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FrozenGate by Avery

Before heading into collecting labbies....

Machro said:
Comparing lasers to cars would be wrong at this point :D

Its just not like you have to spent a few hundred dollars to buy at decent laser (or building one). Sometimes quality can be overstated easily.

Just want to prevent people throwing away lots of money for things they dont need ...
Click to expand...

I've had pointers in the past, and while their fun it became a little boring(at least for me). I've never be a fan of DIY lasers & have always wanted to try lab lasers, and after getting my first one fell in love with them! :D

-Alex
 





LeHap said:
@Pman

Yikes, well at least you got a free HeNe haha :)

@diachi

Yep, pretty much summed it up on stability. I enjoy lab lasers not so much due to their stability, but their unlimited duty cycle, which is a huge plus for me :)

-Alex
Click to expand...

Yeah, the duty cycles are nice! I'm with you there, I still like pointers for pointing into the sky and such, but you can't beat that unlimited duty cycle for enjoying some beams!

You should add an optical bench to the list once you have a few more lasers under your belt ... :p

Machro said:
Comparing lasers to cars would be wrong at this point :D

Its just not like you have to spent a few hundred dollars to buy at decent laser (or building one). Sometimes quality can be overstated easily.

Just want to prevent people throwing away lots of money for things they dont need ...
Click to expand...

Really it could be argued that you don't need anything other than food and shelter. At the end of the day none of us really need any lasers, just like no one really needs a Porsche.

Some people prefer pointers, cheap or expensive, some people prefer commercial built lab units and some people prefer to build their own lasers, which isn't necessarily cheaper either. It's all just a matter of preference.

The information is there to make an informed decision either way before you spend your hard earned cash. :D

Really not worth arguing over! :p
 
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Thanks for all the answers everyone. That dutycycle sounds tempting its really a pain to count seconds in your head while expermenting and only having 2 hands to do want you want! but dutycycle an all im not ready to go down the labby road:) (well not yet):beer:
 
GSS said:
Thanks for all the answers everyone. That dutycycle sounds tempting its really a pain to count seconds in your head while expermenting and only having 2 hands to do want you want! but dutycycle an all im not ready to go down the labby road:) (well not yet):beer:
Click to expand...

:eek:

How dare you not get a labby :mad:

-Alex
 
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LeHap said:
I've had pointers in the past, and while their fun it became a little boring(at least for me). I've never be a fan of DIY lasers & have always wanted to try lab lasers, and after getting my first one fell in love with them! :D

-Alex
Click to expand...

Ahh, how are wants and desires change with time. I remember when you were a young man. Back then, you just wanted a running car. LOL
Enjoy your step up in laser collecting. I'd never considered buying one till you put it In my brain. Now I want one.
:)
 
Davidx said:
Ahh, how are wants and desires change with time. I remember when you were a young man. Back then, you just wanted a running car. LOL
Enjoy your step up in laser collecting. I'd never considered buying one till you put it In my brain. Now I want one.
:)
Click to expand...

Indeed, it's crazy how fast you grow up in life. You need to take advantage of everyday!

Ugh, I just got payed today but I need to resist the urge to buy a 447 labby :(

-Alex
 
Define 'lab laser'.

There's lab lasers sold on Ebay from Chinese sites...99.99% are nothing but the same diodes we use in laser pointers, but with cheap heat sink and rather spartan power supply. Then there's 'lab lasers' sold by Edmund Scientific and others in the class which cost thousands $$$$ often for less than 100mW of power. What you get with those are very precise power supplies, stability, spatial/temporal characteristics, and typically best of class optics.

If your goal is a constant run version of a pointer they are easy to make. Z-bolt sink, small 12 volt fan attached to it, and appropriate power supply. I just use the drivers DTR sells, glue a coin to the driver IC as a heat sink, and drive it with proper 9-12 volt supply, which also drives the fan. Done.

I've seen Argon's in the 10-20watt range go for a couple grand used in laser market sites. Cheap diodes in the multi watt range are killing the argon market share like dSLRS are doing to film SLRs.
 
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blasterman said:
Define 'lab laser'.

There's lab lasers sold on Ebay from Chinese sites...99.99% are nothing but the same diodes we use in laser pointers, but with cheap heat sink and rather spartan power supply. Then there's 'lab lasers' sold by Edmund Scientific and others in the class which cost thousands $$$$ often for less than 100mW of power. What you get with those are very precise power supplies, stability, spatial/temporal characteristics, and typically best of class optics.

If your goal is a constant run version of a pointer they are easy to make. Z-bolt sink, small 12 volt fan attached to it, and appropriate power supply. I just use the drivers DTR sells, glue a coin to the driver IC as a heat sink, and drive it with proper 9-12 volt supply, which also drives the fan. Done.

I've seen Argon's in the 10-20watt range go for a couple grand used in laser market sites. Cheap diodes in the multi watt range are killing the argon market share like dSLRS are doing to film SLRs.
Click to expand...

Thanks for chiming blaster,

I would make a DIY labby but there's something about the look of those CNI ones that just gets me excited! They just look so darn cool :)

-Alex
 
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