rhd
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A little while back, many of us were intrigued by the emergence of the "460nm" lab modules on both eBay, and here on LPF.
http://laserpointerforums.com/f39/s...s-180mw-473nm-1w-460nm-400mw-532nm-67687.html
The big point of curiosity of course, was wavelength. A 460nm laser would be substantially brighter than a 445nm of the same power, and would even be noticeably closer to the cyan-range. I was initially interested in purchasing one, but held off until I had a calibrated spectrometer. Once I had a spectrometer up and running, I was getting prepared to purchase a "460nm" labby myself, when I lucked out and JMillerDoc offered to mail me his, have me test it, and then mail it back to him. The laser arrived today, and I've had a chance to put it through a few wavelength tests.
My subjective impression (what it IS):
Regardless of wavelength, I think this package was probably worth its $250 price tag. It's an analog modulated labby that seems well built. It also seems incredibly stable.
And the numbers (what it IS NOT):
What it isn't, is 460nm. Nor is it anything different from the M series diodes that DTR and others sell. I took three readings, at 60, 120, and 180 seconds.
In all three cases, the wavelength was tested as 452nm.
452nm in context:
452nm is a nice high wavelength, but it isn't abnormal or obscure. I won't go as far as to say that 452nm at 1A (assuming 1A here) is the "norm", but it's certainly not "rare" if you're using M-series diodes. If you've got a handful of M-series diodes on hand, a few of them will hit this wavelength at this current. I've attached the spectrometer reading for a recent build I did, the Ninja MKII. You'll see that it's actually 1nm higher in wavelength, and I hadn't even specifically chosen the diode for that build knowing its wavelength ahead of time.
Having tested a number of M (and now H) series diodes, I've seen wavelengths ranging from 444nm all the way up to 458nm. For this reason, I have no doubt that we could find a freak 460nm diode if we were all looking. But this aint it
So, in short - this is a nice lab unit, and it seems worth the $250 price tag. What it isn't, is a "460nm" laser, or even reasonably close to it.
http://laserpointerforums.com/f39/s...s-180mw-473nm-1w-460nm-400mw-532nm-67687.html
The big point of curiosity of course, was wavelength. A 460nm laser would be substantially brighter than a 445nm of the same power, and would even be noticeably closer to the cyan-range. I was initially interested in purchasing one, but held off until I had a calibrated spectrometer. Once I had a spectrometer up and running, I was getting prepared to purchase a "460nm" labby myself, when I lucked out and JMillerDoc offered to mail me his, have me test it, and then mail it back to him. The laser arrived today, and I've had a chance to put it through a few wavelength tests.
My subjective impression (what it IS):
Regardless of wavelength, I think this package was probably worth its $250 price tag. It's an analog modulated labby that seems well built. It also seems incredibly stable.
And the numbers (what it IS NOT):
What it isn't, is 460nm. Nor is it anything different from the M series diodes that DTR and others sell. I took three readings, at 60, 120, and 180 seconds.
In all three cases, the wavelength was tested as 452nm.
452nm in context:
452nm is a nice high wavelength, but it isn't abnormal or obscure. I won't go as far as to say that 452nm at 1A (assuming 1A here) is the "norm", but it's certainly not "rare" if you're using M-series diodes. If you've got a handful of M-series diodes on hand, a few of them will hit this wavelength at this current. I've attached the spectrometer reading for a recent build I did, the Ninja MKII. You'll see that it's actually 1nm higher in wavelength, and I hadn't even specifically chosen the diode for that build knowing its wavelength ahead of time.
Having tested a number of M (and now H) series diodes, I've seen wavelengths ranging from 444nm all the way up to 458nm. For this reason, I have no doubt that we could find a freak 460nm diode if we were all looking. But this aint it
So, in short - this is a nice lab unit, and it seems worth the $250 price tag. What it isn't, is a "460nm" laser, or even reasonably close to it.
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