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My New Ruggedized HeNe

daguin

daguin

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Have you ever bought something just because it was, COOL? Of course you have. You own lasers, don't you. Well this is one of those buys. It was just TOO COOL to pass up.

Here is my new "ruggedized" Helium-Neon laser:

hene8.jpg



These were used in sighting/training in the military. Some say they were used on the M1 Tank. I don't know, but it is completely encased in stainless steel with just openings for the beam aperture and the electrical connection:
hene9.jpg

hene10.jpg



What say we power this bad boy up?
hene7.jpg




There it is . . . .that's right . . . .it says 1.2mW
hene1.jpg





Here's the "business end
hene2.jpg




A couple of beam shots (I used some "smoke in a can" here. It is used to test smoke detectors)
hene3.jpg

hene4.jpg




And what 632nm looks like
hene5.jpg



Like I said, this was just because it was cool. I'll set up a more permanent power source for it and stick it on a shelf now

Peace,
dave
 





Pretty cool Dave! 8-)

Kind of orange huh? How much current are you feeding it?

Nice conversation piece. Good pictures too!
Jay
 
jayrob said:
Pretty cool Dave! 8-)

Kind of orange huh? How much current are you feeding it?

Nice conversation piece. Good pictures too!
Jay
Click to expand...

The power source it's hooked up to here is putting out 1200VDC at 3.0mA

Peace,
dave
 
I doubt they were used on the M1 tank because they are visible and as Murphy's Laws of Combat #2 state: Tracers work both ways. All modern tank laser systems are IR. Now with that said, it may be possible that the can you have right there was part of a bore sighting kit for the M1.
 
FrothyChimp said:
I doubt they were used on the M1 tank because they are visible and as Murphy's Laws of Combat #2 state: Tracers work both ways. All modern tank laser systems are IR. Now with that said, it may be possible that the can you have right there was part of a bore sighting kit for the M1.
Click to expand...


Absofreakinglutely!

If these were used they were used in training only.

"I am a ghost"

Peace,
dave
 
Nice buy, i tryed to buy but the seller wont ship outside US.

Indeed, cool laser. :'(
 
VERY COOL!!! That looks really nice dave, as always.

Also, I sure like that head on your LPM.... looks very nice  ;)
 
Very nice laser indeed!

One thing: please ground it when in operation, the power supply isnt likely to kill you but if it someway shorts to that big metal tube while you're holding it, you still might be in for an unpleasant jolt.
 
I looked at this before but brushed it off at first but this is really cool! I'm 'hoping' to get a HeNe soon myself (auction ends in about 10 hours). So I'm curious, where did you get your PSU and about how much was it? And by the looks of things I bet it is heavy. Have you attempted to weigh it yet?
 
Dave,
Have you figured out how to "open it up yet"? Are they really "sealed-up". I am thinking about buying one of these, and machining some windows into the outer-tube to allow some of the He-Ne glow out, for display, I am asumming there is still a glass-tube inside. What do you think? any forseeable problems?
DH
 
Rhith said:
I looked at this before but brushed it off at first but this is really cool! I'm 'hoping' to get a HeNe soon myself (auction ends in about 10 hours). So I'm curious, where did you get your PSU and about how much was it? And by the looks of things I bet it is heavy. Have you attempted to weigh it yet?
Click to expand...
\

Sorry, Rhith. I missed your question earlier. I picked up that PSU on eBay as part of a group of HeNe parts. It weighs just over two pounds (just under a Kilo).




Dark_Horse said:
Dave,
Have you figured out how to "open it up yet"? Are they really "sealed-up". I am thinking about buying one of these, and machining some windows into the outer-tube to allow some of the He-Ne glow out, for display, I am asumming there is still a glass-tube inside. What do you think? any forseeable problems?
DH
Click to expand...


I don't think you could do that to these units. It appears to be solidly filled with the "rubber" compound. Along the length of the tube there are "air escape" holes that are filled flush with the same material that fills the back. Also it "feels" and sounds solid. The weight is balanced throughout the length of the unit. It may just be that there are "rubber" tube holders along the length, but it doesn't feel like that.

Peace,
dave
 
Oh well,
I went and bought one anyway, (from the link earlier). It seams like a good price for an used HeNe tube, especially one that is "ruggedized". This should mean that it will take longer for the gas to leak out, I would think. A friend has loaned me a similar-sized tube for quite a while, now I can return it to him, (measures 1.3"x14", 1.8mW, circa 1985). thanks for pointing these out! Now to find a good power-supply ;) Is it possible to run the power supply for this from batteries?
DH
 
Dark_Horse said:
Oh well,
I went and bought one anyway, (from the link earlier). It seams like a good price for an used HeNe tube, especially one that is "ruggedized". This should mean that it will take longer for the gas to leak out, I would think. A friend has loaned me a similar-sized tube for quite a while, now I can return it to him, (measures 1.3"x14", 1.8mW, circa 1985). thanks for pointing these out! Now to find a good power-supply ;) Is it possible to run the power supply for this from batteries?
DH
Click to expand...


It's cool all by itself. You can get HeNe's in aluminum tubes all day on ebay. You can cut windows in one of them easily.

You could probably run batteries into the "brick" PSU -- 12V in 1250V out ;)

There are PSU's that run on mains, but they are a bit more expensive and harder to find.

Peace,
dave
 
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