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FrozenGate by Avery

Calling All High Power Portable Laser (Green/Blue) Owners

Re: Calling All RPL Owners

jayrob said:
Something else I would like to add...

Optotronics RPL's are my most expensive and highest quality lasers. I just e-mailed Jack to tell him how I felt about my issues and he sent back a detailed response.

Some of what he said is this:

"I can take a look at your RPLs and see
what I can do for you.
I always try to treat my customers the way I want to be treated when
I'm the customer and I could see what could be done and at what cost
as your RPL green is just over a year old and was bought with only a
90 day warranty and your RPL-blue is just short of 2 years old."

Now that's customer service!

I realize that I am past my warranty, but Jack will still look at my lasers and try to offer me some kind of a reasonable solution I'm sure.

I just want my highest quality lasers to be performing 'top notch'. Even though I rarely take them out of the case...
Click to expand...


He doesnt do this for everyone , Ive had issues with Jack and no responses ..etc..
 
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Well, I cannot speak for others, but I have read a lot of good things about Jack's customer service. (which he is known for)

I'm sure that each situation is a little different. One thing to mention, is that I fully understand that my lasers are past warranty, and am willing to pay.

I trust that Jack will offer me a reasonable solution. I don't mind paying, the main thing is to get my best quality lasers to perform top notch when I do decide to take them out of their case once in a while.

My RPL's don't get much use. They are really just show pieces...
 
Re: Calling All RPL Owners

free radical said:


I have an RPL 450 532nm that is about a month old.

I have noticed some slight flicker to the beam when viewed
in a dark "fog" filled room.

Viewing the spot at about 50 feet on a matte white
surface reveals some mode hopping at times.

I don't have power readings because I'm waitng for
my Laserbee to arrive, but I will say that I popped a
balloon at 47 feet in less than 20 seconds the other day.



free radical
Click to expand...


In an effort to clarify my earlier post....

1) I did not intend to provide a comprehensive review of my RPL 450, or to question this lasers performance. I am new to the world of high powered / high quality ( and high price...) portable lasers, having had only cheap <5mw, pointers. With this said, my observations may or may not describe "normal" operating characteristics, I'm just not sure.


2) My observations on beam stability / flicker seem dependant on how much fog is in the room; more fog=
greater beam visibility=less observered stability.
FYI - Fog is from a 700w unit using water/glycol based
soln. located appox. 40 feet from the laser, in a seperate
room to reduce chances of dirtying the lens. Obervations are done at night with the room completely dark - its quite a sight!!! The laser is on a tripod, which is on a very secure (little or no vibration) surface.

As for observations of the spot, this too seems somewhat subjective. First, as expected, this spot when viewed on a rough texture, matte white surface is very, very bright w/o protective glasses - even at 20-30 feet, viewed at a significant angle, for less than a couple of seconds. Even this quick view has revealed changes in spot size and shape. ("mode hopping"?) When I use eye protection, I can view the spot at a much closer distance, for a longer time, and spot variablity appears much less.

All observations made with fresh batteries, 18650's@4v or more, tail cap set at position 8, run times < 5 minutes, although I did go as long as 7 minutes once to look for improved stability. Ambient temp. approx. 65F.

As for power output/stability, I just received my new
Laserbee (christmas present to myself.....) so I'll probably post some results in a few days.

An important note regarding customer service, Optotronics is a first-class operation and has exceeded my expectations.
Jack replaced a bad tail cap within 3 days of my request, and has always responed to my questions in timely and courteous fashion.



free radical
 
hey, i have had 3 RPL green's and 2 Blue's over the past few years, bought from Optotronics. i'll try give you a rundown to the best of my knowledge.

Model/Wavelength/Advertised Power - RPL 400/532nm
Divergence value - from what i remember it was 0.8mrad
Peak/Avg. power value. - average power 438mw/peak 65omw+
Is the power constant for the first 5 minutes? if you mean stable, then No. i remember it fluctuated quiet abit.
How long can you have it powered on before it mode hops? i Never ever saw any of my Rpl's mode hop, they were always clean TEM00 output.
How long can you have it powered on before its power goes below its advertised power? strangely.. the power actually Increased with time, the greens needed a minute or so to warm up, after 10 mins of stop/start lasing, the output was always between 430-470mw.
How long do you need to let it rest before powering it up after turning it on for a long time? i never let it cool, though the blue Rpl's are more tempremental and need cooling after every few minutes.
How long does it take for power to stabilize when you turn it on (cold start)? i never saw the power stabilise.. it always fluctuated quiet abit.
as mentioned above.. these lasers are top-notch quality but the only downside i experienced was the power output was never stable, always jumped around. you would only see this when metering the laser of course, you would not notice fluctuation by beam visibilty, it would always be bright of course.
 
I've got a blue and green viasho (aka RPL aka oceanus and prometheus) Peaks are about 20 and 550mW respectively, and averages are 5 and 420mW respectively. The power is NOT constant for the first five minutes. Neither mode hops. The blue never meets advertised power, and the green always meets advertised power. Recommended duty cycle is... I forgot. See optotronics site or another guy with an RPL. The blue stablizes after about 5-10 minutes, and the green never stabilizes.
 
Here you go:

Model/Wavelength/Advertised Power
S-KY Portable 532nm 300mW

Divergence value
In my first test, I got 0.57 mRad, but that seems a little low despite the fact that the beam is really nice. It's almost certainly under 1 mRad though.

Peak/Avg. power value.
peak: 375mW
avg: 325mW

Is the power constant for the first 5 minutes?
More or less, yeah.

How long can you have it powered on before it mode hops?
I haven't powered it on long enough to find out (the most I've left it on for is 15 minutes).

How long can you have it powered on before its power goes below its advertised power?
I haven't metered it for more than 5 minutes and it's very stable.

How long do you need to let it rest before powering it up after turning it on for a long time?
Again, not really a problem for me.

How long does it take for power to stabilize when you turn it on (cold start)?
About 45 seconds, but I find that it depends strongly on the room temp.
 
wow didn't see this one

first RPL 25 473 starts off at over 50 mw then settles about 30 very stable unit
after about 8 minutes i noticed a mode hop or two divergence is incredible .8 mrad

ok second RPL 375 532 a little more touchy than my blue starts off at over 500mw
does some flickering jumps around from 300 mw to 400mw then settles at around 350-390 mw for 5 minutes after 9 it kinda starts to lose power and another batt is needed .9 mrad on this puppy
 
Update:

I wanted to post back here since I have posted in this thread 'complaining about my RPL'...

My RPL 375 was past warranty, but I sent it to Jack to have him take a look at it.

I can't speak for Jack, because each case is different, but he traded mine, for a new RPL 425 that has the characteristics that I was looking for.

* Very short warm up time (even in a cool environment)
* Good stability for 60 to 90 seconds

He charged me a very reasonable upgrade price that I was happy to pay.

My new RPL peaks over 550mW's! Settles around 425mW's...

Thanks Jack! :)
 
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