back to laser pointers

1 my first red:


I bought this pointer in the mid 90's. Back then laser pointers were unheard of, and the only people with
lasers were working at labs or universities. So having a laser in my pocket was quite a fun party trick.

At the time there were two different nm colors of red pointers available. 670nm was common, but not as bright.
This one was 630nm, which made it look brighter at the same power level as a 670. This pointer claimed to be
4mW in optic power, which at the time was very high. (there weren't any regulations on laser power at the time)

It ran on two AAAA batteries, which could be a little hard to find at times. Also the beam it created wasn't
the typical dot you see today. Instead, it created a bar, like a wide line, where it was maybe 10x as long as
it was wide. But it was very bright, even compared to other pointers that came out a few years later. The
housing was brass with black paint, but years in my pocket removed a lot of the paint.

It also had an unusual power switch. It was designed to look like a pen or marker, and had a pocket clip on
the side. But to turn it on, you squeezed the clip into the body, where it made contact with the lower part
of the case and completed power to the pointer. This made it difficult to turn on accidentally, and impossible
to accidentally leave turned on, but you had to hold it to keep it turned on.

It still works today, but I don't use it anymore, so I store it without batteries installed. There's no chance
of finding a listing for it today. IIRC it wasn't cheap, maybe $120 or so at the time?

The branding on the clip is "Lyte Optronics USA"
"Lyte Optronics was acquired by AXT, Inc. (then known as American Xtal Technology) on May 28, 1999"
They were probably acquired for their laser expertise, and don't sell laser pointers anymore.




last updated 08/08/2026 at 12:30:41 by make_www_index.command version 2026.07.10.A