Of no gemological use but if one likes lasers ;-)

Nikolaus Lackner · **Posted:** Tue Oct 04, 2011 4:35 pm

Got mine shipped today, incl. some extra goggles, a tripod and a filter set. http://www.wickedlasers.com/lasers/Spyder_III_Pro_Arctic_Series-96-37.html

mikko · **Posted:** Tue Oct 04, 2011 5:05 pm

OMG

, 1W blue laser. Only about 1000 times more powerful than most powerful legal handheld in my country. Of course it has gemological use. You'll find emeralds sitting comfortably in hammock drinking margaritas

Just beware, I had an accident of sub second flash from 20mW blue laser. I was looking to other direction and the beam hit only white area of my eye. I can tell you it was something else than white for next 5 days. Yes, I was wearing safety goggles, but they didn't protect from the side.

Nikolaus Lackner · **Posted:** Wed Oct 05, 2011 4:42 am

And I really thank you for your comment, since i was not yet aware of the threat that a beam could fall in between goggles and skin.The safety issue is THE ISSUE when dealing with this monster. When delivered, the laser is at 10% power. That is more than enough to test if it´s working. Going higher step by step means also step up security measures. Such as distance radius of where people or animals could possibly be harmed. Reflective objects and surfaces are to be avoided. Looking at the reflection point is also no good idea, even with the goggles. At the end of the steps you are virtually on top of a hill checking the dark, clear sky for planes to absolutely avoid pointing at them, since that is a very bad thing to do and will likely put you into jail.

I saw this machine in action in hungary this summer. The owner pointed to the zenith. This beam is incredible.

For gemological use? Only if one wants to boil some inclusions or get rid of a gem.

G4Lab · **Joined:** Tue Jan 02, 2007 8:20 pm **Posts:** 2658

I am fairly certain that if one exercises a bit of purchasing restraint , in a year or two one will be able to buy a laser just like this one for about $29.95 rather than 299.95.
That has been the trajectory of pricing on all the other lasers.

I am not one to worry much about strict legalities and also I think many safety regulations are dumbed down to the lowest common denominator. Often too much.

But Mikko makes a pretty good point. Lasers are capable of biting , hard and instantly.
I like toyz but some of these multi hundred milliwatt visible lazers are hazardous and I am sure eventually enough people will injure themselves or others that tighter regulation may follow.

I am pretty skeptical of some of the aircraft cockpit stories. Laser light does not obey the inverse square law but the atmosphere is actually not internally flawless by any means.

Another thing to remember as Mikko found out , is though blue light is less energetic than UV radiation, it is more energetic than all the rest of the visible light. This means it can do things to cell nuclei. Blue light can do all kinds of photochemistry. You could get a blueburn from such a device.

Kerensky · **Posted:** Mon Oct 10, 2011 4:34 am

G4Lab wrote:

....I am pretty skeptical of some of the aircraft cockpit stories. Laser light does not obey the inverse square law but the atmosphere is actually not internally flawless by any means.

Back in the late '70's, the USAF demonstrated a capability to down an incoming missile with a laser beam from an airborne platform. That the platform was a converted cargo-version 747 gives one some ideas of the size of the laser and the power plant feeding it. Though the capability was proved, AFAIK the system never entered service.

Several nations have tinkered with the idea of blinding combat pilots with lased energy outside of the optical band, Again, I don't think that any have fielded an operational capability.

G4Lab · **Joined:** Tue Jan 02, 2007 8:20 pm **Posts:** 2658

That was a big chemical laser and it did not really destroy the incoming with laser light it merely bothered it enough that the re entry slip stream destroyed it. It caused small defects in the reentry vehicle.

None of these things were penlight sized. nor powered by AAAA batteries. :roll:

gembug · **Posted:** Wed Oct 12, 2011 5:00 pm

If I recall correctly, the airborne laser platform was abandoned because the intensity of the beam destroyed the optics - even small defects like spots of dust were enough to destroy a lens. The tonnes of nasty chemicals to power it was also a detracting factor.

Now they're working on a semi-conductor laser version, less powerful but much more portable.

Now *that* would be a little more than blinding!

-Allan

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