What's your first memory of a laser pointer?

[LaySir]

Mine was at about age 7. My neighbor and friend had just come back from the beach with a small keychain button cell red laser pointer that came with a ton of different caps. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. After that I begged my parents to get me one of my own, it took a few years before I finally got one though.

 

[Alaskan]

Darn, using my phone I negged you on accident, wrong post. Someone please plus him.

 

[RB astro]

Darn, using my phone I negged you on accident, wrong post. Someone please plus him.

Fixed. :beer:

Good question LaySir (nice play on word 'Laser' btw).

My first memory was not of a portable handheld but of a large boxed red laser unit that plugs into the mains way back in 1989.
I've still got it somewhere, I might find it and post a pic.

My first handheld pointer was a green 532nm pen style with 2x AA batteries.
I bought it in 2006 to use for Astronomy.



RB

 

[Alaskan]

Thanks RB, he has more points now than he did before that happened. He had zero rep before but less green tiles, I am sure you added a bunch of points. Here is my question LaySir, why have you been so inactive since first joining? I've seen more people come out of being gone for years in the last few months than in the last near three years all together.

My first laser was an HeNe 5mw gas laser, I used to love to point it outside when it was snowing or foggy because you could then see the beam.

 

[lasersbee]

He needs 50 posts for his Reps to show under his Avatar...

Jerry

 

[Alaskan]

I will have to catch him back up more in a few days, but if he only posts an average of twice every year, won't matter, his score won't show for many years to come.

 

[10fenny]

I got a Lil red Keychain when was about 10 when I was on vacation.. of course the only use I had for it was to bother my sister. I would be in the balcony while she was at the pool talking to guys.. I would just shine it next to her and at that age it was the most entertaining thing ever. I do remember knowing about eye safety at that age surprisingly. Well it took the button batteries.. and at that age I really had no idea where to get then. So honestly I didn't even really get into lasers about 18 years later

 

[NightExplorer96]

The earliest I remember was getting a 532 eBay pointer about 6 years ago! It was just something to mess around with at school but it ended up turning into a hobby

-Alex

 

[Alaskan]

Well, I said my first laser was a 5w HeNe red, but it had to plug into AC power, so it wasn't really a pointer. I can't remember the first pointer I saw or when, but I do remember the first pointer which caught my interest enough to want one myself, that was in 2008, a friend had a 50mw 532nm green laser I thought was very cool and bought one for myself that year.

 

[Benm]

I guess the first was back in the 90's, a HeNe laser that was in a rectangular enclosure, but could run from 12 volts DC. It had a built-in, potted high voltage supply, but ran from a wall adapter that outputted 12 volts. This thing would obviously run off batteries, though required quite some current, so the way to do that was to run it from 8 D cell alkaline batteries, making it quite hefty for the 1 mW output.

I guess this was technically a pointer, and we did use it to annoy a cat on a nearby flat roof

 

[Crazlaser]

I will have to catch him back up more in a few days, but if he only posts an average of twice every year, won't matter, his score won't show for many years to come.

Yup, it will in 2033.

On the laser note, my dad had a bullet style button cell 650 or 660 I remember he played with when I was younger, maybe 12 years ago.

 

[AaronT]

I've had one or two of the keychain lasers. My dog Zoe would go bonkers like a cat chasing the dot.

The one that left an impression and my first Class 4 is my 1 watt thor that I have had for years. The lens finally has dust burnt to it so I'll spruce it up with a new lens one of these days.

 

[steve001]

Except for Benm you guys are still wet behind the ears. ;-) My first remembrance of a laser pointer was from the movie "The Termininator". Hands on experience was the early 90's, that's when I saw a red diode laser pointer @ 670nm for $200 bucks. A few years later I bought a ~650nm laser pointer. Then a ~633nm pointer. Though you didn't ask, my first green pointer was bought in the late 90's for $450.

 

[trencheel303]

mine was also a little red keychain laser with all the caps. probably age 10 or so. It's amazing how powerful even those are. In the dark the dot can still be seen from hundreds of yards away if reflected off something bright. A true testament to lazor powah.

 

[LaySir]

I will have to catch him back up more in a few days, but if he only posts an average of twice every year, won't matter, his score won't show for many years to come.

Thanks RB, he has more points now than he did before that happened. He had zero rep before but less green tiles, I am sure you added a bunch of points. Here is my question LaySir, why have you been so inactive since first joining? I've seen more people come out of being gone for years in the last few months than in the last near three years all together.

My first laser was an HeNe 5mw gas laser, I used to love to point it outside when it was snowing or foggy because you could then see the beam.

Hehe - my interest in laser pointers comes and goes. For whatever reason, the memory of my first experience with a laser pointer came back to me and I remembered this forum and thought it would be interesting to hear others' first memories.

 

[LaySir]

Darn, using my phone I negged you on accident, wrong post. Someone please plus him.

Fixed. :beer:

Good question LaySir (nice play on word 'Laser' btw).

My first memory was not of a portable handheld but of a large boxed red laser unit that plugs into the mains way back in 1989.
I've still got it somewhere, I might find it and post a pic.

My first handheld pointer was a green 532nm pen style with 2x AA batteries.
I bought it in 2006 to use for Astronomy.



RB

Thanks for both the negs and plusses guys.