- Joined
- Jan 7, 2007
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Late last July 2009, Steve at Wicked Lasers asked me to do a review / analysis of his new Spyder III 500 mW portable laser. This laser was a "beta" unit of recent design. I agreed and about three days later, it arrived with two goggles, two cells and a charger. It arrived well packaged and although I took no pictures then, everyone knows what it looks like now.
I inserted a half used 18650 cell to see if it worked and found out why he included goggles!!! It was BRIGHT -- REALLY in my living room. I plotted a graph using that cell and it is posted later. Subsequent plots peaked over 800 mW.
I was getting my courage up to measure the divergence when I noticed a power drop. Having run this portable for several 30 to 45 second shots, the power suddenly dropped to 100 mW. A charged cell didn't correct this problem but a 15 minute cooling period returned it to full power.
From a cold start, this laser came on FULL power and would hold it for over a minute. Subsequent runs like this eventually heated the crystals and power would drop until cooled for about 15 minutes.
I contacted Steve and discussed the duty cycle needs of pointers and portables. My position, as I have stated elswhere, is that we can not expect labbie performance from a pointer or portable which have limited power and heat sinking. Steve asked me to return the awsome laser for updating because some people demand longer duty cycles. The tradeoff may be a slower startup but we will see.
I returned this laser to Steve and he assures me that the replacement will have better duty cycle specs. I have no expected shipping date for the replacement but he has told me that it is near completion and I will do a complete review when it arrives.
All this returns us to a question...... What is expected of a laser pen or portable with battery power? This "beta" unit would impress anyone for a minute then let it cool a while. I was always impressed by the instant POWER and never expected it to hold for 5 minutes with that limited heatsinking.
I never posted this information because I considered this as a prototype but Steve has allowed me to provide this unusual review of a prototype. This is how some of us here help manufacturers improve new products.
I am waiting for the improved 500 mW unit Steve is working on. I hope you will enjoy the review but I still miss that beta unit..........
HMike
I inserted a half used 18650 cell to see if it worked and found out why he included goggles!!! It was BRIGHT -- REALLY in my living room. I plotted a graph using that cell and it is posted later. Subsequent plots peaked over 800 mW.
I was getting my courage up to measure the divergence when I noticed a power drop. Having run this portable for several 30 to 45 second shots, the power suddenly dropped to 100 mW. A charged cell didn't correct this problem but a 15 minute cooling period returned it to full power.
From a cold start, this laser came on FULL power and would hold it for over a minute. Subsequent runs like this eventually heated the crystals and power would drop until cooled for about 15 minutes.
I contacted Steve and discussed the duty cycle needs of pointers and portables. My position, as I have stated elswhere, is that we can not expect labbie performance from a pointer or portable which have limited power and heat sinking. Steve asked me to return the awsome laser for updating because some people demand longer duty cycles. The tradeoff may be a slower startup but we will see.
I returned this laser to Steve and he assures me that the replacement will have better duty cycle specs. I have no expected shipping date for the replacement but he has told me that it is near completion and I will do a complete review when it arrives.
All this returns us to a question...... What is expected of a laser pen or portable with battery power? This "beta" unit would impress anyone for a minute then let it cool a while. I was always impressed by the instant POWER and never expected it to hold for 5 minutes with that limited heatsinking.
I never posted this information because I considered this as a prototype but Steve has allowed me to provide this unusual review of a prototype. This is how some of us here help manufacturers improve new products.
I am waiting for the improved 500 mW unit Steve is working on. I hope you will enjoy the review but I still miss that beta unit..........
HMike
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