Gearbest red pointer video review

[Cyparagon]

This isn't anything terribly special I'm afraid, but here's what they sent me.

Link:
Laser 300 5mw 650nm Zoomable Red Laser 18650 Pointer Pen with Battery Charger-23.91 and Free Shipping| GearBest.com

They have a coupon code LZRL5GB for a slightly discounted price of $21.99

Highlights:
Price: $23.91 shipped (originally $46.48 apparently?)
Wavelength: 663nm
Power: 140mW
Divergence: 0.4mRad
Current: 250mA (linear driver 2.6-4.2V)
Other features: shutter, keyswitch, focus ring, reverse polarity protection for short duration.

Charger is wired backwards!

 

[Alaskan]

You have some mighty nice toys on your bench, curious what you are using to measure wavelength?

 

[10fenny]

Wow that is a lot of toys!!! Good job.
alaskan- he had a spectrometer in the vid. 5:30. or did you mean what type/brand?

I like your reverse polarity protection test! "yep! still works!"

 

[Constandinos97]

That's a nice in-depth review there! You sound like a cool dude lol
I wish I had the tools (and the knowledge/experience) to do what you're doing there. Might buy a digital multimeter in the upcoming weeks. Used it in school, very useful stuff.

A couple of questions though. Why use an analog LPM? You seem like someone who seeks precision in measurements.

And is driving that diode at 250mA too much or too little? I honestly have no idea lol

 

[Pman]

Fantastic equipment review. I am curious why it was purchased to begin with. Had me lol with the maker of mediocre lasers line right off the bat

 

[Cyparagon]

Why use an analog LPM?

Meh. Good enough. Digital power meters have higher resolution, but the precision is still no better than +/- 5%. I've got a 1W coherent lasercheck and a 40W ophir, but I'm not as sure about the calibration on those.

...curious what you are using to measure wavelength?

Spectrometer made by (or rebranded by?) science-surplus. It's accurate to within +/- 0.5nm, and can read between about 350nm and 910nm. It's the blue box left of the power supply and requires a serial link to a computer.

Spectrometers - Science-Surplus

I don't recommend the DIY ones. They're a colossal pain in the ass. I aligned one for lazeerer once and it took hours, and it's still not quite as good as the one I have that they aligned. The calibration isn't hard if you've got known spectra to work with, but the alignment sure is.

I am curious why it was purchased to begin with.

It wasn't puchased. Gearbest sent it to me for review. I mentioned to them the community is more interested in high powers or unique colors. They're supposedly taking that into consideration, but this is the kind of stuff they have for now.

 

[Pman]

Thought so. The way you started the review it sounded as if you didn't buy it. I have lots of nice Fluke meters but I'm a bit in awe of all the stuff you have. Do you buy some things from MCM electronics? Have purchased a lot of stuff from them and Parts Express over the years. Noticed the Tenma meter. Honestly don't know their quality but owned some of them (and still do) over the years and never had any problems with them. Always seemed like a good bargain.
Yeah, a bit off track but it's a very impressive amount of equipment. I've come across so many technicians that don't seem to see the value in good meters and they end up going from one cheapo to the next. Nothing like good tools when you work with them every day.
Just so I understand what you were saying, most of the cheap reds advertised as 650nm are actually 663nm correct? Thanks

 

[mortuus]

hah thats not really a pen eh seems like a nice deal.