Help Out a Laser Noob! lol

[ElectricNoodle]

Just wondering if the nice people at this forum could clear some things up regarding lasers?

1.Are Lasers Illegal in the UK?
2.If so will the 200mW Red I ordered from DX be confiscated at customs?
3.If I use this in public will it attract ALOT of attention? (ie police/school confiscating laser)
4.How necessary is it to use Safety Goggles?
5.If Safety Goggles are necessary then where is the cheapest place to get them? (certified working ones)
6.How much time will I get from 2 CR2 800mAH Rechargables from DX?
7.Does this ignite stuff other than things colored with a Sharpie?
8.Will I see the beam in Day/night
9.How many of you forum peple actually have this laser?
10.What are the chances of mine being DOA


lol sorry for all the questions but Its my first laser and I definetly don't want it to break and or get confiscated at all!! Any answers will be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks

Steven

 

[chido]

1 and 2 I don't know since I don't live in the UK
3. Definetely do not use it in public.
4. They are essential. (you should've gotten goggles before you ordered the laser)
5. Right here
6. I think about a couple of hours. (the entire time your laser will be on)
7. As long as you focus it down to the smallest spot it should burn most things. (might have trouble with white things though)
8. Mostly in any dark place, a green laser is better if you want to see the beam.
9. Right now I think about 3 people have gotten it (not sure) but a lot of people ordered it.
10. Don't know since not a lot of people have gotten the laser, but with the green ones its usually just a matter of luck.

EDIT: Welcome to the forum ;D

 

[Amnizu]

Just wondering if the nice people at this forum could clear some things up regarding lasers?

1.Are Lasers Illegal in the UK?
2.If so will the 200mW Red I ordered from DX be confiscated at customs?
3.If I use this in public will it attract ALOT of attention? (ie police/school confiscating laser)
4.How necessary is it to use Safety Goggles?
5.If Safety Goggles are necessary then where is the cheapest place to get them? (certified working ones)
6.How much time will I get from 2 CR2 800mAH Rechargables from DX?
7.Does this ignite stuff other than things colored with a Sharpie?
8.Will I see the beam in Day/night
9.How many of you forum peple actually have this laser?
10.What are the chances of mine being DOA

1) Class II and below are allowed, which is <5mW, so maybe yours is.
2) Maybe, it depends if customs thinks your package is suspicious.
3) Yes, it will attract a ton of attention as most people have never seen a high-powered laser
4) It's very necessary, especially with 200mW of red blazing out the end of the laser.
5) Wickedlasers.com stocks goggles suitable for use with red lasers, check them out.
6) I have no clue.
7) It will light matches, pop balloons, cut tape, melt plastic, etc. Most of the standard things you'd expect from a laser these days.
8) In daylight, maybe not. At night, almost certainly. It also depends on how you focus the beam, the more tightly focused it, the denser the light and the more visible it will be.
9) A couple people have received theirs, check the Red lasers, Reviews, and Multimedia section for pictures, videos, reviews, etc.
10) It depends, some of them have been good build quality, some of them have been awful. As usual with DealExtreme, it's a gamble.

 

[bob12345]

Just wondering if the nice people at this forum could clear some things up regarding lasers?

1.Are Lasers Illegal in the UK?
2.If so will the 200mW Red I ordered from DX be confiscated at customs?
3.If I use this in public will it attract ALOT of attention? (ie police/school confiscating laser)
4.How necessary is it to use Safety Goggles?
5.If Safety Goggles are necessary then where is the cheapest place to get them? (certified working ones)
6.How much time will I get from 2 CR2 800mAH Rechargables from DX?
7.Does this ignite stuff other than things colored with a Sharpie?
8.Will I see the beam in Day/night
9.How many of you forum peple actually have this laser?
10.What are the chances of mine being DOA


lol sorry for all the questions but Its my first laser and I definetly don't want it to break and or get confiscated at all!! Any answers will be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks

Steven

1.) Outside, Class II is the highest. For "private/lab" use, you can go nuts.
2.) It won't as long as you used EMS. There is a chance of it happening but it's low. (I'm in London and I've recieved several lasers, all Class 3B)
3.) Yes, if you use it in public it will cause issues. The 200mW is not visible enough in daylight (beam) to cause issues there but the dot WILL blind someone, the unfocused oval will dazzle and probably knock a person's vision out for at least an hour. And from there, ABH/GBH charges will follow. It depends on your age, but this is NOT something you can carry in public.
4.) Not necessary until you get hit in the eye by it. How much do you value your eyes?
5.) N/A
6.) A fair amount (at least 30 minutes continuous usage if not much much longer - I haven't had the chance to fully charge mine) but they lose charge over time, so you need a charger.
7.) If it absorbs red, it will burn. It also depends how conductive of heat the material is.
8.) Not in daylight. At night, the beam is visible if you hold the laser to your eye as if you were aiming it as a gun (MAKE SURE IT'S POINTING THE RIGHT WAY!!!).
9.) I do. Hehe.
10.) Small.

On DOA issues - the laser might actually not be DOA but the switch may not work, things like that. That is solved very easily, with a small dab of solder on the contacts. Also, when I got it I thought it was DOA - until I put the batteries in the right way round.

 

[ElectricNoodle]

thanks for the replies! Bob can i ask rom when you ordered it how long did it take to actually arrive on your doorstep?? Also what is the range on this thing?

lol im quite worried about the eye damage thing now.... I haven't ordered glasses yet but if Im careful are they necessary?(Isn't it just a case of not shining it in the direction of anything reflectable? And pointing it away from your face?) Or am I just being stupid and should order some now? I will order some if necessary but would rather spend the extra money on more lasers... lol

EDIT: If anyone here on the forum is interested in selling a pair of 650nm glasses then please let me know I would definetly be interested...

 

[likewhat]

I never thought much of wearing glasses when I worked with low power (10 mW) diode lasers but now that I work with pulsed lasers I never go into the room without glasses on. The reason is when you have pulsed lasers a single 1 ps pulse can cause serious damage. The only time I dont wear glasses is if I am working with a HeNe that is only a few mW. When I work with my 500 mW green yag I always wear them even though it is bolted to a table and I know exactly where the beam is going into the experiment. My eyes arent worth the off chance that a mirror mount breaks. It is more likely that you will screw up and accidentally hit a mirror with yours as you are waving it around playing with it than one of my mounts breaking, but hey, they are your eyes.

 

[bob12345]

thanks for the replies! Bob can i ask rom when you ordered it how long did it take to actually arrive on your doorstep?? Also what is the range on this thing?

lol im quite worried about the eye damage thing now.... I haven't ordered glasses yet but if Im careful are they necessary?(Isn't it just a case of not shining it in the direction of anything reflectable? And pointing it away from your face?) Or am I just being stupid and should order some now? I will order some if necessary but would rather spend the extra money on more lasers... lol

EDIT: If anyone here on the forum is interested in selling a pair of 650nm glasses then please let me know I would definetly be interested...

Well, I don't presently wear glasses. That's because I take extreme care with it (I only shine at the sky or matte black objects that I know won't give any damaging reflection) and I'm stupid. As far as it goes though, this laser is definitely not a toy. I can definitely say that it's one strike and you'll be hurting in that eye, if not blinded for a long time (it feels like a white hot needle on the back of my hand, and this doesn't change with range, when it's focused right). So if you actually value your eyes, goggles would be a very good idea. Another thing - this dot/beam is about 10x less bright than my 50mW green, so it's doubly dangerous. It doesn't look harmful at all, but looks are deceiving here, and if you look at it, you won't be decieved by what's left of your eye for a while.

For me:

Ordered 1/3/08
Shipped out 12/3/08
Left Hong Kong 14/3/08
In my hands on 18/3/08

Of course, this was the crazy rush at the start where everyone was buying it. It might be better or worse for you. As for the range - you won't be worrying about that. The beam range is as far as the eye can see, but the beam is barely visible at night. The dot, it depends on how well you focus it (very very hard to focus it at infinity, which is what you want for max range). Either way, you won't have any range problems.

 

[darklandz]

can i just add - any laser above 1mw is banned but there is no law which states that owning a high powered laser = confiscation,custody or sentencing.
if u were caught with it, it would depend on why/how you were using it and also what was around you at the time.

 

[Razako]

Basically don't use the laser in front of cops or point it at people/animals/planes/cars/buildings and you should be fine.
Wtf is up with anything over 1mw being banned lol. You can't do ANYTHING with 1mw. The 2-3mw keychain reds are very weak and harmless unless you intentionally look into them for a long period of time.

In the USA pointers without safety features over 5mw are prohibited. That is much more reasonable.

 

[darklandz]

well when the first keychain 1mw reds stormed through the UK market, i remember seeing news reports of bus drivers vicitimised by idiots who obviously thought they were very cool.
from there on it was exaggerated that all lasers above 1mw should not be entering the uk etc.
like mentioned above, play with the laser where there is no sign of people,buildings,traffic. ie at your home/lab or somewhere in the countryside.

 

[Amnizu]

What? You mean the media is hyping up an extremely minor threat to terrorize and confuse the general populace? Surely not!