Zom-B
0
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2008
- Messages
- 895
- Points
- 28
Yesterday I received my DealExtreme "True Wish" 50mW. At $25.45 it's a quarter of the price as a quality WL/etc laser.
(I'll highlight the some keywords that summarize the laser)
I must say I have never been this happy with any laser buy! (technically my only other "buys" are 5mW'ies if you don't count buying a DVD burner for the sole purpose of extracting the diode, twice)
The gift box is plain suede and the foam inside smells.
The manual is in Chinese Engrish, and shows how to put in the batteries, it should not be operated outside the temperature range 20[sup]o[/sup]C to 35[sup]o[/sup]C, it has a warmup period of less than 5 minutes (strange fact!?) and a lot of warnings.
It came with two Alkaline AAA batteries, which were not new and already somewhat drained. (measured 1.3V open loop)
The laser seems to work well on 1.2V NiMH batteries. In fact I strongly recommend 1.2V NiMH batteries because even with those, the laser heats up significantly (36[sup]o[/sup]C after 15 min continuously at 22[sup]o[/sup]C room temperature) and it saves the environment and your wallet.
The beam exits off-center (I heard this a lot about this laser) but it's 1.2x1mm oval with a nearly gaussian profile. It also seems to have a soft-on built into the circuit as it takes about 0.5 seconds to go from 0 to the level at which it stabilizes (doesn't matter if it's a cold or warm start). Divergence is 0.579 mRad.
It seems to have a warmup period alright, and with it some unwritten manual rules (which I will write down now). Sometimes when the laser is powered on when cold, it will peak at a certain intensity and stay that way. When it's on for like 10 seconds and you turn it off and on immediately, the power will be more than doubled!
I don't have a power meter but the spot is clearly visible under a bright sun. I can make yellow with my red ~230mW at approx 1/3.5th power. I guess between 50 and 80mW red corresponds to this one. (Still using NiMH batteries)
On my infrared thermometer (mini thermopile) it shows not much response, about 1/5th of that of my red ~230mW at full power. This would suggest there is an IR filter present.
(I'll highlight the some keywords that summarize the laser)
I must say I have never been this happy with any laser buy! (technically my only other "buys" are 5mW'ies if you don't count buying a DVD burner for the sole purpose of extracting the diode, twice)
The gift box is plain suede and the foam inside smells.
The manual is in Chinese Engrish, and shows how to put in the batteries, it should not be operated outside the temperature range 20[sup]o[/sup]C to 35[sup]o[/sup]C, it has a warmup period of less than 5 minutes (strange fact!?) and a lot of warnings.
It came with two Alkaline AAA batteries, which were not new and already somewhat drained. (measured 1.3V open loop)
The laser seems to work well on 1.2V NiMH batteries. In fact I strongly recommend 1.2V NiMH batteries because even with those, the laser heats up significantly (36[sup]o[/sup]C after 15 min continuously at 22[sup]o[/sup]C room temperature) and it saves the environment and your wallet.
The beam exits off-center (I heard this a lot about this laser) but it's 1.2x1mm oval with a nearly gaussian profile. It also seems to have a soft-on built into the circuit as it takes about 0.5 seconds to go from 0 to the level at which it stabilizes (doesn't matter if it's a cold or warm start). Divergence is 0.579 mRad.
It seems to have a warmup period alright, and with it some unwritten manual rules (which I will write down now). Sometimes when the laser is powered on when cold, it will peak at a certain intensity and stay that way. When it's on for like 10 seconds and you turn it off and on immediately, the power will be more than doubled!
I don't have a power meter but the spot is clearly visible under a bright sun. I can make yellow with my red ~230mW at approx 1/3.5th power. I guess between 50 and 80mW red corresponds to this one. (Still using NiMH batteries)
On my infrared thermometer (mini thermopile) it shows not much response, about 1/5th of that of my red ~230mW at full power. This would suggest there is an IR filter present.