GB: 1W 520nm diode information/giveaway

Come on guys let's stop throwing mud. Yes ARG and Andy made mistakes, and yes this is unfair for the contributors. Bottom line is will a diode be re-bought for the drawing, I think ARG or Andy would have offered to do so already if they were going too. We have to trains of thought here.

1) They messed up and they should fix their mistake and buy a new diode for LPF.

2) They messed up but it's better we share the loss as a larger group rather than one or two individuals.

Although option 1 is a simple and fair solution, we should be a little more forgiving to a fellow LPF member for volunteering his services.

Edit: I do agree with CDbeam777 that the dealings with the tester should have been transparent and voted upon.

TheDukeAnumber1 said:

2) They messed up but it's better we share the loss as a larger group rather than one or two individuals.

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Everyone already shared the cost of buying the diode in the first place? Why should the contributors also shoulder the loss?
Also, the cost of a new diode is only $575 now.. With the money thats left over that's only around $230 each for ARG and Andy to cover? Not alot to get back in the good graces of the forum I think?

TheDukeAnumber1 said:

Although option 1 is a simple and fair solution, we should be a little more forgiving to a fellow LPF member for volunteering his services.

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"Volunteering" That is the operative word. No-one forced him to do the GB?
Yes, Option 1 is the most fair and most simple solution. I whole heartedly agree.


ALSO, I would add that if ARG came to the contributors and said "I want to send the diode half way round the world for some test's, too someone that doesn't want to be named.. Oh and by the way, the diode wont be sent with tracking and insurance.." Everyone would have screamed "HELL NO"!

RayJay said:

ALSO, I would add that if ARG came to the contributors and said "I want to send the diode half way round the world for some test's, too someone that doesn't want to be named.. Oh and by the way, the diode wont be sent with tracking and insurance.." Everyone would have screamed "HELL NO"!

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Personally I would have said no if it was sent with insurance. I just wanted the power graph, didn't care much about the other testing.

TheDukeAnumber1 said:

Personally I would have said no if it was sent with insurance. I just wanted the power graph, didn't care much about the other testing.

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Exactly!!

madmacmo said:

btw - There is no need for you to tally up the count on which side of the line your responses fall, the contributors will do it for you.

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Completely agree. The facts have been presented for both sides of the argument and people will just have to form their own educated opinion about this. I know which side of the line I fall on.

There's not much more else to say on the topic.

ARG said:

I may have shipped the diode untracked to Andy, but I shipped it with a service I know is reliable (I've shipped over 120 packages using this method without a single loss) and I got the diode to Andy.
I have no idea what the reliability of the service he sent back the diode with is. It was my responsibility tIt was always a risk that there would never be a giveaway at the end. If the participants failed to read and understand the risks when signing up that is their problem, not mine. That condition has been a term for all of the three diode GB's I've ran, it's not like it changed just for this one.

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I think Andy needs to weigh in on this. The known risk was the diode could be a dud and pop, not "I might forget to ship a $500+ dollar thumb nail sized piece of electronics properly" For all we know it's in his pocket.

I would also like to know more about the service he shipped with. If it's ground mail it's quite possible it's still on the slow boat to Canada.

TheDukeAnumber1 said:

For all we know it's in his pocket...

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I'm sure your not the only one who's thought this.

ped said:

I'm sure your not the only one who's thought this.

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I thought it from the very beginning but kept my mouth shut..

RayJay said:

I thought it from the very beginning but kept my mouth shut..

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:crackup::crackup::beer:

Since laserswiki.com is down right now I'm posting to host the data here on LPF as well.

Rename the file extension to .xlsx to open.

I've been working in remote Lake City Colorado, so have been out of the loop. this sure heated up. I'm glad to see it remain civil, but I'd expect noting less of forum veterans with a conflict.

my $.02:

there was a reasonable expectation of a give away, though not 100%. If there was not at least this reasonable expectation, some people who donated more money to give themselves a better chance of winning would not have done so.

If andy can afford all that fancy equipment and laser pj's, I would think he can afford to fix his mistake, especially since it was he who shipped it untracked and uninsured back to ARG, or he who may in fact still have it. as others stated, the diodes have come down in price. with the leftover money, a new one will be quite a bit, but not nearly what it was. If I were andy, I would do this. I realize not everyone has the integrity gene mutation

as far as the group taking the loss, well, that idea would have more merit if there were not contributers who donated substantially more to increase their chances of winning. while it may be the group's diode, some hold more shares, and thus it is not an even loss for everyone.

so many valid points have been made, worst case it's a learning experience for everyone.

Still not entirely sure why it was sent out for beam measurements. Isn't the diode already pretty much sharing the same beam with the 445's? So shouldn't optics make a nearly identical shape? (yes I realize wavelength does play some role in this and I can only see that being the reason to do so, even then it won't make too big a difference so long as you know what you're doing)

ZRaffleticket said:

Still not entirely sure why it was sent out for beam measurements. Isn't the diode already pretty much sharing the same beam with the 445's? So shouldn't optics make a nearly identical shape? (yes I realize wavelength does play some role in this and I can only see that being the reason to do so, even then it won't make too big a difference so long as you know what you're doing)

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Andy has an extensive collection of corrective optics (anamorphics, cylindrical lens', ect.) and the plan was to get numbers on the best optics to use for reducing the beam size as well.

Ahh, makes sense.

ARG said:

I would also like to know more about the service he shipped with. If it's ground mail it's quite possible it's still on the slow boat to Canada.

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" Ground Mail "...." Ground Mail ".....Whaaaaat ????? What form of Gobbeldegook is this ??? Eight (8) weeks from ship date ???....Ship by boat....OH....The " Slow boat from China " deal....Well...yes...Ocean going freight from HK to LA can take up to six weeks. Also available are a class of " Super Freighters"....who's TransPacific crossing time is about a week.....

BUT....who sends MAIL/small packages by boat...:crackup::crackup::crackup:
Come on !!!! That's Funny !!! Well...Maybe Andy does.....but...I'm suppose to be " cool'in it ".....sorry !!!:yabbem::yabbem:

....BUT....Naaaaaaa :tsk::tsk::tsk: I am not buy'in it is still in transit.....As of this point....THAT LD is " GONE JOHNSON "....in my opinion.....Whatever....As disappointing as this project has degraded into....even though the initial reasons were sound and well intended....we have passed the point of Mud Slinging( Eeee ahh ALMOST PAST)....and I for one am in the " Land of Amazement" .....WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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