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Truth be told, when you are done - IF you know
precisely what you are doing and have the special
tools to do it - is at best, a 30 milliwatt unit
that is impressive, but not exactly "awesome" -
comparatively speaking.... if you compare them with
OURS.
And it goes without saying that if you attempt these
crude modifications, you've voided the warranty and
have ruined the aesthetic appearance of the unit.
What we are offering you here is AWESOME by
comparison to those
TOYS, and "handyman specials".
These lasers are
NOT
TOYS.
Some people who are selling 5 to 15 milliwatt
low-power TOY LASER
POINTERS
on eBay
(REAL
LASERs have been BANNED by eBay)
have used the phrases
"most powerful",
and
"extremely powerful",
"most legal power
available"
etc. to describe lasers that are barely
visible in the night sky unless it is foggy, raining
or snowing, or are projected through clouds of
atmospheric particulates (smoke and haze). Another
seller elsewhere on the Web boasts
"Ours blasts
a laser beam for over 100 miles"...
which is a
pretty good trick, since
the Earth's horizon is 22
miles at sea level.
This 100-mile long laser beam is apparently bouncing
off the ionosphere (and is not being scattered or
absorbed by humidity and smog) and is on its way to
circumnavigating the globe,
which leaves the astute reader to wonder what
planet it was tested on, and who is observing.
Obviously, these statements could not be further
from the truth; they are marketing hype which
targets the uninformed in an attempt to make a sale.
After you finish reading this article, you will know
all you need to know in order to make an intelligent
purchase.
First of all, let me tell you that a
5 or 15mw
laser pointer is
NOT suitable for "sky pointing"
(astronomy lectures, etc.). The beams on these units
are
barely visible in clear, crisp air.
To even approach usefulness for "sky pointing",
anything less than 50milliwatts, and any color OTHER
than 532nm (green) is a complete waste of money, no
matter what anyone else may tell you... and
you will be disappointed. If
you use a laser for pointing out stars in the night
sky, you will be very impressed by the visibility of
the beams with the high-power units shown here.
I have watched the auctions for these things on eBay
for several months
(until
eBay BANNED sale of serious LASERS),
and people have bid $75.00 and paid $21.00 USD
shipping for a 15mw LASER that can be bought at
Edmund Scientific
for much less. The circus tycoon P.T. Barnum once
said, "there's a
sucker born every minute"...
and he was absolutely right! Not becoming one of
them involves knowing exactly what you are buying as
much as dealing with an honest merchant. All you
have to do is look at some of the exorbitant
shipping & handling charges to know that some of
these sellers are covering the wholesale cost of the
units with the "shipping
& handling" charges
- and the bidding is gravy on the potatoes. I REFUSE
to run
my business
that way.... and that is why we will have a lion's
share of
this
business. Sure, we will make a decent profit, but it
will be due to the sheer volume of sales. You, the
retail customer won't come away from dealing with
us, feeling like you got raked over the coals. I
absolutely won't sell anything that I don't
personally own.... and I DO own one of these lasers.
What we are offering you here is a
PROFESSIONAL QUALITY
instrument. The insides are as well-constructed as
the outside. The enclosure tubes on these lasers are
made of
SOLID MACHINED BRASS
- not extruded aluminum. The LASER head itself is
free-floating within the tube and shock-mounted
- not press-fitted into the enclosure (shock
mounting is impossible with press-fitted laser
crystal assemblies). THESE LASERs are also equipped
with an internal beam collimator
lens and U.V. filter.
The LASER crystal (IC) itself is mounted on a heavy
brass
internal heat sink,
which keeps the LASER diode cool and extends the
life of the laser. When THESE LASERs light a match
or punch through a balloon, the operative force
doing the punching is LIGHT - NOT (invisible)
ultraviolet radiation.
I.R. radiation is undesirable
for several reasons:
A)
Power which is radiated as Infra-Red is NOT radiated
as light - and LIGHT is what you bought the LASER
for (if you need InfraRed radiation, buy a quartz
space heater).
B)
Infra-Red radiation is invisible to the human eye,
and
it is possible to damage one's
eyes with reflected IR radiation that is not
noticed.
When using these LASERs,
it is highly recommended that
eye protection be employed.
If you do not have a set of LASER goggles, a pair of
dark, mirrored sunglasses is better than no
protection at all. The beam on OUR devices is
EXTREMELY INTENSE,
and even looking at the dot projected on a wall may
cause (non-destructive, temporary) spotted vision
similar to what you would experience by being out on
the beach on a very bright summer day.
The beam on these lasers is extremely tight. When
you see a LASER beam in the air, the only reason you
can see it is because the light is reflecting off
microscopic water droplets (humidity) in the air.
The brighter the beam (obviously) the more easily it
can be seen. The thinner the beam, and the smaller
the angle of divergence, the farther the beam will
travel, and the smaller the projected dot will be on
the target. A "tight" beam concentrates the LASER's
power into a smaller area, and therefore the less
the diameter of the beam, the more it is able to do
things like pop balloons and punch holes in plastic
spoons.
NOTE:
When attempting to light matches with a LASER,
always use a black magic marker to color the match
head black. This is done for two main reasons:
1)
Coloring the match head black allows it to absorb
the light and convert it more efficiently into the
heat required to set the match on fire.
2)
Coloring the target black reduces the amount of
reflected light, saving you from developing "spot
blindness" from looking at a bright,
reflective light source as you aim the pointer. The
degree that the target object cannot reflect the
light determines the ability of the LASER to impart
energy into the target.
These are NOT "laser pens" or "pointers" - these are
Star-Wars, Luke
Skywalker / Jedi Knight light sabers. These
LASERs have
TRULY AWESOME POWER;
they can
burn your skin, slash the retinas in your
eyes, pop balloons, burn the tattoos out of your
skin, cauterize razor nicks, light matches, punch
really tiny holes in plastic spoons, and be
seen OVER 20 MILES AWAY....
(22 miles is the horizon at sea level).
The beam
is not only clearly visible, but
punches through the night sky
like a lighthouse beacon.
Without a word of marketing hype, THESE LASERS are
truly "EXTREMELY POWERFUL" - they have no peer among
handheld devices - even at a cost of $1,600 USD
elsewhere on the Web, and they are
SIMPLY SUPER-COOL!
The photos shown here are not processed or enhanced
in any way, but even the pictures really do not do
these LASERs justice; you simply have to witness
these LASERs personally to get the full effect.
These LASERs are NOT
TOYS....
They are
SERIOUS, QUALITY
INSTRUMENTS
that with reasonable care, will last probably longer
than you'll live. Of course they are great as "geek
toys", but there is more to them than just being the
hottest-selling "novelty / hobby" item on the Web.
As a customer, you don't want to settle for
second-best. If you've owned a LASER before, these
will absolutely SPOIL you. If you currently have a
"toy" LASER pointer, put it next to one of these
babies and see the difference!
You will SELL YOURS to buy OURS!
NOTE ON POWER:
The brightness of a LASER is determined by several
factors; these are: 1)
The output power (rated in milliwatts)
2) the diameter of the
beam (the smaller the diameter, the brighter the
beam) 3) The beam
divergence (measured in Radians "Rad"), which is the
angle that the beam "spreads out" after leaving the
aperture. 4) The
distance of the observer from the point of origin.
PLEASE NOTE: The imparted
energy of a laser beam is not
significantly attenuated with the distance from the
source. In other words, due to the very low angle of
divergence, the power of the laser to impart energy
to a target is not significantly diminished by the
target's distance from the beam source. The lower
the beam divergence, the less the difference of
power between the beam measured at the aperture and
the beam power measured at a distance. In layman's
terms this means that the
DANGER of eye damage from direct exposure to the
beam is not significantly affected by (reasonable)
distance from the laser. Of course, beam
power is scattered and absorbed by atmospheric
humidity and other pollution particulates (this is
why a laser beam shot into the sky in a large city
seems to stop or end in mid-air). The constant
presence of atmospheric humidity is the reason you
can see the beam at all; the higher the humidity,
the more impressive your "light saber" becomes (to
you), and the less the distance it is able to travel
without being scattered and dissipated by the
microscopic water droplets. Below is a chart that
outlines the laser classes, their hazards and usage.
The class of laser for the units described here is
presented on a blue background. |
