Review of the LaserBTB HL520 150 mW

Hello all! Just got my HL520 from LaserBTB in the mail yesterday, so here's a review of it after using it for a bit.

Shipping:
I ordered the laser on April 10th, and paid for express shipping, and it arrived on April 21st, for a total of 11 days, 4 of which were the Easter holiday. Well worth the extra $ for express shipping if you can afford it.

Packaging+Contents:
The package was very well wrapped, with the laser's carrying box wrapped inside another box, and then wrapped with an inch of bubble wrap.

The laser itself comes in a very nice, solid, leather wrapped box with hard foam cutouts to hold everything.


HighRes: http://i.imgur.com/SuShR5B.jpg

Inside the box, theres the laser itself, as well as two keys for arming/disarming the laser (more on that later), as well as space for batteries. The laser does not come with batteries, just like all LaserBTB lasers.


HighRes: http://i.imgur.com/q9bK42A.jpg

The Host:
The HL520 uses LaserBTB's Handheld laser host. It is approximately 6 inches long, and about 1 inch in diameter. It is made of a high quality (aluminum?) metal, and has a black satin finish. The handle is textured, as is the aperture shutter ring. Power is controlled via the large red button, above which is a small power indicator LED, and below is the key lock.


HghRes: http://i.imgur.com/38yqhbf.jpg

Technical Details:
The HL520 uses 2 16340 batteries, and will NOT fit the similar 18350 batteries.



This laser emits green light in the wavelength of 520 nm (+/- 10 nm) using direct diode technology, at a rated power of 150 mW.

This laser does NOT have an adjustable focus. It has a divergence of 3.0 mrad. The dot is the size of a quarter at about 35-40 feet.

The beam is pretty clean, theres a bit of a lens flare effect, but its not very noticeable. The dot has a rectangular shape to it, but not as bad as a 445.

Safety:
One thing LaserBTB's lasers are known for is having plentiful safety features that make the laser safer to operate. This laser features two active safety functions; a key lock, and an aperture shutter.

The key lock prevents the laser from being powered on unless the key has been inserted and turned into the unlock position.

When the arrow on the key lock is pointing to the left, the laser is locked and cannot be powered on:

HighRes: http://i.imgur.com/MRnmsDW.jpg

To unlock the laser, you insert the key into the lock, and turn it to the right:

HighRes: http://i.imgur.com/wcwxt8K.jpg

Once the arrow on the key lock is pointing up, the laser is now armed, and can be powered on:

HighRes:http://i.imgur.com/ZdNkzoI.jpg

The aperture shutter prevents and light from being emitted from the aperture of the laser, even if the laser is powered on.

Here is the aperture shutter when its closed:

HighRes: http://i.imgur.com/ZTJ1x8T.jpg

To open the aperture shutter, simply twist the outer ring on the end of the host:

HighRes: http://i.imgur.com/CUmJ0VB.jpg

Among these active safety features, there are also large warning decals on the body of the host and the aperture.

Quality:
The first thing I noticed when I first held my HL520 was how solid it felt. Nothing wiggled or felt loose, and when I put batteries in it, it has a nice bit of weight thats well balanced, and not too heavy that it would cause any strain after prolonged use. The aperture shutter ring has a very smooth, lubricated feel to it, the power button feels solid and not flimsy in the slightest, and the key lock is very tight.

The threads on the tailcap look a bit rough, but it still screws on smooth and without a fuss. The machining of the host is top notch, with no nicks or burrs or defects of any kind, and the anodizing and/or paint is even and defect free. Looking at this laser and holding it, it just screams quality.

Final Verdict:

Pros:
-Solid craftsmanship
-Excellent shipping
-Decent power/price for this wavelength
-Excellent packaging
-Good safety features

Cons:
-Lack of adjustable focus is a bit disappointing for a diode laser
-Divergence could be better

EDIT: LASER IS FOCUSABLE. IT WAS JUST ON TIGHT.

For 130$ +Shipping, this is one of the most affordable 100mW+ 520 nm lasers out there, and for the price, you get one finely crafted laser. I would highly recommend the HL520 from LaserBTB!


Glamour/Beam Shots!


HighRes: http://i.imgur.com/ZSaPZf9.jpg


HighRes: http://i.imgur.com/UazXc29.jpg


HighRes: http://i.imgur.com/RGrqLxi.jpg


HighRes: http://i.imgur.com/FJMhQg3.jpg


HighRes: http://i.imgur.com/HS69YMg.jpg

Nice review, 520nm is a color I one day hope to get among others. I also see your signature is slowly growing

-Alex

Its actually very hard to distinguish 520 from 532 unless they are right next to each other. I almost thought LaserBTB had sent me a 532 by mistake. Next to a 532, I would say 520 is like a "pure green" while 532 has a slight yellow tint to it.

That's odd. I got the 50mW HL520 from them a few months ago. At the time, they only had 30 & 50mW 520nm.

Mine looks exactly like yours, however it is focusable without the shutter. It has the sticker on the front for the shutter, but it seems that the front is one solid piece, as I can't rotate the shutter. I can twist the front and focus, just like my PL405.

So I can't close the shutter, but can focus. You have the shutter, but no focus. Are you sure the section behind the shutter doesn't turn? The focus ring was a little tough to move on my PL405.

Nice review too!

PS all of the HL series are focus adjustable---the knurled ring behind the shutter ring is the focus adjusting ring.

See page 2 diagram in intstructions here: http://www.laserbtb.com/UploadFiles/201310071707487349.pdf

Other than that nice review and images!

Well Ill be darned! It is focusable!
It was just really stiff and I didn't want to force it in case I broke it

Cant focus it any tighter though. Its tightest focus is the one I used for my review.

Never mind. Im being a right dolt about this XD

Encap said:

PS all of the HL series are focus adjustable---the knurled ring behind the shutter ring is the focus adjusting ring.

See page 2 diagram in intstructions here: http://www.laserbtb.com/UploadFiles/201310071707487349.pdf

Other than that nice review and images!

Click to expand...

Hm my 405nm HL is not focusable i tryied turning the ring but its hard as rock im afraid of breaking something, is this normal or?

With both my laserbtb lasers I found at first the focus ring was locked in quite tight.

I was about to call the OP out on that dot measurement until I looked up the size of a quarter coin. That's huge..! I think I'll stick to dpss. At a similar distance (7 metres) dot of my 532 is about 13mm if I recall. About half.

I just measured my PL520 (chrome pocket mini build) and my 532nm pointer, and the spot at 20' is ~5mm on both.

I had used binoculars outside to set the PL520 to infinite focus and marked it on the focusing ring so I wouldn't have to guess.

I think laserbtb is using the PL520 for the 30 & 50mW versions, and the PLP520-B1 for the >50mW. That would explain the divergence, as well as powers >100mW, since the PL520 maxes out a little over 100mW.

I've noticed that both lasers I've got from laserbtb had the focus knob down tight. It does take some effort to get it loose.

well i sent them an email about this issue, its weird that the focus adjust knob is so tight you cant move it and i try used alot of force and now my finger hurts and still the damn thing is stuck and wont move so clearly this isnt normal so much force supposed to be needed, to me the lens shutter could be a lot more harder to open and close, not the focus.

Blarg King said:

It has a divergence of 3.0 mrad. The dot is the size of a quarter at about 35-40 feet.

Click to expand...

A quarter is 24mm and the initial beam size is typically 4mm for diode pointers. So worst case scenario is 20mm expansion over 10m which is 2mRad. Even so, if this is a single mode diode it should be better. The collimating lens is typically in a threaded insert and just glued into place. You should be able to improve the divergence if you are so inclined.

Well crap. I went to use it and its dead The power indicator lights up but no beam of green awesomeness.

Emailed LaserBTB about it. Hopefully they respond quickly.

Blarg King said:

Well crap. I went to use it and its dead The power indicator lights up but no beam of green awesomeness.

Emailed LaserBTB about it. Hopefully they respond quickly.

Click to expand...

what new laser died? did you try different batteries?

mortuus said:

well i sent them an email about this issue, its weird that the focus adjust knob is so tight you cant move it and i try used alot of force and now my finger hurts and still the damn thing is stuck and wont move so clearly this isnt normal so much force supposed to be needed, to me the lens shutter could be a lot more harder to open and close, not the focus.

Click to expand...

You might find that by squeezing on it you are impacting it's ability to move. Try using a towel or thin cloth to grip it. You'll be able to hold on to it much easier but will need less force.

Also PM brucemir. He has one (possibly two) of the hl405 and he will be able to tell you if they're focusable. I can't see why not, but I'm open to learning.

I've only got the one set of 16340's, but I put them in my SF501B and the 501B lights up no problem.