A little on my Novalux 488nm DPSS. *PICS.*

Lazerman, you should probably stop messing with the driver for now -- that cable is shorted to ground somewhere (as most HD15s are). You don't want to blow your power supply. If you hear a buzz, it means that the HD15 you have is partially shorted to ground. Most HD15 cables are NOT appropriate for this laser, and he probably did not send a good one. You do NOT want to use a normal VGA cable.

(But, first, Lazerman - relax! You have 45 days to dispute if you paid through paypal, and there's still a good chance these lasers are OK -- just difficult -- and even if not, the guy HAS been known to send out replacement heads.)

Let's do a little more testing and trial and error here - if its dead we can say that we've been thorough and you'll likely be OK with the dispute or he'll send you a new setup.

I had a 15mW PSU and a 5mW head; the result after tuning was ~8mW. So it doesn't matter if they're mismatched (but may have something to do with the instability.)

I do want to keep all developments in this thread versus laserchat, so that if anyone else takes a chance on the Proteras (as I warned -- this guy is not the best seller to deal with...) they can have an information resource here on LPF.

I believe you'll need a M/F crossover serial cable to communicate with that power supply. I'm 90% sure straight-through will not work.

-Trevor

Any updates on yours, Trevor? Lazerman121 says he has a loose jumper inside of his head, and wants me to get on laserchat to work with him on it -- unfortunately I can't do that as I'm coming on here during the workday right now. Trying to encourage him to post some pictures here so that we can see whats going on.

As for the power supply; I'll try that this weekend, I've got crossover cables / null modem cables and the like. Did you get a new version of that test app compiled for 19.2kbps?

aryntha said:

Any updates on yours, Trevor? Lazerman121 says he has a loose jumper inside of his head, and wants me to get on laserchat to work with him on it -- unfortunately I can't do that as I'm coming on here during the workday right now. Trying to encourage him to post some pictures here so that we can see whats going on.

As for the power supply; I'll try that this weekend, I've got crossover cables / null modem cables and the like. Did you get a new version of that test app compiled for 19.2kbps?

Click to expand...

How'd he find out there was a loose connection in the head? Mine didn't rattle (that I noticed), and the warranty stickers are intact. Not sure how I'd found out, short of taking the head apart. I've been at work all day too... I'm about to head home and get back to working on this.

I'll be streaming and on Skype later running tests.

As for the mystery power supply, the new version can be found here:

http://www.safelasers.org/utilities/COMTest.exe

Change the settings, press "Update" then choose the port and connect. The rest should be self-explanatory.

-Trevor

Trevor - Actually, Lazerman121 reiterated that, it's a jumper in the power supply. (I think he's still familiarizing himself with the nomenclature..)

I wouldn't take apart the head and I'm recommending he not touch it either; I recall seeing a picture of the inside of one of these heads and it's definitely a "no user serviceable parts" sort of scenario. The VCSEL assembly looked very err, expensive.

Now, I remember the jumpers in my PSU 'not doing much', as I did move them around, but also mine arrived with the warranty stickers intact on the black PSU, and apparently the one you guys got were not in such good shape... So if the 1:1 wiring doesn't work I do suppose that those jumpers being loose or missing may be an issue; though I wouldn't go after that until we eliminate the cable situation completely.

aryntha said:

Now, I remember the jumpers in my PSU 'not doing much', as I did move them around, but also mine arrived with the warranty stickers intact on the black PSU, and apparently the one you guys got were not in such good shape... So if the 1:1 wiring doesn't work I do suppose that those jumpers being loose or missing may be an issue; though I wouldn't go after that until we eliminate the cable situation completely.

Click to expand...

Where were these jumpers precisely? I've got little green jumpers going all over the PCB inside. Was it those you moved around?

Or were there jumpers on the IDE-looking connector on the lower PCB - because I'm not seeing any on mine.

-Trevor

twhite828 said:

Where were these jumpers precisely? I've got little green jumpers going all over the PCB inside. Was it those you moved around?

Or were there jumpers on the IDE-looking connector on the lower PCB - because I'm not seeing any on mine.

-Trevor

Click to expand...

Hmm okay. No, they were actual plastic removable jumpers on the PCB near the "output pot". Now though I remember there were a few versions of this black "dumb" supply. Could you (when you get time) post some pictures to this thread of what you got, and what's inside?

I know there were some slight variations.

aryntha said:

Hmm okay. No, they were actual plastic removable jumpers on the PCB near the "output pot". Now though I remember there were a few versions of this black "dumb" supply. Could you (when you get time) post some pictures to this thread of what you got, and what's inside?

I know there were some slight variations.

Click to expand...

Warning: big images ahead.

Closeup of the whole supply: http://www.safelasers.org/photos/Protera/IMG_2454.JPG

Super-closeup of the top PCB: http://www.safelasers.org/photos/Protera/IMG_2455.JPG

Super-closeup of the upper-right quadrant: http://www.safelasers.org/photos/Protera/IMG_2456.JPG

Super-closeup of the lower-right quadrant: http://www.safelasers.org/photos/Protera/IMG_2457.JPG

-Trevor

Ok, actually that's pretty similar to my setup. In the first picture, the pot on the upper right is the one that controls the output the "most" when (if) this thing gets to be working.

I'll open up my supply when I get home tonight and see if I can compare.

Ultimately, my head does lase. However, the emission indicator on mine doesn't come on, which is why I may not have noticed. I have a feeling this is just a microcontroller setting though.

It puts out less than a milliwatt for a minute or so, then pops to more. I'm not sure how much, since I'm bad at estimating low-powered lasers.

-Trevor

Cool - good to hear, Trevor. Did you end up using the 1:1 makeshift wiring or did you find a cable that works? The minute or so of 'idle' output and then jumping up to higher power is normal.

Have you tried adjusting the pot in the 'upper right' (as positioned in your first picture) for peaking output? I got mine to increase significantly that way.

(Actually you want to adjust the pot in the 'lower left' in that pic and then the 'upper right' to optimize the output. Adjust the 'lower left' one until you get a peak, and then the 'upper right' one for maximum output. I do recommend you do it slowly, however, in my experience and these being VCSELs, they aren't as easy to blow as normal diodes. You'll get a dip in output and be able to back off and restore that output.)

I've got the serial test computer set up, I have to go out for a few hours but then i'll give the other power supplies a shot. I presume you didn't get those with your purchase?

Well, got hold of a computer-controlled supply and did some experimentation.

1s exposure with no fog.



Gentlemen, we are one step closer.

-Trevor

Very Cool review! I've never seen a dpss 488nm! I'd love this wavelength in a pointer, blues are my personal favorite.

Trevor -- you're going to post details on the computer supply right? Please? For the love of God?

Uh, needless to say... **plus. rep.**

Well done both of you. I love to see troubleshooting in action like this. It's great to see that risk-taking pays off sometimes. Had to rep some risk takers here.

aryntha said:

Trevor -- you're going to post details on the computer supply right? Please? For the love of God?

Uh, needless to say... **plus. rep.**

Click to expand...

Yessir. :beer:

I haven't been wholly successful in getting it to talk to me, but the laser lights and is fairly controllable. Stability is yet to be determined though.

More research and details to come tomorrow (or, today technically?).

EDIT: I think that missing pin in my cable is necessary... time to try and find a straight-through non-grounded HD15 cable... :banghead:

-Trevor