12x selfmade Beamexpander

[numquamretro]

Beamexpander on 1W+ green handheld. Costs for parts: <20$







Close shot, distance about 1km.

 

[DrSid]

How about some technical details ? And before/after beam shots ?

 

[ru124t]

build thread please as I have no idea what you have done or accomplished!

 

[numquamretro]

build thread please as I have no idea what you have done or accomplished!

I followed this tutorial:http://laserpointerforums.com/f49/super-cheap-beam-expander-86604.html

I´ll make some pics for comparison later when it´s dark outside. I´m pretty satisfied with this built. I truly can recomend it.

 

[numquamretro]

It´s hard to tell the difference in the pics, but it´s definately improving divergence. The beam without expander is very good anyways (~1mrad), but with it´s even better.


Without expander:


With expander:

 

[DrSid]

I was thinking more about spot size at some distance ..

 

[crazyspaz]

Thats sick. I need to do this! I know in the thread the guy said he tried it with his 445, but melted something inside, but he wasn't sure what. I have tons of different lenses, hopefully i can swap whatever is inside out for something a little higher quality. great pics too!

 

[ImA4Wheelr]

Very cool. No build details?

EDIT: I missed the link or it was added to Post 4. Thank you.

 

[BowtieGuy]

numquamretro, what did you use to attach the B.E. to your laser? It looks as if it's the head piece from a C-8 style flashlight.

 

[Hemlock_Mike]

Simply GREAT- You figured it out!!!
HMike

 

[numquamretro]

Thanks!

numquamretro, what did you use to attach the B.E. to your laser? It looks as if it's the head piece from a C-8 style flashlight.

Yes, thats exactly what i used. Fits perfectly with a tight hold.

 

[BowtieGuy]

Thanks numquamretro. Very innovative, and it looks good on your set-up. :beer:
Although, it looks as if any adapter used will have to be specific to the O.D. of the particular laser being used.
I may have to try this out, not much to lose! I might even be able to use my old style Jetlasers B.E. adapters.

 

[bosummer]

will the energy of laser pointer reduce with the expanding of laser beam area?

 

[DrSid]

will the energy of laser pointer reduce with the expanding of laser beam area?

Surprising as it is, yes

 

[numquamretro]

Today i tried some longe range shots. Camera is zoomed in at max.
First one is 1km into the trees:

This one is my personal goal. Antenna on a mountain, distance 12km:


The beam is too bright to tell if it actually hits the antenna. I need to wait for a more clear night and increase the angle from laser to camera.
This is digital zoomed in:

sadly no green spot of a hit visible :/

 

[numquamretro]

One more thing, the beamexpander decreases outputpower by 20%, just measured it with my ophir LPM.
So not very efficient.