200 mw green laser - safe?

G

Greysky

Guest
I have the opportunity to purchase a green laser with an output power of
150 - 200 milliwatts. How safe are lasers at this power level? Do I need to
get goggles to avoid burning out my retinas at this level, or are accidental
flashes still harmless?
 
In article <UBhNd.1446$lz5.1061@newssvr24.news.prodigy.net>, Greysky
<greyskynospam@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

I have the opportunity to purchase a green laser with an output power of
150 - 200 milliwatts. How safe are lasers at this power level? Do I need to
get goggles to avoid burning out my retinas at this level, or are accidental
flashes still harmless?
Click to expand...
Appropriate warning sign:

WARNING - LASER - DO NOT LOOK INTO BEAM WITH REMAINING EYE

Anything over around 5mw can be a problem, even if not tightly
collimated or focused.

Please be careful!

--
Namaste--
 
Greysky wrote:

I have the opportunity to purchase a green laser with an output power of
150 - 200 milliwatts. How safe are lasers at this power level? Do I need to
get goggles to avoid burning out my retinas at this level, or are accidental
flashes still harmless?
Click to expand...
Get goggles.
10mW is borderline for eye damage before blink reflex closes the eye.
200mW is seriously dangerous if you get a look at it.


--
Dirk

The Consensus:-
The political party for the new millenium
http://www.theconsensus.org
 
john cincotta <johncincotta@comcast.net> writes:

Sam

I bought a hp 5501 laser over the weekend at a swap meet
it is a 1995 build date and looks different than the one
in the laser page. Id be willing to photo it and send them to you for
inclusion what size picts would you like horxvert pixels, kbytes
Click to expand...
I'd like to see the pics but no guarantees on including them.

800x600 .jpg is probably good enough.

it was missing the front of the case (where the laser beam would come out.

I havent figured where to power it up yet. ive read the portion in the
laser faq 2x now and havent figuered it oout quite yet.
Click to expand...
If it has the 4 pin din connector, it's just a matter of applying +/-15 V,
and +5 V, and common to the appropriate pins. If you trace them to the
inside, it will be obvious. If not, I can get you the pin designations.

Once power is applied (with the cover in place so the interlock is activated),
the laser tube should come on in a few seconds, and if the rest of the
electronics is operational, the "Locked" LED should come on in a minute or
so.

How much different is it than the one in the Laser FAQ?

I assume you mean these pics:

http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/sam/laserpic/henepics.htm#henetoc

under "Hewlett Packard 5501 Helium-Neon Laser".

http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/sam/laserpic/henepics.htm#henehph

Thanks.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Mirror: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Sites: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Note: These links are hopefully temporary until we can sort out the excessive
traffic on Repairfaq.org.

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is
ignored unless my full name is included in the subject line. Or, you can
contact me via the Feedback Form in the FAQs.
 
On Sun, 06 Feb 2005 17:29:07 -0800, Chris Carlen wrote:

Oddly, a few days later I discovered that the spot in my eye simply
vanished. I cannot find that black dot anymore. I really don't know if
it means that the damage was not permanent and the retinal receptors
recovered, or if there was permanent damage and the brain simply marked
that data as "bax pixels" and now interpolates over those receptors to
give the perception of an uninterrupted image.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't be a bit surprised - probably a lot like the blind spot where
your optic nerve joins your retina:
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/chvision.html

The brain's signal processing is extremely sophisticated!
Click to expand...
Yup!

Cheers!
Rich
 
On Mon, 07 Feb 2005 21:42:27 -0500, Mark Jones wrote:
....
-- "If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what is the
significance of a clean desk?" -- Laurence Peter
Click to expand...
Or an empty one? ;-)

Cheers!
Rich
 
"Frank Bemelman" <f.bemelmanq@xs4all.invalid.nl> wrote in message
news:4207293d$0$28993$e4fe514c@news.xs4all.nl...
"Chris Carlen" <crobc@BOGUSFIELD.sbcglobal.net> schreef in bericht
news:cu6g940f57@news2.newsguy.com...
Greysky wrote:
I have the opportunity to purchase a green laser with an output power
of
150 - 200 milliwatts. How safe are lasers at this power level? Do I
need
to
get goggles to avoid burning out my retinas at this level, or are
accidental
flashes still harmless?

Such a laser is a menace to humanity and will definitely blow a hole
clear through your retina.

I know nothing about lasers, but would think that 200mW also
hurts/stings on normal skin, when hold still.
Click to expand...
120mw of green does, at least at fairly close range. I'd be very hesitant to
play around with 200mW and I've been messing with lasers for years.
 
Greysky wrote:

I have the opportunity to purchase a green laser with an output power of
150 - 200 milliwatts. How safe are lasers at this power level? Do I need to
get goggles to avoid burning out my retinas at this level, or are accidental
flashes still harmless?
Click to expand...
IMO, everything above 5mW is a class 1 laser, and involves
training the people, safety interlocks, removing people
from the site and such.

Rene
--
Ing.Buero R.Tschaggelar - http://www.ibrtses.com
& commercial newsgroups - http://www.talkto.net
 
I read in sci.electronics.design that Chris Carlen
<crcarle@BOGUS.sandia.gov> wrote (in <cuame501q6s@news4.newsguy.com>)
about '200 mw green laser - safe?', on Tue, 8 Feb 2005:
However, it is a
bit easier with myopia or perhaps it's opposite (what's that called?).
Click to expand...
hypermetropia.
--
Regards, John Woodgate, OOO - Own Opinions Only.
The good news is that nothing is compulsory.
The bad news is that everything is prohibited.
http://www.jmwa.demon.co.uk Also see http://www.isce.org.uk
 
Chris Carlen <crcarle@BOGUS.sandia.gov> wrote in
news:cuame501q6s@news4.newsguy.com:

<Snipola>
But if the brain (or perhaps there is initial processing done by the
ganglia near the retina itself) wasn't interpolating, then the damaged
spots would be visible always.
Snipola
Click to expand...

Don't forget that you have two eyes and the brain uses data
from both to perceive an image. The blind spot for each eye is
compensated for by the other eye. It's much easier to find
the blind spot with one eye closed.

Brian
--
http://www.skywise711.com - Lasers, Seismology, Astronomy

Home of the Seismic FAQ
http://www.skywise711.com/SeismicFAQ/SeismicFAQ.html

Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes?
 
"Rich Grise" <richgrise@example.net> wrote in message
news:pan.2005.02.08.05.14.27.753547@example.net...
On Mon, 07 Feb 2005 21:42:27 -0500, Mark Jones wrote:
...
-- "If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what is the
significance of a clean desk?" -- Laurence Peter

Or an empty one? ;-)

Cheers!
Rich
Click to expand...
Its a well -known fact that a clean and tidy desk is a sign of a SICK mind
 
Greysky wrote:
I have the opportunity to purchase a green laser with an output power of
150 - 200 milliwatts. How safe are lasers at this power level? Do I need to
get goggles to avoid burning out my retinas at this level, or are accidental
flashes still harmless?
Click to expand...
This isn't by any chance the same laser that the FAA is looking for?

--
Paul Hovnanian mailto:paul@Hovnanian.com
------------------------------------------------------------------
Opinions stated herein are the sole property of the author. Standard
disclaimers apply. All rights reserved. For external use only. If
irritation, rash or swelling occurs, discontinue use immediately
and consult a physician. Void where prohibited.
 
In article <4208ab8b$0$3399$5402220f@news.sunrise.ch>, Rene Tschaggelar wrote:
IMO, everything above 5mW is a class 1 laser, and involves
training the people, safety interlocks, removing people
from the site and such.
Click to expand...
5 mW and above, but less than 500 mW, is Class IIIb. But the rules
sound about right.

Unless something changed in recent years, lasers 1 mW or more but less
than 5 mW are Class IIIb unless the beam characteristics are such that it
is not reasonably foreseeable for 1 mW or more to enter the eye and get
focused onto a single point on the retina, in which case the laser is
Class IIIa. However, I see many laser pointers in the 1-5 mW range
labelled as Class IIIa.

Class I visible lasers have power of less than .4 microwatt.

- Don Klipstein (don@misty.com)
 
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