Extra caveat if you're shipping out of country. We were scanned out if $1800. ------------------------------ On Tue, Jan 22, 2013 11:28 AM MST Seth Jarvis wrote:
I picked up two green lasers from laserpointerpro.com. Would I buy from them again? Hmmm... Interesting question.
One was a 400 mw (tests out at 350), and the other was a 200 mw (tests out at 175). Both use the 18650 3.7V lithium rechargeable battery.
Both came directly from China, and I paid for them with PayPal, which is a little scary when dealing with overseas vendors.
The 18650 battery charger that came with the 400 mw laser died the second time I tried to use it. Fortunately, I'd purchased two extra batteries and another charger from Amazon, so I'm not without a charger. The vendor also didn't include the battery with the 400 mw laser, and I had to email him for weeks to get him to deliver what the online ad promised was included.
Both lasers are kick-butt awesome, especially the 400 mw - it's a monster and will burn your skin fast. It does require a special key to operate which is a bit of a hassle. You do NOT want to put this in the hands of kids. I find that for star parties the "little" 200 mw laser works very well and is convenient to use. I only use the 400 when I have a big group of people around me and I'm in the mood to show off a bit and make sure everyone sees what I'm pointing at.
Neither laser would be appropriate if there were a bunch of other telescopes around me. Probably have to drop down to a 20 mw, and even then there would be complaints from other folks, I suspect.
I've never had either the 200 or 400 laser out in the bitter cold that we're experiencing here these days (because I'm not crazy), but from my experience with other lasers I think the advice given thus far - use fresh batteries and keep them warm - is smart.
***What you do _NOT_ want to do is buy a laser that claims to have >50 mw output but only runs on the puny single battery that's about half the size of the CR123.
I've got a 100 mw pen-sized green laser that uses two AAA batteries, and while it's great when the batteries are fresh, it goes through batteries really fast.
Big power requires big batteries.<< It's that simple.
In terms of online buying from places that ship directly from China - caveat emptor.
Seth
-----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chuck Hards Sent: Monday, January 21, 2013 8:01 AM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] laser pointers
Bill, I got mine on-line from two different vendors some years ago, pre-divorce when I actually had pocket money. The 100mW was purchased from Destructive Gear ($300, with a $100 discount coupon, reg. $400), the 20mW unit from Beta Electronics (about $120 if memory serves). Recent searches on both websites don't show those lasers anymore, however.
I think Seth Jarvis picked-up one of the 100mW units as well, perhaps he can comment on that one too. Yes, it will pop a balloon and ignite a match head. Two tasks so vital for amateur astronomy. ;-)
I never saw one of the lasers offered at the club meeting. Anybody get one and have some feedback? Are they 5mW or less output?
On Mon, Jan 21, 2013 at 7:41 AM, william baker <baker464b@yahoo.com> wrote:
Will the gentleman who is the wholesaler for these laser pointers be at the next meeting? I would like to purchase one or two.
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