Balloon popng

[Carlr83]

Hi guys sorry to keep bugging you....
just need some advice.......what would be the best type of laser at poping balloon at long distance.... and what company should I be looking at .... watched video on you tube of guy popping balloon 700 yards that even possible ??

 

[EpicHam]

700 yards ?

Easy.

Go raid a US Military base .

THAT laser can make people seemingly spontaneously combust when they are being set on fire by a powerful IR laser

 

[Zeebit]

Or try the ADS.

 

[Carlr83]

700 yards ?

Easy.

Go raid a US Military base .

THAT laser can make people seemingly spontaneously combust when they are being set on fire by a powerful IR laser

Lol meant laser pointer mate any ideas

 

[Blaster]

700 yards :wtf: without watching the video i would say got to be IMPOSSIBLE unless its a high power industrial laser VERY VERY low divergence beam which would be the biggest issue mounted in a frame so no movement at all, perfect atmospheric conditions no wind etc etc balloon fixed so it cant move at all and a dark colored one at that a lot to get just right .But it would be neat..LOL

 

[EpicHam]

Lol meant laser pointer mate any ideas

Not at 700 yards mate.
Handheld lasers often mean that they are diode driven and with diode comes its limitations.

Laser diodes' biggest disadvantages in addition to the critical drive requirements is its Optical performance

Due to its TEENY TINY Cavity when compared to gas lasers and chemical lasers.
The laser cavity is a fraction of a mm in length formed by the junction of the III-V semiconductor between cleaved faces.

Compare this to even the smallest common HeNe laser tubes with about a 10 cm cavity.

To burn at such distance you'll need a ungodly LED diode pump.
And a HIGH Q cavity as long as a truck.

If you want to burn at anything further than 50m , gas lasers is the hobbyist's best bet.

Unless you have government backing of course

 

[Leodahsan]

You need a high power, low divergence beam.

As divergence is inverse to beam diameter, you would need a somehow large beam, with enough power density to melt the baloon.

OR someone close to it with a fresnel lens for focusing the fat beam... :na:

edit: Beam expander anyone? :wave:

 

[Carlr83]

You need a high power, low divergence beam.

As divergence is inverse to beam diameter, you would need a somehow large beam, with enough power density to melt the baloon.

OR someone close to it with a fresnel lens for focusing the fat beam... :na:

edit: Beam expander anyone? :wave:

So in others words not gonna happen lol

 

[Carlr83]

Not at 700 yards mate.
Handheld lasers often mean that they are diode driven and with diode comes its limitations.

Laser diodes' biggest disadvantages in addition to the critical drive requirements is its Optical performance

Due to its TEENY TINY Cavity when compared to gas lasers and chemical lasers.
The laser cavity is a fraction of a mm in length formed by the junction of the III-V semiconductor between cleaved faces.

Compare this to even the smallest common HeNe laser tubes with about a 10 cm cavity.

To burn at such distance you'll need a ungodly LED diode pump.
And a HIGH Q cavity as long as a truck.

If you want to burn at anything further than 50m , gas lasers is the hobbyist's best bet.

Unless you have government backing of course

Im new to lasers I thought a high powered green laser could get the job done mate ......what are gas lasers are they expensive and do they cost much

 

[EpicHam]

You need a high power, low divergence beam.

As divergence is inverse to beam diameter, you would need a somehow large beam, with enough power density to melt the baloon.

OR someone close to it with a fresnel lens for focusing the fat beam... :na:

edit: Beam expander anyone? :wave:

How big do you want it?

Im new to lasers I thought a high powered green laser could get the job done mate ......what are gas lasers are they expensive and do they cost much

Gas lasers generally are cheaper than most high powered DPSS green lasers.
Assuming you already have a PSU , the circulatory pump and CO2 supply to run it .


Here's a guide to build one yourself.

Sam's Laser FAQ - Home-Built Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Laser


The main problem with owning a CO2 laser isn't about the cost , mostly its about the SPACE!
Yet ,if its long distance burning you so seek. CO2 lasers will be your holy grail

 

[Carlr83]

How big do you want it?

Gas lasers generally are cheaper than most high powered DPSS green lasers.
Assuming you already have a PSU , the circulatory pump and CO2 supply to run it .


Here's a guide to build one yourself.

Sam's Laser FAQ - Home-Built Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Laser[/ur
The main problem with owning a CO2 laser isn't about the cost , mostly its about the SPACE!
Yet ,if its long distance burning you so seek. CO2 lasers will be your holy grail

Wow impressive video are they hard and expensive to make .

 

[DrSid]

Power is not a problem, divergence is. You would need large optics.

Formula for spot size at distance is:

spot_size = distance * wavelength / aperture_size

and you can derive from it:

aperture_size = distance * wavelength / spot_size

All values must be in same units, preferably metric.

Let's say you want spot size 1mm. Let's do it for green, which is in the middle of the visual range. Let's pretend yard and meter is the same.

That gives us:

spot_size: 1mm = 0.001
wavelength: 550nm = 550*10^-9
distance: 700

That gives us 0.385m aperture size. That's one big telescope, costing $1000 or more.

At 1mm spot size 200mW should pop balloon easily. Increasing power would could help you, but just a bit. With half the size, you could get spot twice the size .. but for the same burning capabilities you would need more or less 4 times more power. So with just a pointer, which usually has aperture size about 1mm, you simply have no chance. Even with 10cm telescope (which I have) I would get spot about 4cm large at that distance. It would require several watts to pop the balloon.

Btw. that's why ABL, the airborne laser, in my avatar, has 2m output aperture.

 

[EpicHam]

Wow impressive video are they hard and expensive to make .

Well not really , expect a CO2 laser to cost you anywhere around $500-600
40W , highly collimated.
EXTREME BURNING POWER!

I'm not really that well versed with gas lasers so you'll have to wait for the specialist to reply on this
Cheers
:beer:

 

[Leodahsan]

Ok and what about power?
Assuming we need 200mW with 1mm beam dia
We need around 25W/cm² for popping a baloon
For achieving this with a 0.385m diameter beam, you would need 3MW power (3 megawatt).

source: http://www.ophiropt.com/laser-measu...er-power-energy-meters/services/sensor-finder

 

[DrSid]

Ok and what about power?
Assuming we need 200mW with 1mm beam dia
We need around 25W/cm² for popping a baloon
For achieving this with a 0.385m diameter beam, you would need 3MW power (3 megawatt).

No .. you need beam 0.385 at aperture, which will be possible to focus down 1mm at target. It will have 200mW all the time. Power density will vary based on actual distance, but power of the whole beam will be always 200mW (if we ignore medium losses).

 

[Leodahsan]

@DrSid
Well I was thinking about something you didn't have to put a lens in front of the target to destroy it...