What kind of weird laser module is this???

Hi

Yesterday I've won an auction, it was really long and heavy disco laser scanner (seller said it weights over 30 kilos), something I haven't seen before so I decided to buy it. I dont have it yet but seller sent me a photo of inside after I've asked him - there is a REALLY long module looking like a bar, quite big power transformer and other stuff. Photo included - anyone knows what can I expect from this? Power and color, type, anything? I had semiconductor lasers only which looked totally different.

Thanks in advance

More information would be useful to provide more help, I understand that you don't have it yet, so when you get it you can post more details.

I think it is a HeNe (Helium Neon) laser because on the very left side of the picture it has an Alden connector. Part # and power supply rating would be good to know. The picture is kind of blurry so I don't know if I can make anything else out.

May I ask how much you got it for?

How much? After currency change approx. $50. What are probable power ratings for this size of he-ne tube?

More information will be useful. Maybe post the link of the auction.

celas said:

How much? After currency change approx. $50. What are probable power ratings for this size of he-ne tube?

Click to expand...

Thats a very good price for what you got and the aprox power could anything from nothhing at all (dead) to 40mW (If the tube is in good shape). Color could be anything from red to green or yellow. Most likely red.

The laser looks to be a HeNe and the sticker might give you a rough idea what it's rated for. Sometimes they say <50mW or something similar. So check and let us know. If you can find a model number somewhere let us know as we might be able to get you some specs from Sams FAQ.

Side note: If you hear a broken glass sound then you have a big paperweight.

Nice catch, Mattronium. I agree - HeNes are about the only lasers out there that use high voltage alden connectors like that.

It's incredibly unlikely to be anything but red in a size that big. If that danger sticker reads 632.8nm, that's a red HeNe indeed. Max power will be listed here, too. That figure is well over the rated power. Divide it by three and you might have something close to rated output.

It's one of these >30mW HeNe Laser mainly used for light shows in the late 90's.

My unit is around 37" (tube will be a little bit smaller) and does close to 40mW.

These units do have a hell of power (compared to common HeNe lasers) but also have a horrible bad divergence. My unit has >4mrad of divergence. Without a beam expander (bigger beam size, less divergence) to improve the beam specs the laser isn't really usefull.

-mo-