Just a 635nm Striker/Saber beamshot

[ChrisWhit]

So, I received my lovely 1 watt Sanwu 635nm(bright red) Striker/Saber today! Really nice jewel of a red laser. This one has the magnetic dimmer switch and magnetic mode ring. This is my first actual red handheld laser beyond just the ole' cat pointer that still actually works.

The power is adjustable by a ring that you twist clockwise to increase power from 0 (full counter clockwise) to Full(full clockwise) . In these pics, I discovered later that I didn't have the knob all the way to Full.. So this is about 3/4 power
I have the 3x beam expander on it by necessity as this is really the only way to tame this crazy beam! I don't know exactly which diode it has in it but, it's definitely a big multimode. But I was expecting it to be nasty laser but it's not as bad as I thought it would be. Actually it really is kinda cool like it is. Just a raw, nasty little laser. It does round off my collection with a nice Dark Side vibe. Like something an evil alien would shoot at you.

My camera really isn't picking up the beam much at this wavelength for whatever reason, but the beam is much more visible, richer, and dare I say, 'bloodier' in person. Like shooting blood across the yard, lol! Anyway, now that I've discovered the seven neat tritium vile slots on it for use as dial indicators and on tail cap, I'll be ordering some of those. That'll really make it look nice in the dark.
Overall, a great well made jewel of a laser. Thanks Sanwu!

 

[paul1598419]

Yeah, these have horrible divergence specs. Your third photo looks like it has two beams. Is that right? It shouldn't at just 1 watt. I have one I built years ago that does 1.1 watt and put it into a Cyprus II copper host. Yours does look dim in the dark which doesn't seem right at all. Well, enjoy.

 

[ChrisWhit]

Yeah, these have horrible divergence specs. Your third photo looks like it has two beams. Is that right? It shouldn't at just 1 watt. I have one I built years ago that does 1.1 watt and put it into a Cyprus II copper host. Yours does look dim in the dark which doesn't seem right at all. Well, enjoy.

Yeah, I see that double beam in the photo now after the fact. But no, it wasn't like that when I shot it. I think it's just at that exact instance, the spot was moving across two reflective spots at the same time right around there. With that beam expander, the beam really tightens up at distance. It's sloppy up close though even with the expander.

Yeah, it looks dim in the picture, but it's much brighter in person. my camera didn't pick up the beam much. Plus lower power setting by accident. I'll see if I can stick another pic down below at full 1watt

 

[ChrisWhit]

Here it is at full power.. But still brighter in person

 

[paul1598419]

That BE is a good choice with this laser. If you want something other than a line at distance, you pretty much have to have a BE or use Cyl lenses to try to tame its divergence. I have a project on the back burner to Cyl lens correct a Mits ML501P73 at 1.2 amps.

 

[ChrisWhit]

That BE is a good choice with this laser. If you want something other than a line at distance, you pretty much have to have a BE or use Cyl lenses to try to tame its divergence. I have a project on the back burner to Cyl lens correct a Mits ML501P73 at 1.2 amps.

I'm guessing the ML501P73 is what's used in this Striker laser also? .. I wonder why this larger host is described as 635nm @1W, while they have another model red one that's just a little smaller but *638nm* @1W.. Why the 3nm difference unless they are different diodes? Heat levels maybe?

 

[paul1598419]

It would seem that about three or four years ago they started calling these 638nm laser diodes instead of the 635nm that used to predominate. Why they did this, I haven't a clue, but it is the same diode. The difference is likely because of this disparity in WLs.

 

[MRI3T]

very nice! I had recently purchased the challenger II host with the same diode 635nm @ 1w, single mode. the beam isn't as visible as I thought it would be, but it sure is very bright when lased onto a surface!! I feel that the challenger II hosts, for me, seem to be the best, the striker body is just sooooo heavy and big. I mean, you can forget about pocketing that thing, which really makes it hard to wanna use outside or to carry...and the challenger II will take the higher out put as well. I really like the color but yes, divergence is really bad. maybe its just me but after I leave it on for 30 seconds or longer, the beam seems to cast a little more orange , esp. the longer its left on..?

 

[paul1598419]

These do look orange, especially when viewed next to a 650nm or 660nm diode. Try it.

 

[RedCowboy]

I have an earlier 638 diode that is doing about 1/3 of a watt with that same horrible divergence, I can't stand to look at it without a beam expander on it, but they are bright for a red/orange red however.....and I don't want this to sound like I'm complaining, but I really love that 650/660nm deep red and wish we had a few watts of that available, granted I know it's not as visible per mw but I think it's very pretty.

Enjoy and thanks for the pics.

 

[ChrisWhit]

Actually, I've started liking running mine without the beam expander. The sharp red line at distance is kinda weirdly nice. I couldn't imagine two or three beams though... But the big nasty line instead of spot is ok as long as it's sharp and not blurred.

I like the Challenger II host also. It's nice and compact and fun to grab on a whim and click around with. The Striker Saber does cross into that "heeyy don't be shooting that thing" kind of unwieldy, lol! I wanted the magnetic dimmer switch function on my red but the only host you can get it on is the Striker Saber. My 488nm is a Challenger II and I've carried that thing around in my pocket. It's small and tight enough that it's like a little fidget spinner

 

[ChrisWhit]

Just received a couple of tritium vials that I purchased from Sanwu... This particular laser configuration comes with seven little slots you insert the vials into. These are the blue ones

 

[RedCowboy]

That's way cool.

 

[MRI3T]

Just received a couple of tritium vials that I purchased from Sanwu... This particular laser configuration comes with seven little slots you insert the vials into. These are the blue onesView attachment 64132View attachment 64133

Try this for future Trits purchase! Mixglo.com