Laser Lights

[DJBJ 0]

For a mobile disco... Want some decent DMXable ones....

 

Ebay .. but not from China. Anyone seen any good ones for under 200ish?

 

These look ok... I dont understand the figures though! :hurt:

 

290134972988

180136760536

180136760721

180137100474

 

 

Your help would be appreciated.

Cheers, Ben

[Dream Catchers 0]

For a mobile disco... Want some decent DMXable ones....

 

Ebay .. but not from China. Anyone seen any good ones for under 200ish?

 

These look ok... I dont understand the figures though! :hurt:

 

290134972988

180136760536

180136760721

180137100474

Your help would be appreciated.

Cheers, Ben

 

To be honest I wouldn't recommend any of the the bottom 3 as they all use stepper motors and they are very slow and inacurate for graphics.

The very bottom one says it is CE certified and fully UK legal, but it does not have a key switch which is required by HSG95 regulations (any laser show using above 5mW needs to be complient with HSG95).

 

What you need to also ask is if the laser power is certified and if it includes IR filters. IR is EXTREMELY dangerous in lasers as the power of the IR is many times greater than the visable laser light, the infrared is capable of blindin people in micro seconds.

 

For more advice on lasers I would suggest looking at the PhotonLexicon forums.

 

Jim

[DJBJ 0]

Do most of these chinese ones have an IR micro filter as I bought a 350mw Laser that was imported from China. It does not mention the IR filter though.....

[Dream Catchers 0]

It depends, some do some dont.

You really need to ask them.

There is one way that you can sometimes use to check though.

If you point a static beam onto a cd at about 45 degrees, then look at the reflected dot about 20 feet away through a digital camera, you may see two dots. One of them will be the IR if there is no filter. Looking at it without the camera you should only see 1 dot because you cannot see IR with the human eye.

 

Jim

[DJBJ 0]

All I really want to know is...

 

* Would I be liable to prosecution if any party-goer claims to be affected after I have used my laser effect?

 

* ... If this is the case, what stnadards should my laser effect conform to and how do I tell weather it does or not?

 

* Lastly, am I at risk as a DJ that could use this machine on a regular basis to radiation or UV Light blinding me???

 

 

Please let me know as I am awfully worried that I have just thrown away £350.

 

Cheers, Ben

[TonyB 0]

All I really want to know is...

 

* Would I be liable to prosecution if any party-goer claims to be affected after I have used my laser effect?

 

* ... If this is the case, what stnadards should my laser effect conform to and how do I tell weather it does or not?

 

* Lastly, am I at risk as a DJ that could use this machine on a regular basis to radiation or UV Light blinding me???

Please let me know as I am awfully worried that I have just thrown away £350.

 

Cheers, Ben

 

Yes you would be open to prosecution if someone claimed that they had suffered an injury as a result of use of a laser effect. You should also check with your insurers that use of lasers are not excluded under your PLI policy.

 

Don't know much about the standards, risk of radiation or possibility of UV light blinding but if I used one, I would make sure the beams stayed above head height to prevent the risk of eye damage.

Edited July 15, 2007 by TonyB

[Dream Catchers 0]

There is NO LAW stopping you using the laser and you CANNOT be prosecuted for using the laser.

 

Now the bad news..........

Anybody can make a claim against you if they believe that an eye injury has been caused by you.

 

For you to be protected you need to prove that it was not your equipment that did the damage, to do this you really need to show that all the releant measurements have been taken and that your laser was below the MPE (maximum ermisable exposure), this is a very comlicated calculation and special equipment is needed to make the measurements.

Your laser is allowed to be above the MPE as long as it cannot make contact with a member of the public. The usual way to do this is make sure that the height of the beam is at least 3m above floor level at all points, this of course is unlikely in most pubs ans small function rooms, you also need to make sure that in any part of the laser show the beam cannot be reflected from any surface into the crowd.

 

There is a little bit of good news though, nobody in britain has ever been proved to be liable for any eye injury. I do use lasers regularly but I try to make the shows as safe as possible, I also place signs on all the entrance doors to warn that class 3b and class 4 lasers are in use.

 

I have uploaded HSG95 onto my website (which is still under construction) but be warned it is nearly 75Meg so it may take a while to download.

 

Hope this hels a bit.

Edited July 15, 2007 by JimBoylan

[DJBJ 0]

 

Ahhh, Ok Jim, SO would you recomend that I make a contract if the client wants lasers that they sign to say that I as the DJ am not responsable if any of their guests suffer due to the lights, however have and will do everything in my power to make the show as safe as possable.

 

Thank you very much for that document, I will read through it and highlight anything that I am unfamiliar with and get it checked up on.

 

In your honest advice, are the lasers harmful? Am I as the DJ Safe from them as it is also my health that concerns me a lot.

 

I also am going to use the signs on the doors if that is ok as I feel that is an excellent idea.

 

 

SO to have the laser mounted at roughly 3m above the dance floor pointed onto it would not be recomended???

 

I am also going to start a new policy with DJ Guard insurance this evening, Do you know if the public liability insurance and everything for lasers is covered in this?

 

Cheers, Ben

[Dream Catchers 0]

What I would advise is put a tick box on your contract the same as you would for strobes or smoke machines, that way it is upto the customer if they want you to use them.

I find almost every booking I take that they like the use of lasers.

 

Just make sure that you avoid looking directly at the beam, also make sure that you never project a static dot somewhere that somebody's eye may be.

 

Jim

[Tom 0]

I have uploaded HSG95 onto my website (which is still under construction) but be warned it is nearly 75Meg so it may take a while to download.

 

Off topic but...

If you double click on the picture then go compress yuo acn make that word doc 18MB zip it to 17MB.

Just thought you may like to save some bandwidth!

[nrgize 0]

Is there anything wrong with the china ones then ?? I know the postage and packing is a little expensive but the price is cheap!

[Dream Catchers 0]

Is there anything wrong with the china ones then ?? I know the postage and packing is a little expensive but the price is cheap!

The chinese ones are getting better, make sure they use galvos not stepper motors.

Also dont forget that you will also get a bill for the import duty that you have to pay (to the taxman). I think it is about 20% of the total you pay for it.

 

This is seperate to thr p&p cost that you pay to the seller.

 

Jim

[DJBJ 0]

Mine is awesome I have to tell you.

I might sell it though and get 2 more scanners for now then get it again in a few months.

 

I got a great deal... I paid £350 as I know the guy, got receipt, full 1 year warranty and he's in the UK. The same one is £600 on ebay!