My Latest Personal 445 Build

[DTR]

I have been trying to find a post on the green unit where it was tested it with an IR filter and it came out to a little over 100mw. No luck but I do remember talking about IR on these. Anyway these are the luck of the draw as well some have received one's that put out on the low side 80mW. I got two one was 128mW and the other 116mW. So I consider myself lucky.

 

[leukoplast]

I've measured IR leakage with 50mW and 100mW O-like modules and it is only about 10% IR.

When metering, the power readings are about 10% less if I let the beam pass through an IR filter before the thermal head...

I wouldn't think it is a problem. It's not like your going to be looking in towards the aperture of the laser while your using it.

Just an opinion though...

10% isn't bad at all, I thought it would be much more

Although maybe it varies from pointer to pointer. Cause I have a little keychain green from o-like that was sold as a 25mW. When I got it, it tested at about 50mW on my LPM. I figured I got a overspec one, but when I compared it to my 50mW CNI, the brightness wasn't even remotely close. So right after I emailed o-like to see if it had a IR filter, and surly it didn't. Apparently they only put IR filters on greens over 200mW.

But this small green I have must be putting out 50% IR, cause when compared to a real 50mW green that is IR filtered, it appeared to be about half as bright yet has the same power-output.

Maybe I am just paranoid about this, but IR filters on greens are a must for me. If I am going to have my eyesight damaged or even a remote possibility of being damaged, I would much rather it be from visible light that reflected off something due to my own recklessness... rather than me being secretly blinded by something I can't even see or control.

 

[DrSid]

IMHO it varies with the laser. I have one which spreads IR evenly in 60 degrees cone .. so it's totally safe except if you put your eye few inches from aperture. And I have anther one, which creates two strong focused spits around the main beam, which are 10 inches wide at 10 feet. That might remotely do some damage .. but only with strong reflection and from close, and from a strong laser.
Also IR filters are easy to get from webcams, so if you have some broken/cheap, there is no problem to mod your laser with such filter.

 

[jayrob]

Green is awesome, but DPSS is so unstable compared to a diode laser...

I can't wait till we can get the green diodes affordable...

 

[leukoplast]

Green is awesome, but DPSS is so unstable compared to a diode laser...

I can't wait till we can get the green diodes affordable...

Not to mention the things I read, states that the green diodes will be something like 510nm. So the color will be slightly different then the green DPSS we are all used to.

it won't be quite as different as the 445's, but it's something else to get excited about!