Goldenstar laser 1.5W 532nm Lab Laser

[hakzaw1]

what he said^^

***********

except for one all my analog lasers will not work w/o some power to the leads- -
but all my 'TTL only' lasers will work either way- the leads on them controll to full on or full off- no inbetweens- and you must do this with the TTL blanking as just quickly turning the power on and off is bad for the lab laser- TTL does this in another fashion-

I think ATM it would be very hard to find a new 1500 532 that was NOT analog modulated

Your laser is overspec becasue they all should be- Jettlasers calls it making sure the laser is never underspec even years later--
BUT getting one that O'spec is a freak!! good for you Jeff-

what I HATE about this is there goes any chance of me selling my used spare 1300mW 532 for what I was hoping to get -- could these prices be happening due to the diode greens??-- I expected so... but his much??


hk

 

[DashApple]

Nice review, and awesome labby! Yep as UK has said they're all IR filtered internally.

Is it analog modulated or just TTL modulated? If it is TTL than there won't be any difference in output between 4.5V and 5V. Also, most of these drivers have an internal 5V line you can tap off of for the modulation so you don't need an external supply, but if you're not very comfortable working on electronics I'd say to not bother trying to find it. You can also make a simple voltage divider with two resistors to get 5V at low current from your DC power supply that's powering the driver. Whats the specs of that power supply? 12V I'd assume.

The drivers are feed by 6 volts and 10 volts , im pretty sure that's the case for his one as both of mine are like that .

I would say the driver is analogue controlled , easy to tell with 3AA's and a potentiometer .

 

[BowtieGuy]

Hey guys, thanks for all the feedback and information. I just did a little experiment with my 3aaa battery supply; the power output definitely varies with differing voltage.
Also, the outputs on my power supply measure 5v & 10v, actually 5.06v &10.29v.

With 3 batts. (4.7v), down a little from original testing at (4.85v):
Average - 2.55W, Max. - 2.95W

With 2 batts. (3.2v):
Average - 1.33W, Max. - 1.5W

With 1 batt. (1.6v):
Average - 0.5W, Max. - 0.6W

PS - With my battery setup, is it safe to just plug, and unplug the connecter from the board when I want to turn the laser on and off?

 

[DashApple]

Hey guys, thanks for all the feedback and information. I just did a little experiment with my 3aaa battery supply; the power output definitely varies with differing voltage.
Also, the outputs on my power supply measure 5v & 10v, actually 5.06v &10.29v.

With 3 batts. (4.7v), down a little from original testing at (4.85v):
Average - 2.55W, Max. - 2.95W

With 2 batts. (3.2v):
Average - 1.33W, Max. - 1.5W

With 1 batt. (1.6v):
Average - 0.5W, Max. - 0.6W

PS - With my battery setup, is it safe to just plug, and unplug the connecter from the board when I want to turn the laser on and off?

The driver is analogue based , if its 5.06V from the PSU , you can use that to power the laser modulation line and by using a potentiometer you will have variable power .

If you want on and off , just place a switch in the + line on the modulation input , if you get a 3AA battery box with a switch built in then you will have a simple on / off setup . The modulation lines are voltage driven so hardly any current is needed by them and I would suggest this over keep unplugging / plugging in the connector

But as you measured the PSU voltages , you can use the 5V line and not need to use the AA's .

 

[BowtieGuy]

Ion, thanks for the options sir, I'm not sure what direction I'm going to in yet. Power (5v) right at the power supply is nice though.
Whatever I go with, I'd like to be able to mount it to the power supply, so I don't have yet another piece of the unit just attached by wires.

@ ultimatekaiser, I see now where the IR filter is epoxied in place, lots of epoxy!

 

[ultimatekaiser]

Yeah they're well stuck on. But why are you taking it apart? Leave it sealed. They're hermetically sealed in a clean room.

 

[BowtieGuy]

Not to worry, I didn't take anything apart other than unscrewing the cap; all is still sealed well.
I just looked in the front at the closest lens that I could see, and assumed it was the IR filter. It is held in place with a lot of white epoxy.

 

[ultimatekaiser]

That's what I figured. I just urge you not to expose anything. You'll suck dust and moisture in which is very bad! Those internal optics are hard to clean properly again once dirty. So it's best to not open it so they stay as pristine as possible. Only takes a speck in the wrong place to completely mess up the whole thing.

 

[Sigurthr]

Yup, leave her sealed.

I'd just use the 5V from the PSU for the modulation input, no messing with batteries then. Yup, a switch definitely beats wearing out a connector on the driver! Don't leave the driver powered for too long if you aren't planning on using the laser, in other words don't think it is actually "off" when the modulation input is switched off. The driver is still on, as are the cooling pads in the head, so it isn't a general purpose power switch.

 

[BowtieGuy]

I'm going to leave her all sealed up tight. This is the only cap that I removed.

 

[Deleted member 16589]

I'm going to leave her all sealed up tight. This is the only cap that I removed.

:drool::drool::drool::drool: Oh man Quit taunting me :crackup:

 

[Jmillerdoc]

Just a brief update on mine as well. The first time I LPM'd mine i didn't have my glasses so i placed the head of the laser about 3" away and viewed the LPM from around the corner. I wasn't exactly certain of my placement on the Ophir but it gave an easy reading of just north of 2600mW. Later, when i had everything i needed for a proper run mine peaked at 2897mw and stabilized at 2875mw. So basically mine is doing about the same, right at 2.9w. I haven't heard from the third Jeff in the GB (yes, all three of us are Jeff. Remember the movie 'Heathers'?) but im sure he will LPM his soon and let us know. He picked up two of the 1300mw red lasers they had for around $360 before the GB discount. I LPM'd one of them and it was doing almost 1.4w. Nice little square beam profile, much different than the current diodes available right now. Muct have had some correction optics built in. It was about a 1/2" square at around 18'.

Some one above mentioned wishing the could have gotten in on this GB. Well, for what it's worth, we didn't end up saving a giant amount and for what you're getting here it's worth paying retail all day long, $500 plus shipping (ours ended up basically like getting shipping for free when it was all said and done).

Very pleased with this unit. Crazy bright. Burns like a blowtorch too. Buy one, you won't regret it.

 

[COMMANDR]

You lucky dogs. I am so jealous I am green with envy. :>)

 

[LtKernelPanic]

Alright 532nm usually gets a :tired: from me but damn that is one helluva laser. If there's a round two later in the year I may seriously have to consider getting one.

 

[ultimatekaiser]

Alright 532nm usually gets a :tired: from me but damn that is one helluva laser. If there's a round two later in the year I may seriously have to consider getting one.

Same for me.

 

[Jmillerdoc]

@Bowtieguy- I'm still in a bit of disbelief over how well these lasers are performing. Yes, we have all come to expect overspec lasers these days but not in the order of magnitude of 100%. I was tickled knowing I would be getting 20% overspec (1800 from a 1500 rated lab) for <$500 shipped, but 100% was simply unthinkable until Goldenstar's debut on this GB. Since my last post I have tinkered with mine a couple times and verified my output and it is rock solid. On July 4th a local Indian tribe casino was having some sort of event about 3 miles from my house and had one of those rotating searchlights out front being used as an attention getter. The beams were clearly seen firing up into the stratosphere (or however high they may be seen) on this clear night and it got me thinking. I began to wonder how my laser compared to these antiaircraft spot lights in visibility from a distance. I pulled an old oscillating tabletop fan out of the closet, mounted it up on a table in my backyard, and attached the laser-head onto it in such a way as to make the beam wave back and forth in the sky. It had about a 45 degree sweep total and using my FAA maps to locate the local flight envelopes I pointed it in a direction that appeared to be relatively safe. I fired it up, got in my truck, and drove to a point that put the laser and the spotlights equidistant from me and each other about 1.5 miles away. Let me just say the casino would do better next time to get a few of these and a couple of table top fans. It wasn't as obvious due to the width of the beams but it was clearly brighter once located. I would say that a half dozen of these would probably become just as noticeable and far more interesting to look at. Since i didn't want to leave it running too long unattended I didn't see how far away I could get and still see it. I would imagine two to three times the distance would have still been easily noticible. 3w of 532 is simply wickedly bright.

I am considering picking up one of the 1.3w reds here in the next month. If anyone here has interest in getting a lab laser from Goldenstar, shoot me a PM or email and let me know. If a few people have interest I could probably get another discount equal to the last. We had to get 5 units for the price break but I bet I could get at least half the discount for two or three units purchased. I am going to post a similar ad for interest at the original GB thread and once I've got a couple of people with interest I may post a new GB and see if I can pull this off again. Time horizon for placing an order would be four to six weeks from now I suspect.

Cheers!