The laser I was considering buying was for outdoor use, astronomy, I ordered a 100mw green laser with IR, and it is purported to have 10000 hours life. probably a waste of money.
Would I need protective goggles for outdoors? I don't see folk demonstrating on youtube wear goggles.
I was just interested at what distance will a laser of this strength burn. I guess for instance it wont burn a ballon or plastic at about 30 feet.
p.s. I would never use this indoors and would remove the batteries when not in use.
However if you don't think I should have this 100mw laser from megalaseruk , then I will heed your good advice.
For star pointing at night just get an SD-303 or similar off ebay. Searching "green sd-303" brings them right up, take your pick. No need to shell out for a Laserbtb or a Laserglow for that. You'll want a green one, 532nm. They are not IR filtered but IMHO this matters little when star pointing, because you won't be wearing any kind of safety glasses for that anyway. (If you were, you couldn't see the beam, which defeats the purpose of using a star pointer.)
The SD-303 is inexpensive. Maybe I'm lucky but I've never had one of these die on me; the only thing to go wrong is that the lenses are often soft plastic. Cleaning them usually scratches them.
I say an SD-303 (which may also be known as JD-303 or Laser 303) because the lens threads are actually the fairly standard 9x0.5mm which is used in the AixiZ module. Thus, unless the lens is glued into place (and it might well be), you can order replacement lenses without trouble, pop them in there, and be back in business. Only, order glass, not plastic.
Don't confuse the SD-303 with the Laser 301, which may be sold under any variety of names, but generally say "Laser 301" on the host. These look almost identical to the SD-303, however the lens threads are NOT the familiar AixiZ type, they are something else and it might be harder to replace those with glass. I believe the 301 uses 5mm plastic lenses; these can be bought cheaply on ebay but I personally haven't gotten around to trying those yet.
A note about the IR beam component - it doesn't matter for star pointing, as I said. It DOES matter if using the laser in a way which would require goggles. Unless the goggles are rated to handle the IR component in addition to the 532nm, the goggles will pass the IR as if the goggles were not even there. Keep that in mind and just be sensible and mindful and you won't have an issue with it.
Check the sky to make sure no airplanes are present. You must assume the pilots WILL report any laser they see, even if it's not pointed directly at them. This assumption has proven true in the past, so keep it in mind.
Nothing wrong with using the laser indoors btw, don't worry about it. I use mine indoors all the time and so far haven't managed to create any strange matter with it. I'm certainly not going to stand out in the cold just to see a green beam/dot, that would be distracting. The DPSS doesn't like the cold anyway. They will "burn" at a few centimeters distance if you use the focus adjuster to get a sharp point but IMHO it's unimpressive and not worth the bother.
