- Joined
- Mar 6, 2011
- Messages
- 279
- Points
- 28
Hi everybody, today I got my 589nm laser. I saved the money quite a time ago for this laser, but I was thinking literally for years if I should get one or not.
I mean the wavelength is awesome, but the're quite expensive, but the wavelength is really awesome, but they tend to be quite unstable and mode hopping, but the wavelength is really really awesome. So I couldn't resist and got one. It is the Dragonlasers Spartan 50mW laser.
From order to arrival it took about two weeks. The laser came well packed. I saw the first time ever chinese handwriting on the invoice. Damn that looks pretty artistic.
The laser is build into those Spartan hosts which I like actually pretty much.
I really like the lens cap.
I have no possibility to do a LPM test unfortunetaly, but I've tried to compare it visualy to a laser with known power and I tested to burn some stuff. Using a lens black rubber starts to smoke instantly.
All in all I really like this laser. It is a bit unstable and mode hopping a bit but not nearly as strong as I expected it to.
EDIT: So I did some stability tests:
Temperature:
I tested it at 26°C the first time. It is not really stable in output power and mode.
Mode hopping occurs quite often, the power is quite consistant for a minute. After this minute it
drops quite a lot (still smokes black plastic with lens). Then after another 30 seconds it gains in power
and stays in TEM00 really stable in mode and power at this time. I guess it is then over 30°C.
A weired thing that happens only while switching it on while it is at about 20°C to 22°C is a short flicker
and quite aggressive mode hop. After those two seconds it continues to operate like at 26°C.
I left it in the basement for an hour to let it cool down to 16°C and tested it then. It was really stable
in mode and power. There was some small mod hopping and small power changes but it operated for
2 minutes really well. I did not got to the point where it dropped as hard as at 26°C. It did not
flicker like on a start at 20°C to 22°C.
I tested different currents:
550mA - 700mA: The laser is really stable in mode (TEM00) and power at this point, the power is really low too.
800mA - 1000mA: The laser starts to mode hop at 800mA the power is still low. Increasing the power at this point
increases the output power a lot. The laser gets really bright at 1000mA and starts mod hopping as usual.
When not using a lens you won't notice those mode hops. While operating it at 16°C for two minutes I could not
actually see a output power change. It sure did, but it is almost not noticeable. If I operate the laser at 26°C I do realize
the drop in power after about 1minute and a few seconds and then how it again regains some power.
So here are a few pictures:
The host itself, like I said, it is quite simple:
Here I compare it with a green DPSS through a lens. It is rated 80mW but I got it measured and it was pretty acurately 85mW. So the output of 589nm is quite close I'd say. However I have to get it tested somewhen.
For the beamshots I used a shutter speed of 2 seconds.
There is a picture of the dot through a better lens. This thing looks like a indoor sun. I bet Solaire approves
Well, that's it. I really love this laser. Damn this wavelength is so ***y.
I mean the wavelength is awesome, but the're quite expensive, but the wavelength is really awesome, but they tend to be quite unstable and mode hopping, but the wavelength is really really awesome. So I couldn't resist and got one. It is the Dragonlasers Spartan 50mW laser.
From order to arrival it took about two weeks. The laser came well packed. I saw the first time ever chinese handwriting on the invoice. Damn that looks pretty artistic.
The laser is build into those Spartan hosts which I like actually pretty much.
I really like the lens cap.
I have no possibility to do a LPM test unfortunetaly, but I've tried to compare it visualy to a laser with known power and I tested to burn some stuff. Using a lens black rubber starts to smoke instantly.
All in all I really like this laser. It is a bit unstable and mode hopping a bit but not nearly as strong as I expected it to.
EDIT: So I did some stability tests:
Temperature:
I tested it at 26°C the first time. It is not really stable in output power and mode.
Mode hopping occurs quite often, the power is quite consistant for a minute. After this minute it
drops quite a lot (still smokes black plastic with lens). Then after another 30 seconds it gains in power
and stays in TEM00 really stable in mode and power at this time. I guess it is then over 30°C.
A weired thing that happens only while switching it on while it is at about 20°C to 22°C is a short flicker
and quite aggressive mode hop. After those two seconds it continues to operate like at 26°C.
I left it in the basement for an hour to let it cool down to 16°C and tested it then. It was really stable
in mode and power. There was some small mod hopping and small power changes but it operated for
2 minutes really well. I did not got to the point where it dropped as hard as at 26°C. It did not
flicker like on a start at 20°C to 22°C.
I tested different currents:
550mA - 700mA: The laser is really stable in mode (TEM00) and power at this point, the power is really low too.
800mA - 1000mA: The laser starts to mode hop at 800mA the power is still low. Increasing the power at this point
increases the output power a lot. The laser gets really bright at 1000mA and starts mod hopping as usual.
When not using a lens you won't notice those mode hops. While operating it at 16°C for two minutes I could not
actually see a output power change. It sure did, but it is almost not noticeable. If I operate the laser at 26°C I do realize
the drop in power after about 1minute and a few seconds and then how it again regains some power.
So here are a few pictures:
The host itself, like I said, it is quite simple:
Here I compare it with a green DPSS through a lens. It is rated 80mW but I got it measured and it was pretty acurately 85mW. So the output of 589nm is quite close I'd say. However I have to get it tested somewhen.
For the beamshots I used a shutter speed of 2 seconds.
There is a picture of the dot through a better lens. This thing looks like a indoor sun. I bet Solaire approves
Well, that's it. I really love this laser. Damn this wavelength is so ***y.
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