RadioShack Green Laser

[Andrewajt62]

Hi, this is my first post here and I am new to the hobby ;D. Two Saturdays ago I purhased a red >5mW laser from Radioshack. I loved this laser and was immediatly pulled into the laser hobby. Then the following Wednesday I purchased the Radioshack green laser for 42$ (the price is actually fifty but I had a coupon  ) I though it was awesome how I could see the beam in midair to point out stars and it I could tell the box wasn't lieing when it said it was 11 times brighter than the red one. It also has a good battery life. How much power do you think think this laser puts out? It is model      63-132 and I think it did have many older models. Do any of you own this laser and know the average mW? And does something like a 5mW Lyra C actually have enough power for the beam to be seen in light (it shows that in one of the pictures of its product decription)? Is their anyway I could test the ouput power?

EDIT (just some extra info): The instruction manual (the specifications) says:
Wavelengh: 532nm + 10nm (what does nm stand for and mean?)
Class lllA laser
Range: 10,000 feet or 2 miles (which I beleive is accurate)
Specifications are subjedt to change or improvement without notice. Individual untits may vary.
It also has 2-3 other things that aren't important such as the beam type.

The manual has deatailed instructions on caring for the laser and handling it and comes with a full one year warranty so you can tell these lasers weren't just thrown together to make a few quick bucks.

Also the beam has never dimed as some of the older reviews on the website say and the newer reviews are much more positive then the old, so there must have been improvements.
And I heard on and old post on some fourm that some one went through a few of these to get some good ones. Mine seems to work fine, maybe all the problems only occured on older units.

 

[New_Reverie]

my guess is between 5-15mw of green.

The visibility of a laser in well lit areas depends on the amount of particles in the air. Most lasers can be seen given enough dust or fog. If you are referring to these pictures....

No, it won't do that. That beam is photoshopped in.

 

[chopper]

I have one of the Radio Shack green lasers. It was my first green. My meter registers from 5mW to 1000mW (LaserBee I) and it doesn't register the radio shack laser. The site says 5mW:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2767643

I don't know if it compares to a 'true' 5mW of green that some of the better companies make, but people tell me it's better than some cheaper ones that they've purchased.

I now have a Nova(CNI) x-50 and alpha-105. You think your new green is bright, your in for a big surprise with something more powerful. Your eyes are much more sensitive to the green light, so they appear much much brighter at the same power of a comparable red or violet etc. I still can't get over how bright the x-50 is compared to the Radio Shack laser, but I still love the Radio Shack for pointing only. It's a great starter laser!

 

[Andrewajt62]

New_Reverie: Yeah, that's the pic alright. That's a pretty good photoshop job though. They put in a reflection on the table. I just couldn't see how a 5mW woul be that bright.

Chopper: I would agree that it is definitly better than some other green lasers that you would find at some stores. The instructions say it is >5mW although it is marked as a class lllA laser.

 

[RA_pierce]

The beam on the Lyra could be the result of a long exposure and a little fog.
It's not necessarily photoshop.
But there obviously was some kind of enhancement to bring out the beam.

The radioshack green will likely output 3-7mW.

As far as quality goes, though, the Lyra is much better- especially for the price.

Those Radioshack lasers (assuming it's the black and silver rubberized newwish type) go for $14 on Dealextreme.com.

 

[New_Reverie]

Given that these 3 lasers are all +300mW and there is a heavy amount of smoke and still they are not as bright as that beam shot of a 5mW pen, and considering how reflective that table is.....
Photoshop.

It wouldn't be hard to do the same shot without any light and then add the beam and reflection in. There is no way that laser would do that IRL.

 

[Andrewajt62]

The beam on the Lyra could be the result of a long exposure and a little fog.
It's not necessarily photoshop.
But there obviously was some kind of enhancement to bring out the beam.

The radioshack green will likely output 3-7mW.

As far as quality goes, though, the Lyra is much better- especially for the price.

Those Radioshack lasers (assuming it's the black and silver rubberized newwish type) go for $14 on Dealextreme.com.

Seriously, 3-7? That makes me happy ;D. The one you described is the kind I have. Are you sure 3-7 mW is accurate?

 

[RA_pierce]

Well, generally they will output more or less depending on a lot of variables.
DPSS lasers are very temperature sensitive. The output power also may change depending on the batteries you use and how close to a full charge they are.
The Lyra, Galileo, CORE (I think), and some other 5mW lasers have an APC. This basically regulates the power of the laser by regulating the current that goes to the pump diode.
It uses a photodiode to monitor a fraction of the power reflected from an IR filter or other flat lens and automatically adjusts the current level to maintain a stable output power of a predefined value.
If the output is too high, current decreases, too low and it will increase.
These newwish/radioshack/DX lasers do not (at least I don't think they do) have this APC.

This means that the output will vary depending on the conditions that the laser is operated under.

This can be a pro or a con, depending on your personal preference.



New_Reverie:
I'm not gonna say that photoshop definitely was not used, I'm just saying it is possible to get a picture like that without photoshop.

The Lyra's Photo was taken on a dark background, which makes greater contrast which will make the beam appear brighter.
Also, when looking toward the aperture the beam will appear brighter than if you looked at the beam from the side or in the direction the beam is going.

It is very possible to make the beam appear that bright with photographic effects alone, or with a little smoke added.
Here's a picture I took with no smoke and a relatively short exposure (~2 sec.).
It's only ~120mW.
The beam appears very bright for a 100mW laser, and no fog/smoke or photoshop was used.

It all depends on how you take the picture.


Edit:
After looking at the larger picture on the site, it actually does appear to have some enhancement, but my point still stands.

 

[Andrewajt62]

Well, generally they will output more or less depending on a lot of variables.
DPSS lasers are very temperature sensitive. The output power also may change depending on the batteries you use and how close to a full charge they are.
The Lyra, Galileo, CORE (I think), and some other 5mW lasers have an APC. This basically regulates the power of the laser by regulating the current that goes to the pump diode.
It uses a photodiode to monitor a fraction of the power reflected from an IR filter or other flat lens and automatically adjusts the current level to maintain a stable output power of a predefined value.
If the output is too high, current decreases, too low and it will increase.
These newwish/radioshack/DX lasers do not (at least I don't think they do) have this APC.

This means that the output will vary depending on the conditions that the laser is operated under.

This can be a pro or a con, depending on your personal preference.

Also, does the Radioshack Green have an IR filter? Can some one give me a good explanation of what that does?

 

[jonrobertd]

I bought one Monday and like it alot, but wish I was patient enough to wait for shipping on the 50mw from ledshoppe. After seeing the 5mw beam the 50mw must be awesome. Are they worth it to ship to USA.
Thinking of taking it back now but my little girls love it, and I think 50mw is too much for them to chase around the room/floor?

 

[RA_pierce]

Also, does the Radioshack Green have an IR filter? Can some one give me a good explanation of what that does?

A green laser beam is produced using the DPSS process.
DPSS is an acronym for "Diode pumped solid state."
In a green laser, the pump source is an Infrared (IR) diode which lases at 808nm.
This diode pumps a Nd:YVO4 crystal, which produces IR light at 1064nm. This light is then frequency doubled with a KTP crystal to produce 532nm laser light (532 is half of 1064- hence the frequency doubling which means halving the wavelength- get it?).
This process is inefficient (typically the 532nm output is less than 30% of the power of the pump source) and creates IR leakage. This leakage is just excess IR light emitted from the laser. The IR filter filters out the excess IR (both 1064 and 808nm) and makes the beam "purer" green.
You don't need to worry about the IR leakage from you laser, as it is only 5mW so the IR output will be negligible in most cases.
However, if you are concerned about safety, you can purchase a filter and install it yourself, as these lasers are typically sold unfiltered to reduce the production cost.
They are cyan colored pieces of glass.

 

[chopper]

I bought one Monday and like it alot, but wish I was patient enough to wait for shipping on the 50mw from ledshoppe. After seeing the 5mw beam the 50mw must be awesome. Are they worth it to ship to USA.
Thinking of taking it back now but my little girls love it, and I think 50mw is too much for them to chase around the room/floor?

Yeah, I keep my RS 5mW for animals, kids and general lecture pointing. I figure better safe then sorry, and I still am real careful around the living things.

 

[Andrewajt62]

The beam on the Lyra could be
Those Radioshack lasers (assuming it's the black and silver rubberized newwish type) go for $14 on Dealextreme.com.

There is a slight diffrence. The rubbery stuff is on the opposite side, as well as the safety label, which I removed (not that I'm against using . Do most of you remove the safety labels on small low-powered lasers?

And the price diffrence, meh. It's too late now, and I like having the rubber near the button. Apparently theses are made by the company "Wish", they're just slightly changed lookwise.

 

[jonrobertd]

I have a butt load of IR filters out of cameras, those ok to use as a filter, or different IR wavelength use.
I love having a friend who owns a camera shop, cause I get all the busted digital cams I want and loads of different optic pieces out of the lenses to play with.

Oh I am gonna keep this laser and order a 50mw later. Don't care that it was 50 bucks I can exchange it if it brakes anytime in a year (possibly longer, friends with the local shack owners too, I love a small town)

All in all it's a fun laser and good build quality, really heavy, good feel, balanced, yadda yadda.

I pulled the label off too as its only 5mw, might not on the higher ones.

 

[Andrewajt62]

After some reasearch I think it does have an IR filter.

EDIT: And apparently idiots wanting to pop ballons (I don't see why they can't just use a little pin) remove it.

 

[jonrobertd]

I don't know if it does have a filter or not because when mine gets real cold it doesn't lase green, but when I look at it with my cell camera I see a butt load of IR light, almost like a white led inside the hole.
Wouldn't an IR filter block that?