On Thu, Aug 09, 2001 at 02:28:25PM -0500, Austad, Jay wrote:
> Unfortunately, this probably won't work.  At 3 blocks, the beam on my laser
> point is about an inch wide.  This is most likely due to changes in the air
> temp and index of refraction.  1 inch at 3 blocks compared to 1mm at the
> pointer is a big difference, it's only going to get worse at longer
> distances, especially to the moon.  :)

That was my first thought when I read the idea.  IME, cheapo consumer-
market lasers are crap for diffusion.  1 inch at 3 blocks is actually
a good deal better than mine, which can get to about half an inch from
across the room.  (But mine is about... oh... 6 or so years old.)

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