varganorbert222
New member
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2022
- Messages
- 6
- Points
- 3
Hello!
I have to admit to you that I found the forum later than when I got my first laser.
As an introduction, I would like to tell my story...
My life in short:
I live in Hungary, where I work in web development. For those who know the area, the name of our capital Budapest may sound familiar. Although I don't live there, but in a large rural town called Nyíregyháza.
My first laser experiences:
I encountered lasers for the first time when I was a child. Me and one of my friends bought some 5mW red laser modules and installed them in cheap flashlights. We didn't manage to build them that well, since we didn't know much about DIY and electronics, but we still managed to get the lasers working. We were happy with the result and our new toys.
A little while later, I bought my first 50 mW green laser pointer, a DealXtreme pointer, with my spare pocket money.
I can't really say that I was aware of the dangers of the laser, but luckily I didn't cause an accident with it. 
In retrospect, I played dangerously with the laser. At the time, I was still thinking like a child, around 14-15 years old. 
The fun only lasted a couple of weeks, because one day the laser stopped working and emitted a blurry light. 
At the time, I did not know that, for example, the crystal in the DPSS laser does not behave as it should in the cold. After that, I stopped playing with lasers because I didn't have the money to continue (after all, life went on, new school, new studies). 
I'm building a DVD laser:
I also remember that I had one attempt to have a laser again. During one of the summer holidays (together with my previously mentioned friend) we thought we would try to build a DVD laser.
We also had an unused DVD writer that we took apart. Unfortunately, we then realized that it is not easy to take the diode out of it. 
We broke it. 
We didn't give up, and then decided to get more DVD writers from a nearby IT store and flea market. 
We sadly realized that we won't be able to get anything other than CD readers, because there were simply no cheap DVD writers thrown away. Months passed, and then we gave up on the project. 
The present:
15 years have passed since then and my interest in lasers has rekindled.
I thought that if I wanted to deal with lasers again, I wouldn't get crappy, cheap lasers, but high quality ones. 
That's how I found the Sanwu brand (before that I tried JLasers, but the purchase was unsuccessful due to shipping). I chose Sanwu because laserpointerstore sent the package from EU stock and I avoided shipping and customs clearance costs for free. It was clear that this would be the optimal solution for me. I bought the lasers and waited patiently for them to arrive. 
It took 4 months for them to reach me, but it was worth the wait. I was impressed, as I have never come across such powerful and well-designed lasers. What was even better was that they also came with chargers, batteries and goggles for free. 
My lasers:
The experience:
It was simply brutal how much brighter the 150 mW green laser was than any other. I honestly admit that I also admired the light of the lasers on a white wall in a room. I noticed that it bothered my eyes enough to wear protective glasses (it's quite ironic, by the way, that we want to admire lasers for their light and yet we cover their light with protective glasses to avoid injury). 
And at night... It was simply amazing to point at the stars even in a city with a lot of light pollution. For me, it was never important that the laser burned, but that I could enjoy its light. 
The accident:
Unfortunately, I had an accident a few months ago. I wasn't careful enough in the room, and the light of the laser reflected off a zipper right into my left eye for a moment. I almost always wore goggles, but not that time. I didn't experience any problems with my vision then, so I didn't bother with it. A few months passed and strange anomalies appeared in my vision. I had an examination where no problem was found. Unfortunately, this could not convince me, so next week I am going for further tests with retina specialists. I hope that there won't be any problems, although my vision is no longer what it was before playing with the laser.
About lasers:
In the meantime, I've realized that I can't handle the lasers safely enough yet to make them worth keeping. At least not lasers as powerful as these. However, I still want to own lasers and enjoy them when used properly.
By the way, I have already sold the cyan pocket laser to a new owner. I still have the other lasers, but I don't use them. They are almost brand new as I have never drained their batteries because they have rarely been used.
Thank you for reading!
I hope you will welcome me into the community and I will learn many new things about lasers.
Regards, Norbert
I have to admit to you that I found the forum later than when I got my first laser.
As an introduction, I would like to tell my story...
My life in short:
I live in Hungary, where I work in web development. For those who know the area, the name of our capital Budapest may sound familiar. Although I don't live there, but in a large rural town called Nyíregyháza.
My first laser experiences:
I encountered lasers for the first time when I was a child. Me and one of my friends bought some 5mW red laser modules and installed them in cheap flashlights. We didn't manage to build them that well, since we didn't know much about DIY and electronics, but we still managed to get the lasers working. We were happy with the result and our new toys.
A little while later, I bought my first 50 mW green laser pointer, a DealXtreme pointer, with my spare pocket money.
I can't really say that I was aware of the dangers of the laser, but luckily I didn't cause an accident with it. In retrospect, I played dangerously with the laser. At the time, I was still thinking like a child, around 14-15 years old. The fun only lasted a couple of weeks, because one day the laser stopped working and emitted a blurry light. At the time, I did not know that, for example, the crystal in the DPSS laser does not behave as it should in the cold. After that, I stopped playing with lasers because I didn't have the money to continue (after all, life went on, new school, new studies). I'm building a DVD laser:
I also remember that I had one attempt to have a laser again. During one of the summer holidays (together with my previously mentioned friend) we thought we would try to build a DVD laser.
We also had an unused DVD writer that we took apart. Unfortunately, we then realized that it is not easy to take the diode out of it. We broke it. We didn't give up, and then decided to get more DVD writers from a nearby IT store and flea market. We sadly realized that we won't be able to get anything other than CD readers, because there were simply no cheap DVD writers thrown away. Months passed, and then we gave up on the project. The present:
15 years have passed since then and my interest in lasers has rekindled.
I thought that if I wanted to deal with lasers again, I wouldn't get crappy, cheap lasers, but high quality ones. That's how I found the Sanwu brand (before that I tried JLasers, but the purchase was unsuccessful due to shipping). I chose Sanwu because laserpointerstore sent the package from EU stock and I avoided shipping and customs clearance costs for free. It was clear that this would be the optimal solution for me. I bought the lasers and waited patiently for them to arrive. It took 4 months for them to reach me, but it was worth the wait. I was impressed, as I have never come across such powerful and well-designed lasers. What was even better was that they also came with chargers, batteries and goggles for free. My lasers:
- Guardian Series # 455nm Royal Blue # 150mW # Single Mode # Stainless Steel # Engraved
- Guardian Series # 525nm Green # 150mW # Single Mode # White copper # Smooth
- Pocket Series # 492nm Cyan # 100mW
- Pocket Series # 635nm Bright Red # 300mW (high divergence)
The experience:
It was simply brutal how much brighter the 150 mW green laser was than any other.
I honestly admit that I also admired the light of the lasers on a white wall in a room. I noticed that it bothered my eyes enough to wear protective glasses (it's quite ironic, by the way, that we want to admire lasers for their light and yet we cover their light with protective glasses to avoid injury). And at night... It was simply amazing to point at the stars even in a city with a lot of light pollution. For me, it was never important that the laser burned, but that I could enjoy its light. The accident:
Unfortunately, I had an accident a few months ago. I wasn't careful enough in the room, and the light of the laser reflected off a zipper right into my left eye for a moment. I almost always wore goggles, but not that time. I didn't experience any problems with my vision then, so I didn't bother with it. A few months passed and strange anomalies appeared in my vision. I had an examination where no problem was found. Unfortunately, this could not convince me, so next week I am going for further tests with retina specialists. I hope that there won't be any problems, although my vision is no longer what it was before playing with the laser.
About lasers:
In the meantime, I've realized that I can't handle the lasers safely enough yet to make them worth keeping. At least not lasers as powerful as these. However, I still want to own lasers and enjoy them when used properly.
By the way, I have already sold the cyan pocket laser to a new owner. I still have the other lasers, but I don't use them. They are almost brand new as I have never drained their batteries because they have rarely been used.
Thank you for reading!
I hope you will welcome me into the community and I will learn many new things about lasers.
Regards, Norbert
