Hey all,

First of all let me start by saying that unfortunately I haven't yet managed to get any decent beamshots. For one thing, I can't seem to hold it still enough (no tripod yet). For another, I hate this stupid camera. It wont let me turn off auto focus, and as a result the beam shots I've taken so far really suck

That said, here are the specs of my new toy:

Average output 571 mW
Maximum output 646 mW
Divergence 0.69 mrad (!)
Stability 4.3% RMS

The divergence of this laser absolutely rocks! The beam appears clean and tight all the way to the top. With the beam expander (10x) I can get a bright dot on really distant objects.

Also, as you might expect, it is bright. Scary bright. I am very careful about how I use it at night because it could quite easily draw a lot of unwanted attention.

I'm going on vacation soon, and the girl who's house sitting for us doesn't really seem like the type that can be trusted with a class IV portable. I wasn't sure whether it would be best to tell her about it (me: "Oh btw, there's a powerful laser in my closet, make sure you don't mess around with it"), or not to mention it (girl: "Oh hey! I wonder what this is... ARGH MY EYES!")

Anyway problem solved because I managed to score this awesome safe. That's where my laser lives when it's not taking down satellites (note to government: that's a joke folks).





Here it is:


Safety first, folks


Great day for a swim... I wonder if these things are waterproof (j/k)


Man these things are big. It doubles as a club for baby seals!


I guess they don't sell too many class IV portables...


Beam expander attached:


Another shot of the x10dr:


Last one:



Overall I am very pleased with this laser. You only have to take one look at the beam to see why. I gave my Jayrob 150mW green to my gf/fb as I no longer have any real use for it!

wow that is so sweet man! I'm really looking forward to some beamshots. That thing deserves a video!

LOL .. i LOVE that it says "responsible peron on record"

That sucker is beautiful. Definitely craftsmanship.

It didn't happen with out a beam shot I want to see one !!!

That is a very nice laser!

No wonder you got a safe for it, costs as much as a car. Oh yeah, this thread is worthless without beamshots.

Cheers guys... I will try to get some beamshots up

For now, I am out of batteries. I will pick up a bunch tomorrow to hold me over until I get some rechargeables.

lol @ everything under paragraph 5

I need to start saving up for one of these! Lol j/k
I would love to get one of these in the near future though..

That thing is huge man, looks like some new ultra high-tech billy-club for law enforcement with a built-in Laser!!! When your done beating them you can fry em!!!


Your one lucky man, can't wait to see some beam shots!!!

It should not be too hard to take a beam shot with that unit! Just lay it on a stable suitable surface, I use a towel on a table sometimes, and in the dark, click a pic of the beam, you may need a cheep camera tripod, but in this pic i just rested the camera on a surface, (a car hood):
That is my Spyder I PRO, (about 260 mW), shooting near a full moon with a Cannon coolpix 7600 in auto exposure w/ flash turned off.

That must suck some serious juice, what batteries do they use?

....why do they state it as being a class 3b, its a class IV innit?

NICE!

All set to take some pics of this monster in action tonight!


@Jaycey it takes D cells. Currently I'm just using standard Duracells, apparently Duracell Ultras have higher amperage (and thus higher output) but they're hard to find. Will be moving onto NiMH rechargeables soon. The documentation is generic... even the sticker is generic (both in terms of power and wavelength).

@Glen, good idea. I will try to find something to rest the camera on.

@EtherMagic, haha indeed

Unfortunately all the ones I took tonight turned out to be rubbish. Ultimately I think I'm going to need either a tripod for the herc or for the camera or both.

The best one I have (see below) is actually one I took yesterday evening... I held off uploading it because it really doesn't do the beam justice. It's a clean, tight, solid beam... nothing like the mess you see in the pic.

It's not a long exposure pic, but I couldn't tell you what the actual exposure time is. I might have to get my buddy (who's something of a photog) to take some proper pics of it.

Wouldn't that mean that this particular unit isn't FDA approved, as I believe that the labels have to be accurate?

Yep, if the labels are required to be accurate then this baby definitely isn't FDA compliant!

I don't suppose it REALLy matters, but you bought a FDA approved laser, you expect it to be a FDA approved laser

Doesn't matter in the slightest to me... but I can see how it might be an issue for others.

Holy cow, this thing f#cking ROCKS!

It's almost 4am... just got back from my first real night of lasing with the Herc. I had no idea lasers could be this much fun!!

I will just say this for anyone who is considering getting a beam expander: you have no idea what you're missing -- do it!

That thing does ROCK man!!! I'm just wondering how the hell did that monster get thru customs???

That's not just something you can slap a 5mW sticker on and get away with it, it looks like one of them freakin German Hand Grenades from WW2!!!


This!





Paul

The thing about the Herc is that you can unscrew the battery tube (so you can just use the head as a lab module). Ship the head in one package and everything else in another and customs is none the wiser

This is a Class 4 laser, not Class 3B...

^^^ That was my exact thought when I read that paper Lase-doctor received with his Laser.

There is no way that thing is in same class as my 200mW I ordered!

really a weapon))

About the documentation and sticker: Until a short time ago there really was no such thing as a Class IV Hercules, so all of our documentation and labeling shows Class IIIb. I've been trying to update everything so that >500 mW Hercs are labeled properly as Class IV but I can't check every product on every order so I think this one just slipped through the cracks with the normal Hercules documentation. If it's a problem I can certainly reprint the instructions and get you a Class IV sticker, but really Class IIIb and Class IV lasers should all be treated the same (ie. they're dangerous) so to the end user I'm hoping it doesn't make a big difference. Where laze_doctor lives, as far as Customs is concerned, none of these are at all compliant so there's little difference, but we are trying to make sure that the new Class IV Hercs are labeled appropriately. Future shipments should be clearly marked as Class IV.

Thanks for the review, BTW! The pictures look good and we really got a kick out of your laser safe. I think that's the first time I've seen that!

I should add that Justin has been extremely helpful (accommodating my special shipping requirements, answering all my questions, etc). If the FDA thing is an issue for anyone buying one of these monsters, just let him know and he'll sort you out