Semi-common Objects That Contain Gas Lasers

They are, at least certain models that were used in laserdisc based arcade games are, but much of that is due to working ones being so rare, and often the reason they don't work is the laser is dead.

The most prolific use ever for HeNe lasers were 80s vintage barcode scanners. The small red tubes used in these were made by the hundreds of thousands throughout that decade, it dwarfed any other application. The big boxy supermarket type had the biggest tubes, usually 2-3mW, while the compact units and handheld guns used the smallest types ever made.

A lot of supermarket types up here still use them, not sure why. I can see the tube in the fresh units as I'm approaching the checkout line. The handhelds, however, have switched to diodes, as have the price checkers scattered throughout the store.

I have found a listing on ebay for a Pioneer 'slider' --the part that contains all the optics and the red HeNe laser and other goodies.

The PS that comes w/ this laserdisc player is too big to be used easily and a brick style can be gotten for less than 20$.

This listing has a great photo showing clearly the many useful stuff and in the description the seller provides us with a nice tidy list. He throws in an additional tube thus making sure that you get AT LEAST one good tube- -- This is worth saving for future reference- especially the photo- so I am attaching to this post- I dont think the seller would mind. It may help him sell a few. FYI there are several other HeNe laserdisc layer listed including one made by Sylvania. And yes- a newer disc players can be gotten for less, so the value is obviously in the laser and optics- not as a player.


LINK ----

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pioneer-LD-660-...?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item45f9a9f4d

BTW
IF you dont mind- mention me(hakzaw1) providing this link for you if you make him an offer- or buy one. T Y

QUOTE__
This is the complete slider or (optical pickup in modern terminology) for a Pioneer LD-660, LD-1100, PR-8210, and other vintage HeNe laser-based LaserDisc players. I am listing these mainly for the many interesting optical and electronic parts they contain. However, they could be used to repair your vintage LD player, though that might be more trouble than its worth due to the alignment and special equipment that would be required.
They contain:
1 NEC or Toshiba (shown) linearly polarized red HeNe laser tube, 1-1.5 mW. The tube in the slider may be weak, but I will include an additional guaranteed working one to be used in its place or for whatever you want. They require approximately 5 mA at 1500 V. The original power supply is available upon request for the cost of the additional shipping, but is HEAVY and BULKY so may not be worth it. Modern compact light weight brick power supplies are available on eBay and elsewhere.
2 Small bounce/turning mirrors on mounts.
1 Diverging lens in mount.
1 Small diffraction grating in mount.
1 High quality 10 mm Polarizing beam splitter cube.
1 Quarter wave plate in mount, approximately 1/4" clear aperture.
1 X-Y medium speed galvo/deflector which may be driven from a small audio amp or PC sound card to generate your own laser show effects including Lissujous figure, stereo separation display, etc. PC software for this is available on the Web.
1 Short focal objective lens on voice coil (linear) actuator.
1 Short focal length focusing lens and cylindrical lens.
1 Phodotiode array and preamp.
All parts (including at least one of the laser tubes) are guaranteed to be in excellent condition and can form the basis for a variety of science/optics/electronics projects. The optics are optimized for 633 nm but should work fine with any red laser. Your bid is for 1 complete slider,1 extra tube, and the optional power supply components.
Text and photo borrowed from Ebay member--siliconsam --He has 4 units like this on ebay- 100$ plus ~17$ to ship.



ANYONE having info on how to wire ,power-up and use the-- X-Y medium speed galvo/deflector with other lasers please post it here or start a new thread- I bought one last year and would like to incorperate it into a small projector. Could I use two of them with the same laser? Can I control it with my PC? Can I make it 'move to the music'-- could I hook it up to a ca5io keyboard and control it with the keys.??
These galvos are very small and could fit inside a tiny projector. I am willing to trade a good working keyboard in return for help on this project.
;Any help at all would be appreciated.:thanks:

Photo is property of Sam Goldwasser- credit given where credit is due.

hakzaw1 said:

I have found a listing on ebay for a Pioneer 'slider' --the part that contains all the optics and the red HeNe laser and other goodies.

The PS that comes w/ this laserdisc player is too big to be used easily and a brick style can be gotten for less than 20$......

Click to expand...

Very interesting. Seems outrageously expensive for the tube but depending on what kinds of offers he will accept and what can be done with the rest of the components it could be a good buy. I wanna know what those galvos are capable of.

The seller is none other than Sam Goldwasser. He offers these on his classified page as well. Yeah the price is way high for just the laser. Most of the value is in the other various optical parts, the galvos are popular items.

james1095 said:

The seller is none other than Sam Goldwasser. He offers these on his classified page as well. Yeah the price is way high for just the laser. Most of the value is in the other various optical parts, the galvos are popular items.

Click to expand...

WELL there ya go. I thought I had seen the pic somewhere before. One thing you can count on.... if Dr Sam sez it you can take that to the bank. Thanx for letting us know- now I need to go to that listing to 'see sellers other items',

hak:thanks:

hakzaw1 said:

WELL there ya go. I thought I had seen the pic somewhere before. One thing you can count on.... if Dr Sam sez it you can take that to the bank. Thanx for letting us know- now I need to go to that listing to 'see sellers other items',

hak:thanks:

Click to expand...

beat you to it! there arnt any right now. that was my first thought too haha

Anyone know anything about these galvos?

I bet Sam knows all there is to know.

ATM these are all he has on FeeBay,

too bad.

If you are reading this and planning on SELEM in Aug. please go the Sam's listing--ask seller a question and join me in extending him a VIP invite to attend. It would be priceless to meet him and thank him for everything. There would be a lot of :bowdown: and some...:worthy:s too.


It would be awesome to meet him. :thanks:Sam


peace Hak

I thought Sam was a computer entity; no way could a human compile that amount of information about lasers.

You sure he's a person? :crackup:

On a more topical note, where do stores buy barcode scanners?

He's a good guy, I have no idea how he collected together so much information, but he didn't write all of it himself, some of my ramblings are in there, as well as that of countless other contributors over the years. If you want to contact him, there's better ways than ebay, he lists a contact link in the FAQ.

I would bet the larger supermarkets buy them straight from the manufacture, while smaller ones buy from wholesalers that specialize in supermarket supplies. That's how it works with most things of that nature.

Friend of mine works for Intermec, which I believe is one of the larger manufactures of barcode scanners. I found one of their old HeNe based handheld scanner guns at a surplus store recently but their newer stuff is all diode and not very interesting.

james1095 said:

He's a good guy, I have no idea how he collected together so much information, but he didn't write all of it himself, some of my ramblings are in there, as well as that of countless other contributors over the years. If you want to contact him, there's better ways than ebay, he lists a contact link in the FAQ.

Very true there is a place at SAM'S FAQ to send him mail which includes the 'no spoon feeding' thing. The data base at Sams is gianormus and can be a little hard to navigate but 90% of all questions have already been answered so do your own homework BEFORE you contact him. If you feel the need to thank Sam for his work I have started a thread here:
http://laserpointerforums.com/f58/w...goldwasser-selem-2011-a-63337.html#post904689

and I would be grateful to any who would like to make a post there. I will be sending Sam a link once we get more posts. ATM we are trying to convince Sam to attend SELEM. It will be expensive to cover this so any who REALLY feel indebted to Sam can PP me a donation so we can take him out to a nice dinner and have him at SELEM. Any extra will go towards lodging, transportation and other meals for Sam. Also if you would like to email Sam I can fwd your mail to him but do not want to put his addy out publically.:beer:

I would bet the larger supermarkets buy them straight from the manufacture, while smaller ones buy from wholesalers that specialize in supermarket supplies. That's how it works with most things of that nature.

Friend of mine works for Intermec, which I believe is one of the larger manufactures of barcode scanners. I found one of their old HeNe based handheld scanner guns at a surplus store recently but their newer stuff is all diode and not very interesting.

Click to expand...

Dr Sam(and his website) is without a doubt the most helpful single source of laser info. Thanks also to the many who have gotten thier work added at Sams.

Yeah, Sam is a great guy. I've had the pleasure of meeting him a few times and went out to dinner with the guy. Very knowledge, kind of quirky in an awesome way. I have a set of the laser assembly he posted above. Sam showed me the set in person, which made me set out to buy my own. There are a lot of useful optics in the set. The beam splitter used in there is worth $40 alone. It is a very good size, and I believe Merideth Instruments sells the same exact beam splitter for $40.

The galvos are very nice, but they are not very useful for laser shows. They are too slow for any real design (though perhaps I should explore this again.) There are two tuning mirrors which are very nice. They are front surface mirrors and have precise adjustable mounts. The other optics are fun, but may not be of much use to most people here.

Anyway, I just thought I'd give my input. Have fun with whatever you all purchase!

What power are the tubes in old laser disk players? 2mW? .5mW?

The galvos are good for cool patterns, but yeah they're far too slow/sloppy to display recognizable graphics.

The tubes are typically 1.5-2mW in good condition but if the player was heavily used such as in a kiosk or industrial application the laser may be a bit weak if it works at all.