- Joined
- Jan 7, 2007
- Messages
- 6,309
- Points
- 83
I received my Krypton laser this weekend. This review will be made over time as I gather data. YES, I DID PAY FOR THIS LASER.
It came well packaged with laser, lens set, nylon holster, 18650 cell and single station charger.
Since we know what a cell and charger look like, I omitted them to concentrate on the goodies. Instead of a normal box, this laser comes with a holster and belt loop. While the Arctic laser measures 9.1" long, the Krypton is 10.15" long adding room for processor and heatsinking. The lens set appears to be the same as the Arctic set since they fit.
You need to read the book included to understand the "code" to turn it on. The smart switch does everything once the tail switch powers it up. Press the switch several times to activate the laser then the smart switch controls about 8 modes including SOS, strobe, beacon and CW plus a hibernation mode.
The laser appears to be shipped with the "training" lens installed which limits the output to ~ 225 mW. I advise leaving it in place until you understand the power up and smart switch. The laser has a battery protector built in. When the cell drops to one LED on the condition monitor, the laser will shut off to protect the cell -- nice feature.
I have had time to run only one power graph which for now tells a bunch. It seems to heat up over 20 seconds and then watch out!!!! It topped out my chart recorder and I should make a couple more runs.
OOPS --- That's 80 Seconds total run time ... Sorry for the confusion.
Update -- I was asked to make a 5 minute run into the LPM. Here it is:
Note that the power peaks over 1 Watt several times but also has dips which can be seen going into the power head. The cell held up well during the test and there was little heat on the laser head. I don't know if internal heating and mode hopping is the issue here. This test was run over a 350 second period.
A question was raised previously about mode hopping/stability. I used one of the expanding lenses provided to get these pix.
This pix is at full power at cold start. I noticed the (I believe) TEM01 profile .
But as it ran, the beam danced a bit and after ~ 25 seconds became this:
This looks much better.
IR EMITTION TEST: I have been asked for an IR test. My first try is made with an IR Pass filter. Using my 808nM pointer, I pass 50% at 808. With the Krypton, I read 3 mW of IR which computes ---- 3mW / 0.5 = 6 mW IR output at full power. I need to try other filters when I find them!
Divergence: I made a target from a piece of 1/4" steel plate smoked with my torch -- a carbon lamp black target. Tonight is cold and dark so I made these tests at 30' within my back yard.
Low power 30' Beam Dia: 9.42 mm
High power 30' Beam Dia: 14.9 mm
The beam is slightly oval and I measured the wide dimension. I'll try to get my 200' reading tomorrow night.
The increase in observed diameter may be due in part to scatter at high power. YES, I had my goggles on - for damn sure!
Jayrob reported that he focused his laser and I will try that after my distant readings.
As I said in a later post, A beam expander would be NICE. Hand held lenses tempted me so I built a prototype expander which utilizes one of Steve's diverging lenses. This mounts in front of it and makes it an ~ 3x expander. This is my first effort, I'm not happy with it but plastic pipe threads are a PITA !!!! It does work however!!!!!
Here it is finished and mounted on the laser. I plan to get a better output lens for better function. This also works well on the old arctic!!! You guys need to build an expander instead of complaining! What a tool
More later.
HMike
It came well packaged with laser, lens set, nylon holster, 18650 cell and single station charger.
Since we know what a cell and charger look like, I omitted them to concentrate on the goodies. Instead of a normal box, this laser comes with a holster and belt loop. While the Arctic laser measures 9.1" long, the Krypton is 10.15" long adding room for processor and heatsinking. The lens set appears to be the same as the Arctic set since they fit.
You need to read the book included to understand the "code" to turn it on. The smart switch does everything once the tail switch powers it up. Press the switch several times to activate the laser then the smart switch controls about 8 modes including SOS, strobe, beacon and CW plus a hibernation mode.
The laser appears to be shipped with the "training" lens installed which limits the output to ~ 225 mW. I advise leaving it in place until you understand the power up and smart switch. The laser has a battery protector built in. When the cell drops to one LED on the condition monitor, the laser will shut off to protect the cell -- nice feature.
I have had time to run only one power graph which for now tells a bunch. It seems to heat up over 20 seconds and then watch out!!!! It topped out my chart recorder and I should make a couple more runs.
OOPS --- That's 80 Seconds total run time ... Sorry for the confusion.
Update -- I was asked to make a 5 minute run into the LPM. Here it is:
Note that the power peaks over 1 Watt several times but also has dips which can be seen going into the power head. The cell held up well during the test and there was little heat on the laser head. I don't know if internal heating and mode hopping is the issue here. This test was run over a 350 second period.
A question was raised previously about mode hopping/stability. I used one of the expanding lenses provided to get these pix.
This pix is at full power at cold start. I noticed the (I believe) TEM01 profile .
But as it ran, the beam danced a bit and after ~ 25 seconds became this:
This looks much better.
IR EMITTION TEST: I have been asked for an IR test. My first try is made with an IR Pass filter. Using my 808nM pointer, I pass 50% at 808. With the Krypton, I read 3 mW of IR which computes ---- 3mW / 0.5 = 6 mW IR output at full power. I need to try other filters when I find them!
Divergence: I made a target from a piece of 1/4" steel plate smoked with my torch -- a carbon lamp black target. Tonight is cold and dark so I made these tests at 30' within my back yard.
Low power 30' Beam Dia: 9.42 mm
High power 30' Beam Dia: 14.9 mm
The beam is slightly oval and I measured the wide dimension. I'll try to get my 200' reading tomorrow night.
The increase in observed diameter may be due in part to scatter at high power. YES, I had my goggles on - for damn sure!
Jayrob reported that he focused his laser and I will try that after my distant readings.
As I said in a later post, A beam expander would be NICE. Hand held lenses tempted me so I built a prototype expander which utilizes one of Steve's diverging lenses. This mounts in front of it and makes it an ~ 3x expander. This is my first effort, I'm not happy with it but plastic pipe threads are a PITA !!!! It does work however!!!!!
Here it is finished and mounted on the laser. I plan to get a better output lens for better function. This also works well on the old arctic!!! You guys need to build an expander instead of complaining! What a tool
More later.
HMike
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