Optotronics PPL-150+ measurements and pics

Hi guys. I received my first laser a few days ago from a LPF member and I will dedicate this thread to it. I am going to a star party tonight at the Physics department at my university and they said they would help me measure the real output of it using some of their instruments. It says it is around 161mW (which I don't doubt) but I'm just going to double check it.

So far I am very impressed with the laser. The beam is very tight and has never changed its power output at anytime. I got some safety glasses for some burning tests and indoor use but as of right now I don't have any matches yet or balloons to test it on. I will post some pictures and videos soon enough though.

Thanks for all of your advice and help. This is a great community.

Before I post any pictures, I have a question. When I measured the output using a field-master light sensor, at first it was only reading about 60-85mW. I had been using those alkaline batteries for awhile now and switched them out with some newer ones
(although still not brand new) and it hit between 90 and 125mW. The meter was reading around 12mW with just the lights turned on in the room. We did set the meter to 532nm light source but I am still not sure it was setup correctly. A professor was assisting me with it since I had never used one before.

Since Optotronics claims this PPL can hit 150+ and around 161 peak, could my batteries have been causing these low readings? If I bought some higher quality batteries it should in theory be much higher correct?

Alkaline batteries do not hold as much amp hours as their more expensive NiMH batteries right? Also inside the case it says not to run the PPL at higher voltages than 1.6 Volts. Since most AAA batteries produce 1.5V, are there any that produce 1.55 volts? Are those still safe to use? Where can i purchase them?

Also, I am the second owner of this laser so would regular use of it lower the maximum output of the diode or is that only if you don't follow the prescribed duty cycle of 1min on \1 min off?