I work in the traffic accident investigation field, and I’m looking for a laser pointer powerful enough that I can use in daylight to point out something on asphalt. Any recommendations for a unit that would work in such an application, or is daylight strong enough it will wash out a laser?
Make sure to get a green one. Green has the highest uh…energy capacity? Red is comparatively dimmer, so if you’re going to work in the day, get green
Green Laser. This should do the trick.
I doubt that even a very powerful green laser would be bright enough to see in sunlight, and if you could find one that bright, it would be very dangerous.
Dunno if you can find any now but Radio Shack green laser pointers are nice. Its dot is just barely visible in bright sunlight.
Just checked my Radio Shack pointer on our concrete balcony to be sure and the dot is quite visible even though it’s a simple commercial product.
How big before that becomes an issue? Are the 5mW ones I see about on Amazon risky to use?
5mW and under is considered “Eye Safe,” but I seriously doubt if any of the cheap laser pointers ever have their output measured. They are probably under 5mW in reality. As long as you don’t stare into it, or aim it at someone’s eyes, you should be fine (a reflection is not going to be much of a danger at these power levels).
Once you get into the “Wicked Lasers” power levels, all bets are off - those are too powerful for casual use, and should be regulated, IMHO. A 1W Green laser could cause immediate eye damage even from a reflection.
I have a small 5mw one that you can easily see in sunlight. Green ones are very bright for their power.
I just tried mine, and you can, indeed, see it in sunlight, but not easily.
If you know where to look, you can see it against sun-lit blacktop at around 20’, and cooldeck at around 15’.
Please don’t get a laser pointer. These things have a huge range and you might accidentally catch a driver or pilot and cause an accident. Check out this thread on Pprune. May I recommend chalk instead?
i have a 1.2 w which i think is maybe not legal in the US (Amusing that you can buy super automatic weapons … but hey whatever floats your boat!!)
If you find something you like i can ship it to you in parts if you interested
I bought it because allegedly you can find the reflectors on the moon left after the apollo missions… ever managed to do it myself though
sorry my green is 900 mw not 1.2 my blue is 800
I bought a number of green laser pointers from DealExtreme several years ago. They were all “5mw” but they actually varied in power quite a great deal. Some would visibly trace a beam through smog from one hilltop to another 15 miles away. They were flat black with brushed stainless trim and ran on two AA batteries and cost only a few dollars each. The same body was sold up to an advertised 200mw IIRC.
Surely they’re not a toy, probably very hazardous, not actually legal to import, etc. Specifically I have heard cheap Chinese green lasers put out a dangerous amount of light outside the visible spectrum which is not tightly collimated and can blind you.
I second using chalk, or little yellow numbered evidence markers.
We use paint. But tire friction marks can be hard to see when you’re next to them, but easier to see from a distance. So you end up standing 30 feet away trying to tell someone where to put a paint mark. I’d like to be able to just put a green dot on the correct point and say, “Paint there.”
Keep it away from airports!
Laser pranks on pilots ain’t funny, Bub.
Uh, no.