PL 660-1000 and custom 405nm Review!

First off this review has no solid definite measurements, only subjective opinions of the lasers im going to discuss. No complaining.

I first contacted Wannaburnstuff when I fried my first build (also a 405nm) which happened to be my second 405nm that I had killed. I was so distressed and discouraged I considered selling my small collection and moving on. I was convinced otherwise. Wannaburnstuff sent me a picture of a cool host and said I could have a 405nm diode put in it for a good price.



I really like the host, very attractive and it provides near 100% duty cycle. I havent tested this to the limit.




These are the lamest beam shots ever, I know. My camera simply wont pick up that wavelength effectively. So a bit about the laser, the host is what it is I have no idea what its named or called or where it came from. The diode is running on 450mA of current run through a G2 lens. My last laser I bought had the same diode with a 3 element lens in it and the beam diameter was much larger, I now know not only do G2 lenses let more light through, but they seem to focus the beam better. The beam diameter is smaller then my HL300-532 DPSS from LaserBTB. Sorry no specific measurements, but its about the diameter of the lead in a pencil. A bit smaller actually. I was shown a LPM picture and I am assuming it was a stable reading rather then peak power.. but it puts out 685~ mW. DTR says 450mA should result in 700ish mW, so its about right. There is zero splash and divergence i'd suspect is <1.5mRads. It's absolutely beautiful. And its one hell of a burner, as most 405s are, but I was surprised..

Extra Beam shot:



That is focused at infinity from 3ft away, started burning instantly.



Also Wannaburnstuff did an amazing job setting my focus adapter. It's set to infinity when tightened all the way. I almost broke it because the module wasnt tightened in all the way, and I was told it may not focus to infinity when tightened down fully but, it does. I want to make a point of saying that he is the reason I've decided to continue in this hobby and he has sent me a 650nm diode that I will work on putting in a c6 or one of my existing 501bs once I get the correct driver. The whole process dealing with my seller was a great experience and not only did he sell great products and keep me informed, he actually answered several of my unrelated questions and helped bolster my confidence and desire to continue here at LPF and with lasers in general.

Now, while my 405nm burnmeister was being built and waiting for parts to arrive etc, I bought a PL660-1000 from him aswell. Its your standard PL host no need for pics of that, but it is underspec at around 800mW I was told.. Still, the brightest red laser I have and it along with the 405 complete my collection of medium-high powered main 4 wavelength lasers. The 660 is a beautiful color, only complaint is the divergence is 6mRads or more. The multimode shape is quite apparent at any distance.



That would be the 800mW 660nm and a 2000mW 445nm side by side. The 660 has a HUGE beam and as I said pretty bad divergence, but even LaserBTB states on the spec sheet that the divergence is pretty large. At the price I paid I have no complaints whatsoever.

So overall this is my 4th or 5th purchase through LPF and every one so far has been a great experience. I thank Wannaburnstuff more then I can express through this forums and my appreciation for him building me a custom 405 and keeping me in the hobby is IMMENSE:drool:

Plus the bonus of being able to buy the PL660 was well, a bonus, without stating numbers, ill just say I got a great deal:beer:

Thankyou to all LPF members, and most of all to Wannaburnstuff for providing me with two badass lasers and the best 405nm I've ever had the pleasure of lasing with. :beer::beer::beer: Lots of beer for this. I'm very excited and proud to own the 405 especially, I only wish I could rep him more

Edit: added some pics. First is a 532, 445, 660, and 405. Second pic doesn't have the 445 in it so the 405nm is more visible.. the 405 looms blue but it's purple for sure. This also shows the beam diameters well as all the lasers were side by side so the beams are an inch apart from the cameras viewing angle regardless of how far apart they look vertically..

Hey man,

I am glad you like them! That picture of the 445 and 660 together is awesome! I love those colors together. Almost fills in the 405 between them.

Next time I send you a laser, or anyone else for that matter, I will try to get some good divergence measurements first. If you ever decide to try taking them yourself let me know and I will be glad to walk you through it.

I am very glad you decided to stick it out! I have been in that "F*** this I am done with this" moment before and it sucks. Off the top of my head:

• Cut a 9mm Diode into multiple pieces when my leverage slipped
• Smashed the front of a 80mW 520nm diode(when they were new on the scene)
• Melted a microboost drive with my portable oven of a soldering iron
• And many more

I would probably be much better off financially if I had succumbed to that desire but I would have missed out on a lot.

Thanks for the review, I hope they live long and prosper in your care!
-Isaac

--------------------------------------Random Info

xirrious said:

So a bit about the laser, the host is what it is I have no idea what its named or called or where it came from.

Click to expand...

The Host was a custom one-off job by Ehgemus. I like his hosts because 9 times out of 10 they are one of a kind :beer:

xirrious said:

I was shown a LPM picture and I am assuming it was a stable reading rather then peak power.. but it puts out 685~ mW. DTR says 450mA should result in 700ish mW, so its about right. There is zero splash and divergence i'd suspect is <1.5mRads. It's absolutely beautiful. And its one hell of a burner, as most 405s are, but I was surprised..

Click to expand...

The 685 was indeed an average measurement. Peak was 776mW if memory serves.

xirrious said:

The 660 is a beautiful color, only complaint is the divergence is 6mRads or more. The multimode shape is quite apparent at any distance.

Click to expand...

Laserbtb quotes that the divergence is less than 6mRads but does not offer any concrete numbers. If anyone has taken divergence measurements on one of their PL-650 1W units I would love to get those numbers. Hit me up.

It is a 660 though maybe laserbtb has it wrong but it's sold as a PL660-1000. That's what the sticker on the host says anyhow

Ignore my retarded method. It excluded the diameter at aperture and is therefore totally useless. Besides it'd only provide an estimate and i think we would all appreciate solid number more. Thanks for the equation Isaac I'll measure it in the next couple days. I like doing the math anyway

xirrious said:

I could measure the beam at 10 ft and multiply that by 100 divided by the some 6000+ mrads in a circle for fairly accurate measurements. It is a 660 though maybe laserbtb has it wrong but it's sold as a PL660-1000. That's what the sticker on the host says anyhow

Click to expand...

hm?

What you would do is measure the beam width(in millimeters) at the aperture using safety glasses to cut out the halo effect and protect you seeing orbs.

____mm at aperture

Then measure the beam at roughly 30 meters(100 feet, I use a surveyor's wheel) and record that diameter in millimeters as well.

____mm at 30m

Follow this formula, where D is diameter. So, you take the inverse tangent of the difference in diameters divided by the distance between the measurements. Then multiply by 2.


Image looks like shit but if you open it in a new tab it looks fine.

Additionally, you can use THIS CALCULATOR to avoid having to math. It is the first box.

I too love the 660, even more than 638. not as bright mW to mW, but I love the darker red more than the orange red. one of my next units for sure needs to be a higher powered 650 or 660, but no one really makes them that I know of off the top of my head, and only Laserbtb has them AFAIK

yes many cameras and 405s dont get along. with mine it only seemed to pick up the color well if other wavelengths were also present. you could try different combinations with the camera. light does so love playing tricks on us. well, our brains too

Yes exactly. That pretty pic of the 660 and 445 together is odd because my camera wony pick the 660 up by itself only with the 445 also in frame

6 mRad? Ya gotta be kidding me. That's a divergence of 6mm every meter. I've literally got torches better than that! That means after 10 metres your beam is 6cm bigger than it was at aperture? Is that really how bad these are? 445 is nowhere near that... :|

Ps the best and most easily accessible camera that I've found to pick up 405 is iPhone cameras, tested on an original iPhone, iPhone 3Gs and iPhone 4.

Yes 6mrads. At let's say 10 meters the beam spot looks like a line.

And no. Neither of my 445 are nearly that divergent.

It is not 6mRad divergence. It has not been measured. Neither by you nor I nor laserbtb
All they guarantee is that it is not exceeding 6mRad. You cannot quote a meaningless number on a website as the actual divergence. Yes, the long axis diverges faster than the short axis. Yes, that makes it look like a bar. That does not give you any concrete data. It diverges far less than a Mitsubishi 638nm diode and is focusable.

I hope this clears up the confusion about what "<6mRad" means. It does NOT mean 6mRad. It means LESS THAN 6mRad.

Yes that's is what the spec sheet says. Sorry for any confusion I made it clear no concrete numbers would be given from the start. If anyone misunderstood I'm sorry. Bottom line is the multi mode 660nm lasers diverge along the horizontal axis quite a bit.. it doesn't matter the laser is a great laser and has no splash and a very solid build wi th a massive heatsink. Didn't mean any offense Isaac. As you said we don't know the true divergence and also its larger or smaller relative to the axis measured. With the switch faced up ( being a vertical vector ) the beam diverges at a 90 degree angle making a horizontal line. "Vertical" divegence is much much less and hardly noticeable. Hope this clears up any confusion.

do the axes swap like on a 445? i.e 445 come out as a horizontal "line" at aperture but after a few meters the axes swap so the "line" is actually vertical. Don't know if all 445s do it or if its just a characteristic of certain diodes.

Yes, they swap

It will swap back and forth based on distance but my 445 doesn't seem to do that.

the mitsubishis and oclaro 638 multi mode dots do a 90 degree turn, but it does not spiral forever, after a certain distance, it stays perpendicular to the aperture beam.

That's weird.. my 445 doesn't do that but your talking of a different multimode diode. But I'd think it'd spiral on and on not just turn 90 degrees. Are you positive about this? If so can anyone explain why this occurs ?