Hey AMK thanks for the info on the laser, mine says it's 50mw so I think I better keep that baby inside something. I just want it to be safe and I hope you know I wasn't implying that your's was not, just trying to learn a little. Thanks Again and I'll check those videos out.
DB
no worries ... i didn't even think that you implied that i was being "unsafe" ...
personally, i think that many people are overreacting with lasers ... higher powered lasers are/were used in "rock concerts" ... i'm unaware of any lawsuits ...
you can think of these cheap 5mw lasers like a hand held magnifying glass ... focus the sun on yourself for a brief period & you'll not damage your skin ... but if you hold the focused rays of the sun for a longer period ... well lets say that i've roasted many ants during my youth ... someone determined that 5mw lasers are safe, but that doesn't mean i'm going to point one directly into my eyes
the laser vortex incident power can probably be estimated/calculated by dividing the circumference by the number of dots there are that make up the circumference, & dividing that by the power ... lets say that your vortex has 100 dots, so 5mw/100 = 0.05mw
another good analogy is something like counting how many magnified suns would fit into the area of the magnifying glass ... the same amount of energy from the sun that is falling onto the glass doesn't burn you, well if you stayed out with sunscreen you'd eventually get a sunburn, but if you concentrate that energy into a tiny dot you're well on your way to frying ants ... with a laser vortex, think of the analogy above in reverse, where the vortex is spreading the laser energy over a larger area, thus diluting the laser power ... similarly if you drank strong acid you'd be in trouble, but if you dilute a mouthful it in a 40 gallon drum you'll be ok...
amk