🚀 go-pugleaf

With all of this laser targeting systems discussion, I thought I would put my
two cents worth in. Laser targeting systems were developed by the military for
two things. One, for simulated battle situations where a kill was detected by
your opponet's detector and visa versa. The lasers used were and are IR diode
lasers (I.E. invisible). Second, they were used for actual combat to target an
object, like a tank, with a laser source for guidence on laser guided missiles.
The common type that we as civilians see are a product of the visible laser
diode who was introduced on the commercial market in mid 1989. These are
identical to the laser diodes used in laser pointers. The idea is for better
sighting and target hitting as well as for intimidation. Some guy has a police
.38 cal pistol pointed at him and a red dot on his forehead, he will think
twice about doing something stupid. As with ANY laser light source, the power
is concentrated into a very tigh beam. The intensity is thousands of times
brighter than ambient light and therefore, the possibiliy for eye injury is
there. The commercial target lasers are between 3mW and 5mW at 670Nm. The light
percieved by the eye is about 1mW at 5mW, but the diode lasers have strong
harmonics in the near IR band, which is 780Nm to 840Nm and that you can't see.
So the danger exist for eye damage even though you can't see it. These lasers
are rated Class IIIa, which the CDRH (Center for Devcies and Radiological
Health) has determined could cause perment eye damage if viewed directly. But
the best rule to follow is: NEVER VEIW ANY LASER BEAM DIRECTLY NO MATTER WHAT
IT"S POWER ! ! !. If you have a target laser, DO NOT point it into a person's
eyes unless of course in 3 seconds, he won't need them any more ;-) Lasers are
fun things to play with (I have been playing with them for 24 years), but above
all, use common sense as they are not harmless toys and can cause severe injury
if used carelessly.

-=-= Wes =-=-