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5W ophir 20C LPM by Offroad now + datalogging

Joined
Oct 14, 2011
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Hey guys,

A few days ago I finally got the last parts in for making my lpm! Now that I am done I am very pleased with the result. I went for a professional look. And I think I achieved it.

It runs off 3x 9V batteries. 1x for the high respons 5 digit volt meter panel. 2x for the ophir 20C head.

I chose a RED display because I am a 445nM 532nM guy. If I wear my eagle pair goggles blue of green displays are filtered and I have a hard time seeing what a laser meters at.

I bought a project box for the casing, however is was way to long so i had to shorten it with a cheap dremel. (lack of tools, took me hours) And the panel display and VGA cable and on/off switch are also cut out with a dremel.

I chose a VGA cable because i think it looks professional and rugged.

End result:

image2bu.jpg


imagewml.jpg


image1rdp.jpg


these are the innards. I thought the 3x 9V battery holders would be nice for easy switching. Also the VGA port was very handy. Only the cables are a bit messy. I am working on that :beer:

image3bge.jpg


Of it in use:

imageblo.jpg


And this is what i mean by looking through goggles. Red is perfect:

image5wqe.jpg


Thanks for looking,:wave::wave:

greetings,,

P.S. Thanks to InfinitusEquitas for getting me and Blord these ophir heads from the US as the seller did not ship to EU. Also thanks to laserbee for advise :beer:

EDIT: I changed the first LPM's switch with a 3pole switch since that was neccesairy :) I also added a danger type killswitch :D


So i made another one to return a favor for our buddy SM! So after a few hours of dremeling and 6 blades further:

imageidx.jpg


This came out:

image2dy.jpg


In V2 i did a better wiring job:

image1djm.jpg


image3gx.jpg


image4ihx.jpg


Thanks for looking :)

UPDATE:

So i got V3 finally ready! I also updated the OP with this:

img1725ja.jpg


This unit runs 2x 18650 for the display and datalogging. And 2x 9V for the ophir. Even then with all the capacity it is smaller then V2:

img1714bh.jpg


img1715qc.jpg


img1716g.jpg


img1717dg.jpg


img1718fe.jpg


Here is a video review of the meter:


It was very hard to make the small cutout for the datalogging option with a dremel. But it worked out fine :D Also At first i had some problems with the analog signal wire on the smaller VGA adapter. The wire was to close to the + and - of the ophir. Which caused fluctuations. So i choose another pin to connect the signal wire to and now it runs great!

Greetings,,
 
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Re: 5W ophir 20C laser power meter by Offroad

Nice build ! Congrats with your Ophir LPM. That is a large connector. :)
Where did you put the switch in between ? I have my switch to cut of three power circuits at the same time.
 
Re: 5W ophir 20C laser power meter by Offroad

Nice build ! Congrats with your Ophir LPM. That is a large connector. :)
Where did you put the switch in between ? I have my switch to cut of three power circuits at the same time.

Thanks :)

I used a switch that is able to operate two seperate circuits in one click. One of which is used for the third 9V of the panel display and one circuit for the ophir head.

Normally these switches need a seperate cable connect to slide over the contact points. I did not have those so i grinded down the contact points to a smaller size to make it easier to solder them :tinfoil:

greetings,,

EDIT: In the picture you cant see there are another 2 contact points on the switch. Those are on the other side of the plastic cover.
 
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Re: 5W ophir 20C laser power meter by Offroad

Very nice looking build! Looks 100% professional. Actually I'm a little jealous :p

Did you mess around with the offset at all?
 
Re: 5W ophir 20C laser power meter by Offroad

I turned on the offset pot on my LPM to make it zero but it is now more -0.000 than 0.000. :D
It is no use to offset such small values. It looks better with 0.000 though.
 
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Re: 5W ophir 20C laser power meter by Offroad

very jealous myself right now! nice build. i want that box.
 
Re: 5W ophir 20C laser power meter by Offroad

IE's also agreed to buy+test+ship it to me.. Hopefully soon after the holidays it will arrive.. (Thanks man)

Using a red display for readout is very thoughtful.. I didnot thought of it and ordered the blue one..

Definitely looks professional.. :beer:
 
Re: 5W ophir 20C laser power meter by Offroad

You should order the green LED then we have all four different color LED displays. :)

offroadfreak8582, red
Blord, yellow
awillis2589, blue
sinner,..
 
Re: 5W ophir 20C laser power meter by Offroad

I already ordered it a couple of days ago.. blue led , same seller i guess i paid $38 for it !!
 
Re: 5W ophir 20C laser power meter by Offroad

Hey guys,

No i did not modify the pot, as of yet that is. I think i am not gonna worry to much about it since it still fluctuates a bit in different parts of the house :) (pic #1 does not have the ophir connected) It hovers around 3-6mW now.

And yes i thought of green too. However my eagle pair blocks green, blue, IR. so it still would be annoying :)

Thanks for all the nice comments :beer:
 
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Re: 5W ophir 20C laser power meter by Offroad

Wonderfull LPM build you have there Offroad.

WOuld love to have on of this build aswell :)

Cheers, SM.
 
Re: 5W ophir 20C laser power meter by Offroad

That is one sleek and professional looking LPM. I think the use of a VGA cable was genius. That connector looks like a beast.

BTW, the switch you described is known as a double pull double throw(DPDT) switch for anyone that is interested. Two isolated circuits controlled by a single switch.
 
Re: 5W ophir 20C laser power meter by Offroad

That is one sleek and professional looking LPM. I think the use of a VGA cable was genius. That connector looks like a beast.

BTW, the switch you described is known as a double pull double throw(DPDT) switch for anyone that is interested. Two isolated circuits controlled by a single switch.

it's actually a Double Pull single Throw (DPST).
 
Re: 5W ophir 20C laser power meter by Offroad

That is also possible. Both switches do basically the same thing but a DPDT does a little extra so it could be either one.
 





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