Help with some basics on the Spartan 1W?

[Raiden Gekkou]

I used to post a lot at LaserCommunity until I got banned, but i'm new here. I have a 1 watt Spartan and I use Tenergy RCR123A's. My laser seems powerful, but does anyone know how much, if any power is lost by using rechargeables? I don't have access to a power meter to check if i'm getting the standard 1000mW reading. Also, what is the max amount of time I can safely run the Spartan without risk of damage? I don't run it for more than 20 seconds without turning it off for a few seconds, and I notice that it starts to get warm. Last, does anyone know the average divergence for the Spartan? I used the Jscript calculator linked on this site and came up with: 6 feet - 7 mm, 1 foot - 3 mm = 2.624 mRad.

 

[DrSid]

This method of divergence measurement is not very useful due this diode rectangular beam profile. If you check the orientation of the rectangular dot, you will see that the long axis near the aperture is actually the short axis far from aperture and vice versa .. and at some distance in between the beam is square ! Choice of distances and axises can affect divergence measurement a lot.
I suggest measuring dot size at large distance (like 100m) .. and enter zero size at zero distance as the 'second' distance to the divergence calculator, or simply use formula divergence=size/distance. With large distances the size at aperture is insignificant.

 

[Spartan X]

http://laserpointerforums.com/f52/dragon-lasers-1w-spartan-54013.html