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- Apr 8, 2012
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I've watched videos on youtube, and I'm talking LOTS of videos to try and get an idea of how powerful the lasers need to be before you can actually see the beam clearly, and not just see the dot when it hits something.
But.........Many of the videos are shot with A. a crappy video camera or cell phone camera, and B. There is often some fog or smoke.
Obviously fog, either natural and outside, or artificially made with a fogger bought off Ebay for $40, will dramatically increase the visibility of the laser's beam.
I've now ordered the Amazon.com 3 pack of over spec lasers in 405nm, 532nm, and 650nm, and unfortunately before I was aware of those 3, I ordered another inexpensive 100mW laser(650nm red) from Olike.
I have not received any of them yet, and since I ordered the 100mW from Olike first, 3 days ago from China, I will probably receive it in 4-6 months!
But right now, the only laser I have is a cheap 1mW red key chain laser. However, when it was dark, and foggy outside, I could go out and shine it across the yard, and clearly see the beam for 150 feet or so! But only if I was looking straight down the beam. If I was looking at it from an angle, then I couldnt see it. But the fact that a little 1mW can be seen in foggy darkness proves how much fog will skew and exaggerate the beam.
What I want is a laser that can be seen clearly at dark, without any fog or smoke. I've now read enough, and watched info-videos from some guy "styropro" on youtube, and both there and here I've learned that the 532nm green laser frequency is the color that the eye is most sensitive to so you can see it easier than the other colors. But I dont know which frequencies are #2, #3 and #4 as far as human eye sensitivity goes.
I've heard that 532nm is 4 times a bright to the human eye as 650nm, but dont know if thats accurate(?)
So it's hard to tell what power level is actually needed for easy viewing of the beam in each color/frequency range. Some of these unclear videos suggest that maybe 50mW is all you need in 532nm. But other videos seem to show that even 150mW in 532nm might not be enough!
So how much power do you really need to see the beams clearly on a reasonably dark night, in the following color frequencies?
405nm:
445nm:
532nm:
635nm:
650nm:
Thanks, and sorry if this is a really stupid, basic question, it's just that the accurate answers seem hard to come by! Plus they fluctuate.:thinking:
But.........Many of the videos are shot with A. a crappy video camera or cell phone camera, and B. There is often some fog or smoke.
Obviously fog, either natural and outside, or artificially made with a fogger bought off Ebay for $40, will dramatically increase the visibility of the laser's beam.
I've now ordered the Amazon.com 3 pack of over spec lasers in 405nm, 532nm, and 650nm, and unfortunately before I was aware of those 3, I ordered another inexpensive 100mW laser(650nm red) from Olike.
I have not received any of them yet, and since I ordered the 100mW from Olike first, 3 days ago from China, I will probably receive it in 4-6 months!
But right now, the only laser I have is a cheap 1mW red key chain laser. However, when it was dark, and foggy outside, I could go out and shine it across the yard, and clearly see the beam for 150 feet or so! But only if I was looking straight down the beam. If I was looking at it from an angle, then I couldnt see it. But the fact that a little 1mW can be seen in foggy darkness proves how much fog will skew and exaggerate the beam.
What I want is a laser that can be seen clearly at dark, without any fog or smoke. I've now read enough, and watched info-videos from some guy "styropro" on youtube, and both there and here I've learned that the 532nm green laser frequency is the color that the eye is most sensitive to so you can see it easier than the other colors. But I dont know which frequencies are #2, #3 and #4 as far as human eye sensitivity goes.
I've heard that 532nm is 4 times a bright to the human eye as 650nm, but dont know if thats accurate(?)
So it's hard to tell what power level is actually needed for easy viewing of the beam in each color/frequency range. Some of these unclear videos suggest that maybe 50mW is all you need in 532nm. But other videos seem to show that even 150mW in 532nm might not be enough!
So how much power do you really need to see the beams clearly on a reasonably dark night, in the following color frequencies?
405nm:
445nm:
532nm:
635nm:
650nm:
Thanks, and sorry if this is a really stupid, basic question, it's just that the accurate answers seem hard to come by! Plus they fluctuate.:thinking: