DNA Sequencer ML Argon laser - Pic intensive

[MarioMaster]

Was doing some routine ebay trolling and happened across this little gem: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=110376581403

A great find indeed, but the shipping cost via freight was over $350 :cryyy: So just for the hell of it I sent the seller a message asking if he'd be willing to take apart the sequencer for some "components" I was interested in. He agreed

A bit of time passes and he ends up shipping the laser and a few other bits via UPS 2nd Day Air despite my requests for USPS parcel post :banghead: so another $140 later it finally arrived - mostly undamaged. (hooray, UPS managed to not completely destroy something!) When I say mostly undamaged there were some vents in the power supply that got dented.

Now I can finally come over to the gassy side of things (HeNe's don't really count )

Pics!

-Hasty picture of the laser head on my bed
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-Power supply with the lid removed
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-First light
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-Five lines lasing at idle
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-Fog time
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-Bouncing off a CD
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-Beams
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-Lightbulb
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-Whole setup
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-Night fun
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-Argon skypointing
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-Control panel I built to run the laser
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[DashApple]

Nice laser


do you know the output power fo the tube .

 

[TheGr8Revealing]

very impressive. an unimaginable feat of patience you've just pulled off.

 

[jwc]

Fantastic laser, MarioMaster. And the control panel is really nice, too!

 

[ElektroFreak]

Sweet! I particularly like that little panel you built.

 

[KGB_Productions]

Were you able to test the power yet? Im really interested to see what this can do.

 

[diachi]

Very nice !

What schematic did you use for the controller, is it the one in PDF format from Sam's laser FAQ ?

Regards,

Adam

 

[MarioMaster]

Thanks for the comments everyone - I'll do some power testing later tonight (gotta do some yardwork and stuff first)

Diachi - the pinout for the controller I got from Sam's FAQ, I just searched for my PSU's model number on the power supply schematics section.

 

[Kenom]

Is that pulsed? on looking at the picture of the beam comin out the front of your garage, you can see like a dotted line. It's really coooooool.

Nvm.. only seen on lower resolution.

 

[Cyparagon]

Yours is prettier than mine

 

[MarioMaster]

I like the label on the potentiometer - where'd you get it?

 

[Kenom]

you can get those from old school radios and stuff. Look for old surplus radios and tuners.

 

[jamilm9]

how many ohms is the pot

 

[Cyparagon]

1k ohms

 

[jamilm9]

i searched sams and couldn't find the pdf to make one could you point me in the right direction
look here
http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/scientific-precise-potentiometer-p-299.html

 

[MarioMaster]

It depends on what model PSU you have, the information is under the "Complete Ar/Kr Ion Laser Power Supply Schematics" section.

http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/laserasc.htm#asctoc

Just hit ctrl + f and search the document for your supply's model number.

http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/kccucp1.pdf is the document I used to build the controller.