Friday 30 April 2010

Inexpensive - astronomy, inexpensive


The laser pointer arrived on time and in good condition. Batteries included. Be sure to read the instructions to make sure you insert the batteries in the proper polarization.



The beam is round, and extremely well collimated. This is a great device.



The reason for the 4 star review is that in spite of the "This is the Real Deal" assurances that the seller puts forth, the product clearly comes in under-powered.



As a laser engineer, I have access to several power meters with a typical accuracy of < +/-5%. The laser pointer ordered arrived with only 35mW (underpowered by quite a bit). I have contacted the seller and they were very responsive (more than willing to offer an exchange), but it is most likely too late for a quick x-mas exchange. I plan on keeping the laser pointer regardless.



That said, 35mW is still freakin' bright and more than useful enough for our purposes. Keep in mind that THIS IS NOT A TOY. Any well collimated beam greater than 10mW starts to be dangerous. 35mW-50mW is bright enough to do damage, so be careful. 20mw 532nm Astronomy Powerful Green Laser Pointer

I was afraid of purchasing a pointer from amazon based on the reviews for all the other models I had come across. I decided to take a risk on this one, as it was cheap and had no one-star reviews, and I have not been let down.



The pointer is powerful - it reaches far, has a strong point on it, and if it's dark enough you can even see the beam. It goes through batteries sort of quickly, but that is reasonable considering how cool it is to mess around with.



The build quality is solid - it feels heavy in your hand, and although I am pretty hard on my stuff it is still working as well today as it was when I bought it over a month ago.

This Green LASER does appear very much brighter than the old "cat toy" red LASER I was using. The Advertised power on this item is listed as 20MW but mine came in a box clearly marked 10MW. I still like it because it uses normal AAA batteries and is bright enough for my main purpose of frightening Geese off my property at night with out noise or danger to the animals. The green dot is easily seen when shown on any object up to 1000ft or even more. At 200ft away the dot is very bright on the ground. I have found that these animals belive the dot is a threat and leave quite hastily. I don't have to leave my deck or make a sound to chase them away.

The laser is pretty much what I expected. I already have one similar to it. It works good and has a good feel to it. My only problem is that it claims to be a 20mw, but I can not tell the difference between it and my other one that is a 5mw.

I received this item very fast! Thanks to Bynovel, this laser point came in really fast. I do like the fast shipping from them. Anyway, the laser has fairly good build quality. I cannot say perfect because this is the style of a laser pen point, not a giant fancy laser point with heat sinking and bigger batteries. This is a pen style laser pointer that has an average build quality and varies in output.



The output on this laser point is much greater than 5mW since I compared it to a true 5mW laser (green, of course). However, the output is less than 20mW. I would conclude this laser point to be around 10-15mW typical output. The reason being is this laser is probably pot modded and not a true 20mW laser diode.



The downside of this laser is it is pot modded and thus the output fluctuates.



Another downside of this laser is as soon as you turn it on, the beam quickly dims. After about 30 seconds, the beam starts to intensify. I think it takes time for a green laser to warm up to have a consistent output from what I read about pot modded lasers.





In conclusion, I would recommend this laser since it is much more powerful than your average, typical 5mW green laser pointer. But do not expect to have a 20mW output. This laser is fairly rugged. It is recommended that you use lithium AAA batteries for the best consistent performance.

The first one I received was far weaker than a 5 mW red laser. I returned it and got a replacement 12 days later. It's brighter than the first one, but still not 20 mW. If you're really looking for a green laser suitable for astronomy, don't waste your money on this.

Sent me the wrong item which was not a laser pointer at all. Was told I could return product and they would

refund money but they said nothing about sending the right one. Would not waste my time ordering anything fron them. - Astronomy - Laser - Inexpensive - Laser Pointer'


Detail Products
Detail Reviews
Click here for more information