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Review of the High Power 5mw Blue Laser Pointer Pen Visible Beam Light

Joined
Nov 1, 2006
Messages
549
Points
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High Power 5mw Blue Laser Pointer Pen Visible Beam Light, retail $4.95

Manufactured by: (Unknown)

Last updated 11-30-20

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The High Power 5mw Blue Laser Pointer Pen Visible Beam Light (hereinafter, probably just called a violet diode laser) is a violet-emitting, directly-injected laser. That is, it produces violet laser radiation directly, without the need for messy, fragile nonlinear crystals like those 532nm green laser pointers and the amberish-yellow and 473nm blue ones as well. It uses two AAA cells -- the same power source used in most other "pen-style" laser pointers and portable lasers.

It is advertised as being a "blue" laser (but down the page is indicated to be a GREEN laser!) and have an output of 5mW; it has a spectrographcally measured wavelength of 410.4nm (which is violet and not blue OR green!) and a measured power output of 32mW.

The Ebay listing has the following data in it:

o Item: Laser Pointer 5mW 532nm
o Condition: New
o Quantity: 1
o Color: >Blue
o Point at targets up to 2 miles away
o Portable and versatile
o High powered 5mw laser beam
o Powered by Two (2) AAA batteries (not included)

It comes in a handsome brass body with a black finish and chrome colored bezel, tailcap, and pocket clip.

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SIZE

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To get the laser to turn on, first be certain that there are a pair of AAA cells installed. If there isn't, then install them (see directly below), and THEN you can go irradiate something.
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Aim the laser well-away from your face first.
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Press & hold down the button on the barrel for as long as you want or need the laser spot, and release pressure on the button to turn the laser back off.

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To change the batteries in this violet laser , unscrew the laser near the center, and set the front portion aside.

Tip the two used AAA cells out of the barrel and into your hand, and dispose of, recycle, or recharge them as you see fit.

Insert two new AAA cells into the barrel, button-end (+) positive first. This is the opposite of how batteries are installed in most flashlights, so please pay attention to polarity here.

Screw the front portion of the tube back on, and be done with it.

Unable to measure current usage due to how the laser was constructed.[/B][/B]





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Beam photograph of this laser on a wall at ~12".

Beam image bloomed ***SIGNIFICANTLY***.

I deliberately photographed this in somewhat low daylight to help reduce image blooming!!!



That white & blue color does not really exist; the spot appears to be a very deep royal purple to the eye.

Digital cameras have a tough time at these wavelengths.



And yes, I know that the colors purple and violet are two different critters, but the phrase "royal violet" would not make very much sense; however, most everybody knows what "royal purple" looks like.



Purple is a mixture of red & blue; violet is a spectral color, encompassing wavelengths of ~390nm to ~420nm.



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Beam photograph on a wall at ~10'.

Again, that white & blue color does not really exist.



Those queer little "wings" that you see around the central beam spot really do exist in reality; it was not a camera trick this time.
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I'm uncertain as to exactly what's causing this; the beam does not appear to be being vignetted along its fast axis which would normally cause this type of artifact.





Power output measures 32mW on a LaserBee AX laser power meter.



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Spectrographic analysis of the Blu-ray laser diode in this product.

Wavelength appears to be ~410nm, which is within specification for the type of laser diode used in this laser.



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Same as above; but spectrometer's response narrowed to a band between 405nm and 415nm.

This shows that the wavelength is 410.4nm -- right about where I eyeballed it prior to spectroscopy.



The raw spectrometer data (tab-delimited that can be loaded into Excel) is at br51.txt



USB2000 Spectrometer graciously donated by P.L.



A beam cross-sectional analysis would normally appear here, but the ProMetric System that I use for that test was destroyed by lightning in mid-July 2013.
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TEST NOTES:
Test unit was purchased on Ebay on 11-26-20 (or "26 Nov. 2020" if you prefer), and was received on the afternoon of 11-30-20.

I have decided to rate this little laser three stars.
The only real reasons that it did not receive five stars is because the claimed power output and the measured power output vary so greatly (claimed at <5mW, measured at 32mW) -- a rather severe no-no and because it is mislabelled which is also another no-no -- actually that's a HELL NO!!!



UPDATE
00-00-00:


PROS:
Color is very radiant & unusual for a handheld laser
Uses inexpensive and readily available batteries
The price is right!


CONS:
Just the usual suspects for laser modules/pointers - nothing that affects rating...actually, there are two little things: it is advertised as a 5mW laser, but outputs a measured 32mW of laser radiation.
That's what lopped most of that last star off.
Improperly labelled; it is marked as a CDRH Class IIIA laser with an output not exceeding 5mW. That's what nocked another star off.



MANUFACTURER: Unknown
PRODUCT TYPE: Violet-emitting diode laser
LAMP TYPE: Sony Blu-ray laser diode
No. OF LAMPS: 1
BEAM TYPE: Very narrow spot
SWITCH TYPE: Momentary on/off button on barrel
CASE MATERIAL: Brass
BEZEL: Metal; laser & lens recessed into its end
BATTERY: 2x AAA cells
CURRENT CONSUMPTION: Unable to measure
WATER-RESISTANT: Light splatter-resistant at maximum
SUBMERSIBLE: For Christ sakes NO!!!
ACCESSORIES: None
WEIGHT: 39g (1.38oz) incl. batteries; 16g (0.56oz.) empty
COUNTRY OF MANUFACTURE: China
WARRANTY: Unknown/not stated

PRODUCT RATING:
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