Affordable LPM for Beginners

Bacon said:

For all the fancy goodness why not try OPEN LPM?
It looks to me like you get a cheapy unit and soup it up with Arduino for usb support and ka-pow! http://laserpointerforums.com/f51/openlpm-free-open-source-lpm-project-68498.html

Worth a try?

Click to expand...

Very tempting... but maybe I should try something a little bit more entry level first

I'll be honest with ya , I'm as green as a leprechaun with regards to this stuff.
As a matter of fact , I just got my first laser last week (the 18650 Li-ion still haven't arrived yet )
I've seen a few of my friends use the Arduino to make some quirky but cool contraptions ,but maybe one thing at a time eh?

So currently , I'm thinking of either the Bluefan Basic LPM+IL or the LaserBee -LaserBee 2.5 Watt USB.

The Scientech 365 seems a bit too advanced for me just yet (the price reflects it too) .
But thanks for the offer Dave .
You are a real charm. :thanks:


This would be an odd question to ask but ....
Which one is "better".
Bluefan Basic LPM or the LaserBee 2.5 Watt USB?
I mean.... both of them can do datalogging (Bluefan will need a little modding).
Both of them uses an undisclosed thermopile brand and type.
Both of them are reasonably accurate to a certain extent as according to the reviews.
Both of them can be upgraded later along the line with a new sensor.

Which one is 'better" ? :can:

That's one you have to decide. they are both good and many members own one or the other. The Bluefan will go to 5watts at little extra cost. And you may have to wait longer for the Bluefan as Johan builds them to order.

Antharak said:

That's one you have to decide. they are both good and many members own one or the other. The Bluefan will go to 5watts at little extra cost. And you may have to wait longer for the Bluefan as Johan builds them to order.

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aww come on.
Don't make me roll the dice :undecided:
I suck at roulette wheels

Well, if your going to be testing lasers at the high-power end go with the Bluefan as long as you don't want the PC interface without mods.
One thing I like about the Bluefan is that it has a 1mw resolution and I plan on doing some low power work. The Ophir head has a 40mw min.
The nice thing about the LazerBee is that it's already set up for use with a pc.
I'm getting the Bluefan as I want to build the data logging and interface hardware myself, not so much as for price but for the work doing it. All I can say is do a search on the
Bluefan
ARG
LaserBee
Then think about it for a little wile, then decide.

Ed

IMO after searching for a LPM of my own, i believe LaserBee are slightly over priced, HOWEVER (dont jump on my back just yet Jerry or LB fans) Jerry DOES provide good customer support and service IF needed. He is able to recalibrate your LPM if something goes wrong or re-coat the TEC head if you smudge the coating off (with a TEC head you CANT touch the sensor head or have anything touch it. this is actually with all sensors but esp the TECs). Jerry is also good with answering questions reasonably quick, if you can understand the answer is not as good. sometimes Jerry uses explanations that new members dont understand as well but you can always reword your question.

ARG is GREAT at answering questions super quick and in terms everyone can understand. he says if you have a problem with his product he will gladly fix it but NO ONE has had such problems yet so we cant speak of his service :na: but that is also a GREAT thing. ARG is also a laser enthusiast making products for other enthusiasts (not saying Jerry isnt an enthusiast but he also has a legit company with over head and other expenses he needs to cover, hence the higher costs). ARG isnt doing this to make a profit, he does it because he loves it.

So as you can see, both Jerry and ARG offer different options so in the end it is up to you on which you pick. either way i think you will be happy with your LPM. both LB and ARG owners rave about their products. I personally wanted a LB at first then talked to ARG and realized the ophir was what i wanted. LB does offer an ophir BUT its $600 or $700, dont remember and ARG offered his units for as little as $85 + the sensor so $290 total, unfortunately he is out of the $85 units right now so the wait continues

In the end, for me, it was a no brainer to go with ARG. Arg is a huge stickler for accuracy so with that paired to an ophir I know my meter will be spot on. Witha TEC head ypu need calibration so it wont be as accurate as an ophir but iys also a lot cheaper. As long as the maker knows what they are doing anf test the LPM against a calibrates unit then a TEC will be fine. Soubds like for you it makes sense to grab a blue fan or LB ubit. I will say if you dont mind waiting a few months, probably like july or augusy, ARG will have his TEC unit back in stock and thay is $150. Contact him for the wait time thoufh

I have a bluefan and love it. Johan is easy to work with, and sends a calibration certificate.

The first thing i did when i got it was measure the three lasers i bought from forum members to test it out. All three (the Ti-B 532nn from hak, the overspec 405nm pointer from addonex, and Blords 445nm) i have power graphs, and all read within the calibration cert. The 532 and 405, after ~45sec rise time were exact on the peak output from the charts. Blords read 2.08W, compared to 2.1W on his graph, still well within the error margin.

Just my 2¢.

Livinloud said:

IMO after searching for a LPM of my own, i believe LaserBee are slightly over priced, HOWEVER (dont jump on my back just yet Jerry or LB fans) Jerry DOES provide good customer support and service IF needed. He is able to recalibrate your LPM if something goes wrong or re-coat the TEC head if you smudge the coating off (with a TEC head you CANT touch the sensor head or have anything touch it. this is actually with all sensors but esp the TECs). Jerry is also good with answering questions reasonably quick, if you can understand the answer is not as good. sometimes Jerry uses explanations that new members dont understand as well but you can always reword your question.

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What questions were those..:thinking:
I don't remember any questions that I answered to anyone
which were over the head of the person asking the question.:thinking:

You make it sound like I'm a non English speaking
immigrant that has no grasp of the English language...:crackup:

In the end, for me, it was a no brainer to go with ARG. Arg is a huge stickler for accuracy so with that paired to an ophir I know my meter will be spot on. Witha TEC head ypu need calibration so it wont be as accurate as an ophir but iys also a lot cheaper. As long as the maker knows what they are doing anf test the LPM against a calibrates unit then a TEC will be fine. Soubds like for you it makes sense to grab a blue fan or LB ubit.

Click to expand...

That's not quite true..
We calibrate our LaserBee LPM products to a new NIST Traceable
Coherent Feildmax TO Laser Power Meter and our calibrations
are as accurate as the +/- 3% of the OPHIR head specs.

BTW... the OPHIR heads are also calibrated to NIST traceable
LPMs by OPHIR.


Jerry

WELP!
I finally settled for a LaserBee 2.5W USB LPM.
Hope it comes soon lol.
On a side note.
Well... since the TEC head is so darn delicate , I think you'll want to keep it dust free too huh.
Any tips on how to keep the coating on the sensor healthy and happy?

EpicHam said:

WELP!
I finally settled for a LaserBee 2.5W USB LPM.
Hope it comes soon lol.
On a side note.
Well... since the TEC head is so darn delicate , I think you'll want to keep it dust free too huh.
Any tips on how to keep the coating on the sensor healthy and happy?

Click to expand...

Find a small case to keep everything in when not in use. If its only out to be used, it shouldn't ever get dusty really.

Eradicator said:

Find a small case to keep everything in when not in use. If its only out to be used, it shouldn't ever get dusty really.

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I always wondered if someday they can make a TEC where the sensor is encased in a Superlens. So we will NEVER be able to touch the sensor coating