting an actual output power reading, a LPM is really the only option. Even if your used to seeing different lasers at different power levels, it's still a ballpark guess as to how powerful they are. If it's focusable, and if or how well it can burn, will give you another idea. But for accuracy you need a LPM. :D
 

Matzi

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Joined
May 18, 2016
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I feel so loved by all :p Thank you all very much for the kind welcomes. As of now I am waiting on a friend of mine to organize a laser from his step father :evil:
I am glad to hear that there are other Southern African's in this amazing community :) Will post results once I obtain my laser, and will start searching for a decent LPM ;)

Otherwise happy pointing lads :D
 




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