CLASS IV HERCULES !!!!!!!

Hi all, as you probably have seen already I just received my new LaserCheck power meter.  Well I have just put the Hercules to the test and Holy Hell this thing has just shocked the crap out of me.  The best peak I got was 615mWs( unfortunately I don't have a record of that, best on Vid is 598mW) !!!!  And an average over a 9 Minute period of 544mW.  I think that qualifies it as a Class IV Laser dosn't it ? Wooo Hooo !!!!!

I do have the 9 Minute vid but I don't seem to be able to re-size it, says it is corrupt or saved under the wrong formatt which means diddley to me, and it is a HUGE file.  If anyone would like to volunteer to let me send it to them via e-mail I have no problem doing that.  As a matter of fact it would be awesome that way it can be put on here for all to see.

NOTE:  The test was performed using Duracell Batteries so it is truely a HANDHELD Class IV Laser !!!!

Pic of the set up:




This is the first crappy Vid I did, took 3+ hours to upload to PhotoBucket !!!  And it's less than a tenth of the size of the 9 Minute Vid.

http://s71.photobucket.com/albums/i147/craig350ci/?action=view&current=d77957c0.flv

These are the readings I got in the other Vid:
598 547
563 544
556 531
553 490
540 520
553 522
529 541
562 538
561

That is just Awesome!!!

I've wanted one for a long time now. Maybe my wife will get me one for my Birthday... :

lol i am just trying to imagine the beam shots.. .... that thing is freaking amazing looking.....

Please don't show the ubiquitous beam shot in your bedroom or house or burning or popping balloons. We can expect that such burning capabilities of this device are great. But do show us beam shots on distant objects, this will clearly demonstrate the power brightness of this laser.
For example http://www.pbase.com/nero_design/spyder2_divergence

Man That is cool!!
How much did that cost you?

HOLY CRAP! That has to be the awesomeist laser ever. But 600mW!!!! looking at the dot is probably like shining a keychain pointer in your eye! If you used a lens think you could pop a balloon? ;D

Wow, Morepower that is great news! What did we rate that thing at? 421mW? I'm glad it's still performing so far above spec after all this time, and you're clearly taking good care of it. I guess we'll have to print off a different warning label for you since the "Class IIIb" sticker is no longer valid!

Justin said:

Wow, Morepower that is great news! What did we rate that thing at? 421mW? I'm glad it's still performing so far above spec after all this time, and you're clearly taking good care of it. I guess we'll have to print off a different warning label for you since the "Class IIIb" sticker is no longer valid!

Click to expand...

Hey Justin, is that offer of a free case for all Hercules still on the table ?? I know it was a while ago now but it can't hurt to ask. If so I would be interested in maybe purchasing the Power Supply that you have and MAYBE you could print me off another Warning Label, hehe ?? I just can't help but wonder now what sort of power I could get out of this thing with an external PSU !!!

As far as looking after it goes, you bet I do, it could easily be sold as a brandnew Laser. There isn't a mark on it.

I have to say I was not expecting as BIG a jump in power as that, I know by turning up the pot it made a visual difference in brightness. But from a peak of 470mW to 615mW !!!! WOW !!!

I'm going to have to re-do the Vid and download the Camera to another PC I think, even compressed as an attachment it is still 459MB !!!! Besides that the Batteries I used weren't exactly new, one of them tested at 1.407V. I doubt it will make any significant difference but it can't hurt to try, right ??

steve001 said:

Please don't show the ubiquitous beam shot in your bedroom or house or burning or popping balloons. We can expect that such burning capabilities of this device are great. But do show us beam shots on distant objects, this will clearly demonstrate the power brightness of this laser.
For example http://www.pbase.com/nero_design/spyder2_divergence

Click to expand...

Hi Steve, my problem is those pics were taken by a professional Photographer, i'm pretty much a point and shoot man, and that goes for Photography as well, LOL !! J/K.

Also I don't own a Telephoto Lens, nor a tripod for aiming the laser.  But my biggest problem of all is the risk factor of getting busted and loosing my baby.  With all the goings on here with Lasers being pointed at helicopters and aircraft i'm just not prepared to take that risk.  It would take alot of Laser "On Time" to set up a shot like that.  And i'm sure the Authorities would just love to make an example of someone, which of course with my luck would be me !!!

Sorry but unfortunately you will have to put up with the "ubiquitous beam shots" etc.....


On another note, I was asked via PM how I turned up the pot.  So for anyone else who might have the same question below is my answer.

"The Hercules have an externally accessable pot that can be turned up or down to set it to whatever power level you need without compromising the Laser's well being.  There is a sticker next to the pot that reads something like this( I'm at work so i'm going by memory) "The power setting has been factory set for the best stability and beam quality".  I spoke to Laserglow before I cranked it up, obviously they said it was OK to do so.  And even after running for 9 Minutes continuously at 550 odd mWs it wasn't even what you would call warm !!!  I don't think the Aries has this feature, but I could be wrong."

Morepower said:

[quote author=steve001 link=1185864889/0#3 date=1185887967]Please don't show the ubiquitous beam shot in your bedroom or house or burning or popping balloons. We can expect that such burning capabilities of this device are great. But do show us beam shots on distant objects, this will clearly demonstrate the power brightness of this laser.
For example http://www.pbase.com/nero_design/spyder2_divergence

Click to expand...

Hi Steve, my problem is those pics were taken by a professional Photographer, i'm pretty much a point and shoot man, and that goes for Photography as well, LOL !! J/K.

Also I don't own a Telephoto Lens, nor a tripod for aiming the laser. But my biggest problem of all is the risk factor of getting busted and loosing my baby. With all the goings on here with Lasers being pointed at helicopters and aircraft i'm just not prepared to take that risk. It would take alot of Laser "On Time" to set up a shot like that. And i'm sure the Authorities would just love to make an example of someone, which of course with my luck would be me !!!

Sorry but unfortunately you will have to put up with the "ubiquitous beam shots" etc.....


On another note, I was asked via PM how I turned up the pot. So for anyone else who might have the same question below is my answer.

"The Hercules have an externally accessable pot that can be turned up or down to set it to whatever power level you need without compromising the Laser's well being. There is a sticker next to the pot that reads something like this( I'm at work so i'm going by memory) "The power setting has been factory set for the best stability and beam quality". I spoke to Laserglow before I cranked it up, obviously they said it was OK to do so. And even after running for 9 Minutes continuously at 550 odd mWs it wasn't even what you would call warm !!! I don't think the Aries has this feature, but I could be wrong."



[/quote]

I spent a lot of time to find an answer to this question.
Just so you know I had a long argument with a fellow by the name of Guttaluvlasers about whether it was against any law in the USA to shine a laser into the sky in that case class3b. We went back back and forth. Well to make a long story short I emailed a fellow at ILDA Greg Markoff someone GLL respected his answer which agreed with mine is there is no law that specifically says you can shine your laser out in public. The misstake GLL made [he's the owner of a laser show company] is assuming the laws that govern laser shows also apply to the hobbyist. In all cases law enforcement is concerned with harassment of individuals, persons or vehicles of authority or aircraft. they are not concerned with John Q. Public shining his or her laser. I won the argument and finally shut GLL up. So shin away. P.S. Don't take my word for it you can if you like do your own research to confirm.

Steve001, aren't there laws though about how many mWs can be introduced within x miles around an airport? (regardless of planes and all) I know that wouldn't apply to everyone, but at least to hobbyists relatively near airports, I'd think that would be a biggie.

Phenomenal!!

That is incredibly impressive! But hey, that lasercheck, does it simply show the highest reading? It doesn't show the other, lower readings as they are happening?

If that is the case, then it seems the LPM-1 has one-up on the lasercheck... :-? :-/

Thanx;
DDL

Daedal said:

Phenomenal!!

That is incredibly impressive! But hey, that lasercheck, does it simply show the highest reading? It doesn't show the other, lower readings as they are happening?

If that is the case, then it seems the LPM-1 has one-up on the lasercheck...   :-? :-/

Thanx;
DDL

Click to expand...

Hey DDL, the Lasercheck shows the best reading over a 10 or so second period.

OK, here is a 5 Minute Vid I made with fresh batteries. I was able to one-up the last test results with 618mW Peak and 565mW Average !!! Photobucket will only allow 5 mins of Vid which is fine by me because I was getting sick of making Vids that I couldn't re-size. I had to end up downloading the Camera onto another PC and up-load to Photobucket from there !!

Anyway, all in the name of the Hobby !!

http://s71.photobucket.com/albums/i147/craig350ci/?action=view&current=9b3569b3.flv

In the US, for scientific purposes. you DO NOT have to do anything to shoot outdoors. it is perfect legal to do whatever you want so long as it does not INTENTIONALLY interefere with aircraft.



http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org...mops/aaim/organizations/airspace_rules/laser/


These are the guidlines for responding to a notification, however, for a SCIENTIFIC laser, you are not required to file one...
http://www.faa.gov/airports_airtraffic/air_traffic/publications/atpubs/AIR/air2901.html

Just make sure you have a good scientific reason for shooting your laser off outside...

pseudonomen137 said:

Steve001, aren't there laws though about how many mWs can be introduced within x miles around an airport? (regardless of planes and all) I know that wouldn't apply to everyone, but at least to hobbyists relatively near airports, I'd think that would be a biggie.

Click to expand...

Demonstration Laser. Any laser product designed or intended for purposes of visual display of laser beams, for artistic composition, entertainment, and/or advertising display (Reference 21 CFR 1040.10(b) 13). Any demonstration laser in excess of 5 mW requires a variance from the CDRH.
I think the confusion lies with people misinterpreting what the CDRH says thinking it applies to Joe Blow momentarily shining their laser into the sky. Can you imagine if you where required to get a variance nearly every time someone wanted to shine their laser, the CDRH would be overwhelmed with paper work.

I dunno, I'm probably just misinterpreting as you say, but it seems to me odd that simply by saying a laser is for hobby, you can get away with shining a few trillion watts of green in public. Then again, I guess it wouldn't surprise me that the gov't has a bunch of dumb holes in their laws, and again, I wouldn't be surprised if we see the holes patched shortly with all the laser misuse articles we're seeing.