50mw Green Amazon laser.

[FenixDelta753]

I recently purchased a cheapo 50mw greenie from amazon. A lot of buyers were saying that this was a "factory tuned" laser and were very happy with it and for about 11 bucks why not.

I received the item extremely quickly, it came in the standard cheap laser package with the foam insert and 2 craptastic batteries that i didnt use for but a minute.

I must say that after a day with this laser i am very happy with it and recommend it to anyone that wants to impress friends or to point around in the sky and what not.

Beam pictures below.

this next one is not the best quality but at the end of the beam you can see a bright spot. I believe this is where its hitting the clouds, i may be wrong but thats what it looks like from the naked eye.

and this is basically the same thing with less exposure.

 

[Crazy Jay]

Excellent review. 11 bucks?

 

[FenixDelta753]

Yea, it was about $11.86 without shipping i think and about $14 total. Ill post a link if thats ok.

 

[Kulhu]

Yea, it was about $11.86 without shipping i think and about $14 total. Ill post a link if thats ok.

This isnt wicked lasers, sharing deals is a good thing here.

 

[Crazy Jay]

Yea, it was about $11.86 without shipping i think and about $14 total. Ill post a link if thats ok.

Sure that would be great

 

[FenixDelta753]

This isnt wicked lasers, sharing deals is a good thing here.

Ha, very nice. Here it is Amazon.com: 50mw 532nm Astronomy Green Laser Pointer: Everything Else

 

[Crickle]

So would this be a good laser to purchase prior to building one myself?

 

[Ash]

So would this be a good laser to purchase prior to building one myself?

Sure. Seeing as how greens are extremely difficult to build from scratch, this would be a great first laser.

 

[FenixDelta753]

I agree. This thing has enough power to do simple stuff like pop balloons and has a visible beam that you can see clear to the clouds.

 

[Crickle]

How far would the beam travel at night?

 

[FenixDelta753]

I'm not sure. I try not to shine it into empty sky for fear of hitting a plane but it hit the clouds so do the math. Compared to my 1w Spartan the only difference is brightness and color.

 

[AUTO XX]

How far would the beam travel at night?

If it didn't hit anything? only to the end of infinity, too bad there is dust and such (and planets) that get in the way.

 

[FenixDelta753]

If it didn't hit anything? only to the end of infinity, too bad there is dust and such (and planets) that get in the way.

Yea, that and the divergence ain't nothing special.

 

[Ash]

I'm not sure. I try not to shine it into empty sky for fear of hitting a plane but it hit the clouds so do the math.

Low clouds are no less than 6,500 feet. So at least a mile.
Mid-range clouds can be from 6,500 to 20,000 feet, but I don't think you would reach mid clouds with a 50mW... You would probably need a +200mW one to reach 20K feet into the atmosphere.


Added: I just ordered one of these, and will test it's output and the %IR on my LPM, and report back in this thread. :beer:

 

[thakingoftown]

i ordered 3 of those 50mw laser recently for some of my friends, one of them can pop a dark balloon within a few seconds and the 2 others, i gaveup on the others, you can still see the beam and such. i think this is an awesome purchase being so cheap, a bit of a gamble but i think its worth it.

 

[FenixDelta753]

i ordered 3 of those 50mw laser recently for some of my friends, one of them can pop a dark balloon within a few seconds and the 2 others, i gaveup on the others, you can still see the beam and such. i think this is an awesome purchase being so cheap, a bit of a gamble but i think its worth it.

yes, as it is with any of these cheapies. but for 11 bucks, you can beat a visable beam.