Call me Winky

[mrbear]

I just received my first two laser pointers today!

One was the "true" 4.99mW pointer sold by Optotronics with their optical accessory kit and the other was a 35mW Evo.

I also got some no-name 850mAh AAA rechargables and some Duracell alkies.

As an experiment, I decided to see how long I could stare into the Evo beam before I...OK, that was a joke. I may be a newbie, but I'm not that dumb. Almost, though...

I was buzzing it around my bedroom (quick bursts, mind you) and I was getting a little dazzled. Those goggles come in REALLY handy.

I have to say, though, that the Evo kind of frightens me. It's so durned BRIGHT that you have to be REALLY careful handling it. (yes, I know everyone knows this, but I'm just expressing myself ) I had been thinking before this that it might be cool to get a 95mW or whatever to try burning things, but I think I'll hold off.

I like the Opto <5mW, though. I can wave it around like an idiot without worrying about hurting myself.

Although that brings me to a question. I was over at my cousin's and she has three dogs. I was waving the 5mW around (NOT the Evo) and one of the dogs was chasing it like crazy. I always kept the dot away from him (no shining on the face, or eyes!!!!!), but I'm wondering if I was still playing with fire here. I think I read that it's OK to do that with red lasers, but green are just too bright and could hurt the animal even if it doesn't shine directly on it.

So how stupid am I, guys?

 

[timelord]

You''ll be ok with the 5mw with the dog red or green makes no differents it's down to power when it comes to eyes animal or human. With your 35mw try putting a magnifying glass in front of the beam and see if it'll light matches, some 35mw units have been known to light matches.

 

[SenKat]

You SHOULD be okay - I have not heard of any 5mw doing any permanent dammage - it can be construed as "mean" though - depending on your point of view !  Now - I have laid in bed - shining my Aries 175 out the window - or across the room - I REALLY love seeing the beam - there is NOTHING better in my book ! And the cats will go APE for the -yup - the BEAM....smart little turds they are !  They follow the beam back to me, and are VERY curious....now - especially with the Aries I HAVE to be careful, as two of my cats are BLACK...I do NOT wanna cook the kittty !  They have batted at the beam from across the room - had a few close calls - but I am WAY more cautious now with it.
<5mw can dazzle temporarily - and as long as it is a TRUE <5 mw - with no IR leakage - you should be safe.

Hey - can you post measurements of your new evo ?  I have heard they are fatter, and longer than the originals - I wanna know if they will fit in the dragon cases or not !

Oh - and CONGRATS on your first addictive purchase !!! Welcome to the club - "Hi, I'm Mr Bear, and I have been a laser addict for....." ;D ;D ;D

 

[kingzilla]

Dog's vision isn't centered at 555nm like ours, they will not see the green as bright as we do compared to the red. As long as it is less than 5mw, you should be fine.

.........now - especially with the Aries I HAVE to be careful, as two of my cats are BLACK...I do NOT wanna cook the kittty !

Yeah, all that hair burning could be pretty smelly.

 

[mrbear]

You SHOULD be okay - I have not heard of any 5mw doing any permanent dammage - it can be construed as "mean" though - depending on your point of view ! Now - I have laid in bed - shining my Aries 175 out the window - or across the room - I REALLY love seeing the beam - there is NOTHING better in my book ! And the cats will go APE for the -yup - the BEAM....smart little turds they are ! They follow the beam back to me, and are VERY curious....now - especially with the Aries I HAVE to be careful, as two of my cats are BLACK...I do NOT wanna cook the kittty ! They have batted at the beam from across the room - had a few close calls - but I am WAY more cautious now with it.
<5mw can dazzle temporarily - and as long as it is a TRUE <5 mw - with no IR leakage - you should be safe.

Hey - can you post measurements of your new evo ? I have heard they are fatter, and longer than the originals - I wanna know if they will fit in the dragon cases or not !

Oh - and CONGRATS on your first addictive purchase !!! Welcome to the club - "Hi, I'm Mr Bear, and I have been a laser addict for....." ;D ;D ;D

I should have mentioned that I also got a Dragon case, and, yep, the Evo is too long. I figured this was no big deal, because I'd just use it to hold the 5mW. Unfortunately, the "li'l" laser is about the same length, so IT'S too long as well! :-?

The Evo is 6.25" long and around 5/8" in diameter (158.75mm x 16mm). The Dragon Case's outside dimensions measure 6.25" so obviously that's not gonna work.

While I was writing this, I hauled out my stash and shot a photo, with a Sharpie to give it some scale, but since I can't post links here, you can see it at dub-dub-dub dot grenald.com/lasers/lasers.jpg

Well, I'm glad to hear that I'm not going to hurt the dog. He likes to play fetch with some small stuffed toys, but I've NEVER seen him go as crazy as he did for that green dot. And he's not stupid. When he tires out, he stops chasing.

As for the "li'l" laser, I got it from Optotronics with their Optics Kit (check their website, I can't post the link) and they say its output has been verified with a Coherent FieldMaster GS power meter. My impression from reading the boards over the last few weeks was that the Optotronics guys were pretty reliable. My only "worry" is that the extra lens I ordered got lost in the packing material.

So Senkat, your Aries is over twice as bright as my Evo, right. If I stare the spot on my wall for more than maybe a half-second, it bothers my eye. How the heck do you manage it?? I've got that "playing with fire" sensation every time I turn on my 35mW Evo, except when I took it outside and shone it at some stars (I live in LA, so by "stars" I mean Ben Affleck ;D) that was really cool watching that beam shoot off to infinity. But inside? Brrr! The goggles work great, except they block the beam, and most of the scatter, so that all I'll see is the dot on the wall.

 

[SenKat]

I use my goggles 99% of the time I am messing with the Aries - for the rest of the time, I am careful about angles, so as to not blast myself with the reflection...some of the videos you have seen on here were me PRIOR to having the goggles...

 

[mrbear]

I use my goggles 99% of the time I am messing with the Aries - for the rest of the time, I am careful about angles, so as to not blast myself with the reflection...some of the videos you have seen on here were me PRIOR to having the goggles...

OIC.

So the Aries is powerful enough to see the beam even with glasses? Yow! I gave my goggles and the 5mW to a buddy of mine and he couldn't even tell if it was on! ;D

 

[SenKat]

No - I think I was misunderstood - I cannot see the beam of tha Aries with the goggles on - only the dot...and that is greatly reduced is brightness. The times I do not wear my goggles, I am very careful about reflections, etc - my eyes already suck - not looking to screw them up worse !

 

[mrbear]

Well, I hit the LA pen show a few weeks ago, looking for a case for the Evo. One company that makes their own pen cases says they'll have something big enough shortly, so I'll let y'all know.

I also found a Dragon case...well, in hindsight it makes perfect sense. Wicked found these pen cases and thought they'd be cool for the lasers, so they commissioned a custom end cap from the manufacturer. That also explains why the Dragon cases don't fit the Evos, since Wicked doesn't make them.