US-Midwest. Good to meet you all.

[VisionEnthusiast]

I'm a computer science enthusiast with a passion for many areas of science and engineering. Previous/current hobbies include radio control, astronomy, target shooting, Linux, PC hardware, and CNC machining. I work in IT.

My interest was first drawn to lasers by their use to point out stars in the sky (I am embarrassingly bad at following gestures to identify stars), but once I learned handheld lasers of sufficient power to burn exist, my enthusiasm skyrocketed. Rarely do I join forums, but high powered lasers are far too fascinating and dangerous to dive into without counsel. As my name and profession indicate, I cannot afford to be without my vision.

Thanks for reading.

 

[Richie89]

hey VE where are you from? yes lasers are some of the most fascinating pieces of technology on the planet. I for one believe that lasers aside form atomic energy are the most powerful things on the planet, with the ability to heat things up to several million degrees. after all we use them to create momentary fussion, and disable enemies from miles away know as weaponized lasers. Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman specialize in Weaponized lasers so yes this is an amazing hobby

 

[VisionEnthusiast]

hey VE where are you from? yes lasers are some of the most fascinating pieces of technology on the planet. I for one believe that lasers aside form atomic energy are the most powerful things on the planet, with the ability to heat things up to several million degrees. after all we use them to create momentary fussion, and disable enemies from miles away know as weaponized lasers. Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman specialize in Weaponized lasers so yes this is an amazing hobby

Wisconsin.

Yes, lasers are truly fascinating. We can set fires from dozens of meters away with nothing more than directed light powered by a few volts. Simply incredible. Great power, great responsibility and all that.

 

[paul1598419]

You may find that burning things with lasers is a passing fad. It certainly was for me. There are so many things you can do with the appropriate laser that catching things on fire is the least of them. I have used them since 1980 to make holograms and they are also useful in determining the chemical structure of compounds. Glad to have you among us here.

 

[hakzaw1]

Wisconsin. ...lets see''' who lives up that way.. Evil300- AND styropyro.IIRC . for starters afaik.
Okay update/ edit

just from a 'Wisconsin' search
I found these (some may no longer come around)

Wisconsin members.
Heruuscience --- awesome laserist and ebayer got who ran off for NO good reason-- Got great deals from Chris
Lauthai (Joel)
pieconey (now 18yrsold ) is in Brookfield Wis

supermario
Cypar
seamorblue
UHF posts 'Hello from Milwaukee' in his intro thread.
jrinden ( had interest in turning off street lights w/ a laser--(BOOO bad idea)
Kartracer00 out of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin

and that^^ goes TO 2013.. AND . From mosty those smart enough to put their location IN THE TITLE of their 'intro' post.. IMHO not just a GOOD IDEA.. it should be mandatory to do that or put (something like :'I choose to not give my location'-
-and to those members I say 'no problem'..whatever the reasons I respect them.



two of the most awesome members--always wanted to meet Styro (famous at YTUBE.)
.and the times (at SELEM & STEXLEM ) when I met Evil300 were great!! he came to my pop-up STEXLEM along with 'Platinum' and they provided the only laser projectors there...(that is how new I was to PJs)

He showed me a projector 'demo' that everyone needs to try out. I AND my friends LOVED it. He placed 3 chairs close together (in a triangle) in front of his RGB full color PJ---IIRC is was at least 3W.
Three of my friends sat down and he explained that they were NOT to get up until the laser was shut off.
We ran the fogger (w/ no 'air movers' on ) in a way that left the fog THICK but NOT dispersed-- what I call 'wispy' fog.
He then made circle patterns and other 'shapes' that do not put ANY of the lasers inside a circle etc--TRY IT!! It makes the most beautiful laser demo I have ever seen... btw he turned down the power from the beginning.. just in case..
haha-- nobody wanted to give up their seats!!! It was neater than liquid sky or regular 'tunnel efx' and a great time to have a good camera !!!
He did this 'freestyle' but with QS (ETC) you can have your PJ running thru many effects..and color combos..

with just TTL- but with analog modulation the possibilities are really endless.

^^^ I know some this is way off topic--sorry

 

[VisionEnthusiast]

You may find that burning things with lasers is a passing fad. It certainly was for me. There are so many things you can do with the appropriate laser that catching things on fire is the least of them. I have used them since 1980 to make holograms and they are also useful in determining the chemical structure of compounds. Glad to have you among us here.

Catching things on fire will likely be a minor distraction from the other more fascinating properties of powerful laser light. I'm more interested in visual laser effects like lumia, though I have to be honest and say lighting things on fire with a laser is pretty incredible.

That sounds pretty awesome hakzaw, I'd love to see those photos if you have a link or search term to find them

 

[paul1598419]

We have members who still enjoy trying to set wood on fire from as far away as possible, so you are in good company. It really depends on how much power you are wanting and what kind of power density you can achieve. This will determine what other uses you can find for your lasers. Lasers are used to etch in wood and other materials and if you are into the optics of lasers you can make an optical tweezer to hold and move small particles around within the beam's waist. But, to make holograms you need a high coherence length, not much power. Gas lasers are still the most affordable way to do this.

 

[LewDude]

Welcome! You and I have some commonalities - computers, lasers, eyes! I live in the mid-west (Indy). I typically do not join internet forums, but this is a lovely place with some smart people. Good luck on your builds!

 

[Richie89]

You may find that burning things with lasers is a passing fad. It certainly was for me. There are so many things you can do with the appropriate laser that catching things on fire is the least of them. I have used them since 1980 to make holograms and they are also useful in determining the chemical structure of compounds. Glad to have you among us here.

funny you mention that, because I have noticed that I find burning things a little boring now. lol! the key for me is to now have lower power to leave on longer. I actually have something funny I wanna tell you, since you know about my past, I have been stressed out and ended up buying a pack of cigs after being smoke free for years and I forgot a lighter so ive been using my PLTB450B build so light my cig. bahaha!

 

[Lifetime17]

Hi V From cheese country glad to have you here lots of good things happening lately . So look around have fun and be safe.

Rich

 

[paul1598419]

funny you mention that, because I have noticed that I find burning things a little boring now. lol! the key for me is to now have lower power to leave on longer. I actually have something funny I wanna tell you, since you know about my past, I have been stressed out and ended up buying a pack of cigs after being smoke free for years and I forgot a lighter so ive been using my PLTB450B build so light my cig. bahaha!

I hope you don't do that with the cigarette in your mouth, Richie. That is too close to your eyes. I use a butane lighter myself.

 

[CurtisOliver]

Welcome to the forum VisionEnthusiast.
Enjoy your stay!