Laser pointer

[JOC]

On 05/06/2022 at 12:37, Mike Q said:

Why on earth would I want zero mag on a finder

I'm tempted to ask, why would you necessary need more than zero mag on a finder when you've got a telescope for the magnification?  On my telescope I've got a 25mm EP to use and a RACI finder and a cheap and cheerful RDF that cost about a tenner to find things.  I key the RACI image fairly well into the telescope view, but don't usually bother too much with the RDF view.  In Sub 30 seconds I reckon I can have the telescope roughly pointing at the right bit of sky using the RDF - this is certainly close enough to find exactly the right main star closest to the site of interest (if not that star) in the RACI finder, then the telescope is right on that star and if I put in a lower mag. EP I can see all I need to find anything I'm chasing.  Given this ease and speed of use I see no earthly reason to have to deploy a laser and risk a chance of causing a mishap when the risk can be eliminated entirely by not using one.  It seems a no-brainer to me, if you don't need to use one to accomplish the task (and I see no reason why anyone needs to) then I can't see any need to take the risk, however small, of using one.

[DaveL59]

16 hours ago, woldsman said:

It’s illegal to point a laser pen at a flying aircraft. 

yes but that's kinda like the other saying we hear so much - 'guns don't kill'... sadly while these things are available they'll always end up getting misused. Same with drones as we've already seen around airports.

 

1 hour ago, JOC said:

 Given this ease and speed of use I see no earthly reason to have to deploy a laser and risk a chance of causing a mishap when the risk can be eliminated entirely by not using one.  It seems a no-brainer to me, if you don't need to use one to accomplish the task (and I see no reason why anyone needs to) then I can't see any need to take the risk, however small, of using one.

I'd agree, esp since Kent is in a fairly busy area in terms of air traffic crossing at various altitudes tho at least London City ceases operations overnight which reduces it a little. Easy to say you'd look and only use the laser when you see no aircraft and in theory when looking up at night there appears to be large areas of sky with no obvious aircraft but personally I'd still prefer not to be aiming a laser up into the sky. You only need a police chopper up in the area spotting you and who knows if they'd then feel a visit to you is in order...

Perhaps when showing others what's in the area of view, a phone on a holder to a low power eyepiece would give a better audience view and even allow some pics to be taken for them to enjoy later too?

Edited June 8, 2022 by DaveL59

[Guest]

1 hour ago, JOC said:

I'm tempted to ask, why would you necessary need more than zero mag on a finder when you've got a telescope for the magnification?  On my telescope I've got a 25mm EP to use and a RACI finder and a cheap and cheerful RDF that cost about a tenner to find things.  I key the RACI image fairly well into the telescope view, but don't usually bother too much with the RDF view.  In Sub 30 seconds I reckon I can have the telescope roughly pointing at the right bit of sky using the RDF - this is certainly close enough to find exactly the right main star closest to the site of interest (if not that star) in the RACI finder, then the telescope is right on that star and if I put in a lower mag. EP I can see all I need to find anything I'm chasing.  Given this ease and speed of use I see no earthly reason to have to deploy a laser and risk a chance of causing a mishap when the risk can be eliminated entirely by not using one.  It seems a no-brainer to me, if you don't need to use one to accomplish the task (and I see no reason why anyone needs to) then I can't see any need to take the risk, however small, of using one.

It's certainly your choice to use what you want and how you want.  For me....I will stick with what I have.  It is simple and works for me.

[Louis D]

5 hours ago, JOC said:

Given this ease and speed of use I see no earthly reason to have to deploy a laser and risk a chance of causing a mishap when the risk can be eliminated entirely by not using one.

20 hours ago, woldsman said:

Why would a laser pointer be better than a red dot finder?

Because you don't have to contort your neck, back, and knees to look up and through anything with a laser sight (which work better for me than laser pointers).  I suppose if you could mount the RDP about 7 or 8 feet high or more so you don't have to crouch, that would work as well, but it would be in the way on that long of an arm, and the window would be tiny at that distance.

Wait until you've had multiple neck and back injuries along with arthritis, and we'll discuss again the merits of unit power finders over laser sights/pointers.  Until then, I'll take my near zero chances of lighting up an aircraft cockpit momentarily with a GLS/GLP over struggling to get my scope in the general vicinity of the target with an RDP.

[McQ]

Lasers are easy to use safely, all you have to do is not point them at aircraft or people on the ground, that's it. And they come with momentary switches because it only takes a second to get on target. The other night I'm trying to look straight up and I can't contort my body to look through the finderscope, luckily, I have a laser. 

[ONIKKINEN]

11 minutes ago, McQ said:

Lasers are easy to use safely, all you have to do is not point them at aircraft or people on the ground, that's it. And they come with momentary switches because it only takes a second to get on target. The other night I'm trying to look straight up and I can't contort my body to look through the finderscope, luckily, I have a laser. 

I think the reason why they are banned or heavily regulated in many places is because they are unfortunately also very easy to use unsafely, whether by accident or intentionally.

Accidents happen and one butterfingers moment could have even a person of sound mind pointing the laser at a passer by, a car driving by, someones house across the field or an airplane that they did not notice somewhere in the distance. Or just accidentally point it at your own face and if its some cheap ebay laser that was supposed to be 5mw but was in fact 50mw, well now you have permanent eye damage!

[McQ]

4 hours ago, ONIKKINEN said:

I think the reason why they are banned or heavily regulated in many places is because they are unfortunately also very easy to use unsafely, whether by accident or intentionally.

Accidents happen and one butterfingers moment could have even a person of sound mind pointing the laser at a passer by, a car driving by, someones house across the field or an airplane that they did not notice somewhere in the distance. Or just accidentally point it at your own face and if its some cheap ebay laser that was supposed to be 5mw but was in fact 50mw, well now you have permanent eye damage!

 

Politicians love to ban things; it makes them feel productive and powerful. Lasers are used against law enforcement, Border Patrol, and National Guardsmen. Criminal organizations buy them by the box from China. Source, my family are flyers and in or associated with all of the above. All the hand wringing over using them on telescopes is unnecessary unless you have domestic terrorists or drug dealers embedded in the local club, or some psychopath shining them at people during star parties. If we ban everything that can be used irresponsibly, we might as well stay in the crib. 

[JOC]

14 hours ago, ONIKKINEN said:

I think the reason why they are banned or heavily regulated in many places is because they are unfortunately also very easy to use unsafely, whether by accident or intentionally.

Let's face it lasers aren't the only things where that applies and look what happens with those some other things when they are not regulated.

[KP82]

10 hours ago, McQ said:

 

Politicians love to ban things; it makes them feel productive and powerful. Lasers are used against law enforcement, Border Patrol, and National Guardsmen. Criminal organizations buy them by the box from China. Source, my family are flyers and in or associated with all of the above. All the hand wringing over using them on telescopes is unnecessary unless you have domestic terrorists or drug dealers embedded in the local club, or some psychopath shining them at people during star parties. If we ban everything that can be used irresponsibly, we might as well stay in the crib. 

Yes, everything can be used irresponsibly. But the damages that can be done by such actions are different. That's why some tools/weapons are banned for purchasing/usage by the general public.

[Steve Ward]

I'm going to get a holder for mine to use it  as an aiming device when I start to try and get some decent images of the ISS .

Did a quick test the other week to see if it would work to try and keep the station on-chip whilst manually moving the 'scope about with all clutches released , much easier than trying to aim through a finderscope and get your head round up/down/left/right with different tubes.

[Louis D]

1 hour ago, Steve Ward said:

I'm going to get a holder for mine to use it  as an aiming device when I start to try and get some decent images of the ISS .

Did a quick test the other week to see if it would work to try and keep the station on-chip whilst manually moving the 'scope about with all clutches released , much easier than trying to aim through a finderscope and get your head round up/down/left/right with different tubes.

Just remember to turn it off during image capture, or you'll just get a green fuzzy blob from the laser scatter at high magnification.  It makes aligning them with the eyepiece super simple, though.

[Steve Ward]

1 minute ago, Louis D said:

Just remember to turn it off during image capture, or you'll just get a green fuzzy blob from the laser scatter at high magnification.  It makes aligning them with the eyepiece super simple, though.

Good thinking Batman , never thought of that , but turning it off during capture kinda defeats the object of using it as an aiming device.

Will have to look into the SkyTrack software option but I'm not sure that it's an easy option.