SSY 1's Recently?

Ahh, well a nice barium machine buries the bare bear any day in my book. :horse:

A little setback here -- My PS neg power wire touched the
"discharged" Cap bank and killed my Osc transistor. New ones
are in shipment. CRAP - I wanted to fire this new one....
The first laser shipped appears lost thanks to OUR postal service
JFGreat :-(

I can look through the SSY-1 and see the effects of the optics
and rod color. This new one has no visible view threw it. I
don't know if that is the passive cell or the HR mirror. The HR
mirror must have some pass since the power sensor unit is
on the rear.
HMike

What type of transistor was it? I might have one. If I sent it out tomorrow, I bet it will beat the other to you
through the mail.

Sometimes they need beatings to get them moving faster. :crackup:

That's strange... the cell isn't normally opaque either, you should be able to see through all of the optics and rod. How do you know the YAG rod isn't damaged??

1. The HR mirror may be opaque to visible
light. I won't know if it works until I rebuild
my PS. I still have to build up the trigger circuit
for this. The laser is so solid that I think I could
drive over it and no damage.
2. The transistor is a D965 and I have 2 of them
shipped today.
3. The lost package has reappeared after I went to
my local PO. It should arrive tomorrow and I will
compare them especially the view through the cavity.
HMike

Did you buy two of the same YAG lasers? Or did you buy one from the eBay listing and one somewhere else?

Hwang21---
Every time I make an update, you seem to find
another question. I F***N don't know
everything -----yet. What difference does it make
where I get my stuff????
I advise you to go to Ebay, Item 271249160296
and BUY one for yourself. Your questions will be
answered. I think they have 8 left.
HMike

Can you see through your YAG cavities??? What
do you have???? How many J do they run at? Can
you burn through aluminum foil??? Where did you get them???
Is the cavity coated ? - With what?? etc etc

The 2SD965 are all over the place. That is a very common transistor. There is one in nearly every camera
flash ever made.

I always wanted a Q-switched Nd:YAG like the SSY-1 but it seemed to me a bit risky of an undertaking to get all the needed bits and pieces in working order. Just the idea of ordering a flashlamp secondhand makes me nervous.

One day I'd love to be able to achieve air ionization though.

LS --- I looked in a couple old flash units and the Osc tran
had a different PN. I ordered 2 in case I FU again!!!
Sig -- My SSY and these lasers come assembled and
aligned. Power them up they say. I'll find out about these
new ones soon. The sellers tell me that they have sold
about 80 of these and had no complaints.

HMike

They were used more in the low end built-in flashes, such as disposable cameras. If you're really
impatient and live near a Goodwill store, they can be had for like $3 apiece. Other resale shops are
usually better on the price.

The hot shoe mounted flash units will often use a higher end transistor.

LS -- I never thought of the Good Will store!!!! I'll look there
but much battery powered stuff is scrapped before it reaches
the shelves.
I ordered the glass for my expander today from EO. Both are
coated for 1064!!! A -18 and a +50 should give me 2.77777X!
That's all I want to start with.
HMike

It sounds like your store is even worse than the local one here. The only thing they are supposed to scrap
is the computers. You can also try asking at 1-hour photo places if there are still any around in your area.

LS -- The guy who sorts the stuff is a friend of mine.
He usually throws all the old photo stuff away but I asked
him to toss it in a bag for me.

NOW --- I have fired the first laser shipped to me! YES -
it works. I'm using an old photo flash PS powered to 4.2 Volts
into two caps in series giving me 115 mFd. The PS at that input
charges to ~540 Volts --- (~16 J).
The attached trigger coil is driven by a 0.1 mFd Mylar cap charged
with two 1 Mohm resistors in series as a voltage divider from the
main capacitor bank. UPDATE :::: I just triggered it using a
.02 mFd Mylar cap. Might be good for extending the life of
the coil if it's reliable. the .1 seemed to hit awful hard.

At 1", it makes a ~3/16" burn mark in an antistatic bag. It is a
clean round mark -- good news here. My SSY isn't as clean.
The thing is bread boarded all over the bench and a bit scary
with the goggles and exposed HV. I'll try a lens of some type
after I get everything stable. My new 1064 coated lenses
from EO are due 12/24 -- HOHOHO !!!
HMike

Got pics of your setup, Mike? Sounds cool!

You guys always want pictures of my mess!!!
I had just unhooked all the clip leads but only
after I popped a balloon (Kid at heart!).



I now have to clean up the trigger wiring. A really simple circuit. I'm using the trigger
circuit shown but simplified to a switch contact instead of the SCR circuit.


HMike