Dual head 30mW 633nm HeNe laser forum first!

[SMIDSY]

Another DIY that took me 2 days to complete. The PSU was in a 'kit' form and was supposed to be powered from 12V DC but a little jiggery pokery and it now runs off my standard 240V AC. It also now powers 2 tubes not one!

It is 2X 15mW heads makign a total of 30mW

I think this is a first for the forum- dual laser heads, one PSU and host!

They are over 12" long and output around 15mW each. The box houses the PSU which is huge (as it is DIY) and the 2 tubes are bolted in parallel either side.

The host is the largest I have ever used, pics to follow (lots of pics if you scroll down

[highlight]UPDATE 25/1/09[/highlight] pics added with levelling feet:

Dot comparison left 633nm 15mW, right 7mW 650nm diode:

 

[SMIDSY]

Re: Dual ~15mW 633nm HeNe laser

top down view

 

[SMIDSY]

Re: Dual ~15mW 633nm HeNe laser

the two parallel dots.

 

[SMIDSY]

Re: Dual ~15mW 633nm HeNe laser

I dont know how to over expose- but this is the best I can do with just the normal camera and darkness (no smoke)

 

[SMIDSY]

Re: Dual ~15mW 633nm HeNe laser

Note the orange tinge to the lens shot.

 

[SMIDSY]

Re: Dual ~15mW 633nm HeNe laser

can someone share some thoughts on this

This is one of the dots at night.

note the dark fringes is this normal or is it damaged in some way? Or is this part of the 'youngs  diffraction pattern'?

theres the dot, then a red hue around it which has the black circular lines in it.

 

[daguin]

Re: Dual ~15mW 633nm HeNe laser

can someone share some thoughts on this

This is one of the dots at night.

note the dark fringes is this normal or is it damaged in some way? Or is this part of the 'youngs  diffraction pattern'?

I don't know what you mean by "dark fringes."

Peace,
dave

 

[thesk8nmidget]

Re: Dual ~15mW 633nm HeNe laser

you should make a mirror and then use a pbs cube to make it a single beam!

 

[SMIDSY]

Re: Dual ~15mW 633nm HeNe laser

[quote author=SMIDSY link=1224094738/0#5 date=1224095273]can someone share some thoughts on this

This is one of the dots at night.

note the dark fringes is this normal or is it damaged in some way? Or is this part of the 'youngs  diffraction pattern'?

I don't know what you mean by "dark fringes."

Peace,
dave[/quote]


there are sort of 'rings' that you can see in the photo- more visible in person. Its like rings of red with black in between and I wanted to know why they are on one laser but not the other..... so you have a dot, then the red hue arond the dot but the red hue has dark circles in it... photo is what I mean lol

 

[daguin]

Re: Dual ~15mW 633nm HeNe laser

I don't know what you mean by "dark fringes."

Peace,
dave


there are sort of 'rings' that you can see in the photo- more visible in person. Its like rings of red with black in between and I wanted to know why they are on one laser but not the other..... so you have a dot, then the red hue arond the dot but the red hue has dark circles in it... photo is what I mean lol

Ahhhhh!  Dark concentric "rings" like that are usually caused by the laser being "over-driven" for a length of time.  It is material from the anode that has been "driven off" by too much current.  It gets deposited on the inside of the mirror.  As long as the laser is not continuing to be over-driven it will not get any worse nor will it significantly lessen the longevity of the laser any more than it already has.

You should see the rings in my old "dying" argon

Peace,
dave

 

[SMIDSY]

Re: Dual ~15mW 633nm HeNe laser

[quote author=SMIDSY link=1224094738/0#8 date=1224099705]

I don't know what you mean by "dark fringes."

Peace,
dave


there are sort of 'rings' that you can see in the photo- more visible in person. Its like rings of red with black in between and I wanted to know why they are on one laser but not the other..... so you have a dot, then the red hue arond the dot but the red hue has dark circles in it... photo is what I mean lol

Ahhhhh!  Dark concentric "rings" like that are usually caused by the laser being "over-driven" for a length of time.  It is material from the anode that has been "driven off" by too much current.  It gets deposited on the inside of the mirror.  As long as the laser is not continuing to be over-driven it will not get any worse nor will it significantly lessen the longevity of the laser any more than it already has.

You should see the rings in my old "dying" argon

Peace,
dave[/quote]

thnks Dave- so long as its not going to kill the laser or get worse

 

[SMIDSY]

new pics added- driver tweaked for more stable current delivery (we just learnt about rectification in A-Level physics so I got it right second time lol