They are even neater when used in the fog. Quoting Chuck Hards <chuckhards@yahoo.com>:
Actually, Guy is really quite right.
This isn't a big deal. Even the dimmer green lasers I've seen are somewhat useful as pointers, the brighter ones work with more transparent air (higher altitudes, generally), although if the air is exceptionally clean even the brightest ones can be nearly invisible.
More dust or water vapor in the air means a more visible beam.
The brighter lasers are more visible when you get further off-axis, so larger crowds usually call for a bright laser. Something to consider if you are a lecturer at a large star-party.
Light-pollution decreases the effectiveness of the laser. The darker the sky, the dimmer the laser you will find effective. Suburban skies will benefit from a bright laser. Something to consider for the person conducting school star-parties.
It's mostly just an excuse to try and extract some data that may or may not be useful to a prospective purchaser. I thought it might be a cool way to spend an hour at a meeting on an otherwise moonlit or cloudy night, experimenting with a neat tool that we didn't have years ago. Seeing what the market offered, that's all. In practice it's really not a big production, anymore than any other club presentation with say, a slide projector.
--- diveboss@xmission.com wrote:
I don't know why a comparison of pointers needs to be such a big production.
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