April 2007 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Re: [Utah-astronomy] Infromal Laser test pics
by cmh856＠aol.com 02 Apr '07

02 Apr '07

Interesting shots, Howard, thanks for posting them. That's pretty much what I expereinced when comparing my ComuterGeeks.com laser to both my Lucky Duck and my Beta. And like you, I have a twinge of buyer's remorse, because my Beta is brighter than the Lucky Duck- it really became more noticeable with NiMH batteries. I still want to do a more controlled test sometime soon, but my daughter's illness scuttled my time-off, and of course I was handed a huge contract last week that will preclude any free time for at least the next five or six weeks. It never fails, as soon as I schedule time-off, the stuff always hits the fan. But keep the faith, the weather is only going to get warmer! ;o) I have visions of a dozen or more bright laser beams simultaneously piercing the darkness! I am going to really try and make it to SPOC this Wednesday night for a training class on the 32", maybe you could meet me there for a mini-test? In a message dated 4/1/2007 4:58:57 PM Mountain Standard Time, sumoetx(a)yahoo.com writes: Hello everyone. I recieved my new 20mw Lucky duck laser on friday and was able to take a few comparative pictures of it side by side with the 5mw version I recieved a month ago. ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.

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List message delays
by cmh856＠aol.com 01 Apr '07

01 Apr '07

I unsubscribed my Yahoo address from the list (although I still use it for other correspondence), I have been using both for a test period of several weeks. Even after I unsubscribed, I was getting old list messages, which proved that the delay was due to Yahoo. Often list postings would arrive in my Yahoo mailbox up to a full week late. So if anyone is still having delayed delivery issues, just try subscribing under a different email address. It solved my problem. Postings now reach my AOL account within seconds, always within a few minutes. Makes those "go outside and look up NOW" messages meaningful! ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.

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Lucky Duck in perspective
by cmh856＠aol.com 01 Apr '07

01 Apr '07

Just to clarify things, it's not that I'm unhappy with the Lucky Duck laser- it's a terrifically bright laser and well worth the money. Any "buyer's remorse" on my part is just due to the fact that it was not an improvement on what I already had. But it did settle some questions I had on laser power ratings and visibilty, as well as industry practices, in any event. The Beta pointer was advertised as an "optimized" 5mw laser and was my first green laser pointer. So while it appeared much brighter than other green lasers I had seen at star-parties, in my mind it was just a good 5mw unit- I had not had a chance to compare it side-by-side with other lasers. The laser I bought from ComputerGeeks.com sometime later was much more like the typical star-party laser I had seen in the past, so I assumed it was a "non-optimized" 5mw diode actually closer to 3mw. When the Lucky Duck arrived and it was about the same, or even slightly dimmer than the Beta, I thought I smelled a rat. Fortunately I was wrong about the Lucky Duck being over-rated. Actually the Beta was under-rated, as my light-meter test proved. Noah Acres' explanation makes sense: The Lucky Duck 20mw units were actually "5mw" units that tested much higher out of given batches, and the Beta pointer was likely a similar case. So I got lucky right from the start, and I'm afraid that I was spoiled, thanks to the excellent Beta product. It had big shoes to fill. But as I said, it doesn't diminish the Lucky Duck at all, which actually cost less money. No matter what laser you own, try freshly-charged NiMH batteries and I think you'll gain a bit more visibility. ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.

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Infromal Laser test pics
by Howard Jackman 01 Apr '07

01 Apr '07

Hello everyone. I recieved my new 20mw Lucky duck laser on friday and was able to take a few comparative pictures of it side by side with the 5mw version I recieved a month ago. Please keep in mind that the Moon was nearly full, and I obviously have some light trespass. and despite the 8 and 12 second exposures I feel that both beams were a bit brighter to the naked eye than they appear on the images. It's obviously clear which laser is brighter. And I have to comment that I really wish I hadn't bought the 20mw, it causes me great buyers remorse for the 5mw, which up till friday I thought was an amazing laser (it still is, just not in direct comparison to the 20mw) I had my son stand a ways away and tell me if he could see the beam pointed at Sirius, he was able to see it up to about 8 feet away, this is all very unscientific seeing as he's young and was more excited to be outside so late past his bedtime than in being an impartial and accurate observer. Personally I was able to see the beam of the 20mw much easier, it seemed 'thicker' and I was even able to see it 'all the way' to the Moon when I pointed it there. I used new Lithium batteries from the same pack in each pointer and kept them turned on and off for the same length of time. I posted 2 pictures on my utahastronomy page of the lasers in action. http://www.utahastronomy.com/Howardj Enjoy! Howard ____________________________________________________________________________________ Need Mail bonding? Go to the Yahoo! Mail Q&A for great tips from Yahoo! Answers users. http://answers.yahoo.com/dir/?link=list&sid=396546091

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