Goldenstar laser 1.5W 532nm Lab Laser

This isn't going to be an in depth reveiw, more of a lite review / buying experience.

The Buy:
This turned out to be a small Group Buy, as G.B.'s go, but it was definitely one of the fastest, and smoothest G.B.'s I've been a part of; Kudos to Jeff (Jmillerdoc) for a very well run buy. IIRC this was also his first!

Delivery:
My package was delivered by the USPS looking as if they were testing Jeff's packing skills, fortunately, it was packaged to be damn near bomb proof.
It came in a box three times larger than the unit, and with so much foam and bubble wrap used, I never got it all back in the box again.
You guys that are getting a 589nm D/L from Jeff's 2nd G.B. will find out 1st hand how well he packs.

The Laser:
This is the Goldenstarlaser model (MGL-h532 1500MW) lab laser rated at 1500mW output. It is made from all C.N.I. components.

Set-Up & 1st Run:
Well, I thought it would be just a matter of plugging the laser module into the P.S./driver, unscrew the lens cover, then power up with 120v A.C. and begin to lase, right?
Nope, after doing the above steps, the LED's lit up, the 3 fans were all working, but there were no beautiful 532nm green photons being emitted!
I figured that I just had to flip a switch, add a jumper, or something, but being a noob to lab lasers, I was stumped.

A quick email to Jeff solved my dilemma; a 5v D.C. power source was needed. there was even a small plug with wires attached for this purpose.
After adding 3x1.5v aaa batts. in a little holder, we had lift-off, well at least we had green beams, lots of green!

A Few Specs:

OUTPUT - I was hoping for at least on spec, but this bad boy is unreal. I wanted to see 1.5W, and would liked to see 1.8W, but when I LPM'ed it, it maxed out at 3.065W 100% over spec!
To verify my LPM readings, I checked the output of my Optotronics 150mW pen, it LPM'ed at 144mW, so the measured output is accurate.

BEAM DIAMETER - The beam diameter near the aperture is 2mm.

DIVERGANCE - With a dia. of 2mm at the aperture, and a dia. of approx. 13mm at 45' (13.7M), the divergance calculates to be 0.803mrad. I wonder how this would be with a B.E. on it!

I.R. OUTPUT - I guess a big question would be how much of this output is I.R?
To be honest, I don't know. I don't have an I.R. filter that will withstand 3W of power. My safety glasses had a divot melted in them with only a 2sec. exposure to the beam.
I'd like to assume (yeah I know what happens when you assume) that this unit has an I.R. filter in it, being that it is built by C.N.I.

Finally, Some Pics:




Mid afternoon, fully lit room.




LEFT - Goldenstar 1.5W labby RIGHT - Optotronics 150mW pen


Left pic - 10 seconds at 1' distance Right pic - 40 seconds at 45'


Match - 40sec to light the wrong end, 15sec. to light the correct end at 45'. Warning, don't get too close when taking pics!


A comparison shot with my J/L PL-E 500, it was doing about 600mW in this pic.






Labels on laser, showing manufacturer (CNI).





CONCLUSION:
This was my first lab style laser purchase, and to have received it for such an excellent price, and have it LPM at over two times the rated output, fantastic!
Needless to say, so far I'm extremely pleased with this purchase.

Also, last but not least, a +rep to Jmillerdoc for running a super G.B.! :beer:

Thanks for looking.

Jeff

Re: Goldenstarlaser 1.5W 532nm Lab Laser

Very nice , I do like the CNIs when they do over speck

At most the two CNI 1W 532nm I have do about 500 - 600mW over the rated speck nothing like 1.5W over .

Re: Goldenstarlaser 1.5W 532nm Lab Laser

You really need to check the IR form this laser. If the IR is high it can be a real hazard
because as we all know it is not in the visible light spectrum. Be careful.:>)

Re: Goldenstarlaser 1.5W 532nm Lab Laser

@ ionlaser, thanks I've never had anything this overspec either.

@ BubonicCronic and COMMANDER, I agree, a large percentage of the output could be I.R., and will be very careful with it.
As soon as I get a filter, I will check it, and update if necessary.

Re: Goldenstarlaser 1.5W 532nm Lab Laser

If it is made by CNI, you can be assured it has a filter on it.

Re: Goldenstarlaser 1.5W 532nm Lab Laser

Thanks for the information crazy, I'm hoping it does have one, but will check to be sure when I can.

In the meantime, I have a couple of more pics showing the labeling on the laser.




Hopefully they're not just sticking a fake C.N.I. label on their own stuff!

Re: Goldenstarlaser 1.5W 532nm Lab Laser

If you are running the modulation lines at 4.5V , going to 5V will give a small increase in power .

Most CNI heads have some form of internal IR filter

Oh man I want one I really hope he does another group buy for them.
Nice laser

@ ionlaser, good to know. I was using Duracell Quantum batts.; the combined voltage when new measured 4.85v, pretty close to 5v.

@lazerman121, I think it would be easier now to get participants for a G.B., I think Jmillerdoc's unit measured over 2.5W also!
Check out the link in my thread to this unit, it's not too bad of a price, even without a G.B.

BowtieGuy said:

@ ionlaser, good to know. I was using Duracell Quantum batts.; the combined voltage when new measured 4.85v, pretty close to 5v.

@lazerman121, I think it would be easier now to get participants for a G.B., I think Jmillerdoc's unit measured over 2.5W also!
Check out the link in my thread to this unit, it's not too bad of a price, even without a G.B.

Click to expand...

Cool looking at there site now wow.
Under other lasers the 150mW unit for $60.00 looks so tempting.

edit Holy crud $150 for 300mw looks good too.

Yes they're filtered. And I'm glad it's working well. I almost jumped in on these myself, but opted for my 561 instead.

Thanks ultimatekaiser.:beer: Glad to know for sure that it's IR filtered. I probably should get a good IR filter just to be able to check for any IR output on questionable units.
Yes, it's working extremely well.:yh: I almost didn't join the G.B., definitely glad I did!

They're all filtered underneath the collimating assembly. It's epoxied to the main body over the hole where the beam escapes. Right under the faceplate.

That's a nice laser! Treat her good ya hear! :tinfoil:

Yes sir, will do. She's definitely a keeper!

Nice review, and awesome labby! Yep as UK has said they're all IR filtered internally.

Is it analog modulated or just TTL modulated? If it is TTL than there won't be any difference in output between 4.5V and 5V. Also, most of these drivers have an internal 5V line you can tap off of for the modulation so you don't need an external supply, but if you're not very comfortable working on electronics I'd say to not bother trying to find it. You can also make a simple voltage divider with two resistors to get 5V at low current from your DC power supply that's powering the driver. Whats the specs of that power supply? 12V I'd assume.

Thanks Sigurthr.
The Goldenstar laser site says it's both. TTL on/ off, 10KHz, and analog option.
I'll have to check out power supply more closely, but I did check a couple of the outputs on the power supply with my dmm, and it looked as if there was a 5v output.