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Hey all, It's been a while but I'm still here and I still have 20-odd lasers on my desk that I like to have fun with. I'm happy to say I haven't lost any of them despite having them for years and years now. I have much better income now and it's way past time to expand and get back into...

Are the 750-volt, 1kV, etc. higher voltage meters safe? It seems a bit dangerous to have 1000 volts going to a 10-dollar chinese panel meter. At the very least I would want to put fuses on the meter leads in case something shorts out. I hope these questions aren't too silly. I can't find...

300V meter Is that volt meter a direct-connect type, or does it need a current transformer? I'm honestly not sure. It's pretty clear when an ammeter needs a CT because it will say something like 200/5A on it, but I'm not sure about this meter. It looks like it should be direct-connect...

I live in the USA so my house's electric service is 240V split single phase. The main breaker on the service panel is 200A. But 200 amps at 240 volts is 48kVA. The pole pig feeding my house is 25kVA, and there are three other houses (4 houses total) connected to it. I assume this is fine...

Two of these transformers in series running on a big 240-volt variac would make a fun car starter. Just need a rectifier and a big cap to get DC out. Honestly thinking about building one using my 136B's. The user manual for the 136B includes wiring diagrams showing how to gang them series to...

Been shorting this out tonight with a section of 3/4" copper pipe. The current output of this transformer is just stupid. At 80 VAC input and dead short on the secondary, it pulls 30A off the variac and the primary winding doesn't even get warm. The secondary winding also apparently couldn't...

Some photos of the unit. It's a Basler Electric BE-1823. It's not the only one of its kind and might not even be terribly rare. Definitely used, but in good shape. Shorting it out is serious business and heats things up quickly. The transformer has so far not complained or even gotten warm...

I bought a Basler Electric B-1823 transformer on Ebay and it arrived Fed Ex over the weekend. Seems to be the heater transformer for large RF vacuum tubes. According to the seller, it came out of a 20kW Gates radio set. It's 1kVA, rated output is 6.3V and 168A. Input is 200V, should be ~5A...

Lazerer used to sell a 1W 445nm in a 303 host. I suspect it was probably close to spec back in the days when it was still a good company. I have no idea if they still sell them now. It's a shame I didn't get one. Be careful with DPSS because the usual safety glasses won't stop the IR...

Sure, go ahead and register your laser as a weapon. Don't forget to register your car as well, not to mention any mechanical pencils you might be carrying. They're pointy, and you can even make a zip gun out of them if you're really on the ball. This was sarcasm btw.

I finally got a MOT from the UK. 45 dollars shipped, doesn't seem too bad. Feasible to get another one if I kill this one or want to do the anti-phase inputs and split-phase secondary thing for twice the volts. The seller didn't pack it worth a damn though, no padding whatsoever. a bit...

So the month of May is shit for me. My birthday is on the 7th but the BMV pisses all over that by demanding I fork out 50 dollars for car plates. Happy birthday, you crooks. Then my PO box fee hits, there's the monthly car payment theft, and the much more annoying car pizzo theft, a.k.a...

The hole saw idea is a good one. No reason that the mounting hole for a square meter needs to be square, I just need the terminals accessible. So I'm going to get cracking on putting my panel together! :) There is a theater department at Ohio U and I recycling-bin dived a nice plywood...

This is the part that confuses me. I thought an ammeter just has two terminals on the back and you run the current through the meter and that's that. I have no idea what to do with a shunt resistor, or how to tell which is the right one, or anything else to do with it. I've read about them...

I was aiming a PL450 laser and accidentally hit a mirrored ornament that I didn't know was in the background and it send 120mW straight into my left eye. I had a bleached spot in my field of vision that persisted for a week. It was as if the laser came out of nowhere because I didn't know that...

If you've watched Aussie50 on Youtube much, you've probably seen his DIY power display panel. It has several analog meters on it: Volts 0 to 300, current 0 to 20A, and current 0 to 50A. I believe it also includes an on/off switch and emergency shutoff button as well. I want to build one but...

That's unfortunate news indeed. I was hoping to get another one someday. Maybe he's just taking a forum break and enjoying the nice weather now that spring has sprung?

There was no TOS or agreement that banner placement was contingent on the business being honest and/or viable? That was a mistake. Always include some language that allow the ad to be pulled if need be. "Legal" reasons? Pull the ad! What's he going to do, complain? You don't advertise...

TLDR: Your laser/crystals won't "go bad" from lack of use. They probably won't fail even if you drop the laser because of the way they're glued and whatnot. But sometimes crystals do fail and that can be bad. The crystals won't "go bad". Nd:YAG and KTP, the crystals in most 532nm...

I've used spit and a q-tip with OK success. For some reason, there are times when you clean it with 99% IPA and no matter what you do, you can't get the diode window clean. When it has happened to me I usually conclude that the optical coating and/or glass are gouged and that there is nothing...