My new toy: Yellow HeNe 594nm

[ultimatekaiser]

Wow, that is a STEAL of a price! I paid $550 for mine and that was considered cheap for 4.1mW N.O.S. condition.

As UK states you can almost always coax red out of just about any tube given the right mirrors, but to get orange is a feat. It certainly can be done though. I discussed this with Dr. Sam after I got mine and more often than not you need to be able to access and align an external mirror to the Anode (HR) end.

It just depends on the way that the tube was constructed. On Melles tubes, the HR mirror is passing the red to allow the other colors to resonate. On some tubes both mirrors pass red. The bore width and length play a part too, as well as the gas fill and pressure. Most other color tubes are filled at a lower pressure than red to maximize gain, at the expense of the tube's life. If you want to do a external mirror work, you'll have to determine how the mirrors have been set up. And I would definitely not encourage taking apart a perfectly good tube. The aluminum cover is there for a reason. If you expose the tube to the air, the stability will go down, as well as it's overall power potentially. It will also be exposed to the environment around and a lot to get dirty, and it will no longer be protected by the rigid housing if it is dropped, etc.

 

[Sigurthr]

Oh yes, definitely, don't open her up, haha. Not worth it imo.

 

[icecruncher]

Very nice and decent price.

I got both of my 594's at less than $150 each. But I don't think they are the power of yours.

You won't find a 612nm for much less than $500 or it is a steal. Even low power are super pricey and rare.

The red and green you can pick up cheap (ish). Adding the HeNe power supplies, etc. can eat up some bucks too though.

I never thought I'd have more than a handheld or two. Then I started collection HeNe and Argon lasers. It can be addictive. But, I guess as far as addictions go, there is worse.

Mattronium, you must be joking ;-) Just for a simple toy this is enough money. It was an auction at ricardo.ch, a swiss auction line, something similar like Ebay. At first it started at 50 CHF, but then it got higher and higher. Honestly, I wouldn't spend much more than this. Anyway, it is in good condition and I like it

What do you think, guys, is it possible to get some more lines with an external mirror? Would be nice to get the 612nm line.

Very best regards
argon

 

[argon]

Thank you guys for your tips regarding 612nm.

Maybe someone is inteersted in the following auction on ebay. Three HeNes, red, green and yellow, unfortunately in "unknown condition":
3 Lasers JDS Uniphase 1135P Lasos LGK 7512 P LGK 7786 P100 | eBay

It is rather easy to build a power supply for a HeNe tube. There are many ways and schematics on the internet.

Best regards
argon