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FrozenGate by Avery

I got the power....!!!

norbyx

norbyx

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Well I finally found an affordable (more or less) power supply to work on my melles griot 05-LHR-911 HeNe gas laser, I powered it up and it was nice and smooth, when I got it going I looked at the beam and it sure didn't look anything near the 1-2mW it looked much over that. So I went on and put the LPM to see what would it read and I was happy to see that it showed 16.2mW steady as a rock. Not bad, I think that the tube has to be quite new to perform that well. Anyhow I am now quite happy with my gas lasers.
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Congratulations, Norberto! I sure want to get into the gas game. As soon as I am done with these builds, I am going to start saving up for my own...just have to decide..Hene or Ar Ion.
 
That's some pretty seriously awesome power in a HeNe. Congratulations!

Today I also learned that 16.2mW is smaller than 16mW... :tinfoil:

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J/K :p

Trevor
 
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Probably. I just got a kick out of it. Not trying to threadjack. :p

Trevor
 
scumbagatheist said:
Congratulations, Norberto! I sure want to get into the gas game. As soon as I am done with these builds, I am going to start saving up for my own...just have to decide..Hene or Ar Ion.
Click to expand...

Well there are nice things on both types of lasers. What I really like about Argons is that when you turn them on is like turning on a jet engine, and people go....WOW.... Just that after a while they are annoying. The HeNe are completely silent, and some times that is nice.
Also it all depends on the colors you are looking for, HeNe are best for reds orange, yellow and green as the lowest wavelength that I know of, than the Argons start from where the HeNe stop green, up to violet.
Nice thing would be to have them all but then you will need a deep bank account.

Also HeNe are usually much more affordable than Argons. My next project is to make some plasma lamps with two HeNe tubes I got from Jerry....
 
Congratulations on your HeNe!!! +rep for sticking with it and finding a power supply! Beamshots?
 
Grats! That's awesome. I chuckled at the manufactured date - the year I graduated high school. Ha!

Nice laser, bud!
 
When was the last time the LPM was calibrated?
That tube is rated at 10mW.

Peace,
dave
 
daguin said:
When was the last time the LPM was calibrated?
That tube is rated at 10mW.

Peace,
dave
Click to expand...

The dot looks like it may be slightly multimode... yielding more power?

Maybe some jostling during shipping caused a deterioration of beam quality, but a gain in power?

In working with LaserBees, I've found they stay calibrated for an impressive amount of time.

Trevor
 
HeNe's offer a great variety if you're willing to search. Plus, you can get a very visible 20mW 633 for <$250 if you dig. It's also the only outlet for an orange laser without spending 4 digits.

Personally, I like my 4.75mW 594 more than my 8mW Rigel-6. It just looks better in my opinion, plus more stable, and I can keep it on for an infinite amount longer.

I like the visibility of my 2mW 543, you'd be surprised how you can still see the beam of a 2mW laser. It's also interesting to compare to 532, 520, or 514 to 543.

Argons though are nice because they are crisp, and sharp. They don't diverge very much (or I'm just lucky so far). I love my 35mW 488, even if it is a pretty basic argon. It has a beautiful output in my opinion.

Then there's the tunable argon, and that pretty much speaks for itself ;)
 
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daguin said:
When was the last time the LPM was calibrated?
That tube is rated at 10mW.

Peace,
dave
Click to expand...

The LPM is fine, I tested it with all my other lasers and it is just on track. When I did this test I just had my other He-Ne Aerotech on the side, and switching from one laser to the other the readings where right on. The aerotech measured at just around 6mW that was what it should be. Also before it got shipped out the Rigel 6 was measured giving the power readings that where expected. So the LPM is fine.
Now on the shape of the beam, well let me tell you that the dot is quite awful, it is way worse than the Aerotech, I don´t really know if a single mode laser can become a multimode from some bumping around during transportation but it sure doesn´t look like its nice and clean.

Maybe someone can bring some light to this.....
 
Measuring in the single digits with a TEC LPM isn't advisable. They aren't meant for that sort of measuring. I wouldn't be surprised if your Rigel and Aerotech measured differently on an optical LPM.

I vote HeNe, but I also have a love for orange, and I started my gas exploration and studies with HeNes rather than argon. So I am biased. However, I do love my tunable.

I'd say try using some alcohol and a Q-Tip or something on the external mirrors, but it looks like you tried that, given the Q-Tip in the frame.

Sometimes HeNes aren't perfect. All of mine have a different output. Hell, my 543 is perfect and crisp, and my Raman isn't even a circle, and each line has it's own profile, and it's own unique mode shifts. I can watch the 612 and 650 be in totally different TEM modes shifting all over the place. The 633 has a larger divergence than the 629 and 635 (at least, the spot is larger), and that's all on the same unit! HeNe's are just not too comparable to diode and DPSS units, they are a whole other animal when it comes to certain things.

As far as what's causing it, could be a number of things. Probably things you can't fix. One that comes to mind is a mirror slightly off centered, could be causing an internal reflection that's just off of the spot. There's pretty much nothing you can do about that.
 
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