Need help choosing

[TriggerRenegade]

Hi everyone, I'm currently the president of an Astronomy club at my school. So far, I've been having trouble pointing to certain constellations in the sky due to the fact that I don't have a solid state laser pointer, hence, I will buy a solid state laser pointer now. Can I get recommendations on a laser that's between 10-20mW and around $50-$100? Thank you. Oh, can anyone tell me the laws about laser pointers, I'm somewhat worried that someone might try something stupid with the laser if I set it down to take care of something.

 

[chido]

Don't point it at planes, cars, or any other moving thing, that way you won't have the FBI after you. ;D

 

[chido]

And you can get some cheap green lasers from here:
http://www.dealextreme.com/search.dx/search.green lasers
Shipping takes a long time, but you can't beat the price.

 

[BlueFusion]

True 30mW is your best bet. Can't beat the price, it'll be more than 30mW, and it's perfect for pointing to stuff. Anything brighter and the beam distracts from the view.

 

[TriggerRenegade]

Yeah, but these lasers don't sport IR filters...are they safe to use in an outside environment? What about Wicked Lasers? I saw on their website that their lasers sport IR filters

 

[Laser_Team_Holland]

Well, although they state otherwise, a lot of people posted that DX lasers actually DO have an IR-filter, but they just don't advertise with it because they don't want to be held responsible in case some slip through without filter and damage someone's eyes, risking a lawsuit.

Wicked Lasers aren't that bad, compared to a DX, but they're very overpriced. Take a look at  the X15 from Nova, only 79 dollars, but surely better than a WL.

 

[Razako]

Get the 30 mw here
http://www.optotronics.com/green_pens.php
or for cheaper you can get this
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.469
The nova x-15 might also be a good idea.

Btw you should be fine starpointing with it as long as you don't point the thing at airplanes or helicopters. Aka tell you buddies not to point it at moving lights in the sky.

 

[chido]

Compared to the rest of their lasers, the Core is probably the only good laser Wicked Lasers sells. Don't worry that much about IR, like LTH said, they do come with an IR filter, and even if some IR leaked through, it wouldn't be that much and it also wouldn't be that dangerous since it spreads out a lot.

 

[Razako]

The WL pulsars are also decent. Mine is at least.

Stay away from all of their higher green lasers though. They are almost always badly under spec.

 

[TriggerRenegade]

Ah, thank you all for your input, I should be ordering a DX laser soon then. Oh, also, how can I tell if my laser has an IR filter or not?

 

[JECS]

well you can take it apart and look at it or grab a webcam or something that can capture ir light (point a tv remote at it and press buttons and see if you can see the ir) even with an ir filter there is a chance you will see some ir, it will just be significantly reduced. some people put in a better ir filter taken from a webcam. most people have webcams but usually dont take out the ir filter that is normally inside them so you can take it out and put it in the laser and kill 2 birds with 1 stone.