Spec me a laser pointer

Socaddict

Socaddict

Socaddict

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London
So, I'm a physics teacher. As part of that I sometimes do stuff with lasers, but the school laser isn't always the easiest to use as its rather bulky.

I do have a small laser pointer, but its quality leaves much to be desired. As such, I'm looking at getting a smallish laser pointer of some sort that is reliable and decent quality. Somewhere up to 100mW so I can play around with it a bit outside of school as well.

Any advice?
 
From my reading, there is advice that over 5mW not be sold to the general public, but there is no legal limitation in place yet. The eye's response varies depending on the wavelength of the laser anyway. If I was looking at a 100mW, I'd bee looking for a red or violet rather than blue or green laser.

I would consider myself competent and trained in their use, and I know that I won't mishandle it. I also would not permit my students to use, except for possibly year 13s under strict supervision.
 
At 100mW you'll also need a lot of laser safety googles for everyone and they're not cheap.
 
Socaddict said:
From my reading, there is advice that over 5mW not be sold to the general public, but there is no legal limitation in place yet. The eye's response varies depending on the wavelength of the laser anyway. If I was looking at a 100mW, I'd bee looking for a red or violet rather than blue or green laser.

I would consider myself competent and trained in their use, and I know that I won't mishandle it. I also would not permit my students to use, except for possibly year 13s under strict supervision.
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had a quick check and yeah they aren't illegal but they are classed as offensive weapons and you can be charged for carrying one.
They can also easily blind someone without laser goggles even if the light bounces off several surfaces - not worth the risk imo.
(And would still blind even if they are different colour. Also a dodgy one might not have an IR filter which makes them even more dangerous)
 
That's part of why I'm looking for advice on a decent laser pointer.

Lower power is fine really, just want a good one I suppose.
 
there seem to be a few on the bay and that rainforest place - difficult to tell which ones are decent though. You might have to take a risk and try one.
 
I got my green laser from wicked lasers back in the day. Paid over £100 for it and it's now a lot cheaper for the same one and they sell much more powerful ones too. Great for pointing at stars with a full beam viewable.
 
Be very careful, cheap ones with no filter can emit invisible radiation at a much wider angle than the visible beam, this could damage someone's eyesight as you shine it passed them without even knowing. Worth thinking about as you will be pointing it around a classroom. Also 100mW will burn even at distance and is massive overkill for pointing at a board.
 
Yeah, ordered some cheaper 1mW pointers, and will test them in my own time before I take them into the classroom. Lets see how these hold up, being a little more expensive than the last one I bought.
 
There's an arse across the road from me who keeps pointing a green laser up and down the street at night, thinking no one can see him at the end of a 50ft green beam. Considered calling the police but can't be bothered with giving a statement when they'll probably not even confiscate it. If my little one was walking home in the dark and he pointed it at her... Someone else would need to call the plod
 
d_brennen said:
There's an arse across the road from me who keeps pointing a green laser up and down the street at night, thinking no one can see him at the end of a 50ft green beam. Considered calling the police but can't be bothered with giving a statement when they'll probably not even confiscate it. If my little one was walking home in the dark and he pointed it at her... Someone else would need to call the plod
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Those green ones are frighteningly powerful, my friend had one and you could pop balloons with it :eek:
 
craig_t said:
I really, really want one of these! They're so cool
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I used to have one of their 1-200mw green ones years ago that I loved (safely!) playing with. I got one of the 2w+ ones (calibration cert put mine at 2.5w) and it's barely seen use. It's legitimately too dangerous to use.

With my old green one you only had to be careful of bounceback from a mirror or other reflective surface; this thing will blind you with the reflection off of pretty much any surface you can imagine.

In hindsight it was a bit of a dumb purchase...

xnakHR2.jpg
 
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