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RADIO SHACK
GREEN LASER POINTER

Radio Shack Green Laser Pointer, retail $49.99 (www.radioshack.com...)
Manufactured by (Unknown) for Radio Shack (www.radioshack.com)
Last updated 09-27-09

(In reference to the little box I pulled down from a pegboard display at Radio Shack at 11:51am PDT on 03-13-09):
{sung like the Foreigner song "Feels Like the First Time"}
Feels like a flaaaaaash-liiiight...feels like a FL

BREAK IN 50276
READY.
CONT

?OUT OF DATA ERROR IN 65535
READY.

Let's try that again...as soon as I saw the markings on the front of the box, I *knew* it wasn't a flashlight...

Feels like a laaaaaa-sssser...feels like a LAAAAA-aaaaa-ssser!!!
Feels like a laaaaaa-sssser...feels like a LAAAAA-aaaaa-ssser!!!

This is a green DPSS (diode pumped solid state) laser pointer. It comes in what I believe is a brass body with a handsome brushed "aluminum-look" finish.

(I say "aluminum-look" here because it is probably not aluminum, though it *LOOKS* like it is)

SIZE

Feed the laser pointer two AAA cells that you supply yourself (see below), and then you'll be ready to rock.

To use the laser pointer, just aim it at something you wish to point out, and press & hold down the button on the barrel for as long as you need the laser spot. Release the button to turn the laser pointer back off. Yes, it really is as easy as that.

To change the batteries in this laser, unscrew the unit (the seam is at the halfway point), and set the black portion aside.

Tip the used AAA cells out of the barrel and into your hand, and dispose of, recycle, or recharge them as you see fit. Do not under any circumstances flush them down a toilet or throw them into a trout-filled stream.

Insert two new AAA cells into the barrel, button-end (+) positive first. This is the opposite of how batteries are installed in most flashlights, so please pay attention to polarity here.

Screw the black portion back on, and be done with it.

Current usage measures 158.3mA on my DMM's 400mA scale.

This is a laser pointer, not a flashlight. So I won't try to drown it in the toliet tank, bash it against a steel rod or against the concrete floor of a patio, let my mother's big dog's ghost or my sister's kitty cats spring a leak (uranate) on it, run over it with a 450lb Celebrity motorised wheelchair, stomp on it, use a medium or large ball peen hammer in order to bash it open to check it for candiosity, fire it from the cannoñata, drop it down the top of Mt. Erupto (I guess I've been watching the TV program "Viva Piñata" too much again

- candiosity is usually checked with a laser-type device on a platform with a large readout (located at Piñata Central {aka. "Party Central"}), with a handheld wand that Langston Lickatoad uses, or with a pack-of-cards-sized device that Fergy Fudgehog uses; the cannoñata (also located at Piñata Central) is only used to shoot piñatas to piñata parties away from picturesque Piñata Island, and Mt. Erupto is an active volcano on Piñata Island), send it to the Daystrom Institute for additional analysis, or perform other indecencies on it that a flashlight might have to have performed on it. So this section of the web page will be ***SIGNIFICANTLY*** more bare than this section of the web page on a page about a flashlight.

Green diode lasers are a lot different than those common red lasers you see all the time.

In a 640nm red laser pointer, there's a red-emitting diode and a lens to collimate (focus) the beam.

In a 532nm green laser (pointer or larger size), there's a BIG infrared laser diode that generates laser light at 808nm, this is fired into a crystal containing the rare-earth element "neodymium". This crystal takes the 808nm infrared light and lases at 1064nm (yes, deeper in the infrared!). This 1064nm laser light comes out of the NdYV04 (neodymium yttrium vanadium oxide) crystal and is then shot into a second crystal (containing potassium, titanium, & phosphorus, usually called KTP) that doubles the frequency to 532nm - the bright green color you see. This light is then collimated (focused) by a lens and emerges out the laser's "business end". Just before the lens, there's a filter that removes any stray IR (infrared) radiation from the pump diode and the neodymium crystal. You don't want that stuff in your green beam, trust me. :-)

This is why green diode lasers are so much more expensive than red ones. Lots of itty bitty parts, and they all need to be aligned by hand. If the polarisation is "off", one or both crystals need to be turned. With red diode lasers, you just slap in the diode and slap a lens in front of it.

This laser is lightly splatter-resistant, but it is not water-resistant, so please be extra careful when using it around sinks, tubs, toilets, fishtanks, pet water bowls, or other places where water or water-like liquids might be found. And you'll probably want to cover it up or otherwise get rid of it (such as by putting it in a pocket or bag) if you need to carry it in rainy or snowy weather.

The labelling on this laser is accurate: it states that it is a Class IIIA instrument, outputting less than 5mW of laser radiation at a wavelength of 532nm, and it actually measures 3.6195mW at 532nm.

This is Radio Shack part # 63-132.

Beam photograph on the test target at 12".
Beam image bloomed *SUBSTANTIALLY*; beam spot is also not white.
Power measures 3.6195mW on a laser power meter designed for that purpose.

Beam photograph at ~15'.
Beam spot is not white like this photograph makes it appear.
Beam spot is also somewhat smaller than it appears;
the beam image bloomed slightly when photographed.

Those colored graphics at the left are my "Viva Piñata" posters, and that clock on the right that looks like a gigantic wristwatch is my Infinity Optics Clock.
You may also be able to see some of my SpongeBob SquarePants plush and a Digimon plush.

Spectrographic plot

Spectrographic analysis of this laser.

Spectrographic plot

Same as above; spectrometer's response narrowed to a band between 790nm and 830nm to show NIR laser line (or *LACK THEREOF!*) from the pump diode.

Spectrographic plot

Spectrographic analysis of the fluorescence of the pink body of a Patrick Star plush (stuffed critter) when irradiated with this laser.

Spectrographic plot

Attempted spectrographic analysis of fluorescence of a Tritium Torch when irradiated with this laser.

Ocean Optics USB2000 Spectrometer graciously donated by P.L.

ProMetric analysis

Beam cross-sectional analysis with beam widened.

Images made using the ProMetric System by Radiant Imaging.

TEST NOTES:
Test unit was purchased on at Radio Shack in Federal Way WA. USA on 03-13-09.

Product was made in China.
A product's country of origin really does matter to some people, which is why I published it on this web page.

UPDATE: 09-27-09
I have given this laser to a friend as a late birthday present; therefore, that dreadful "

" icon will appear next to its listings on this website; denoting that I no longer have it at my disposal for future comparisons and analyses.

***VERY IMPORTANT!!!***
He knew going in that this laser was gently used, so he won't be surprised later when he sees this on my website!!!

PROS:
Feels good in the hand; is also rather hefty.
No beam artifacts - none that I've been able to detect anyway.

CONS:
Power is a bit on the low side - but not unreasonably so
Not waterproof or submersible - but most pointers/pointers aren't. Will not figure into my rating.
More delicate than directly-injected diode laser pointers/modules - but again, will not figure into my rating.

MANUFACTURER: Unknown
PRODUCT TYPE: Handheld laser
LAMP TYPE: DPSS laser diode
No. OF LAMPS: 1
BEAM TYPE: Very narrow spot
SWITCH TYPE: Momentary pushbutton on/off on barrel
CASE MATERIAL: Possibly a brass/aluminum alloy
BEZEL: Metal; LED aperture recessed in a cell for it
BATTERY: 2xAAA cells
CURRENT CONSUMPTION: 158.3mA
WATER RESISTANT: Splatter-resistant at maximum
SUBMERSIBLE: For heaven sakes NOOOOOOOO!!!
ACCESSORIES: Metal presentation case
WARRANTY: Unknown/not stated

PRODUCT RATING:

Radio Shack Green Laser Pointer * www.radioshack.com...

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