8mW Green Laser Pen, retail $19.95
Manufactured by (Unknown)
Last updated 03-22-09
(In reference to the little packet I received from an Ebay seller at ~2:20pm PDT on 05-25-07):
{sung like the Foreigner song "Feels Like the First Time"}
This is a green DPSS pen-style laser module, advertised to emit 8mW at 532nm in the green part of the spectrum.
I have to call it a "module" instead of a "pointer" on this website, because it outputs well over 5mW of laser radiation.
It uses two AAA cells, which are held in its metal barrel.
SIZE
To use the laser module, 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 module back off. Yes, it really is as easy as that.
The laser module comes with a pocket clip, already attached. You know what it's for.
If not, slip the laser module into a shirt or pants pocket, and slide the clip over the outside of the fabric of the pocket when the module is being inserted into the pocket.
To change the batteries in your 8mW Green Laser Pen, unscrew and remove the tailcap, throw it in the {vulgar term for feces}bowl, yank that silver handle on the cistern down, and flush it away...O WAIT!!! YOU'LL NEED THAT!!! So just set it aside instead. 
Tip the two used AAA cells out of the barrel and into your hand, and dispose of, recycle, or recharge them as you see fit.
Insert two new AAA cells into the barrel, flat-end (-) negative first. This is the opposite of how batteries are installed in most flashlights, so please pay attention to polarity here.
Screw the tailcap back on, and be done with it.
Aren't you glad you didn't flush away that tailcap now?
Current usage measures 312mA.
Photograph of the laser's front end. I've never seen a front end like this, so I decided to photograph it.
This is a laser, not a flashlight. So I won't throw it against the wall, stomp on it, try to drown it in the toilet bowl, run over it, swing it against the concrete floor of a patio, or inflict upon it punishments that flashlights may have inflicted upon them. So this section of the laser's web page will seem a bit 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, there's a red-emitting diode and a lens to collimate (focus) the beam.
In a 532nm green laser (module 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) rays 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.
VERY IMPORTANT!!! This laser is NOT a toy, and you shine it into your eyes, other people's eyes, pets' eyes, for that matter, the eyes of any person or animal you encounter. 
Eye damage can occur faster than the blink reflex can protect them, regardless of what species' eyes you irradiate with this laser. So just don't do it. 
And fer chrissakes (and for heaven sakes and for Pete sakes and for your sakes too) do not shine this laser at any vehicle, whether ground-based like a motorcycle, car, or truck, or air-based like a helicopter, airplane, or jet. And if you shoot it at a person in the dark and he turns out to be a police officer, he may think he's being targeted, unholster (pull out) his gun, and hose you down with it.
This is a CDRH Class IIIb laser device. Treat it with respect, and it'll treat you with respect.
This laser is not water-resistant, so water, milk, diet vanilla Pepsi, cold (or hot) coffee, urine, ice cold fizzy root beer, or other liquids could get inside. So please try not to drop it in creeks, rivers, ponds, lakes, oceansides, docksides, snowbanks, puddles of pet rat pee, glasses of milk, slush piles, mud puddles, tubs, root beer floats, toilet bowls, cisterns, sinks, cups of coffee (hot *OR* cold), fishtanks, dog water dishes, old yucky wet mops, wall-mounted porcelain urinators, leaky water heaters, busted garden hoses, puddles of antifreeze, brake fluid, tranny fluid, gasoline, 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 pocket clip broke off this sample while I was unpacking it. This did not affect the electrical or optical functioning of this instrument though, so I'll be able to complete this evaluation.
Beam photograph at ~12".
Power output measures 15.825mW.
Beam is not white like this photograph makes it appear.
Beam spot is significantly smaller than it appears; the beam image bloomed.
Photograph of the beam spot on a wall at ~10'.
Beam is not white like this photograph makes it appear.
Beam is smaller than it appears; the beam image also bloomed when photographed.
And those artifacts around and toward the upper right of the beam spot in this photograph do not really exist.
Those rectangular graphic things in the upper left quadrant of this photograph are marquees from:
Nintendo ''R-Type''
Super Tiger...er...uh...Konami ''Super Cobra''
Midway ''Omega Race''
Sega ''Star Trek''
Williams ''Joust''
Venture Line ''Looping''
Universal ''Mr. Do!'s Castle''
Jaleco ''Exerion''
Gremlin/Sega ''Astro Blaster''
Atari ''Tempest''
Gottlieb ''Q*bert''
upright coin-op arcade video games from the 1980s.
Spectrographic analysis of this laser.
Same as above; newer spectrometer software & settings used.
Same as above; spectrometer's response narrowed to a range of 790nm to 820nm to show NIR line from the pump diode.
USB2000 spectrometer graciously donated by P.L.
I do not have an outdoor laser testing facility at my new location,
so I will not be able to provide any distance photographs.
TEST NOTES:
Test unit was purchased on Ebay on 05-18-07, and was received on the afternoon of 05-25-07.
Product was *VERY LIKELY* 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 00-00-00:
PROS:
CONS:
Fragile interior construction - like all DPSS lasers. Will not figure into my rating
Not water-resistant - but most other DPSS lasers aren't either. Will not figure into my rating
MANUFACTURER: Unknown
PRODUCT TYPE: Pen-style laser module
LAMP TYPE: DPSS diode laser/NdYVO4/KTP crystals
No. OF LAMPS: 1
BEAM TYPE: Very narrow; it's a laser, remember? ;-)
SWITCH TYPE: Pushbutton momentary on/off on barrel
BEZEL: Metal; has aperture (hole) for laser beam to emerge
BATTERY: 2xAAA cells
CURRENT CONSUMPTION: 312mA
WATER RESISTANT: No
SUBMERSIBLE: No
ACCESSORIES: None
WARRANTY: Unknown/not stated
PRODUCT RATING:
8mW Green Laser Pen *
Do you manufacture or sell an LED flashlight, task light, utility light, or module of some kind?
Want to see it tested by a real person, under real working conditions? Do you then want to see how your light did? If you have a sample available for this type of
real-world, real-time testing, please contact me at ledmuseum@gmail.com.
Please visit this web page for contact information.
Unsolicited flashlights, LEDs, and other products appearing in the mail are welcome, and it will automatically be assumed that you sent it in order to have it tested and evaluated for this site.
Be sure to include contact info or your company website's URL so visitors here will know where to purchase your product.
WHITE 5500-6500K InGaN+phosphor
ULTRAVIOLET 370-390nm GaN
BLUE 430nm GaN+SiC
BLUE 450 and 473nm InGaN
BLUE Silicon Carbide
TURQUOISE 495-505nm InGaN
GREEN 525nm InGaN
YELLOW-GREEN 555-575mn GaAsP & related
YELLOW 585-595nm
AMBER 595-605nm
ORANGE 605-620nm
ORANGISH-RED 620-635nm
RED 640-700nm
INFRARED 700-1300nm
True RGB Full Color LED
Spider (Pirrahna) LEDs
SMD LEDs
True violet (400-418nm) LEDs
Agilent Barracuda & Prometheus LEDs
Oddball & Miscellaneous LEDs
Programmable RGB LED modules / fixtures
Where to buy these LEDs
Links to other LED-related websites
The World's First Virtual LED Museum
Legal horse puckey, etc.
RETURN TO OPENING/MAIN PAGE
LEDSaurus (on-site LED Mini Mart)
This page is a frame from a website.
If you arrived on this page through an outside link,you can get the "full meal deal" by clicking here.
