Radiant X4: A LPM for the masses at Illumination Supply!

[clansley]

Can we have the specs for this soon-to-be-released "Radiant XT", please? Does it meet or beat the responsiveness and/or accuracy of the Ophir 20C-A head? Will it have USB and graphing software?

 

[ARG]

Can we have the specs for this soon-to-be-released "Radiant XT", please?

I can't release a full spec list just yet, sorry. I can answer some questions though.

Does it meet the responsiveness of the Ophir 20C-A head?

Yes and no. The Ophir head was only able to be so responsive by having an overshoot spike lasting about 1.5s on every reading.

The Radiant XT does not have the same overshoot spike that the Ophir heads suffered from, but the trade off is that the response time is slower.

Will it have USB and graphing software?

Yes.

 

[USAbro]

I'm a bit confused. Does ARG own radiant supply?

Edit: And what will the price and wattage be on this new LPM, I'm too lazy to look through the thread.

 

[ARG]

Edit: And what will the price and wattage be on this new LPM, I'm too lazy to look through the thread.

Price will be announced with the LPM, wattage will be higher than 3.7W.

All the information will be available at launch in a few weeks. Stay tuned

I'm a bit confused. Does ARG own radiant supply?

csshih owns Radiant. I just assemble the meters.

 

[USAbro]

Do you assemble all of them and how did you get into doing tis. That's a cool job.

 

[ARG]

Do you assemble all of them and how did you get into doing tis.

Yup, I assemble everyone of them. I got the job when I was talking with csshih after he bought Radiant Electronics from the previous owner, Mariomaster.

 

[clansley]

Interesting, I didn't know that about the Ophir head.

Can it accurately read down to 1mW? And does it have mW resolution?

Thanks for answering the questions. Do you need any beta testers ;-)

 

[ARG]

Can it accurately read down to 1mW?

It can read down to 1mW, but as with the X4 there will be a minimum recommended power.
All thermal based LPM's are inherently less accurate at reading powers below ~25mW, even professional ones such as the Ophir heads.
This is because everything around us generates heat, and even having your hand near the laser you're testing can skew the reading by a few milliwatts. At the low range the accuracy is largely dependent on the testing conditions.
Optical laser power meters are far better suited for reading low power lasers as the heat from the surroundings will not affect the reading.

does it have mW resolution?

It will have 1mW resolution (or better).

Thanks for answering the questions. Do you need any beta testers ;-)

Glad I could help! No additional beta testers are needed at the moment, but thanks for the offer.

 

[Pi R Squared]

Yes the testing conditions are very important, some people probably don't think about it when testing high power lasers. When measuring low power lasers make sure the air is still, windows closed and no heater or fan turned on, and don't have a light or lamp next to it or anything else giving off heat and don't hold the laser in your hand. I use two tripods a few inches apart and clamp the sensor on one and laser on the other and turn the laser on and stand back. This is what to do anyway to get better accuracy whatever power you're measuring.

Alan

 

[starlight]

Now that you are all here discussing LPM testing I have a long overdue question.

What is the ideal distance the laser should be from the sensor? Will to close damage sensor and to far give poor results. And focus I was told is not important for measuring as long as all the beam is hitting sensor. Is there a set of rules for testing so we all have the same or similar results. Thanks for reading my rant

 

[ChaosLord]

Now that you are all here discussing LPM testing I have a long overdue question.

What is the ideal distance the laser should be from the sensor? Will to close damage sensor and to far give poor results. And focus I was told is not important for measuring as long as all the beam is hitting sensor. Is there a set of rules for testing so we all have the same or similar results. Thanks for reading my rant

I usually set the laser 5-6" from the sensor, defocused so most or all of the sensors surface is covered. If you get too close to the sensor, the heat from your hand or the front of the laser can skew the results. You want to make sure it's defocused, both to protect the sensor from too high of a power density and you get a better reading using as much of the sensor area as possible.

 

[Pi R Squared]

Too powerful a beam can damage the coating on the sensor if it is focused, I don't know probably anything class 4 should be unfocused to about the width of the sensor to be on the safe side. For distance I would say 4 to 8 inch but no more, if it's somthing like a 3W laser that will get hot quick 4 inch may be too close, go with 6 inch.

Alan

 

[starlight]

Thanks ChaosLord and Pi R Squared..

 

[Atomicrox]

Yup, I assemble everyone of them. I got the job when I was talking with csshih after he bought Radiant Electronics from the previous owner, Mariomaster.

If this is the same LPM project you told me about a few months back I'm pretty sure it's going to rock! Might even sell my Ophir to get one.

 

[hakzaw1]

nice LPMs and IIRC the graphing software is free. I have one of the betas first generation. my fav.

nice work ARG -hak

 

[Jstr]

Hi,
I just tried to download peregrine for my macbook from Radiant Electronics but I am having trouble. When I open the program, I am prompted to move it to the trash because the file is "damaged." I tried redownloading, with the same result. Anyone know if there is a problem with the download file, or could it be a mac problem?

Thanks for the help, it's an awesome lpm!