Hey guys, well, I've heard a few people asking about the new "1.25W" rated Arctics, and whether they'll live up to spec and perform better than the original versions.
Well, I now have one here, and I'll slowly get around to producing some data for it. Unfortunately I'm preparing to move house (again ...) so it's not a huge priority, but I'll get there
Although, I have done a few relative measurements and comparisons. I have had one of the previous Arctics, and even just from the raw burning power, I can tell this one has a bit more "punch" to it, though of course the burning measurement is fairly useless.
More interestingly, I took a current reading from the battery on both high and low mode, low giving me 550mA, and high 1.8A, which is a drastic increase.
Of course, some of this current is going to be lost in the boost process and efficiency, however from what I've seen of the A-130/140 diodes, their lasing threshold is only around 250mA. With 550mA into the driver, there is not much headroom. Having also run these 445nm diodes _just_ above threshold before, I can say this is definitely a fair bit brighter, so the boost process seems to be generally pretty efficient.
With that in mind, a 1.8A draw on high mode means the diode is being driven pretty high.
Interestingly they seem to have included an instruction "booklet" for the old "<1W" version, which now specs as 750mW nominal, but also a current draw of 1A.
So even if 600mA was being lost in the boost process, the diode will still be receiving at least 1.2A, which from my experience is more than enough to put it over the 1W range, so far so good.
Of course, I'll get some actual power measurements, however it may be a little while before I get around to it. I'm just posting this as kind of a 'lead in' for a review, which will come later
Apart from that, the new Arctic is basically identical to the older version. However, mine arrived in a holster instead of a box compared to the previous versions - but I'm not sure how long they've been doing this, it may not be new.
The laser also seems to have shipped via a different courier, one completely unknown to me (However it went through AustPost upon it's arrival into Aus). The shipping invoice labels say "York & Vash Express", which doesn't really seem to return anything useful on google.
The laser made it through customs without any issues, and it's marked as a "flashlight" on the package.
Anyway, I'll just dump a few pics here for now and add info as I go
I didn't get any extra lenses or anything, however Wicked included the usual safety "glasses", cheap battery chargr & the unmarked (Apparently Sanyo) 18650.
It's also good to see they're still sending out the nice A4 warning letters.
Also, I've heard pretty mixed feelings about the laser safety glasses they provide with the laser. I have personally tried them out a few times, and can say that yes, they are adequate for typical activities. They reduce the brightness down to a very reasonable level. On that note, I probably would not trust them with a direct hit, but I would never put myself in a situation where that could happen, and neither should anyone else with such a laser, so it's not a real concern for me. Apart from that, the goggles are a little small, some people may have issues putting them on comfortably.
Anyway, not really a "review" yet, just some little odds n ends I thought I'd share
Dan
Well, I now have one here, and I'll slowly get around to producing some data for it. Unfortunately I'm preparing to move house (again ...) so it's not a huge priority, but I'll get there
Although, I have done a few relative measurements and comparisons. I have had one of the previous Arctics, and even just from the raw burning power, I can tell this one has a bit more "punch" to it, though of course the burning measurement is fairly useless.
More interestingly, I took a current reading from the battery on both high and low mode, low giving me 550mA, and high 1.8A, which is a drastic increase.
Of course, some of this current is going to be lost in the boost process and efficiency, however from what I've seen of the A-130/140 diodes, their lasing threshold is only around 250mA. With 550mA into the driver, there is not much headroom. Having also run these 445nm diodes _just_ above threshold before, I can say this is definitely a fair bit brighter, so the boost process seems to be generally pretty efficient.
With that in mind, a 1.8A draw on high mode means the diode is being driven pretty high.
Interestingly they seem to have included an instruction "booklet" for the old "<1W" version, which now specs as 750mW nominal, but also a current draw of 1A.
So even if 600mA was being lost in the boost process, the diode will still be receiving at least 1.2A, which from my experience is more than enough to put it over the 1W range, so far so good.
Of course, I'll get some actual power measurements, however it may be a little while before I get around to it. I'm just posting this as kind of a 'lead in' for a review, which will come later
Apart from that, the new Arctic is basically identical to the older version. However, mine arrived in a holster instead of a box compared to the previous versions - but I'm not sure how long they've been doing this, it may not be new.
The laser also seems to have shipped via a different courier, one completely unknown to me (However it went through AustPost upon it's arrival into Aus). The shipping invoice labels say "York & Vash Express", which doesn't really seem to return anything useful on google.
The laser made it through customs without any issues, and it's marked as a "flashlight" on the package.
Anyway, I'll just dump a few pics here for now and add info as I go
I didn't get any extra lenses or anything, however Wicked included the usual safety "glasses", cheap battery chargr & the unmarked (Apparently Sanyo) 18650.
It's also good to see they're still sending out the nice A4 warning letters.
Also, I've heard pretty mixed feelings about the laser safety glasses they provide with the laser. I have personally tried them out a few times, and can say that yes, they are adequate for typical activities. They reduce the brightness down to a very reasonable level. On that note, I probably would not trust them with a direct hit, but I would never put myself in a situation where that could happen, and neither should anyone else with such a laser, so it's not a real concern for me. Apart from that, the goggles are a little small, some people may have issues putting them on comfortably.
Anyway, not really a "review" yet, just some little odds n ends I thought I'd share
Dan
