Hello! New member from Mexico

[Appl]

Hello guys, I’ve been reading a lot of threads from here before considering joining, so thanks in advance to everyone for all the things that I learned. I’m from Mexico City and I am 17 years old. I’ve always been interested in science, specially physics, so, since I was a kid, I liked doing little experiments with electricity and magnets. Like a year ago I bought one of those cheap keychain lasers that you can find in basically any fair, and one day by accident I found Styropyro’s YouTube channel, and that boosted my interest for lasers, finally, I decided to join the hobby and bought a 532 nm with an output of “>2000 mW” lol I know it’s clearly miss labeled, but it’s still very bright though. I also bought a pair of eye protection glasses that seem to work pretty well.

I would really like to continue on the hobby. So I was thinking about getting some red and blue pointers too, or try to build one myself from a DVD burner, what should I do first? I have some experience with electronics, since I took a long arduino course.


Kind regards to everyone and I hope to learn a lot from here, and at the same time offer my help to others.

I apologize for any gramatical mistake, English is not my native language and I’m still getting used to it.


Cheers!

 

[ArcticDude]

Hi and welcome to LPF!
Have fun & stay safe

 

[paul1598419]

Welcome to the LPF. Yeah any laser pointer you bought at 532nm is going to be less than 2000 mW.....likely by a lot. I hope you didn't buy a 303 laser for more than $5.00 as that is what they sell for all day in China. There are many options for you out there. I bought a red 650nm laser on eBay for $9.99 that outputs 211 mW. For the price it is a nice deal. If you are interested, I can find a link for you.

 

[Appl]

Welcome to the LPF. Yeah any laser pointer you bought at 532nm is going to be less than 2000 mW.....likely by a lot. I hope you didn't buy a 303 laser for more than $5.00 as that is what they sell for all day in China. There are many options for you out there. I bought a red 650nm laser on eBay for $9.99 that outputs 211 mW. For the price it is a nice deal. If you are interested, I can find a link for you.

Well, I don’t know if mine is one of that “303’s”. This is the link I bought it from: https://articulo.mercadolibre.com.mx/MLM-624225699-laser-potente-15-km-de-distancia-2000-mw-_JM
And yes, I would love that link, thank you

 

[BowtieGuy]

Welcome to LPF, Appl.

Have fun, stay safe, and enjoy your stay.

It does look like the laser that you purchased is one of the 301/303 style models.
Be sure and have the proper safety eyewear for your particular lasers.

 

[paul1598419]

Well, I don’t know if mine is one of that “303’s”. This is the link I bought it from: https://articulo.mercadolibre.com.mx/MLM-624225699-laser-potente-15-km-de-distancia-2000-mw-_JM
And yes, I would love that link, thank you

Yes, that is a 303 laser. Please tell me you didn't pay $440 for it. You can buy these all day long on eBay for $5.00 with free shipping. Here is the link to that 650nm red laser I told you about. www.ebay.com/itm/183391268180. It is just $9.99, but it takes an 18650 Li-ion battery.

 

[LaserRanger]

Bienvenido paisano, welcome to LPF I'm a new member myself of Mexican origin residing in Los Angeles California . Soy del estado de hidalgo y si tienes preguntas yo podría ayudarte. If you have access to used/broken DVD burners that you can get for cheap than by all means harvest them and practice building lasers with the cheapest options. That's how I started and it was smart because it doesn't matter how much experience you have with electronics, you WILL kill many lasers during your hobby. I ended up killing all of the harvested lasers by running them really hard with minimal heatsinking then I bought cheap diodes until I was comfortable buying more expensive diodes.

@paul1598419
it might be 440 pesos that he paid for which is still around 35 US dollars? And I'm not sure about import duties/taxes for Mexico which could drive the price that high. I'm not sure how much a laser can be purchased nowadays. I was about 9 years old last time I was in Mexico

 

[Appl]

Oh dang. Don’t worry, that $440 label is for Mexican pesos... Like 15-20 dollars still.

Thank you all for the advice, I think it’s still a good starting laser though.

 

[paul1598419]

They aren't bad as inexpensive solid state lasers go. But, it is not good that you over paid for yours. These actually end up measuring between 50 mW and 85 mW. That is nowhere near 2000 mW. I have several of these 532nm 303 lasers and most of mine measured right around 80 mW, but one came in closer to 50 mW. Next time you see a laser you would like to have submit a link and if it can be had cheaper, I'll give you a link to that.

 

[LaserRanger]

Also be careful with those cheap green lasers that leak dangerous IR light that's not very visible but can cause damage. There was a post that had very useful information about it and if you have glasses that only protect your eyes from 532nm light and not IR light then you can see how it will be dangerous since you won't notice the infrared light passing through your protective gear. As long as it works and you enjoy the laser then it's worth it in my opinion