Hey Skipp -
Welcome to PL
I think I know you thru Brian B @ Camb
(we can chat later...) And RE:
"I have been doing lasers since 92 or 3. I come from the water cooled era." Yeah, me too - grew up in the 'old skool'...Lots of amazing 'laser-vets' here... Good to see ya here...
I have to say, I agree nearly 100% with everything you've said - I heartily agree with
"The only good laser in the eye is no laser in the eye.",(except controlled, on-purpose, ie LASIK) and I left up top what I feel are your most relevant and true points
(I am merely reflecting what you are saying to the others, here...)
And I also have to second
"You Guys who have scanned yourself with your 2 watt lasers should have your retinas photographed. You would be shocked to see all of the holes in them" - It is NOT all
that expensive - a decent eye clinic will charge you about $75-150. tops for a FULL exam and scoping - pics maybe more, but at least an exam and report...
It is serious food for thought, because while I personally feel that a BIT of 'tastefully placed' LOW-power scanning
(250mW or LESS) CAN be attractive - what we
far more commonly see - even at times posted by respected members of this forum - is just plain whacked, and for me personally, ANNOYING. I don't LIKE having to constantly 'wince' so I don't end up getting 'flashed' - the afterimages make it harder to SEE the rich colors!!!
I, personally, enjoy a laser show
more where I am 'teased' - fluid sines / fans that
feel-like they are JUST out of reach
(~10' up!) and ESPECIALLY if you are kicking 40W out - that stuff should be WELL away from people!!! What did most 'Lasercopes' DO before they got converted into light show systems? Umm,
SURGERY, helloooo!!
(Marcus, I am sorry to hear of your accident - I sincerely hope that in time, you may recover some, if not all of your precious sight - unless it was a direct hit to your fovea, you might just have a bad burn/scab for now - perhaps in time, it may subside somewhat...)
But, really, I just think it is not taken seriously enough by WAY too many 'laserists' - and just cause a guy has the bux to buy a 3W MG and a QM2K does NOT make him a 'laserist' - I think every SALE of a laser system, SHOULD be regulated to include PROOF that the buyer has, at a minimum, completed a laser safety training class
(in depth), and
understands the power of the 'gun' he/she is buying - we have to get a license to drive a car
(and yes, I know, cars take lives, lasers usually do NOT), but it is more an issue of encouraging self-regulation thru accountability - if you KNEW you could get your precious, money-earning laser-license - and maybe your LASER - yanked for not operating safely, would that NOT encourage better responsability?
OK, so the 'controversy' then becomes - what truly DEFINES "Safe" - well, based on everything
I've ever read
(except from those selling something) I'd have to agree with Skipp in that "Safe Audience Scanning" is really a misnomer - it would be better, and I think, ultimately more
accurate, to say "Saf
ER Audience Scanning" is now possible...
All due repect, Jim - can you PROVE that, mathematically? What would be the energy density of the FOCUSED SPOT on a person's fovea in this example? We often forget how our LENS figures into the equation - though, this
is an extreme example - you're probably right
(though it would be probably MORE accurate to say "will do no NOTICABLE damage") - but in Skipps 'rant' example - FAR more likely to happen - yeah, 2-3W MGs -
ESPECIALLY @ 532nm: great at burning tissue - HAS probably given a few foveas a few 'freckles' - and the issue is, no one makes a big deal out of it / no ones knows, UNTIL, something like what happened to Marcus, there - happens to someone in PUBLIC. Then we're ALL screwed. No more lasers available to anyone less than a PhD at a University - like dynamite, post 9/11 - and there goes the laser show industry
(again!) And hobbiests? Hmmm. I think we'd all be forced back to RC planes/trains/automobiles..
Ok, I'm gonna shut up, now, but I just submit the evidence shows it would do EVERYONE good to have a much more SERIOUS vs a more CAVALIER attitude towards the subject / practices - when I hear of people using themSELVES as 'MPE meters'
("for every show we set up, we "sample" the show from all points of audience access. If its uncomfortably bright at the closest points, we take measures to correct the issue.") NOT a criticism, but EEK! How long are you gonna be able to do this before you can't
see too well anymore, dude?! And isn't the 'judgement' of what is 'safe' for others, really being reduced in 'accuracy' by every 'sample' likely damaging the very 'meter'
(eyes) you use to judge by? Again, no crits, here, just food for thought.
I DID say I was gonna shut up, right?
Sorry... peace..
- J