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FrozenGate by Avery

Laserglow Polaris vs Wickedlasers Arctic 3






RA_pierce said:
Bounty, I believe we talked on Youtube regarding the LaserGlow Hercules and Scorpius.
It is a funny coincidence that you found your way here just as I replied to your questions (check your mail on your youtube account).
If I am mistaking you for someone else, I apologize.

I would like to point out a significant difference between the Polaris and any other 445nm laser on the market: Beam quality.
As you may well be aware, the beam on your Arctic is less than perfect and highly divergent on one axis resulting in a rectangular or bar shaped profile.
This is due to the way that these diodes are engineered - beam quality is sacrificed for high power. Sadly, that is normally the case with high power lasers.

However, the Polaris is designed with optics that compensate for this poor beam quality. Typical divergence for any 445nm laser you will find for sale here is going to be ~2.0mRad average or thereabouts.
The Polaris boasts a much cleaner, more circular beam than that of the Arctic or our DIY hobby lasers with an advertised divergence of 0.9mRad (very good).
The reason this is, is that the Polaris uses beam shaping optics that turn the rectangle into more of the dot you would expect from a laser.

The catch is, these additional optics result in a loss of power, so the higher power models are not constructed with these corrective optics.
Namely, the >500mW models will NOT have the corrective optics installed. That means that if you want full power (1000mW) you will have to sacrifice beam quality.

So, yes, on this forum we often create some great stuff but we are a community of cheapos and are always looking to save a buck. I have not yet seen a portable 445nm laser built on these forums that employs beam correction (not that it can't be done but simply because it is costly).
If you are looking for the BEST, I would not hesitate to recommend Laserglow.
If you want to save some cash, there are many builders on this forum that offer services for a fee.

Also, contact the member aryntha. He has an extensive collection of lasers and owns a Laserglow Polaris himself. He would be the man to talk to if you have any questions about it. You may also want to try contacting Laserglow's customer service, too. The staff is very knowledgeable and will be sure to help you out with your inquiries.
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All that info has helped me out a lot! Thankyou very much. I have found a member on here that sells 1.1w blue lasers so im going to go with that option instead of the Polaris. I will still go ahead and get the Herc-650 with the beam expander when i have enough cash flow, i havent come across a 650 before on youtube or any other video site, so i plan to do a full review and comparison between all my other burning lasers alongside the herc.

Thanks again, this is a very friendly and helpful forum which is a rare thing when it comes to the internet nowadays.
 
Yeah seriously, my custom built custom host from ehgemus is a 2W 445(with g-1 lens) and I built it for around $250. And besides diode life, I don't see any reason laserglows laser would last any longer than mine
 
jakeGT said:
Yeah seriously, my custom built custom host from ehgemus is a 2W 445(with g-1 lens) and I built it for around $250. And besides diode life, I don't see any reason laserglows laser would last any longer than mine
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I have been looking for someone who sells fully assembles 2W handheld lasers for a while. Do you know of anyone who is selling one or who can get one?
 
Not many people just throw out 2W builds. To even REACH 2W, you MUST have a VERY efficient diode.

The highest people like to drive these diodes at, is 1.8A, because USUALLY shortly after that current, most diodes start to fail, or degrade. Not all of them, but most.

I have 3 1.8A drivers sitting next to me, and am waiting for hosts. Once I get these, I will be putting them all together, and selling them.
Many people do this same thing, they build them, and then sell them. But once again, it ALL depends on your diodes efficiency. And even at 1.8A, to get 2W you need a 405-g-1 high power lens. I have never seen a build reach 2W without a 405-g-1 lens.

Check out my sig, and look at my custom Ehgemus 445. It reached 2.1W with a 405-g-1.
 
jakeGT said:
Not many people just throw out 2W builds. To even REACH 2W, you MUST have a VERY efficient diode.

The highest people like to drive these diodes at, is 1.8A, because USUALLY shortly after that current, most diodes start to fail, or degrade. Not all of them, but most.

I have 3 1.8A drivers sitting next to me, and am waiting for hosts. Once I get these, I will be putting them all together, and selling them.
Many people do this same thing, they build them, and then sell them. But once again, it ALL depends on your diodes efficiency. And even at 1.8A, to get 2W you need a 405-g-1 high power lens. I have never seen a build reach 2W without a 405-g-1 lens.

Check out my sig, and look at my custom Ehgemus 445. It reached 2.1W with a 405-g-1.
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OK ill check it out. Well when you are selling them let me know soon as you can, anything above 1.6W i will buy hands down. Thanks for the info.
 
Anytime, with a 405-g-1 lens, you can expect 100-200mW more power.
So with the right lens, you can make a 1.4W laser, into a 1.6W laser with a high powered lens.

I will never be selling my ehgemus build. But I do have the stuff in the works for these 1.8A drivers, just need my hosts.
 
Bounty said:
OK ill check it out. Well when you are selling them let me know soon as you can, anything above 1.6W i will buy hands down. Thanks for the info.
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Contact member DTR and ask him to build you the strongest 445nm laser possible ;)
 
FlaminPyro just made me one that hits 2.33 watts. I highly recommend him, as I know he has more of the same hosts on hand, and he did a fantastic job.
 
Wildlands said:
FlaminPyro just made me one that hits 2.33 watts. I highly recommend him, as I know he has more of the same hosts on hand, and he did a fantastic job.
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Wow 2.33 impressive. Thanks for telling me, i have a couple arriving soon but ill for sure check him out. How much did you pay?
 
2.33W eh? That's a new record for 445 if I am correct. At least I've never seen one of that power yet
 
I don't have an LPM, so I have to rely on FP's measurements. I'll be doing a review soon, under his thread for focus rings.
 
Well if pyro said it I believe him. Jeff is a good guy .

So congrats on the most powerful 445 on the interwebz!!
 
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