Has anybody bought a X10DR beam expander from LG and how good is it?
Is a aries 225 really like a 2,25 W green laser with the beam expander?
What can it burn through?
I haven't purchased one yet, but would certainly like to. I can tell you that it does NOT make a 225mw laser into a 2250mw laser, it merely widens the beam so that divergence can be reduced. Combined with the ability to focus the enlarged beam to a point, this makes the effective range of the laser from a burning and dot size perspective much longer.
Correct! This figure is for the energy density, since you can focus the beam down (at close range) to actually be smaller than at the aperture. This means that for close range burning, the laser will perform like a much more powerful device. Over long range, the X10DR will keep the beam smaller and more focused resulting in much longer range.
That figure is actually 2546W/cm[sup]2[/sup] :
You can take it like this: A laser dot with an area of 1cm[sup]2[/sup] AND the same density as the 0.1mm dot achievable with the extender will have 2546W
Upon researching 'laser guide stars', it was interesting to note that merely a 10-14 watt laser is used to excite sodium atoms at an altitude of 62 miles to the point of releasing enough photons to resemble a star. This can only be accomplished by expanding the beam to nearly 20 inches in diameter to reach a focal point at so high an altitude.
Youtube: Laser guide star
That being said, I have found that a lowly $10.00 Daisy rifle scope works VERY well as a personal beam expander. It's all glass optics are great for lasers with a robust beam density. The main tube takes CR123A Lithiums perfectly. I prefer the silver model. The internals are well suited for the purpose and the focal length is easily and reliably adjusted.