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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

Dragon Lasers 1W Spartan

Joined
Jun 25, 2010
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thanks , i like a more crisp sharp looking beam and if it looks almost as bright as the 1watt version then ill get the 400mw.
anyone can shut me down fast??? lol ive got my fingers itching to click and buy one right now lol

Im just sceptical about buying this laser because even a red laser in the same host with a fifth of the power is 33% more expensive .
 
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Joined
Sep 29, 2009
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443
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18
R E S P E C T ! ! !
This review shows you love what you are doing. Especially the focus do the Batterie case was really helpful.
Thank you very much !
 

X FLY

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Joined
Aug 18, 2009
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338
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According to the DragonLasers facebook page the 447nm spartan front cap can be removed.

"Dragonlasers: The lens cap of the 447nm Spartan lasers can be removed albeit with a fair bit of effort. I recommend using something rubber like dish washing gloves that will give you excellent grip when you try removing the lens cap.

The original beam expander is designed for lasers with a beam diameter of less than 2.5mm. It will still work with these lasers but there will be some power loss and a change in beam profile."
 
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Joined
Oct 8, 2008
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23
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Hi Xfly,

I found the LiFePo4 batteries and the charger in the UK on a website setup for electronic cigarettes.

Tenergy LiFePO4 Charger and Batteries - Cloud 9 Vaping

I am unsure if they ship to Europe but if you contact them I'm sure they will answer that question for you.

The batteries are also available on dealextreme, be sure to get the ultrafire charger to go with them and set it to the 3.0V charging option.

DealExtreme: $4.83 17340 / CR123A Rechargeable Lithium LiFePO4 Battery 2-Pack (350mAh)
DealExtreme: $11.54 UltraFire 3.0V/3.6V CR123A Charger

As far as removing the front cap on mine I have been unsuccessful. I have applied a fair amount of force in trying to free it up and it won't budge. I don't think I will try again using even more force for fear of breaking a perfectly good laser. I also dont have much desire at this point to remove it.
 
Joined
Jul 28, 2010
Messages
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I've been waiting it out for the G2 Arctic but now I've been looking at this laser as well. Finally a review! I believe Dragonlasers is better than WL, and yours is right on spec and slightly overspec but the divergence seems huge! I've been hearing mixed things about the Arctic in divergence, some say its great and lights items easily at 10 feet. Many also claim the power is around 750 but a youtube video explains that even the regular lens reduces power and also very heat sensitive, taking off the lens and using compressed air was able to get over 1W.

With your divergence but high power, what is the furthest you've been able to burn objects? overall quality impression? If i don't mind waiting, should i stick it out for the G2 w/ full lens get i ordered or go with the Spartan? On the good side i got the full lens kit and shipping for only $250 from WL, if i switch to the Spartan it will be around $270 and a crap ton in non-rechargeable batteries. The batteries alone make it almost worth while to stick with the Arctic.
 
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Joined
Oct 8, 2008
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yours is right on spec and slightly overspec but the divergence seems huge!

I didn't think the divergence was that bad on this laser given that the diode outputs a bar. Dont forget those beam dot shots are taken at over 20 feet and the camera is zoomed in on them so you can see the beam and any artifacts, that bar is an inch long at that distance.

Even 20 foot away I can't keep my hand in the beam for more than a few seconds before it becomes too hot.

I have been able to light a safety match at over 4 metres away (~12 feet) with no focus correction. My 200mW 532nm will struggle and in some cases not light these at close range.

After doing some burning experiments I found this laser will easily do the following:

Cut a wooden match in half
Set fire to the wood on the match stick
Instantly ignite a match head
Burn and smoke dark coloured wood at a distance of over 5 metres.
Burn clean through black plastic
Burn through cardboard boxes

The laser will work fine on LiFePo4 rechargeable CR123 batteries, so you don't have to keep buying non-rechargeable CR123As. The LiFePo4 rechargeable batteries are even reasonably priced.

The build quality of this laser is superb. Not a single scratch, dent or chip (unlike the arctic, according to peoples reports on it). Total run time on this laser is 2-3 hours now and it still works perfectly fine (as I would expect).

It all comes down to whether you like the looks of the arctic and are willing to take a gamble on its quality or if you want a simplistic, reliably designed laser from a reputable long standing Laser manufacturer.
 
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X FLY

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Joined
Aug 18, 2009
Messages
338
Points
18
Hi Xfly,

I found the LiFePo4 batteries and the charger in the UK on a website setup for electronic cigarettes.

Tenergy LiFePO4 Charger and Batteries - Cloud 9 Vaping

I am unsure if they ship to Europe but if you contact them I'm sure they will answer that question for you.

The batteries are also available on dealextreme, be sure to get the ultrafire charger to go with them and set it to the 3.0V charging option.

DealExtreme: $4.83 17340 / CR123A Rechargeable Lithium LiFePO4 Battery 2-Pack (350mAh)
DealExtreme: $11.54 UltraFire 3.0V/3.6V CR123A Charger

As far as removing the front cap on mine I have been unsuccessful. I have applied a fair amount of force in trying to free it up and it won't budge. I don't think I will try again using even more force for fear of breaking a perfectly good laser. I also dont have much desire at this point to remove it.

ok. Thanks for the links :)

EDIT: Found another site selling the same pack: http://www.batteryjunction.com/2rc375reliba.html

EDIT 2: OMG http://www.batteryjunction.com/energizer-cr123a-mil-bulk.html :D
 
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Joined
Oct 8, 2008
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That amount of batteries should be just enough to power this laser for about an hour :D.

Joking aside.

I did some divergence measurements today on the wide axis of the beam.

At apperture the beam on the wide axis is 3mm thick.
At a distance of 5 metres the wide axis of the beam is now 2 centimetres wide.

I plugged these figures into pseudonomen137's really useful divergence calculator and got the divergence as:

3.399mRad on the wide axis
 

X FLY

0
Joined
Aug 18, 2009
Messages
338
Points
18
That amount of batteries should be just enough to power this laser for about an hour :D.

Joking aside.

I did some divergence measurements today on the wide axis of the beam.

At apperture the beam on the wide axis is 3mm thick.
At a distance of 5 metres the wide axis of the beam is now 2 centimetres (0.787 inches) wide.

I plugged these figures into pseudonomen137's really useful divergence calculator and got the divergence as:

3.399mRad on the wide axis

Ty for the info. How much is the mrad on the Y axis?
 
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Oct 8, 2008
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Well Im not sure if I have this right but it seems very good on the "y" axis.

At the aperture I measured 1mm.

At a distance of 5 metres i measured 3mm.

Giving a divergence of 0.399mRad
 
Joined
Jul 28, 2010
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wow that's weird how very different they are, I wonder how they average out? it would be amazing to see the beam expander on this baby! I'm really curious to see what the shape would end up looking like.
 

X FLY

0
Joined
Aug 18, 2009
Messages
338
Points
18
Well Im not sure if I have this right but it seems very good on the "y" axis.

At the aperture I measured 1mm.

At a distance of 5 metres i measured 3mm.

Giving a divergence of 0.399mRad

WOW Usually the only way u can get 1mm at the aperture is by having a bad diverage, but 1mm at aperture with an mrad of 0.4 is crazy :D

Like instead of the beam spreading being balanced (same Y and X axis) most of the spread is transferred to the Y axis leaving a really good mrad on the X axis :)

Hope my Spartan will be as good as yours (and not taken by the customs like my Opto 150mW :cryyy:)
 
Joined
Jul 15, 2008
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Doing messurmants on The Beam of my Arctic at 21- almost 22 (6.5 meters) and was 20mm accross and about 2 mm high. So at a distant mine becomes more like a line, rather than a retangle. Mine still burns plastic at this distant. have an old Video tape and was still slowly burning through it. will burn a CD case at this distant also.

I do notice these lasers have light spray, mine is no to bad compared to one or two photos, but my Arctic is a good burner.
 
Joined
Jul 28, 2010
Messages
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It sounds like your Arctic has a much tighter beam than the Spartan here. I read more recent reviews of the Arctic and it does appear to be getting much better and have a very tight divergence on most of them, not all of them though. It seems like the quality is slowly improving, not too surprising really, like any new product. Its making me want to keep my Arctic more.

Only problem is i'm getting very impatient, I am getting close to buying a Spartan to go along side my Arctic, but that's a lot of Blue laser! lol. I guess one advantage to having both is that I'd be able to actually take the Spartan out of the house if i wanted without requiring a fork lift like the Arctic. what is the size of the new spartan host?
 
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