aryntha
0
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2009
- Messages
- 2,031
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So, I've had one of these Novalux Protera 488nm lasers for a while now.
This is an actual DPSS semiconductor/solid state laser, that absolutely does emit at 488nm, just like Argon Ion. Its pump diode is a VCSEL, so it's rather sturdy compared to most laser diodes, and can survive some "pot modding' if you want to call it that (more on this later).
I decided to post a little bit on this laser, because I haven't seen many (or any) shots of them in action (I may have just missed them) - but, interestingly enough, I've recently had some people even telling me that they heard that they were possibly "fake" or a hoax (Or nonfunctional). (Which I find odd, since I believe it was GooeyGus (I think? May be wrong...) who chronicled his adventure in getting one of these working on PL a while ago.)
Now, one caveat. You will find these on eBay, but the sellers are some of the worst around. I recommend if you do get one, you do it via paypal so that if you do end up with a paperweight, you have some recourse.
Now, a bit on the laser as it was received:
The laser was actually received with two other power supplies besides this one; one an OEM computer-controlled one, and another with a keylock and LED indicators. These are both silver boxes with the "Protera" logo on them.
To date, some folks have gotten some responses from the serial ports on them, but have not been able to get these power supplies to actually activate the laser. Turning the key generally simply illuminates the "ERROR" light, and nothing else happens.
Now, getting one of these supplies working may in fact control the laser better, or make it more stable; but to date, this is a dog that does not hunt. If anyone has any info on the "smart" supplies, please let me know. I know there was mention of a required 'software disc' posted on Usenet a while back, but I've not been able to find it.
So, we resort to the "dumb" 5v brick that comes with the laser -- (Often marked 'LASER2000', a British laser OEM company I believe.) - in fact, right now, most listings on eBay do not include the silver "Protera" power supplies, only the black one, with a normal 5v 'wall wart' or IEC-fed "laptop style" supply hardwired into it. I opted to make a removable plug to keep things neater.
Another note is, that my "dumb" brick supply was not matched to the head I received, and chances are this will be your experience, too. When opening the "dumb brick" supply case, there are 3 pots inside; one is close to the HD15 connector that goes to the laser. Adjust this for peak output and leave the other two (closer to the power input and red power LED) alone. From what I understand, since this is a VCSEL, it's more sturdy than most diodes, and if you go over in current, it's not just "good night and good luck", but you can actually back off of it and find the peak again. I tweaked mine for a while, and it didn't die.
The laser also does NOT come with an HD15 straight-through cable, which is what it needs. Even if the guy pictures it in the auction and says "you get what's pictured here". You won't get it. And it also isn't a standard VGA cable, like he says. Newer VGA cables are thin, and have some cables bound to ground. This laser needs a straight-through male-to-male HD15 cable. I made mine with two Cat5 cables and HD15 shells from radio shack. It's a pain in the ass; probably better to buy one from a computer cable supplier online.
Anyways, moving on, a closeup of the laser head and some things about it:
The laser head is approximately 3.5 inches by 1.5 inches, and appears to be made of stainless steel. The "goo' you see on the front is from where a beam shutter attached; your head may or may not come with it - mine didn't.
The interesting (and annoying) thing about this laser head is the bright white indicator LED right above the laser aperture. This thing turns on whenever the laser is switched on. And it's bright, and can light up your room.
I assume this served a purpose of either FDA indicator compliance, or to illuminate the "work area" where the laser was firing, or so everyone in the room would notice; but do yourself a favor and cover this LED up with a sticker or electrical tape as soon as you can.
Now, lets take a closer look:
The caution sticker is optimistic. So far, adjusting for peak, I've gotten 7-8mW out of this laser. Some heads people receive claim to be rated for 15mW, and some folks have gotten that momentarily, but most who have played with these heads end up settling for 5-8mW after a bit of tweaking. For me, this is good enough, as the head I got was rated for 5mW.
Note that the caution sticker alerts to two different wavelengths: both 488nm and 976nm -- 488 being exactly one half (exactly frequency doubled) of 976. The 976nm output is rated at about twice, or 450mW of the possible 488nm output.
This tells me the laser is probably not IR filtered, and may indeed be putting out quite a bit of 976nm. However, a counter to that, shots from the camera do not seem to indicate any IR. (However, ~980nm is pretty high up there in the IR range; most CCDs stop at about 1100nm.) So just a warning, just in case.
Anyways, lasers work best when powered on so:
The laser starts in this sequence:
1) You turn the power on the power supply on.
2) The white LED indicator turns on immediately.
3) You wait ~60 seconds.
4) The laser emission turns on, and you get a ~2mW TEM01 "warm-up" beam.
5) You wait ~60 more seconds.
6) The laser "pops up" to full power (~7-8mW) and goes TEM00.
7) You go "Huh. 488nm from a DPSS laser. Not bad!" and show your friends.
The color is certainly nothing like 532nm, and not really anywhere near 473nm either (even though it's only 15nm off.) -- It is definitely cyan, and quite remarkably so. Anyone who has seen a 488nm ArIon laser knows what i'm talking about. I've compared this to my JDSU ArIon 488nm head, and it absolutely is the same color, visibly.
The size of the beam at aperture is probably about 1mm, and round - typical of DPSS. At about 15ft, the beam has has expanded to maybe 1cm (possibly a bit less). So, divergence really isn't all that bad; maybe 1.5-2mRad. And once it pops up to 'full brightness', beam profile is pretty good too.
Here's an example of the "startup beam"
And, about 60 seconds later, jumping up to full power and TEM00,
The beam is mostly gaussian, no "wings", and looks like something that would come from a gas ArIon laser. I've been told this has something to do with the pump diode being a VCSEL, but I'm not going to pretend that I'm authoritative on that being the reason why. (I do have a 670nm VCSEL laser and it does display similar beam quality characteristics.)
Anyways, I wanted to at least show the forum what my experiences were with this somewhat rare and interesting laser, and some of the characteristics of it, especially since I was getting some PM inquiries as to whether or not it actually existed and/or functioned.
With that, i'll leave the post with a beamshot of solid state 488nm:
P.S., If you liked my mini-review, please send positive thoughts China-ward, in hopes that CNI fixes my PGL-III 473nm... I could use the help.
This is an actual DPSS semiconductor/solid state laser, that absolutely does emit at 488nm, just like Argon Ion. Its pump diode is a VCSEL, so it's rather sturdy compared to most laser diodes, and can survive some "pot modding' if you want to call it that (more on this later).
I decided to post a little bit on this laser, because I haven't seen many (or any) shots of them in action (I may have just missed them) - but, interestingly enough, I've recently had some people even telling me that they heard that they were possibly "fake" or a hoax (Or nonfunctional). (Which I find odd, since I believe it was GooeyGus (I think? May be wrong...) who chronicled his adventure in getting one of these working on PL a while ago.)
Now, one caveat. You will find these on eBay, but the sellers are some of the worst around. I recommend if you do get one, you do it via paypal so that if you do end up with a paperweight, you have some recourse.
Now, a bit on the laser as it was received:
The laser was actually received with two other power supplies besides this one; one an OEM computer-controlled one, and another with a keylock and LED indicators. These are both silver boxes with the "Protera" logo on them.
To date, some folks have gotten some responses from the serial ports on them, but have not been able to get these power supplies to actually activate the laser. Turning the key generally simply illuminates the "ERROR" light, and nothing else happens.
Now, getting one of these supplies working may in fact control the laser better, or make it more stable; but to date, this is a dog that does not hunt. If anyone has any info on the "smart" supplies, please let me know. I know there was mention of a required 'software disc' posted on Usenet a while back, but I've not been able to find it.
So, we resort to the "dumb" 5v brick that comes with the laser -- (Often marked 'LASER2000', a British laser OEM company I believe.) - in fact, right now, most listings on eBay do not include the silver "Protera" power supplies, only the black one, with a normal 5v 'wall wart' or IEC-fed "laptop style" supply hardwired into it. I opted to make a removable plug to keep things neater.
Another note is, that my "dumb" brick supply was not matched to the head I received, and chances are this will be your experience, too. When opening the "dumb brick" supply case, there are 3 pots inside; one is close to the HD15 connector that goes to the laser. Adjust this for peak output and leave the other two (closer to the power input and red power LED) alone. From what I understand, since this is a VCSEL, it's more sturdy than most diodes, and if you go over in current, it's not just "good night and good luck", but you can actually back off of it and find the peak again. I tweaked mine for a while, and it didn't die.
The laser also does NOT come with an HD15 straight-through cable, which is what it needs. Even if the guy pictures it in the auction and says "you get what's pictured here". You won't get it. And it also isn't a standard VGA cable, like he says. Newer VGA cables are thin, and have some cables bound to ground. This laser needs a straight-through male-to-male HD15 cable. I made mine with two Cat5 cables and HD15 shells from radio shack. It's a pain in the ass; probably better to buy one from a computer cable supplier online.
Anyways, moving on, a closeup of the laser head and some things about it:
The laser head is approximately 3.5 inches by 1.5 inches, and appears to be made of stainless steel. The "goo' you see on the front is from where a beam shutter attached; your head may or may not come with it - mine didn't.
The interesting (and annoying) thing about this laser head is the bright white indicator LED right above the laser aperture. This thing turns on whenever the laser is switched on. And it's bright, and can light up your room.
I assume this served a purpose of either FDA indicator compliance, or to illuminate the "work area" where the laser was firing, or so everyone in the room would notice; but do yourself a favor and cover this LED up with a sticker or electrical tape as soon as you can.
Now, lets take a closer look:
The caution sticker is optimistic. So far, adjusting for peak, I've gotten 7-8mW out of this laser. Some heads people receive claim to be rated for 15mW, and some folks have gotten that momentarily, but most who have played with these heads end up settling for 5-8mW after a bit of tweaking. For me, this is good enough, as the head I got was rated for 5mW.
Note that the caution sticker alerts to two different wavelengths: both 488nm and 976nm -- 488 being exactly one half (exactly frequency doubled) of 976. The 976nm output is rated at about twice, or 450mW of the possible 488nm output.
This tells me the laser is probably not IR filtered, and may indeed be putting out quite a bit of 976nm. However, a counter to that, shots from the camera do not seem to indicate any IR. (However, ~980nm is pretty high up there in the IR range; most CCDs stop at about 1100nm.) So just a warning, just in case.
Anyways, lasers work best when powered on so:
The laser starts in this sequence:
1) You turn the power on the power supply on.
2) The white LED indicator turns on immediately.
3) You wait ~60 seconds.
4) The laser emission turns on, and you get a ~2mW TEM01 "warm-up" beam.
5) You wait ~60 more seconds.
6) The laser "pops up" to full power (~7-8mW) and goes TEM00.
7) You go "Huh. 488nm from a DPSS laser. Not bad!" and show your friends.
The color is certainly nothing like 532nm, and not really anywhere near 473nm either (even though it's only 15nm off.) -- It is definitely cyan, and quite remarkably so. Anyone who has seen a 488nm ArIon laser knows what i'm talking about. I've compared this to my JDSU ArIon 488nm head, and it absolutely is the same color, visibly.
The size of the beam at aperture is probably about 1mm, and round - typical of DPSS. At about 15ft, the beam has has expanded to maybe 1cm (possibly a bit less). So, divergence really isn't all that bad; maybe 1.5-2mRad. And once it pops up to 'full brightness', beam profile is pretty good too.
Here's an example of the "startup beam"
And, about 60 seconds later, jumping up to full power and TEM00,
The beam is mostly gaussian, no "wings", and looks like something that would come from a gas ArIon laser. I've been told this has something to do with the pump diode being a VCSEL, but I'm not going to pretend that I'm authoritative on that being the reason why. (I do have a 670nm VCSEL laser and it does display similar beam quality characteristics.)
Anyways, I wanted to at least show the forum what my experiences were with this somewhat rare and interesting laser, and some of the characteristics of it, especially since I was getting some PM inquiries as to whether or not it actually existed and/or functioned.
With that, i'll leave the post with a beamshot of solid state 488nm:
P.S., If you liked my mini-review, please send positive thoughts China-ward, in hopes that CNI fixes my PGL-III 473nm... I could use the help.
