Review of PGL III-C 473nm and 589nm

Okay, I have decided to do a short review of my new, amazing lasers, that are now my top two favorites! Pics will follow the review...
Okay, up first is my 473nm PGL from Glenn's CNI GB, which is rated at 20mW but outputs a continuous of around 50-65mW with a peak of 74mW, the only time this laser has ever dropped below 45mW after warm up, is when the batts die, not bad considering the rated output. Seems to favor fully charged 18650's, takes about 30 sec to warm up from a cold start, and another 5-10sec to reach peak. Nice tight beam, and nice round tem00 dot. Overall a great laser Many thanks to Glenn for such an awesome, overspec unit!

Now for my 589nm PGL, I bought this laser from yobresal, and is almost brand new, rated at 80mW! I am not going to go into detail for this one because my LPM doesnt have a setting for yellow, and yobresal already did a nice review of this laser, with LOTS of pics, and a video of a power test.
But from yob's testing, this laser comes on around 70mW, jumps up to 80-95mW and peaks around 102-105mW! This laser has very nice divergence, superior to my 473nm and rivals my viper(not an easy task) and a nice round dot. This laser prefers slightly discharged batts putting out around 3.5-4v any higher and it gets too warm too quickly. I must say, I absolutly love this wavelength, such a bright vivid golden orange color, in person its truly breathtaking. By far my favorite color laser
I never thought I would have a yellow so much more powerful than blue, but here it is, I just couldnt refuse, a nice overspec 80mW rated yellow, shipped in the USA from a well respected member, who posted a video of the power test before I bought it, and the best part was the price!
Anyway enough typing, time for pics

Viper in middle for comparison.

Excellent short review, (my favorite type btw). And some very cool pics! I'll rep you again when thew system lets me! -Glenn

scopeguy20 said:

Excellent short review, (my favorite type btw). And some very cool pics! I'll rep you again when thew system lets me! -Glenn

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Yeah short and sweet is the best! Hey, thanks alot man, thats very nice of you Slowly but surely on my way to a rep beyond repute
:angel:

Those are two great lasers! I think yellow would be my favorite laser color also. I hope I'll be able to see one in real life one day.
Also I've seen now a lot of members post that their blue lasers are overspec, do 473nm lasers always come overspec?

its mostly hit or miss, sometimes you get more than double what you ordered, sometimes your lucky if it even comes on. But I have also noticed alot of overspec 473nm and they get better with use!
Hey, one day you will get those colors, I used to feel the same way. Just start saving up, I have a 'laser fund' that I keep, and when it builds up enough, I buy a laser that ive been wanting
Blue looks similar to the pics, but yellow is a whole different sight in person

So what kind of safety glass are people using with some of these uncommon wavelengths? Any particular models I should know about?

I use my DL glasses with my 473nm, they protect with an OD4 for 190-533nm, and glenn sent me some type of non-laser saftey glasses, that he says protect from about 50mWs of 473nm. I dont yet own a pair for my 589nm, which is foolish I know, especially at that power, but I dont use it for upclose activities.

kingdave2357 said:

I use my DL glasses with my 473nm, they protect with an OD4 for 190-533nm, and glenn sent me some type of non-laser saftey glasses, that he says protect from about 50mWs of 473nm. I dont yet own a pair for my 589nm, which is foolish I know, especially at that power, but I dont use it for upclose activities.

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I would think that goggles designed for red should be pretty effective at blocking the yellow wavelengths.

I am TOTALLY sold on my OEM LASER SYSTEMS MODEL ML-7 laser shades. They protect your eyes from just about EVERY wavelength laser you're likely to encounter.
From 200 to 1100nm Here's the link if you want to take a look.
OEM Laser Systems, Inc., Precision Laser Equipment
The best part is that you don't have to change your eye protection when you change your laser color, & they also protect from the dreaded IR radiation. rob

kingdave2357 said:

its mostly hit or miss, sometimes you get more than double what you ordered, sometimes your lucky if it even comes on. But I have also noticed alot of overspec 473nm and they get better with use!
Hey, one day you will get those colors, I used to feel the same way. Just start saving up, I have a 'laser fund' that I keep, and when it builds up enough, I buy a laser that ive been wanting
Blue looks similar to the pics, but yellow is a whole different sight in person

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Thanks!
Well now I want a yellow laser even more. I guess I better start saving up now.
And you said 473nm lasers get better with use, is the same thing with 589nm lasers?

Nah, the red ones I own are rated as follows:
OD>4 @ 190-450nm
OD>2 @ 598-620nm
OD>4 @ 621-740nm
OD>2 @ 741-752nm

Im not positive all 473nms get better with use, its just a theory floating around here discovered by some vets, phoneix77 was the first person I noticed talking about it, then some others, the reason I agreed was because mine has been peaking higher lately then when I first got it, and the contiuos is slightly higher as well.
Im not sure about 589nm, sadly my LPM doesnt have a setting for either yellow line...

EDIT: Oh yeah, I just tested my 473nm, and it got to a new peak of 79.0mW!!! The last highest peak was 74mW! I think its safe to say these do better with use, the PGL's anyway.

Got some yellow beamshots But not as nice as from the fog last week with my blue.

Man those are a very nice pair!!!

Thanks I love em both, and they go great together as well. Using them at the same time is epic, especially if you shine them in the same place together, you can see the colors clashing. I love blue, but the color of 589nm is just so exotic, its great
Thanks man!

>80mW out of a 20mW rated blue! seems like there must have been a mislabel or something i bet That sure is nice to have such an over spec blue, I hope my 30 mW 473nm PGL is close to that, should be higher I'd think??? Guess I'll see once I get to check it tomorrow!

great photos