How do golf laser rangefinders work?
Based on my many years of using golf rangefinders, the expensive high-end Bushnell golf rangefinders work the same way as the low budget golf laser rangefinders from TecTecTec, Nikon and Callaway.
A rangefinder is a device used to find the distance to a particular target, such as a flagstick or sand bunker, on a golf course by aligning the reticule (crosshairs) in the viewfinder with the target. These devices can also determine the slope (elevation change of uphill or downhill shots) to compensate the straight line distance to the target to get a more accurate distance measurement.
There are many brands of these devices in the market today including high end ones from Bushnell, Callaway and Nikon and lower budget ones from Precision Pro, and TecTecTec.
How do golf rangefinders work to measure the distance to the target marker?
Each golf rangefinder has a laser that emits a beam of light toward an object to determine its distance relative to your position.
A laser (an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) is an optoelectronic device used to generate an intense, focused beam of light through stimulated emission of radiation and consists of three important components: energy source, laser medium usually made of different materials depending on the application, from gases to solid crystals or liquids, and optical resonator consisting of two mirrors at either end that reflects light back and forth between the mirrors resulting in amplified light output from the system. Lasers also carry more power than normal sources of light since their coherent and monochromatic nature allows them to maintain high intensity over significant distances without losing much power along the way.
The energy source provides energy to stimulate the atoms in the laser medium. This energy can be supplied by an electrical current or light radiation from another source.
Some atoms will absorb enough energy from photon light particles to cause their electrons to transition from a lower energy state to a higher energy level. As these excited electrons fall back down to a lower energy level, they emit photons identical in frequency, phase, polarization, and direction to the ones initially absorbed by the atom.
These emitted photons then interact with other atoms in the medium, stimulating further emission of identical photons bouncing back and forth between the optical resonator’s mirrors. The number of photons will exponentially increase as they move between the mirrors in the rod until they reach the maximum intensity known as the laser threshold before escaping through one side and an intense beam of coherent light emerges from the end of the rod – light that has far more power than what was initially absorbed.
This process of optical amplification inside a solid-state laser cavity is known as stimulated emission, producing highly directional beams of light that can be focused on a very small area or object at long distances with minimal spreading or scattering and incredible precision. This makes them particularly useful in tasks such as cutting metal or engraving surfaces and communicating over long distances. In the medical field, they are used to perform delicate surgeries or pinpoint specific cells within the body. They’re also often employed in 3D printing, where the laser can be used to melt metal powders into certain shapes quickly and precisely. Lasers are even found in retail stores for scanning barcodes on products for sale!
Each rangefinder comes with two apertures on the front of the device. The top aperture is called the laser emission aperture and it transmits a laser beam to the target on the golf course such as a flagstick, sand bunker, or water hazard.
The bottom aperture is called the laser receiving aperture and receives the beam reflected off the target. The rangefinder has a high speed clock that measures the time it takes for the beam to reflect off the target and return to the device. The rangefinder has software that will calculate the target distance by using the following formula: Distance = (speed of light x time for laser beam to return to device) / 2.
