- Joined
- Dec 10, 2013
- Messages
- 1,343
- Points
- 83
Thread edit 11-04-2014 - see bottom of the this post for additional info on beam spec, dot size/divergence, mode hopping, IR output.
Hi all, had this for a while now, thought it was about time I reviewed it.
I'll post a video, and then some stills for those of you can't/don't want to watch:
images:
The host
beamshot onto a dark rug fully defocussed
fully defocussed the beam converges just shy of a foot in front of the laser and is needle thin.
the beam is just about visible outside on an overcast day if held close to your face, especially so when it's raining.
Overall the laser is of good quality, everything works as it should, the threads on the tailcap feel a bit fragile but apart from that I am very happy with it.
When I first saw the beam I was awestruck. It stretches across the sky and paints a distinct "dot" on any low lying clouds and nearby hillsides. I don't have an LPM nor can I measure IR output but I'm very happy with what I have seen.
it takes one 16340 battery which, when fully charged, supplies the laser with loads of juice for experimentation, star pointing, burning etc. It can run for up to 2 minutes before even getting warm but I've never ran it for more than this at one time. It slices tape, lights matches almost instantly and stings skin.
I hope this review was informative.
Update 11-04-2014
Adding information to this somewhat sparse review...
Beam spec and dot characteristics
The beam on this one isn't what I'd call remarkably thin for a DPSSL, but then that means power density for a given area is lower so all of that power isn't being forced through a tiny surface area on the crystal (hint: this is a good thing, thin beams look nice but under high powers they can stress or crack the crystals).
this laser operates under all normal conditions outside of putting it in the freezer or using it as a poker for the coal fire. Cold room, hot room, cold start, warm start, it powers right up and just runs, stable. there is a brief hint of a flicker upon power up, and when looking down at the beam it temporarily widens and looks somewhat like this:
|0|
|0|
|0|
|0|
|0|
|0|
|0|
|0|
/--\
To say it in words, that is it's a beam with very subtle wings, or "miniature beams" to either side. This disappears within a second and returns to reasonably clean TEM00. It then runs like this, stable, until around 2 or 3 minutes in when the laser begins to warm up, causing very slight rapid mode hop. This is visible as slight changes to the dot rapidly shifting back and forth between clean and unclean TEM00, not easy to see except through goggles and normally only visible as minute flickers. The video shows this happening:
Please note the dot is ROUND... perspective shifted it slightly, and the orange colour is fluorescence of the wall through safety goggles. Even in this defocussed state, it is dazzling to look at. By the time this video was done, total runtime would have been 3+ minutes, where the outer case becomes ever so slightly warmer than its ambient surrounding. I have run it for similar periods during photo-taking and have encounter no ill effects.
Divergence
I measured divergence from my usual distance of roughly 7 meters - living room table through to bedroom wall.
At aperture the beam of this laser measures, to all intents and purposes, a smidgen less than 2mm.
Terminating on the wall, it was not easy to measure as the edges are a bit fuzzy, but I eventually decided it to be 13mm.
The clean, round TEM00 dot, with a tight infinity focus remains fairly tight with a divergence beating my 593.5 and 445!
This next image, which I have used in other reviews, shows that across the garden - around twice and a little more the distance of the previous test - the size of the dot holds up and slightly betters the 445 and is roughly similar to the 650. To give perspective, the green dot is about the same diameter as a tealight candle.
IR leakage
This one I only noticed recently when I acquired my OD7 safety goggles which DO NOT block IR. Although it's not easy to see, when looking as close as possible to the aperture while NOT pointing it directly at one's face, this laser definitely presents a dull, deep red glow of IR, similar in colour to cranberry juice, seen on camera as a purple fuzz.
I requested this laser be IR filtered when I bought it from laserbtb and given the amount of IR seems low it is quite likely this is just a small amount of residual IR leaking past the filter. it's very hard to spot and only came about as my OD7 goggles completely block 532.
The following photo shows the IR, which is no brighter than that emitted by LEDs in a TV remote:
That concludes this update to the review, more to come as and when I discover it!
Hi all, had this for a while now, thought it was about time I reviewed it.
I'll post a video, and then some stills for those of you can't/don't want to watch:
images:
The host
beamshot onto a dark rug fully defocussed
fully defocussed the beam converges just shy of a foot in front of the laser and is needle thin.
the beam is just about visible outside on an overcast day if held close to your face, especially so when it's raining.
Overall the laser is of good quality, everything works as it should, the threads on the tailcap feel a bit fragile but apart from that I am very happy with it.
When I first saw the beam I was awestruck. It stretches across the sky and paints a distinct "dot" on any low lying clouds and nearby hillsides. I don't have an LPM nor can I measure IR output but I'm very happy with what I have seen.
it takes one 16340 battery which, when fully charged, supplies the laser with loads of juice for experimentation, star pointing, burning etc. It can run for up to 2 minutes before even getting warm but I've never ran it for more than this at one time. It slices tape, lights matches almost instantly and stings skin.
I hope this review was informative.
Update 11-04-2014
Adding information to this somewhat sparse review...
Beam spec and dot characteristics
The beam on this one isn't what I'd call remarkably thin for a DPSSL, but then that means power density for a given area is lower so all of that power isn't being forced through a tiny surface area on the crystal (hint: this is a good thing, thin beams look nice but under high powers they can stress or crack the crystals).
this laser operates under all normal conditions outside of putting it in the freezer or using it as a poker for the coal fire. Cold room, hot room, cold start, warm start, it powers right up and just runs, stable. there is a brief hint of a flicker upon power up, and when looking down at the beam it temporarily widens and looks somewhat like this:
|0|
|0|
|0|
|0|
|0|
|0|
|0|
|0|
/--\
To say it in words, that is it's a beam with very subtle wings, or "miniature beams" to either side. This disappears within a second and returns to reasonably clean TEM00. It then runs like this, stable, until around 2 or 3 minutes in when the laser begins to warm up, causing very slight rapid mode hop. This is visible as slight changes to the dot rapidly shifting back and forth between clean and unclean TEM00, not easy to see except through goggles and normally only visible as minute flickers. The video shows this happening:
Please note the dot is ROUND... perspective shifted it slightly, and the orange colour is fluorescence of the wall through safety goggles. Even in this defocussed state, it is dazzling to look at. By the time this video was done, total runtime would have been 3+ minutes, where the outer case becomes ever so slightly warmer than its ambient surrounding. I have run it for similar periods during photo-taking and have encounter no ill effects.
Divergence
I measured divergence from my usual distance of roughly 7 meters - living room table through to bedroom wall.
At aperture the beam of this laser measures, to all intents and purposes, a smidgen less than 2mm.
Terminating on the wall, it was not easy to measure as the edges are a bit fuzzy, but I eventually decided it to be 13mm.
The clean, round TEM00 dot, with a tight infinity focus remains fairly tight with a divergence beating my 593.5 and 445!
This next image, which I have used in other reviews, shows that across the garden - around twice and a little more the distance of the previous test - the size of the dot holds up and slightly betters the 445 and is roughly similar to the 650. To give perspective, the green dot is about the same diameter as a tealight candle.
IR leakage
This one I only noticed recently when I acquired my OD7 safety goggles which DO NOT block IR. Although it's not easy to see, when looking as close as possible to the aperture while NOT pointing it directly at one's face, this laser definitely presents a dull, deep red glow of IR, similar in colour to cranberry juice, seen on camera as a purple fuzz.
I requested this laser be IR filtered when I bought it from laserbtb and given the amount of IR seems low it is quite likely this is just a small amount of residual IR leaking past the filter. it's very hard to spot and only came about as my OD7 goggles completely block 532.
The following photo shows the IR, which is no brighter than that emitted by LEDs in a TV remote:
That concludes this update to the review, more to come as and when I discover it!
Last edited:
rep+
