Shoddy Green Laser Pointers – What you Should Expect
Frank asked:
Working in the laser industry, I have come across many complaints from buyers all over the world about shoddy green lasers pointers. In order to help customers understand the dangers of shoddy laser pointers and clear up some misunderstandings, we’ve listed below information on shoddy lasers.
Infrared (IR) light
Green light (wavelength of 532nm) is the most visible color to the human eye and any green laser you buy should give out green light and ONLY green light. Our Viper laser pointers and Hulk portable lasers for example only give out 532nm green light. Shoddy lasers though give out green light AND dangerous infrared (IR) light. Infrared light cannot be seen by the human eye so the beam from these shoddy laser pointers is not as bright as it should be and is also very dangerous.
You may be asking how a shoddy laser pointer can have a power of 200mW but be less bright than a 55mW Viper laser pointer. Here is the trick. As we just said, these laser pointers give out a lot of infrared light which you can’t see making them less bright. Laser power meters however cannot distinguish between green light and infrared light. The 200mW power level of a shoddy laser pointer will normally be made up of mostly infrared light. For example a 200mW shoddy laser pointer is likely to have a combination 25mW green (532nm) and 175mW infrared (808nm). A 55mW Viper laser pointer will be 55mW of green light with virtually no infrared light.
All genuine green laser pointers and portable lasers have infrared filters inside them that blocks infrared light. Shoddy laser pointers have had this filter removed. Without this filter, these laser pointers are very dangerous because the infrared light can damage your eyes and you would not even be aware of it until to late.
So if you have a high powered laser pointer that is not bright, it is most likely giving out lots of dangerous IR so please use it with extreme care, or even better, destroy it.
Poor quality cases/shells
Another problem with shoddy laser pointers is their casing or shell. Their shell is commonly made out of normal low quality metal or even plastic. A high powered DPSS laser module generates a lot of heat that needs to be dissipated by the shell. If shell is made out of poor quality material, the heat from the laser can not be released and will very quickly build up. This heat build up will cause the laser diode to burn out which completely destroys the laser. The shell for both Viper laser pointers and Hulk portable lasers are made from a special metal alloy that is very effective at dissipating heat and protecting the laser diode. When a 95mW Viper laser pointer has been working for 60 seconds, your hand can feel the heat been released from the shell as the laser is kept cool.
Pot modding
Many shoddy lasers are only designed to operate at low powers such as 5 or 10mW. These lasers have the power from the batteries to the diode boosted to give a more powerful beam. The problem with modding these lasers is that the diode, their shell, lens, crystal and even the on/off switch are not designed for the higher power and temperature. Most modified lasers will burn out and be completely useless in a matter of days, often only hours. A simple analogy is putting a 200W light globe in a light that is only designed to handle 25W. The light may work but it will be long before the frame warps, the mounting melts and the light is destroyed.
Component Quality
Shoddy lasers are designed at standard to meet low specifications. The components and manufacturing process used are fast and very cheap. Every component in these shoddy lasers, the diode, crystal, lens assembly, IR filter (when they have them which is rare), shell, heat sink, circuit board and battery terminals have VERY poor quality and a typical life span of 30 to 50 hours maximum. Our green lasers on the other hand come from a world leading manufacturer and use quality components that meet every single international standard. Our lasers are designed to last 5000 hours and our guarantees reflect this.
Why buy a shoddy laser?
The only advantage in buying a shoddy green laser pointer is that they are sold with attractive carrying cases/boxes. Sadly even these cases have quality problems and are normally knock offs or imitations of brand name boxes such as “Parker Pen” boxes. These boxes are designed to carry pens, lighters and everything other than delicate optics and electronics. In the end, a plastic box can be easily copied or imitated but there is no substitute for cutting edge lasers technology
Article is courtesy of Dragonlasers – No 1 lasers, laser pointer and green laser online store
Working in the laser industry, I have come across many complaints from buyers all over the world about shoddy green lasers pointers. In order to help customers understand the dangers of shoddy laser pointers and clear up some misunderstandings, we’ve listed below information on shoddy lasers.
Infrared (IR) light
Green light (wavelength of 532nm) is the most visible color to the human eye and any green laser you buy should give out green light and ONLY green light. Our Viper laser pointers and Hulk portable lasers for example only give out 532nm green light. Shoddy lasers though give out green light AND dangerous infrared (IR) light. Infrared light cannot be seen by the human eye so the beam from these shoddy laser pointers is not as bright as it should be and is also very dangerous.
You may be asking how a shoddy laser pointer can have a power of 200mW but be less bright than a 55mW Viper laser pointer. Here is the trick. As we just said, these laser pointers give out a lot of infrared light which you can’t see making them less bright. Laser power meters however cannot distinguish between green light and infrared light. The 200mW power level of a shoddy laser pointer will normally be made up of mostly infrared light. For example a 200mW shoddy laser pointer is likely to have a combination 25mW green (532nm) and 175mW infrared (808nm). A 55mW Viper laser pointer will be 55mW of green light with virtually no infrared light.
All genuine green laser pointers and portable lasers have infrared filters inside them that blocks infrared light. Shoddy laser pointers have had this filter removed. Without this filter, these laser pointers are very dangerous because the infrared light can damage your eyes and you would not even be aware of it until to late.
So if you have a high powered laser pointer that is not bright, it is most likely giving out lots of dangerous IR so please use it with extreme care, or even better, destroy it.
Poor quality cases/shells
Another problem with shoddy laser pointers is their casing or shell. Their shell is commonly made out of normal low quality metal or even plastic. A high powered DPSS laser module generates a lot of heat that needs to be dissipated by the shell. If shell is made out of poor quality material, the heat from the laser can not be released and will very quickly build up. This heat build up will cause the laser diode to burn out which completely destroys the laser. The shell for both Viper laser pointers and Hulk portable lasers are made from a special metal alloy that is very effective at dissipating heat and protecting the laser diode. When a 95mW Viper laser pointer has been working for 60 seconds, your hand can feel the heat been released from the shell as the laser is kept cool.
Pot modding
Many shoddy lasers are only designed to operate at low powers such as 5 or 10mW. These lasers have the power from the batteries to the diode boosted to give a more powerful beam. The problem with modding these lasers is that the diode, their shell, lens, crystal and even the on/off switch are not designed for the higher power and temperature. Most modified lasers will burn out and be completely useless in a matter of days, often only hours. A simple analogy is putting a 200W light globe in a light that is only designed to handle 25W. The light may work but it will be long before the frame warps, the mounting melts and the light is destroyed.
Component Quality
Shoddy lasers are designed at standard to meet low specifications. The components and manufacturing process used are fast and very cheap. Every component in these shoddy lasers, the diode, crystal, lens assembly, IR filter (when they have them which is rare), shell, heat sink, circuit board and battery terminals have VERY poor quality and a typical life span of 30 to 50 hours maximum. Our green lasers on the other hand come from a world leading manufacturer and use quality components that meet every single international standard. Our lasers are designed to last 5000 hours and our guarantees reflect this.
Why buy a shoddy laser?
The only advantage in buying a shoddy green laser pointer is that they are sold with attractive carrying cases/boxes. Sadly even these cases have quality problems and are normally knock offs or imitations of brand name boxes such as “Parker Pen” boxes. These boxes are designed to carry pens, lighters and everything other than delicate optics and electronics. In the end, a plastic box can be easily copied or imitated but there is no substitute for cutting edge lasers technology
Article is courtesy of Dragonlasers – No 1 lasers, laser pointer and green laser online store
Efficient Solar Garden Lights for Homeowners
Ernesto Maitim asked:
You might belong to those home owners who are having second thoughts on purchasing his own solar garden lights (or any other type of solar lighting or gadgets for that matter) if only because you have doubts about the efficiency of these gadgets. People somehow doubt whether or not these sun-powered gadget would really deliver what the manufacturers advertise they can do.
If many of the home owners who have already bought and installed their solar garden lights on their yards are really happy about the quality of the product that they get. Most outdoor lights nowadays are really efficient and reliable regardless of the kind of brand – this is because manufacturers are in fierce competition with one another and so they want to capture a good share of the market by selling excellent quality solar products.
What makes this type of outdoor solar lighting click? Here are some of the reasons why garden solar lights are better than the conventional outdoor lights.
Solar lights are made up of solar cells, without which the lights will not be able to work as no solar energy is harnessed. And so PV or photovoltaic cells are the special components not found in ordinary lights; they make the collection of energy from the sun and its conversion to solar power possible.
Solar garden lights are built with light emitting diode lights or LED lights. They are made of advanced materials making them several levels higher than the ordinary lights in terms of quality in providing illumination to your garden and home exteriors.
What makes garden solar lights a hit among home owners is that they are known to run efficiently for many hours in a day without any need for any battery changes. Of course being sun power-run, you never need electricity for these sun-powered gadgets. Normally, these lights that are fully exposed to the rays of the sun will be able to gather energy and transform it to power, enough for the lights to illuminate for 8 to a maximum of 10 hours non-stop.
Overall, the benefits that we can take advantage of solar garden lights are significant, although there is one drawback. In terms of illumination, these lights are not as bright as the usual lighting. Hence, many home owners really buy solar lighting as mainly accents to beautify their homes.
If you are greatly interested in other solar lights, solar panels and sun-powered gadget topics and discussions, do visit our http://solarlightsandgizmos.com/ blog.
You might belong to those home owners who are having second thoughts on purchasing his own solar garden lights (or any other type of solar lighting or gadgets for that matter) if only because you have doubts about the efficiency of these gadgets. People somehow doubt whether or not these sun-powered gadget would really deliver what the manufacturers advertise they can do.
If many of the home owners who have already bought and installed their solar garden lights on their yards are really happy about the quality of the product that they get. Most outdoor lights nowadays are really efficient and reliable regardless of the kind of brand – this is because manufacturers are in fierce competition with one another and so they want to capture a good share of the market by selling excellent quality solar products.
What makes this type of outdoor solar lighting click? Here are some of the reasons why garden solar lights are better than the conventional outdoor lights.
Solar lights are made up of solar cells, without which the lights will not be able to work as no solar energy is harnessed. And so PV or photovoltaic cells are the special components not found in ordinary lights; they make the collection of energy from the sun and its conversion to solar power possible.
Solar garden lights are built with light emitting diode lights or LED lights. They are made of advanced materials making them several levels higher than the ordinary lights in terms of quality in providing illumination to your garden and home exteriors.
What makes garden solar lights a hit among home owners is that they are known to run efficiently for many hours in a day without any need for any battery changes. Of course being sun power-run, you never need electricity for these sun-powered gadgets. Normally, these lights that are fully exposed to the rays of the sun will be able to gather energy and transform it to power, enough for the lights to illuminate for 8 to a maximum of 10 hours non-stop.
Overall, the benefits that we can take advantage of solar garden lights are significant, although there is one drawback. In terms of illumination, these lights are not as bright as the usual lighting. Hence, many home owners really buy solar lighting as mainly accents to beautify their homes.
If you are greatly interested in other solar lights, solar panels and sun-powered gadget topics and discussions, do visit our http://solarlightsandgizmos.com/ blog.
LED Flashlights
Robert Andstrom asked:
If you’re in the market for a flashlight, save your self money over the long run and invest in an LED flashlight. Longer life and brighter light are just two of the advantages of using LED flashlights.
Because the LED bulbs tend to be hardier than the older, fragile, incandescent bulbs, dropping one’s LED flashlight in the dark does not necessarily mean losing the use of the flashlight. Since it doesn’t use the same fragile voltage wire of the old bulbs it proves to be stronger and more resilient. These flashlights use only about 5-10% of the power of traditional flashlights, which means longer battery life. Another reason for the longer lifespan of an LED flashlight is that it is less draining on the batteries since it uses about a third of the power needed in incandescent bulbs. Many LED flashlights are waterproof also. This is a perk when it is necessary to use the flashlight in the rain or snow.
Brighter light is important when using an LED flashlight in the dark. Whether changing a tire or looking for dropped keys, the brighter light is a godsend. Because of the innovation of a tiny mirror placed in the bulb the light from an LED flashlight is utilized where the user needs it most. The light from an LED flashlight can be seen up to a mile away. Rather than producing a ring of light like the old flashlights it is a brighter, more focused, directional light.
When the power goes out, and your safety is concerned, trust a flashlight you know will work. LED flashlights are the future, get yours today.
To learn more about LED Flashlights check out www.designledlighting.com where you will find this and alot more on led light bulbs and the use of led´s.
If you’re in the market for a flashlight, save your self money over the long run and invest in an LED flashlight. Longer life and brighter light are just two of the advantages of using LED flashlights.
Because the LED bulbs tend to be hardier than the older, fragile, incandescent bulbs, dropping one’s LED flashlight in the dark does not necessarily mean losing the use of the flashlight. Since it doesn’t use the same fragile voltage wire of the old bulbs it proves to be stronger and more resilient. These flashlights use only about 5-10% of the power of traditional flashlights, which means longer battery life. Another reason for the longer lifespan of an LED flashlight is that it is less draining on the batteries since it uses about a third of the power needed in incandescent bulbs. Many LED flashlights are waterproof also. This is a perk when it is necessary to use the flashlight in the rain or snow.
Brighter light is important when using an LED flashlight in the dark. Whether changing a tire or looking for dropped keys, the brighter light is a godsend. Because of the innovation of a tiny mirror placed in the bulb the light from an LED flashlight is utilized where the user needs it most. The light from an LED flashlight can be seen up to a mile away. Rather than producing a ring of light like the old flashlights it is a brighter, more focused, directional light.
When the power goes out, and your safety is concerned, trust a flashlight you know will work. LED flashlights are the future, get yours today.
To learn more about LED Flashlights check out www.designledlighting.com where you will find this and alot more on led light bulbs and the use of led´s.
Astronomy, Stargazingand Green Laser Pointers
Frank asked:
Green laser pointers and Astronomy
There is nothing more frustrating in astronomy that than unsuccessfully trying to identifying an object in the night sky to a companion by waving your arms, pointing fingers, describing and gestulating. An elegant, simple and very effective solution to this problem is to use green lasers pointers to point out objects in the sky.
Green laser pointers are high technology gadgets that are becoming more and more popular in astronomy. Not only are green laser pointers ideal for pointing out celestial objects, they are also very useful for aligning telescopes and for atrophotography.
Why green laser pointers
Green laser pointers are the preferred laser pointer color for astronomy because green is the most visible laser pointer color. The reason why green is more visible is the human eye is most sensitive to green light. The other reason is the effect of light in the earth’s atmosphere. Light is visible in the sky when the atmosphere scatters it and higher wavelengths are scattered more than higher wavelengths. Green is a medium wavelength so it scatters more and is more visible than longer wavelengths such as red.
Other applications
Using green laser pointers to point out celestial object to people next to you is not the only application for laser pointers in astronomy. A green laser pointer can also be mounted on a telescope using a bracket or by holding the laser by hand in the groove parallel to the telescopes optical axis. The green laser pointer beam clearly shows where the telescope is pointing and the object being viewed through the telescope.
A green laser pointer mounted on a telescope can also makes aligning the telescope to a celestial object much faster and easier.
How powerful should the laser pointer be?
Green laser pointers can range in power levels from 1mW all the way to 200mW so deciding which power level to use can be tricky. The points to consider when choosing the power level for an astronomy laser are
-The number of people star gazing with you. If it is just one person, a low power such as 5mW will be suitable. If you are stargazing with a large group of people who will not be standing next to you, the laser needs to be more visible so a high power level such as 100mW would be suitable.
-The level of ambient light. If you are stargazing at dawn/dusk, during a full moon or in built up areas where there is a lot of light pollution, a low powered beam such as 5mW would be harder to see. You would generally need at least 50mW or more in this kind of situation.
Higher powered laser pointers are not always better because any glare from them can easily ruin your night vision and can provide a distraction. Many stargazing nights have been ruined when people have been paying more attention to the new and exotic high power laser used to point out objects than the actual objects themselves.
Caution
Deliberately pointing a laser at aircraft is a very serious offence in every country so avoid star gazing near airports and do not use a laser when there is an aircraft in the section of the sky being viewed.
Article is courtesy of Dragonlasers – No 1 lasers, laser pointer and green laser online store
Green laser pointers and Astronomy
There is nothing more frustrating in astronomy that than unsuccessfully trying to identifying an object in the night sky to a companion by waving your arms, pointing fingers, describing and gestulating. An elegant, simple and very effective solution to this problem is to use green lasers pointers to point out objects in the sky.
Green laser pointers are high technology gadgets that are becoming more and more popular in astronomy. Not only are green laser pointers ideal for pointing out celestial objects, they are also very useful for aligning telescopes and for atrophotography.
Why green laser pointers
Green laser pointers are the preferred laser pointer color for astronomy because green is the most visible laser pointer color. The reason why green is more visible is the human eye is most sensitive to green light. The other reason is the effect of light in the earth’s atmosphere. Light is visible in the sky when the atmosphere scatters it and higher wavelengths are scattered more than higher wavelengths. Green is a medium wavelength so it scatters more and is more visible than longer wavelengths such as red.
Other applications
Using green laser pointers to point out celestial object to people next to you is not the only application for laser pointers in astronomy. A green laser pointer can also be mounted on a telescope using a bracket or by holding the laser by hand in the groove parallel to the telescopes optical axis. The green laser pointer beam clearly shows where the telescope is pointing and the object being viewed through the telescope.
A green laser pointer mounted on a telescope can also makes aligning the telescope to a celestial object much faster and easier.
How powerful should the laser pointer be?
Green laser pointers can range in power levels from 1mW all the way to 200mW so deciding which power level to use can be tricky. The points to consider when choosing the power level for an astronomy laser are
-The number of people star gazing with you. If it is just one person, a low power such as 5mW will be suitable. If you are stargazing with a large group of people who will not be standing next to you, the laser needs to be more visible so a high power level such as 100mW would be suitable.
-The level of ambient light. If you are stargazing at dawn/dusk, during a full moon or in built up areas where there is a lot of light pollution, a low powered beam such as 5mW would be harder to see. You would generally need at least 50mW or more in this kind of situation.
Higher powered laser pointers are not always better because any glare from them can easily ruin your night vision and can provide a distraction. Many stargazing nights have been ruined when people have been paying more attention to the new and exotic high power laser used to point out objects than the actual objects themselves.
Caution
Deliberately pointing a laser at aircraft is a very serious offence in every country so avoid star gazing near airports and do not use a laser when there is an aircraft in the section of the sky being viewed.
Article is courtesy of Dragonlasers – No 1 lasers, laser pointer and green laser online store