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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

Brand New Custom Melles Griot/Omni-56 dual-line HeCd [Pic Heavy]

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I've been sitting on this for quite a while so I think it's time to finally be out with it. After a long time of searching for a HeCd that was working and was able to produce UV, I eventually found much to my suprise a standard series 56 that did one but had 800+ hours on it. having known that this is probably about a fifth of its life I surfed the lab and a few other places and found that the same lab had a new head sitting in stock as well as a replacement that they were also getting rid of, for alot more money and no power supply listed. I inquired as to whether they would sell it with the PS and they said that they wouldn't as they wanted it to go out with the used head. cool. I book mark it and save it for later. about a week later after talking with sam about getting one of his new ones (blue only) the lab randomly messages me and says if i'm still interested they'll sell it to me for half price (though still a huge chunk of money, but well worth it) so I happily oblige. the main factor being that it has the original box, and thus has a chance of actually surviving shipping. HeCds are notoriously fragile, so after a short wait of gritting my teeth it comes, and appears intact with no issues. Naturally I'm ecstatic over this!

Problem is, now I need a power supply, and worse, I'm very limited, as most don't come with an umbilical for the laser. I'm stuck with just the head. After searching around, I find out that MI has an umbilical, but it's for the newer LC-500 power supply, and not the older Omni-100A. I buy it, and after much toil and searching and going through several broken power supplies, I finally find one that works. Let me tell you, the power supplies aren't much better! they're overly complex, switch mode, microprocessor controlled supplies, so a billion things can go wrong to make them un-fixable without new parts. But with my great pleasure, I can announce I now have a HeCd and have completed my collection of all the major types of gas lasers that are readily available...and minus a working 3.39um HeNe, I now have pretty much every wavelength that you can readily get your hands on!

Let me tell you that playing with the UV line is quite an amazingly fun thing to do! I actually have a pad of paper that must have a florescence material in it as it not only floresces blue, but it leaves a momentary light blue trail when you move it around :) it also pumps my uranium marble and socks quite nicely :)

Power output is multimode and rated 5.6/25mW for 325/442 respectively.

but we all know what you really came for......PICS!

New in the original box and everything, still in the damn plastic!
IMG_1581_zps3a019b0f.jpg

IMG_1582_zps2ff4b0b8.jpg

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Out of the box. you can see the MG checklist on the top showing who checked it and the procedure used to check it out before shipping.
IMG_1584_zps42208859.jpg


Front Panel with 0.0 hour count:
IMG_1590_zps50ce3603.jpg


Looking through the air intake:
IMG_1587_zps680410c8.jpg


back-panel:
IMG_1588_zps820d63bc.jpg


Inside (cathode and output on left, anode end on the right) you can see the helium reservoir on top:
IMG_1594_zps888fc933.jpg


LC-500 PSU (though a bit worse for the wear):
IMG_1659_zps4aa8b073.jpg


Tube lit (intake):
IMG_1654_zps3e6f8627.jpg


Beamshot! though it shows up violet on camera, but it's really a deep blue-violet (442nm):
IMG_1657_zpsd166d3fb.jpg


UV 325nm flourescing my sock! :)
IMG_1658_zpsd9081b46.jpg


Uranium Marble under 442nm:
IMG_1661_zpsb60b0e2e.jpg


Uranium Marble under 325nm:
IMG_1662_zpsbe518750.jpg
 
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Sta

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Re: Brand New Melles Griot/Omni-56 dual-line HeCd [Pic Heavy]

Wow! That is a beauty for sure!
 
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Re: Brand New Melles Griot/Omni-56 dual-line HeCd [Pic Heavy]

Dang, nice catch! And brand new- seems like a rarity. When was this one manufactured?
 
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Re: Brand New Melles Griot/Omni-56 dual-line HeCd [Pic Heavy]

Ah! I knew I was missing something else. Yes, it's a custom built head made 2008
 
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Can I ask how much this cost? I would guess something with 4 numbers... But seriously, awesome find! :beer:
 
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That's awesome!

What does it look like if you put the 325nm on a non fluorescent surface? and how visible is it?.
Also, both the 442nm and 325nm lines are produced at the same time? Is that correct? If so, how did you separate the lines?
 

upaa27

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That's awesome!

What does it look like if you put the 325nm on a non fluorescent surface? and how visible is it?.
Also, both the 442nm and 325nm lines are produced at the same time? Is that correct? If so, how did you separate the lines?

Probably wrong but I believe that you use a prism or grating to split the line for those colors.
 

BowtieGuy

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Hey u.k., that is one bea-u-ti-ful piece of equipment you have there! Love that UV.
Congrats on completing your gas collection, and also your spectacular wavelength collection! :beer:

BTW - You do know that people tend to keep their distance from people who have that much gas! :crackup:

:gj: +rep!
 
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So jealous! That's an awesome laser. It's nice to see some gas lasers on this end of the spectrum. Great pictures too uranium marbles rule!
I think Daguin still has an HeCd for sale.
 
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Yeah daguin has an older liconix 442nm for sale. I like omnichrome better, as they tend to have less Cd residue/buildup issues.

They're really nice lasers, just overly complex and fragile.

The UV is totally invisible, but it illuminates lots of things to some degree with flouescence or phosphorescence, so unlike IR, it's far more interesting and easier to work with.

Yes it emits both at the same time. So you can split them with a grating, or I have a custom shutter on mine with filters that allow me to select a particular line. (though with some losses) it tends to output 50mW or so on a cold start after a full warmup, and slowly settle down and stablize at around 40mW total. (open shutter/both lines). So far I've put about 5 1/2 hours on it. So it's behaving itself a little better now.
 
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Wicked snag, mate.

Definitely blows my 20mW 442nm single line MG way outa the water ;)
 

LSRFAQ

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Run, and run often, otherwise the Helium capsule heater circuit gets confused.
Run for long periods of time, avoid frequent start/stops.

I have the config manual someplace, I'll try to scan it for you. It covers adjusting the pots on the side of the head to match a different psu.

BTW< New Tube, 2005 Dollars, 17K retail.

Had a UV only one at my former employer.

Leave the remelt button alone.

The one I kept going, UV, made it to 7000+ hours, setting a MG record of sorts.

Steve
 
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Yeah remelt is hard on the tube...price sounds about right. Ions are about the same I think. Last Ar/Kr I asked about was 17.8K I think.

I have a series 74 UV only but it is broken at the cathode

As for the manual, I'd appreciate that a lot. I'm fairly familiar with HeCd operation, and that all sounds like good advice and makes sense based on what I know. The helium reservoir is 3 ATM IIRC...I can just imagine that for some reason dumping into the tube, which probably closer to something like 5 Torr....

Edit: @Bloom thanks man. Miss talking to ya, you need to get back online
 
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