Sigurthr
0
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2011
- Messages
- 4,364
- Points
- 83
Hello all, I'm new here and figured I should introduce myself a bit.
My name is Matt, but I've gone by the name Sigurthr (or Sig for short) for more than a decade now. I'm a "retired" TIG/MIG welder and metal fabricator. I suffered a severe wrist injury which forced me into "retirement" at an early age. I'm currently self-training in electronics hoping to change careers one day. I'm also an Amateur (Ham) Radio operator - W8SIG Extra Class Licensee, and a classically trained Flutist and Ocarinist. I maintained and repaired Radiation detection equipment as a side job for a while, and have become rather experienced in detecting and handling radioactive materials.
I'm not new to lasers but very out of touch. My first laser was a 0.7mW 670nm diode I got back in 1992 and I remember it cost me around $75 for the diode alone. I got an old half-dead HeNe tube shortly after that and built the HV driver for it out of an old neon sign PSU that was also half-dead. Lasers were just too expensive back then.
In the mid 2000's I discovered the Chinese Laser market, and ordered from WL (with terrible results) but at the time, the prices seemed superb to me. I picked up one of their first "Nexus" greenies @ ~95mW which soon went underspec after maybe an hour of use. I don't have a LPM but I would guess it puts out about 50mW these days. I also picked up two 5mW COREs at their initial inexpensive price. One had a misalignment with the KTP crystal, so I converted it to an 808nm burner. I overdrove it and got my money's worth out of it before it died after about 100hrs. There was a lot of back reflection as well since I had to use a collimation lens not meant for IR. After the bad service and quality I received I decided I would not order from China again until quality increased or prices dropped, substantially.
Fast forward a few years and in 2010 I picked up a 10mW 405nm pointer off of Amazon for I think only $20. I kept lasers on the back burner so to speak until just a few weeks ago when a Radiation Detection colleague referred me to Laserlands.net. Upon seeing their amazing prices and hearing of my colleague's good service from them, I decided it was time to start having fun with lasers again - especially since there is a new wavelength available (450nm)!
I received my first new laser from laserlands.net today, and I am quite pleased with both the laser and the quality of service I was provided with. I plan to write a review on it shortly. I am working on a hybrid laser/ham project and have ordered everything (and more, haha!) needed for it from laserlands.net. The "and more" part includes a few xmas toys for myself...
-Sig W8SIG
My name is Matt, but I've gone by the name Sigurthr (or Sig for short) for more than a decade now. I'm a "retired" TIG/MIG welder and metal fabricator. I suffered a severe wrist injury which forced me into "retirement" at an early age. I'm currently self-training in electronics hoping to change careers one day. I'm also an Amateur (Ham) Radio operator - W8SIG Extra Class Licensee, and a classically trained Flutist and Ocarinist. I maintained and repaired Radiation detection equipment as a side job for a while, and have become rather experienced in detecting and handling radioactive materials.
I'm not new to lasers but very out of touch. My first laser was a 0.7mW 670nm diode I got back in 1992 and I remember it cost me around $75 for the diode alone. I got an old half-dead HeNe tube shortly after that and built the HV driver for it out of an old neon sign PSU that was also half-dead. Lasers were just too expensive back then.
In the mid 2000's I discovered the Chinese Laser market, and ordered from WL (with terrible results) but at the time, the prices seemed superb to me. I picked up one of their first "Nexus" greenies @ ~95mW which soon went underspec after maybe an hour of use. I don't have a LPM but I would guess it puts out about 50mW these days. I also picked up two 5mW COREs at their initial inexpensive price. One had a misalignment with the KTP crystal, so I converted it to an 808nm burner. I overdrove it and got my money's worth out of it before it died after about 100hrs. There was a lot of back reflection as well since I had to use a collimation lens not meant for IR. After the bad service and quality I received I decided I would not order from China again until quality increased or prices dropped, substantially.
Fast forward a few years and in 2010 I picked up a 10mW 405nm pointer off of Amazon for I think only $20. I kept lasers on the back burner so to speak until just a few weeks ago when a Radiation Detection colleague referred me to Laserlands.net. Upon seeing their amazing prices and hearing of my colleague's good service from them, I decided it was time to start having fun with lasers again - especially since there is a new wavelength available (450nm)!
I received my first new laser from laserlands.net today, and I am quite pleased with both the laser and the quality of service I was provided with. I plan to write a review on it shortly. I am working on a hybrid laser/ham project and have ordered everything (and more, haha!) needed for it from laserlands.net. The "and more" part includes a few xmas toys for myself...
-Sig W8SIG