gismo
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- Jan 8, 2013
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Greetings fellow watchers & readers,
the time has come once again to share another extension to my collection.
Today, however, it's not about powerful lightsabers of medium or large proportions.
This time I'd like to spread word about:
"The 445nm & 520nm Chrome Double"
I admit there's an obvious parallel to my recent multimedia review of Blord's "Greed Twins", however what follows in this very article will show you an entrance to a slightly different looking laser land
. My conclusions led me to a well known forum member, the famous multimedia video creator and talented builder, styropyro. 1. Communication & shipping
I'm not going to specify the exact date when did I buy the double combo off him, but after he published his thread in B/S/T forum section, I knew this will be my next collector's addition. Here comes the OP for the 455nm chrome pen:
http://laserpointerforums.com/f39/fs-single-mode-455nm-pen-build-others-84958.html
I PM'ed styropyro within 24 hours of the thread posted, our brief communication started well and until the day I've received "the goods" it continued in highly friendly and helpful atmosphere. The idea of getting one more 520nm build boggled my mind for some time and I couldn't let the opportunity disappear, so the decision for a double was swift enough
.The actual time of the building process once I've transferred the funds to seller's paypal account was something above one week, until he could get necessary parts ready for the 520nm "biro", the blue twin brother was already waiting for him
. Finally he PM'ed me with a shipping date. However, the expected waiting frame estimated to 6-10 days took an unexpected twist. No sign of the package within 2 weeks gave me a chill, styropyro himself wasn't sure about its destiny, but we weren't losing hope. Voila, right the day after (15 days!) there it was! Reason for this delay was quite bizarre: the package was missent to India! It surely travelled the world.After the surprising waiting foreplay, I was ready to investigate the contents.
Pic-by-pic exposure:na:.
Since when is Ireland in India:thinking:
Shiny
2. Specifications, performance & still gallery
Without writing too much, the following 2 pictures should give you a brief idea about both builds.
Brothers in arms.
The major contrast comes not only in the wavelength option, but also in the optical equipment. The blue beamer uses an acrylic lens with an output of cca. 160mW, whereas the dark greener came preinstalled with a G2 lens, which was my choice to achieve the magical 100mW range
. Hereby I must admit, I've changed the original extended version with a shorter one I've had available. Just a pure feeling, a minor cosmetic modification without an impact on the pen's performance. Also a bit of teflon tape around the lenses thread was used to achieve somewhat smoother beam output operation.The actual weight of each chrome pen without batteries is cca. 45g, with the 2xAAA batteries included it increases to cca. 65g.
The batteries used were 2xAAA 1.2V rechargeable HR-4UTGB 750mAh Eneloop's. Perhaps surprising a bit, one would expect 2x1.5V batts to be used in the first place, alkaline Panasonic Pro Power LR03 Size S (made in Belgium, greetings Blord
).
Due to the actual size and design, a rather conservative runtime is welcome. 30 seconds would be a reasonable time frame, longer lasing leads to increased upper body warm-up (where the diode is located). The 455nm pen could perhaps stand for more than half a minute, 520nm sibling on G-2 lens gets warm quick enough, though.
Please, see 4 LPM graphs for both lasers attached. Measured with LaserBee 5W Ophir.
Results between 1.2V versus 1.5V are comparable, it's always a good thing to have a freedom of choice, the rechargeable ones can be used repeatedly.
A sleek & chrome mirror finish design of both pens unveils a representation purpose. They look extremely well, feel cold to touch at first, but turn warm after some usage. Two little majesties, with a green and blue blood circulating in their noble veins
. And yet, the words can't express enough the unique wavelengths they carry inside, thanks to components used.I know this will be considered as a blasphemic sign, but to make the difference between them sightclear, a slight touch of (hopefully) tolerable tape colour strips around the convex-effect chrome tops was required, IMHO.
Pictures of both lasers pens in portrait & macro position.
3. Beam shots gallery
As usual, Nikon D5200 was used as a main instrument for capturing photonics of the chrome brothers. Since the power button require a permanent finger click to have the laser(s) on, an aluminium tripod with a super clamp was applied during the photography sessions most of the time.
There's a visual downside to the mirror glory of these 2 pen hosts: they like fingerprints very much. Not so much of a concern, had to be cleaned up only for photoshooting purposes
.Indoor shots.
Outdoor shots.
Double pleasure
.
4. Conclusion & end notes
Styropyro, a real populariser of laser representation videography (for masses), is the man behind all of this. My review is dedicated to his craftsmanship. The creativity, challenge throughout the building process and responsiveness are some of the abilities to be named.
Both laser pens have a privileged place in my assemblage, two polished & shiny mini beamers of rather not-your-classic-wavelength.
:thanks: all for reading & watching!
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If I can find it I'll post a thread of the build.
