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laser pointer

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epilot

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hi all

today i got 2 of laser pointers(like the pic),
does anyone know what are the uses of these lasers?
i would like to do some of projects with them so does anyone know any project with them?

are these are really laser????!

i dont know if a pain in my eyes is because of using that device or is because of
sleeping problem i had yesterday.
 

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It's a solid state laser. It doesn't have all the same properties as a gas tube laser.

I don't know of any "special" physical effects you might be able to pull of with it. Just bouncing it off of CDs and things is somewhat interesting.

It can be harmful to your eyes if you shine the beam straight into your eyes. Very reflective surfaces (mirror) can reflect the light as a beam and thus the reflection is still harmful. Actually its "harm" is greatly exaggerated for a 5mW device, the only reported case was a kid who stared into it and the damage was only temporary.
 
epilot said:
i would like to do some of projects with them so does anyone know any project with them?
For starters there are a few miniature **broken link removed** and green laser projector projects. Actually I have I question of my own about those: how rapidly can a solid-state laser be switched on and off?
 
They can swicth almost instantly.

Itf basicly just an special LED whith optics that make it radiation angle 0° (and so making an laser beam)

And real lasers are almost like neon bulbs.
 
Someone Electro said:
They can swicth almost instantly.
Itf basicly just an special LED whith optics that make it radiation angle 0° (and so making an laser beam)
Are we talking ms, µs, ns? I was thinking of doing a similar projector by sweeping the laser in a scan line pattern at high speed.
 
There is also a Laser Alarm in the Projects, on my website.
 
While we're on the subject, I was looking on ebay to buy a green laser pointer.

I came across an article that you can buy that claims it shows you how to take any 5mW laser pointer and make it a 15mW laser pointer. It said that an average high school student could do it with no problem. It said that 10 mW laser pointers are the highest allowed to to be shipped into the US.

Just remove a resistor? kick up the power to the diode?
 
DigiTan said:
Actually I have I question of my own about those: how rapidly can a solid-state laser be switched on and off?

The diode can switch very quickly but maybe not so fast if you're trying to switch power to the whole driver on and off. The limiting factor however is likely the speed of the receiver.

zachtheterrible said:
I came across an article that you can buy that claims it shows you how to take any 5mW laser pointer and make it a 15mW laser pointer.

I know that's true for green, I don't think so for reds. The hardware is pretty cheap and probably already overdriven. There are many free web pages documenting the mod. Since green laser pointers are quite expensive you may want to consider if making the extra power is worth risking degrading the emitter. I'm sure it's fun but probably won't be able to do any pointing task you couldn't do just as well with 5mW.
 
Oznog, I couldn't find any sites on modifying green laser pointers on google. Perhaps you could point me to one if you know of it? :lol:

I'm sure that a 5mW green laser pointer would be just fine for me for about a day until the novelty wears off and then I'll want more power :lol:
 
zachtheterrible said:
Oznog, I couldn't find any sites on modifying green laser pointers on google. Perhaps you could point me to one if you know of it? :lol:

I'm sure that a 5mW green laser pointer would be just fine for me for about a day until the novelty wears off and then I'll want more power :lol:
Zach, what did you search for? I Googled "green laser power boost", and here's the very first hit:
https://members.misty.com/don/laserdon.html#h
 
Megamox said:
Heres a nice project using lasers like that i remember seeing on scitoys, looks good:

https://sci-toys.com/scitoys/scitoys/light/light.html#laser_communicator

Megamox

it is good but and i saw t before but i am not sure if it would work for more than 500 or 1KM or not
the beam of laser goes more than 700m and perhaps more.. so i am not sure if i can send my voice(or even my PC info) to my friend's home?the desitance is about 600m..

my observation show that MAX of destance for my laser pointer is about 700m at a night but at morning i can not send these laser beams for even 20M,so i guess th beam travels VERY more than 700M but we can not see it,though i am not sure if i couls send the beam to my friend's home then we can have comunication at mornings or not?
i think the baem is traveling at mornings but we can not see it because the air is bright so we should can have comunication at morning.

i have to try and solve the problem of receiver because it works with photocell and i will have a kind of problems at the morning, i must filter the power cause by bright of morning a kind!?
 
Actually now that i think about it there has always been something ive wondered about these lasers, how come some (like the one pictured i presume) show just the laser dot, and others u can see the whole beam from end to end. Can you modify one to the other?

Megamox
 
Megamox said:
Actually now that i think about it there has always been something ive wondered about these lasers, how come some (like the one pictured i presume) show just the laser dot, and others u can see the whole beam from end to end. Can you modify one to the other?

There's no difference, a laser can only be seen where it hits something, for the beam to be visible it needs to 'hit' something as it travels through the air - this is why smoke machines are used in disco's!.

The same applies to a normal torch, you can't see the beam unless the air isn't clear.
 
hi
thoday i taken one of my lasers apart, and there was a lenz and a micro led.. the amazing part is that the led bright is too low without the lenzand it can not travel even 30cm so i tried the lenz with a normal Light-emitting Diode(led) but the lenz could not focouss it :?:
does anyone know if the laser pointer distance(more than 700m) is because of its lenz ONLY? if so then i should be able to use from a lamp or led instead of the laser lamp?
what is the story??? :idea:
 
Nigel Goodwin said:
It's not just an LED, it's a Laser Diode, these produce coherent light, which the lens can then focus - a normal LED (or lamp) produces in-coherent light.

i can not understand you!

what "coherent light" means here?

do you think a common led can not be so focused to go very much destance?...
 
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