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- Sep 20, 2008
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As most of you are aware the accuracy of our LaserBee Products
has once again been called into question. This time by ARGLaser.
When ARGLaser first mentioned (in Dec 2012) his Electrical Noise
Issues and reading inaccuracies here...
http://laserpointerforums.com/f70/laserbee-vs-ophir-what-78777.html
we immediately offered to have his LaserBee II sent back to
us and we would check what the problem might be. ARGLaser
decided (for some unknown reason) not to accept our offer.
On Feb 18 that same 9 month old LaserBee II was put up for
sale and we bought it back so that we could correct any possible
problems with our design if that was the case.
The LaserBee II had been well cared for except for a finger mark
on the front of the Heatsink. The Thermopile sensor's coating was
still pristine with no marks on it at all.
The recorded Calibration value associated with the Serial number
had not been changed.
All the tests below were performed with ARGlaser's LaserBee II
exactly as received.
Then we saw this Thread..........
Accuracy of LaserBee products
These tests have taken almost 2 days to compile data so bear with
me...
THE 10-15% INACCURACY CLAIMS
It was originally claimed that the LB-II that ARGLaser had in his posession
was tested by him to be reading ~10% low. Later that percentage jumped
to 12% low and recently that number was increased again by ARGLaser to
possibly be off by 15%...
THE MARIOMASTER OPHIR TEST
Here is a pic of the test MM did on ARGLaser's OPHIR Head although
I don't see the OPHIR head in question.
It seems quite accurate and the OPHIR head only reads low
by 0.5% on the snipped Pro's screen.
It is no be noted that the minimum on the Pro shows to be
0mW. ARGLaser has stated many times that his OPHIR head
only goes down to +7mW. (More on this later).
TEST EQUIPMENT USED
We purchased a Brand New Coherent FieldMax II TO a few months
ago directly from Coherent. We had no contacts at Coherent so we
got no special treatment or special deals. It cost us more than $2000.00
by the time we got it into our hands.
- NIST Traceable Coherent FieldMax II TO Laser Power Meter
- Coherent 30 Watt Thermopile Head
- recently calibrated NewPort 1825C Laser Power Meter
- Newport 10 Watt Thermopile Head
- New OPHIR 20C head (reads 0.00mV after 15 min powered warmup)
- Opto Power Corp 40 Amp Laser Diode Driver (for test Laser)
- Fluke DMM
- Isolated and Regulated split rail Power Supply (for OPHIR Head)
ACCURACY OF COHERENT FIELDMAX TO NEWPORT
ACCURACY OF NEWPORT TO OUR UNTOUCHED OPHIR
Charted Data
Newport mW...... OPHIR mW...... %ERROR
0177mW................0182mW.............+2.8%
0645mW................0663mW.............+2.7%
1340mW................1371mW.............+2.3% (Pics above)
1984mW................2022mW.............+1.9%
2670mW................2711mW.............+1.5%
3400mW................3457mW.............+1.6%
4160mW................4240mW.............+1.9%
5120mW................5220mW.............+1.9% (Pics above)
As can be seen the OPHIR values fall into the stated 3% accuracy
of the OPHIR heads but read on the HIGH side.
ACCURACY OF ARG's OLD LASERBEE II TO NEWPORT
Charted Data
Newport mW...... ARG's LB-II mW...... %ERROR
0153mW.....................0154mW................+0.6%
0497mW.....................0502mW................+1.0%
0500mW.....................0505mW................+1.0%
1340mW.....................1358mW................+1.3% (Pics above)
1507mW.....................1540mW................+2.1%
1886mW.....................1914mW................+1.4% (Pics above)
2513mW.....................2558mW................+1.7%
3110mW.....................3148mW................+1.2%
As can be seen ARGLaser's old LaserBee II is still in spec
and is still very well calibrated over it's range.
It is to be noted that it reads on the HIGH side.
CLAIMED RADIATING ELECTRICAL FIELD NOISE ISSUES
We performed a few tests with electrical transmitting devices
we had in the shop and could not introduce and readable jitter
on the LCD display while holding a stable Laser onto the
Thermopile sensor of ARG's LaserBee II...
The Transmitting devices were held at the locations shown
in the Picture as close as possible to force a deviation in
Laser power being read on the LB-II's LCD.
Charted Data
Transmitting Device......................Deviations in mW
315MHz KeyChain Remote.................Zero Deviations
433MHz KeyChain Remote.................Zero Deviations
27MHz 100mW R/C Xmitter.................Zero Deviations
72MHz 100mW R/C Xmitter.................Zero Deviations
75MHz 100mW R/C Xmitter.................Zero Deviations
2.4GHz 100mW R/C Xmitter................Zero Deviations
iPhone (making call)..........................Zero Deviations
It is to be noted that the R/C Transmitters have enough output power that
they can transmit a usable R/C signal for over a mile.
TEST CONCLUSIONS
From the Tests above we can't see any of the LOW reading issues claimed
by ARGLaser...
It is obviously clear to us that the LaserBee II in question is still calibrated
and as accurate as it was when it left the shop ~9 months ago...
And from the info above the LaserBee in question does NOT read LOW
against a professional LPM but slightly HIGH.
That would infer that ARGLaser's calibration standard for his new LPMs
could possibly be ~17% Higher than it should be..
The OPHIR Heads seem to increase in error the Lower you go in Power.
It was also shown that the OPHIR heads in general read a bit higher
than even our NIST traceable Coherent FieldMax II TO. We've noticed
that many times before.
We have also seen that MarioMaster powering ARGLaser's OPHIR head
with the better quality and higher cost Split Supply of the PRO seemed
to Zero out as shown on the Pro's display minimum reading.
ARGLaser's OPHIR Head in question only seems to exhibit this +7mW
Zero condition when ARGLaser powers it up. I wonder if he powers it
up with his new unregulated OPHIR head Power supply chip. There may
be a problem there.
We were not able to induce any electrical noise into ARGLaser's LB-II.
We were also not willing to zap it with a 120Volt arc or a Jacobs Ladder
output.
Perhaps ARGLasers's OPHIR head had been tampered with at one point
and is no longer linear or correctly calibrated over it's range.
Perhaps ARGLaser damaged the electronics of the OPHIR head while
designing his OPHIR PS as Kenom had done in the past with some of
his OPHIR heads.
We know that some members have heads that are off by 15%. There
was a Thread about that which posed the possibility that someone
may have tampered with the 3 pots on the PCB inside the OPHIR
heads of that Thread.
My concerns are that if ARGLaser is selling LPMs that have been calibrated
with a calibration standard that is defective or not correct all his LPMs
will have calibration issues no matter how much he does any 3000 point
"Curve Adjustments"....
BTW.... the latest catch phrase seems to be "Curve Adjustment".
We call it "Non Linear Error Correction" and has been implemented in all
LaserBee LPM Products in one form or another for the past 5 years,
Perhaps the problem lies at the source of the inaccuracy claims....
If you want to compare our LaserBee LPM Products to some LPM
standard then compare it against a Professional LPM..... We do...
At this point we feel that you should have perhaps kept your Deluxe
LaserBee II and use it for your Calibration source...
POST SCRIPT
I believe that some of the members here have forgotten that even
our LaserBee LPM Products are geared to the Hobbyist market.
We don't claim to sell professional grade commercial LPMs and we
don't compete with true professional LPM ciompanies like OPHIR...
NewPort or Coherent.
Jerry
J.BAUER Electronics
has once again been called into question. This time by ARGLaser.
When ARGLaser first mentioned (in Dec 2012) his Electrical Noise
Issues and reading inaccuracies here...
http://laserpointerforums.com/f70/laserbee-vs-ophir-what-78777.html
we immediately offered to have his LaserBee II sent back to
us and we would check what the problem might be. ARGLaser
decided (for some unknown reason) not to accept our offer.
On Feb 18 that same 9 month old LaserBee II was put up for
sale and we bought it back so that we could correct any possible
problems with our design if that was the case.
The LaserBee II had been well cared for except for a finger mark
on the front of the Heatsink. The Thermopile sensor's coating was
still pristine with no marks on it at all.
The recorded Calibration value associated with the Serial number
had not been changed.
All the tests below were performed with ARGlaser's LaserBee II
exactly as received.
Then we saw this Thread..........
Accuracy of LaserBee products
These tests have taken almost 2 days to compile data so bear with
me...
THE 10-15% INACCURACY CLAIMS
It was originally claimed that the LB-II that ARGLaser had in his posession
was tested by him to be reading ~10% low. Later that percentage jumped
to 12% low and recently that number was increased again by ARGLaser to
possibly be off by 15%...
THE MARIOMASTER OPHIR TEST
Here is a pic of the test MM did on ARGLaser's OPHIR Head although
I don't see the OPHIR head in question.
It seems quite accurate and the OPHIR head only reads low
by 0.5% on the snipped Pro's screen.
It is no be noted that the minimum on the Pro shows to be
0mW. ARGLaser has stated many times that his OPHIR head
only goes down to +7mW. (More on this later).
TEST EQUIPMENT USED
We purchased a Brand New Coherent FieldMax II TO a few months
ago directly from Coherent. We had no contacts at Coherent so we
got no special treatment or special deals. It cost us more than $2000.00
by the time we got it into our hands.
- NIST Traceable Coherent FieldMax II TO Laser Power Meter
- Coherent 30 Watt Thermopile Head
- recently calibrated NewPort 1825C Laser Power Meter
- Newport 10 Watt Thermopile Head
- New OPHIR 20C head (reads 0.00mV after 15 min powered warmup)
- Opto Power Corp 40 Amp Laser Diode Driver (for test Laser)
- Fluke DMM
- Isolated and Regulated split rail Power Supply (for OPHIR Head)
ACCURACY OF COHERENT FIELDMAX TO NEWPORT
ACCURACY OF NEWPORT TO OUR UNTOUCHED OPHIR
Charted Data
Newport mW...... OPHIR mW...... %ERROR
0177mW................0182mW.............+2.8%
0645mW................0663mW.............+2.7%
1340mW................1371mW.............+2.3% (Pics above)
1984mW................2022mW.............+1.9%
2670mW................2711mW.............+1.5%
3400mW................3457mW.............+1.6%
4160mW................4240mW.............+1.9%
5120mW................5220mW.............+1.9% (Pics above)
As can be seen the OPHIR values fall into the stated 3% accuracy
of the OPHIR heads but read on the HIGH side.
ACCURACY OF ARG's OLD LASERBEE II TO NEWPORT
Charted Data
Newport mW...... ARG's LB-II mW...... %ERROR
0153mW.....................0154mW................+0.6%
0497mW.....................0502mW................+1.0%
0500mW.....................0505mW................+1.0%
1340mW.....................1358mW................+1.3% (Pics above)
1507mW.....................1540mW................+2.1%
1886mW.....................1914mW................+1.4% (Pics above)
2513mW.....................2558mW................+1.7%
3110mW.....................3148mW................+1.2%
As can be seen ARGLaser's old LaserBee II is still in spec
and is still very well calibrated over it's range.
It is to be noted that it reads on the HIGH side.
CLAIMED RADIATING ELECTRICAL FIELD NOISE ISSUES
We performed a few tests with electrical transmitting devices
we had in the shop and could not introduce and readable jitter
on the LCD display while holding a stable Laser onto the
Thermopile sensor of ARG's LaserBee II...
The Transmitting devices were held at the locations shown
in the Picture as close as possible to force a deviation in
Laser power being read on the LB-II's LCD.
Charted Data
Transmitting Device......................Deviations in mW
315MHz KeyChain Remote.................Zero Deviations
433MHz KeyChain Remote.................Zero Deviations
27MHz 100mW R/C Xmitter.................Zero Deviations
72MHz 100mW R/C Xmitter.................Zero Deviations
75MHz 100mW R/C Xmitter.................Zero Deviations
2.4GHz 100mW R/C Xmitter................Zero Deviations
iPhone (making call)..........................Zero Deviations
It is to be noted that the R/C Transmitters have enough output power that
they can transmit a usable R/C signal for over a mile.
TEST CONCLUSIONS
From the Tests above we can't see any of the LOW reading issues claimed
by ARGLaser...
It is obviously clear to us that the LaserBee II in question is still calibrated
and as accurate as it was when it left the shop ~9 months ago...
And from the info above the LaserBee in question does NOT read LOW
against a professional LPM but slightly HIGH.
That would infer that ARGLaser's calibration standard for his new LPMs
could possibly be ~17% Higher than it should be..
The OPHIR Heads seem to increase in error the Lower you go in Power.
It was also shown that the OPHIR heads in general read a bit higher
than even our NIST traceable Coherent FieldMax II TO. We've noticed
that many times before.
We have also seen that MarioMaster powering ARGLaser's OPHIR head
with the better quality and higher cost Split Supply of the PRO seemed
to Zero out as shown on the Pro's display minimum reading.
ARGLaser's OPHIR Head in question only seems to exhibit this +7mW
Zero condition when ARGLaser powers it up. I wonder if he powers it
up with his new unregulated OPHIR head Power supply chip. There may
be a problem there.
We were not able to induce any electrical noise into ARGLaser's LB-II.
We were also not willing to zap it with a 120Volt arc or a Jacobs Ladder
output.
Perhaps ARGLasers's OPHIR head had been tampered with at one point
and is no longer linear or correctly calibrated over it's range.
Perhaps ARGLaser damaged the electronics of the OPHIR head while
designing his OPHIR PS as Kenom had done in the past with some of
his OPHIR heads.
We know that some members have heads that are off by 15%. There
was a Thread about that which posed the possibility that someone
may have tampered with the 3 pots on the PCB inside the OPHIR
heads of that Thread.
My concerns are that if ARGLaser is selling LPMs that have been calibrated
with a calibration standard that is defective or not correct all his LPMs
will have calibration issues no matter how much he does any 3000 point
"Curve Adjustments"....
BTW.... the latest catch phrase seems to be "Curve Adjustment".
We call it "Non Linear Error Correction" and has been implemented in all
LaserBee LPM Products in one form or another for the past 5 years,
Perhaps the problem lies at the source of the inaccuracy claims....
If you want to compare our LaserBee LPM Products to some LPM
standard then compare it against a Professional LPM..... We do...
At this point we feel that you should have perhaps kept your Deluxe
LaserBee II and use it for your Calibration source...
POST SCRIPT
I believe that some of the members here have forgotten that even
our LaserBee LPM Products are geared to the Hobbyist market.
We don't claim to sell professional grade commercial LPMs and we
don't compete with true professional LPM ciompanies like OPHIR...
NewPort or Coherent.
Jerry
J.BAUER Electronics
Last edited:
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