Purchasing advice

This would be my first laser and after combing the internet for info I find myself still confused. I am looking for a green laser solely for star pointing and for mounting on my scope. There is moderate light polution, I live in a suburd of larger city so the typical subdivision neighborhood light issues. I am always trying to show my son and wife the location of nighttime objects but pointing with your hand is a futile exercise. So I really need something that myself and others within 10 feet can see the beam, so beam strenght is important, but not to the point where it will be too bright to the eyes. I contacted Optotronics and they suggested a 100mw, but that just seems like overkill, but then again what do I know never having used one. Any suggestions? Also, what companies would you recommend, quality is what I am looking for. Thanks for any help.

I live in an area with moderate light pollution and 50mW is more than enough to point at stars and such. I think 100mW would indeed be overkill since it might be so bright that your eyes will not be able to see the sky very well any more.
For high quality, Optotronics is propably your best bet. For moderate quality but low prices, I would recommend O-like and LedShoppe.

Seb

I think a 50 mW 532 nm,(green) would be great. 30 mW is about the lowest I would go.

Also, lasers over 5 mW would be dangerous to use for anything other than star pointing. Therefore, you should get some goggles. You only get one pair of eyes.

DX and 0-like are cheap Chinese companies. DX does not ship over 5 mW to the US, if you live here.
o-Like does.

O-Like has better quality. Under 200 mW, their units are usually overpowered, and great for the money.

There are lots of companies out there, so ask here before you buy one, just to be safe.

If you are planing to use the laser for long periods of time, you should get one with a large heat sink.
If just for the occasional few seconds, a pen style would be fine.

Hope you find what you need.

Thanks for the advice. A good star pointer is all I really need so the 50mw sounds just about right.

The 50mW from ledshoppe http://www.ledshoppe.com/Product/ledp/LP1076.htm seems like a real good choice for you, I have the same one and it works great, beam visible at night and such.

I ended up ordering the Novalaser Alpha 65. But now I am having second thoughts. I really don't want anything over 100mw, but they do carry an Alpha 85. Would I have been better off getting that one or is the difference minimal enough that it would just be a waste of money. Thanks

The Alpha series is always a good to choose from. I use to have the alpha 125 and it was awesome. as for star pointing I do it with my x125 and its kind of bright but way easer on the eyes then the RPL450 : )... so I would recommend a 50-65 but now if you ever get really into lasers you will be like man this just isn't enough power to light a match and then it goes all downhill from there. So I would say 65 is good to start out at as their won't be any real big different in 20mw.

Thanks for the response. It should be arriving this upcoming week, and I have 7 days to return if needed. Are their any other items/accessories anyone would recommend buying (other than eye protection, got that covered), that would allow me to use the laser for other interesting uses/experiments other than starpointing. I never really considered other uses in my buying decision, but it seems like many of you enjoy your lasers and I would hate to keep a closed mind to other interesting uses. Thanks, everyone on this forum have been very helpful.

Honestly for 65 mw you probably don’t need eye protection unless you plan on shining it in your eye as say a 10% reflection off of glass is only 6.5mw so you should be fine but it never hurts to be too careful : ) ……I would have recommend the mega matrix cap that goes on the alpha its truly incredible or even just the matrix one as with a lower power its awesome. You can always pick up some black balloons and see how far away till you can pop them other than that just use it for pointing at things.

DG Mega Matrix sounds good, I will have to order that. Thanks for the suggestion.

...allow me to use the laser for other interesting uses/experiments other than starpointing. I never really considered other uses in my buying decision, but it seems like many of you enjoy your lasers and I would hate to keep a closed mind to other interesting uses..

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Some great experimentation is in store for you with a set of optics. These include various lenses, mirrors, prisms, diffraction gratings, which can be used in countless arrangements to produce dazzling effects. You can get these from various places. I got mine from Optotronics.

I posted a few shots here that may give you some idea of the fun you can have.