Green lazer pen which one!!!

[robot_roo]

I would like to order a green lazer pen online to point to the stars, can anyone reccomend a safe reasonably well powered model to buy?

Big thanks

Roo

[peeceeTal2M]

choice of pointers here

http://www.megalaseruk.com

[robot_roo]

Thanks!!!

[661-pete]

Sorry, but the website mentioned above (which happens to be the first hit when you type 'green laser pointer' into Google - how is that?) advertises extremely high-powered lasers of up to 300mW, well above the recommended safety limit for use in astronomy (5mW) and extremely dangerous. Possession of green lasers above 5mW is illegal in several countries.

Furthermore the website gives only the most perfunctory of safety information about its products, and makes no mention of the dangers of pointing the device at vehicles, aircraft, etc. And its standard of English literacy is poor. I would steer well clear!

I would strongly advise going to a recognised and responsible astronomy dealer and following their advice closely.

[Tim]

I have a 100mW green laser, but it is of little use more than a 5mW one for star pointing. The batteries will last a lot longer in a lower powered one.

( I use my laser for daylight purposes, never really need it at night. The other thing, with kids on the loose being stupid, you may find yourelf innocently being labelled as the culprit. I stopped using mine locally when the kids round here were hiding in the bushes and shining them at cars.)

[Jarndyce]

I have one of these, which works well:

Finders - Celestron Green Laser Finderscope

Specifically for astronomy, not bursting balloons or other dangerous stuff. It's not the most powerful, and it is expensive, but then it's also legal, reliable and from a reputable supplier.

[TakMan]

Got my 20mW one from here:

20mW Green Laser Pen Pointer > Digital Daffodil

although come to think of it, I only paid around £14.95.....

Friend and I did a test between a 5mW / 20mW / 50mW and the only difference was that the 50mW made a brighter and slightly bigger 'spot' on the trees in his long(ish) garden, and perhaps the 'laser line', visibly extended a little further into the sky - but not so much that it made any real difference to pointing things out....

As already mentioned though, the more power, the quicker the batteries run out!

And one last thing - if you're looking to use it as a pointer device (rather than a traditional finder/Telread), is that we found that as the night got colder the laser pen gradually got weaker/stopped working as the batteries ran cold.

Conclusion; great to be used sensibly to show people around the night sky (when kept warm in a pocket), not so great as the night goes on if you've got it stuck on a Dob..... stops working when cold - and you don't want to keep taking it off to stick in a pocket to warm the blumming batteries back up again and loose your finder/scope alignment....

Hope that (sort of) helps!!!

Damian

[rikyuu]

Sorry, but the website mentioned above (which happens to be the first hit when you type 'green laser pointer' into Google - how is that?) advertises extremely high-powered lasers of up to 300mW, well above the recommended safety limit for use in astronomy (5mW) and extremely dangerous. Possession of green lasers above 5mW is illegal in several countries.

Furthermore the website gives only the most perfunctory of safety information about its products, and makes no mention of the dangers of pointing the device at vehicles, aircraft, etc. And its standard of English literacy is poor. I would steer well clear!

I would strongly advise going to a recognised and responsible astronomy dealer and following their advice closely.

Even the customer feedback sounds dubious. It doesn't sound natural at all, it's more like what a non-English speaking person would say about a perfect company and service and then translate it into English, if you see what I mean. It's too perfect and not what one would normally say as feedback.