So, after looking around here for a bit...

[FreeK200]

I decided to purchase the following:

www.rayfoss.com and www.rayfoss.com

Can someone tell me the quality of the goggles listed there? As you can already assume, I'm just a cheapy looking to get started with lasers.

Also, as for the 50mW, exactly how bright can I expect it to be? Would the beam faintly show during the daytime? Thanks!

Additionally, if anyone can further inform me about the purchasing process on rayfoss, I'd appreciate it. I just typed in my information and it told me it would send me an email. How long does that typically take?

Anyways, my account is now activated and I'm happy to be here

 

[enigmahack]

Congrats, and welcome to the forum!

When looking at goggles, basically you want to find the OD spec/value. That's going to show you how much of a percentage of light it's going to block.

For example, I believe an OD4 pair of goggles will make 500mw look like 5mw. (I'm just starting to learn about the goggles power itself, but there are charts that exist that tell you on what scale these goggles will block and what wavelength)

50mw doesn't need a high value - anything OD3 or above would be more than sufficient.

50mw is bright enough that it would be hard to look at on a wall with bare eyes at a close distance (Not recommended)

I want to say anything over 11 feet away would be okay to look at the dot, but then with 50mw it depends if it's IR filtered or not too, and the surface you're looking at it on, etc.
(Just wear the glasses to be safe)

About beam visibility: You're going to have different results on different days. On a cloudy day, I can see the beam better than on a sunny day. On a sunny day, you can see a 50mw dot perfectly fine, but the beam will be next to invisible unless pointing directly towards you, and even then you're only mostly going to see particles in the air.

It's also easier to see the beam when you have a dark contrast; if you shine the beam somewhere, and have a black backdrop, there's a higher likelyhood that you'll see the beam than if you're trying to see it with a lighter colored background.

Night time is a different story though. 50mw is more than plenty to see a nice solid beam (Again, if it's foggy, raining, misty, etc... you can see if much much better)

The email for rayfoss I've found is almost immediate - check your junkmail if you haven't already because Rayfoss is using a Hong Kong IP address range, emails could be blocked or filtered. (*I got my email for registration right away*)

You should be able to log in almost immediately though - once you purchase something, there'll be emails coming your way showing that you purchased something, and then I believe another one when it's shipped. (I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's the process)

Welcome again, and I would recommend looking through and reading a LOT - if you have questions, there's a search button in the top right. The one on the left is more of an advertising search - that won't help you exactly find what you're looking for. The one that just says the word "Search" and then when you click it, presents a dropdown - that's the one you want.

Most likely if you have a question about lasers, it's probably been asked in one way or another so try and search first just in case. Otherwise ask away - there's a LOT of extremely knowledagable people here, and it's pretty much a guarantee you'll get an answer. Maybe not always the one you want ;-) But you'll get an answer lol

 

[FreeK200]

Wow! Thanks for the informative answer. You were more than helpful :thanks:

Anyways, I'm really loving rayfoss, especially since it's a lot more personal than other businesses. I asked for a tracking number and I received it a few hours later, along with instructions on how to use it. Talk about excellent customer service. I think I've grown too accustomed to them already

Anyways, thanks for the information on the goggles and approximate distances. Speaking of goggles, after taking a look at what you said, the goggles I purchased are ">5.0(OD+5,OD+6)" If a OD4+ can handle a .5W, and I got these for so cheap at those specs, would I be able to safely consider them up to spec? :thanks:

 

[enigmahack]

Yeah, just about everything at Rayfoss is either up to or exceeding specs. Just be aware that their lasers, unless stated, don't have an IR filter. Otherwise, the goggles should be more than fine

And you're quite welcome for the info. It's sometimes nice to have a human answer to a perfectly reasonable question instead of "use the search button" though I'm sure there's lots of info there too...once you know what to look for