Hi, my name is Wendy and I'm a new member. I just purchased a SFCR-200mW 650nm Red and a SFAG-300mW 532nm Green from www.sflasers.us at a great price. I've been fascinated by lasers since grade school when the first ruby laser was made. I built a Metrologic He-Ne laser kit in high school, learning so much about them, I was asked to teach lasers in Physics for two days. Later, I bought a holography lab with Zeiss optics tracks, spatial filter, etc. and made 70 mm and 4x5" glass plate holograms. Vibration was isolated with balloons and holding my breath! I always set up a Michelson interferometer to test relaxation time and stability.
In the 80's, I started Laser Concepts, built my own scanner and control panel from scratch, got a Federal Variance, and performed laser light shows at venues in the Twin Cities. A federal inspector from the then Bureau of Radiological Health (BRH) actually flew to Minneapolis to inspect my system in my apartment! The Federal Variance was a pain. I waited until I actually got federal approval, only to later learn all I really had to do was apply and then start performing shows while they reviewed – a common misconception by many applicants I was told. Then every show I did, I had to contact the local Dept. of Health - Radiation Division for an inspection and file my reports. Not too bad once I got going. I actually quit a job at an aerospace company to start the laser company. I decided I needed to take a chance rather than grow old with regret that I never tried it. Now I have some great memories! :yh:
You can see a brief history of that venture and the homemade laser system on YouTube: Wendy's LaserScan Light Show - YouTube
Sadly, back then, it cost a fortune to have high power lasers, let alone RGB. Mine was an analog control system. A few years after, I worked for Honeywell codeveloping a huge dual ion beam laser mirror deposition system for Ring Laser Gyro inertial instrument navigation systems. After that, I moved on to ion beam thin film YBCO superconductors and participated in developing the world's first uncooled infrared focal plane array, which are now available on high end cars to see in the dark, etc.
I loved creating laser shows but the tech was expensive and limited back then. I've recently perused the latest RGB systems and computer animation software, but as cool as it it today, I think that ship has sailed for me. But I will probably return to making holograms again. At the very least, I'll be lighting my candles with lasers - the beam is keen! I never lost interest in lasers all these years, and recently decided I owed it to myself to get some high power ones, especially burning ones.
My dad was an engineer, a telescope maker, and former pilot, so I was influenced by science, space, electronics, as well as art and music. I have a home recording studio, have had many high technology jobs, and have never lost interest in lasers. It amazes me that today, practically everyone has seen or used a laser pointer, yet a 5mW He-Ne back then cost nearly $700! I was the only person I knew who had one in the 70's. I even built a special inverter to take the 120 VAC laser mobile for the sole purpose of seeing the beam in the fog, and perhaps freaking everyone else out!
Anyway, hello from Minisoda! Yah, sure, you betcha!
In the 80's, I started Laser Concepts, built my own scanner and control panel from scratch, got a Federal Variance, and performed laser light shows at venues in the Twin Cities. A federal inspector from the then Bureau of Radiological Health (BRH) actually flew to Minneapolis to inspect my system in my apartment! The Federal Variance was a pain. I waited until I actually got federal approval, only to later learn all I really had to do was apply and then start performing shows while they reviewed – a common misconception by many applicants I was told. Then every show I did, I had to contact the local Dept. of Health - Radiation Division for an inspection and file my reports. Not too bad once I got going. I actually quit a job at an aerospace company to start the laser company. I decided I needed to take a chance rather than grow old with regret that I never tried it. Now I have some great memories! :yh:
You can see a brief history of that venture and the homemade laser system on YouTube: Wendy's LaserScan Light Show - YouTube
Sadly, back then, it cost a fortune to have high power lasers, let alone RGB. Mine was an analog control system. A few years after, I worked for Honeywell codeveloping a huge dual ion beam laser mirror deposition system for Ring Laser Gyro inertial instrument navigation systems. After that, I moved on to ion beam thin film YBCO superconductors and participated in developing the world's first uncooled infrared focal plane array, which are now available on high end cars to see in the dark, etc.
I loved creating laser shows but the tech was expensive and limited back then. I've recently perused the latest RGB systems and computer animation software, but as cool as it it today, I think that ship has sailed for me. But I will probably return to making holograms again. At the very least, I'll be lighting my candles with lasers - the beam is keen! I never lost interest in lasers all these years, and recently decided I owed it to myself to get some high power ones, especially burning ones.
My dad was an engineer, a telescope maker, and former pilot, so I was influenced by science, space, electronics, as well as art and music. I have a home recording studio, have had many high technology jobs, and have never lost interest in lasers. It amazes me that today, practically everyone has seen or used a laser pointer, yet a 5mW He-Ne back then cost nearly $700! I was the only person I knew who had one in the 70's. I even built a special inverter to take the 120 VAC laser mobile for the sole purpose of seeing the beam in the fog, and perhaps freaking everyone else out!
Anyway, hello from Minisoda! Yah, sure, you betcha!
Last edited:
