Range

[JerzyDevil]

Is 10,000 feet about the range of a true 5 Mw green laser? How about a more powerful 15 Mw?

 

[Murudai]

Range isn't something people use when judging lasers.

It's too variable. Are you talking range where you can still see the dot? Are you talking range where someone standing 10,000 feet away from you can see the dot if you shine it at them (well, near them)? Are we talking at night? During the day, or at dusk? Foggy conditions, perfectly clear? Any obstacles in the way?

etc.

 

[Switch]

Range isn't something people use when judging lasers.

It's too variable. Are you talking range where you can still see the dot? Are you talking range where someone standing 10,000 feet away from you can see the dot if you shine it at them (well, near them)? Are we talking at night? During the day, or at dusk? Foggy conditions, perfectly clear? Any obstacles in the way?

etc.

Divergence, etc.Someone made 40miles a long time ago with a 10mWish HeNe + beam expander.Of course the guy at the other end was staring into it.

 

[pseudonomen137]

Laser range is a myth made up by laser companies to appease all the people who keep asking "whats the range of this laser". All lasers have a range of infinite miles, even a 0.0001nanoWatt laser. (well, its true!)

 

[lazerguy]

If a laser company lists the range of their lasers, you automatically know that they are unprofessional (WL and Warnlaser are examples). Even a regular red laser pointer with 0mrad in divergence would be visible on some remote planet lightyears away. At least theoretically because lasers always diverge, and the space is full of particles blocking and scattering the laser beam.

 To at least partially answer your question JerzyDevil, a green 15mw with  about 1mrad in divergence would definitley in a clear, dark night be visible on a white surface 10,000 feet away. At least i can see my a lil overpowered 5mw greenie on the tower of a church 2 miles away.

 

[MB500]

I think its reasonable for a company to advertise range and to want to know the approximate range of your laser. When figuring range I would assume you would pick a dot/ beam diameter that you wouldn't consider in the range of the laser. When it diverged to that size you would end the range there. But I really don't care personally, my lasers go way farther than I can see anyway .

 

[Murudai]

Sure us laser guys are more interested in beam diameter and divergence, but to someone just looking for a laser pointer, they would have no idea about this. Thus range would be much more valuable to them. Range is subjective, but they aren't really looking for hard core technical stats that they have no idea about. They just want to point at stuff.

So in that sense, I guess range is okay. But only if coupled with some other information, like the actual beam specs of course and something more understandable to normal people like 'at 100m the dot is 1m wide'.