Semi-common Objects That Contain Gas Lasers

Will do. I'm probably going to snag one of those new Laserbee LPMs next but I'll be contacting Sam in the next couple weeks for sure.

I found 12v PSs for those small Red HeNes for less than 10$- I plan to make some table lamps with them.

IIRC the laserdisc players that are not toploaders do not usually contain henes.
Dr Sam is your best bet if Dave cannot sell you one- or try a WTB in the BST board.
Also MI(meridith) on feebay used to sell plug 'n play 1 mW reds fairly cheap(my 1st HeNe buy was one from MI) G L=======-- hak

edit ps---in some players you may find a very useful and fairly large BS Cube.

Hmm. Would you mind sharing where you found them if they're still available? I see a couple 6v on his site that should work but all my DC supplies except for my bench supply are 5 or 12v. I suppluse I could use the 12 and 5v lines to give me 7v with a diode in series to drop to ~6v.

Hmm. I see he also sells tube + PS combos which may be the ticket for getting my bare tube.

That would only would if the +5V could sink current, which they usually can't.

A 6V supply will probably work ok on 5V, that's only about 15% low.

Bluefan said:

That would only would if the +5V could sink current, which they usually can't.

Click to expand...

I've tested it with my DMM and it showed 7v but I've never actually tested it under load. The adapter I have has a standard 4 pin molex on it for running things like HDs, optical drives, case fans, etc so it might be able to do it. I can just use my bench supply but it's not as convenient to set up as plugging in the 12v brick.

He has another kit that has a nice M-G PS but it needs 21-31VDC. I think I could rig up a 24v supply easy enough but I think it'd just be easier to pick up a 24v wall wart off amazon since it draws less than 250ma compared to the 2.1A of my greenie!

I think I'll drop him a line and likely order that kit and maybe one of those $10 bare tubes as well if that supply will work with it.

You can get really cheap switchmode wall warts on ebay. I've been buying them for $2-$4 shipped and removing the circuit boards to mount in other projects I build. They're Chinese, but so is all the name brand stuff these days too. It's easier and cheaper than even just the parts for building my own power supply from scratch.

brb with he requested link to PS fpr 1 mW reds

LtKernelPanic said:

Hmm. Would you mind sharing where you found them if they're still available? I see a couple 6v on his site that should work but all my DC supplies except for my bench supply are 5 or 12v. I suppluse I could use the 12 and 5v lines to give me 7v with a diode in series to drop to ~6v.

Hmm. I see he also sells tube + PS combos which may be the ticket for getting my bare tube.

Click to expand...

The seller I got mine from is apparently sold out. I offered to buy several if he would ship free so I ended up with 4 of them at ~$10 each.
These look like the same but at a higher price.

HELIUM NEON LASER POWER SUPPLY HeNe tube high voltage | eBay

If you keep looking ( saved search favs) you may eventually get both tube and PS for 10$ each.

I found the following info in a search--it may come in handy when trying to find out whats inside w/o having to buy a laserdisc player only to discover no red HeNe PS and a usable cube. The newer ones with diode laser or IR would be a waste of $$ and I personally would not pay over $30 for a gas laser disc player- and even then, you may buy one that has a dead laser inside. So getting 2 out of three items at $15 would still be an OKay deal, but not if you pay more.
Quote:
The earliest players employed gas Helium-neon laser tubes to read discs and had a red-orange light with a wavelength of 628 nm, while later solid-state players used infrared semiconductor laser diodes with a wavelength of 780 nm . Many Pioneer Model-III (DiscoVision PR-7820), VP-1000, LD-1100, LD-660 and PR-8210s are still in good working order. Both the Magnavox Magnavision and the Pioneer LD players used the same model of laser tube. Optical hobbyists have been known to cannibalize the laser tube machines. From 1978 until 1984, basically all LaserDisc players, either industrial or consumer, used Helium-Neon laser tubes.
In March 1984, Pioneer introduced the first consumer player with a solid-state laser, the LD-700. It was also the first LD player to load from the front and not the top. One year earlier Hitachi introduced an expensive industrial player with a laser diode, but the player, which had poor picture quality due to an inadequate drop-out compensator, was made only in limited quantities. After Pioneer released the LD-700, gas lasers were no longer used in consumer players, despite their advantages, although Philips continued to use gas lasers in their industrial units until 1985. Helium-Neon gas lasers had a shorter-wavelength laser that created a much smaller spot on the disc, leading to better tracking of imperfectly manufactured discs - such as an off-center hole punch or slightly eccentric tracks.
end quote
hope this as been helpful

Well since I've derailed this thread already here's one last question. I'm likely going to buy one of the $45 kits from Sam next week and pick up a 24v brick from amazon or fleabay. I'd like to put a filter cap on the wall wart since the cheap ones won't be regulated except I have no idea what to use. I know I'd need something in the 30-50V range since it'll have a 24v input but no clue for the uF rating.

A filter capacitor won't do anything for regulation. Just get a regulated adapter if you're worried about it, they're cheap.

AC 100V-240V Converter Adapter DC 24V 1A Power Supply | eBay

I think we are missing still other sources for HeNe's. I'm glad I read through this though, I'v thought of buying those old disc players before, but held off.

Does anyone have any information on medical or lab units that used HeNe's?
I'v seen a few Yellows for sale here and there that said they where taken from medical units as alignment I think.

532 with Envy said:

I think we are missing still other sources for HeNe's. I'm glad I read through this though, I'v thought of buying those old disc players before, but held off.

Does anyone have any information on medical or lab units that used HeNe's?
I'v seen a few Yellows for sale here and there that said they where taken from medical units as alignment I think.

Click to expand...

I have some "lab" units that were used in school science class rooms I believe.

they are here
http://laserpointerforums.com/f48/2-new-hene-labbies-pics-bare-tube-63048.html

Here are some other uses of HeNe lasers as listed by Wikipedia
Interferometry, holography, spectroscopy, barcode scanning, alignment, optical demonstrations.

The first three are not terribly common activities as far as I know so bar code scanners and laserdiscs might be the best bets.

They are used as alignment beams in surgical lasers, MRI and CT scanners, older ones anyway. There are some scientific instruments that use them too.

As for consumer devices, barcode scanners and very old laserdisc players are really about it, and even most of those have been diode based for decades.

The problem I have encountered is that a workind pre-1984 laserdisc tends to actually be more valuable than the small HeNe inside it.