RPL-300 vs RPL-375

[divdiv]

I'm new to the laser world...green I guess. Here's my question.
I bought a green RPL-300 very recently, and a few of my friends have expressed interest in buying something similar. They have more cash to blow than I, and I'm wondering what kind of differences there are between the RPL-300 and the RPL-375. Is it worth the extra money?

 

[dingle]

If i did my math correctly its about a 75 mW difference ;D

 

[f22warzone]

u shure about 75mw i thought it was more around 75mw .... : ) but anways theirs really no differecne besides better crystal assembly to get the extra 75mw.... i beleave thats the only difference other than that its the exact same laser

 

[wooooooolazer]

The crystals are more than likely the same just the ir pump diode is higher powered, Im sure the 375 would burn the same stuff as the 300 but it would do it farther, like if the 300 could light a match at 5 ft (a complete made up number i have no clue how far it can) then the 375 could light it at 6 or more ft, And it would burn faster too, if you timed them both burning thru the same peice of cardboard the 375 would go faster.


...lazer... ;D ;D ;D

 

[Chief-Eamonn]

If youve got the money just buy the more powerful one... you'll look cooler.

 

[me_too_lazy]

If youve got the money just buy the more powerful one... you'll look cooler.  

i second that

 

[divdiv]

[quote author=Chief-Eamonn link=1196542466/0#4 date=1196599563]If youve got the money just buy the more powerful one... you'll look cooler.

i second that[/quote]
Ok, but here's the problem, how will people know that I am actually cooler since if had an RPL-375, since it's pretty hard to distinguish between the RPL-300. They both fire farther that I can see and are both way too bright for their own good. Maybe I should just get a blue laser and and my friend can get the RPL-375.

 

[f22warzone]

why blue? it dosent burn : ) if you want to be that different buy the herc-400 from http://www.laserglow.com/ then you will be differnet becaus you would have a burning baseball bat

 

[divdiv]

Hauling around a baseball bat sized laser isn't really what I'm looking for. A good burn would be good. Taking the 20 seconds or so to light a cigarette is enough to make me quit. I think I'm going to see what my friends have in their labs that undergo photochemical reactions at 532 nm. They are always working on molecular switches. It would be handy to turn of the lights be shooting a laser at a circuit board. not as cool as the "clapper" though.

 

[Milos]

Just get the most mW you can afford for a laser !! Thats the formula.

The reason why:
RPL-375 will comfortably be in 400mW range (420-499) for minutes sometimes. At least for 30-60sec+ seconds stable.

RPL 325 the one I had would be in 400 range by pure peak voltage "excitement" (420mW max) and it will last much much shorter there. RPL300 might not ever cross 400mW range.

Thats the thing.

And 450+/- is a kick ass more than 300+/-
Adjustable cap clearly lets me experience difference of mid 400s and 300s range. 100mW of light is a lot in that range !!

brighter, quicker burning of whatever you like to burn, longer high mW time at all stages!

and it is gooood!

 

[divdiv]

That is the answer I wanted. I'm going to measure the peak and average output of the RPL-300. The adjustable tailcap is great, but I've actually been finding it a bit finicky. Sometimes it works perfectly, other times, I can't seem to turn it on. I don't know if this is because I'm not using it properly, or if when I screw it on, it doesn't contact the leads properly each time. Nobody in Montreal seems to know that lasers like this are available. I've taken it to a few loft parties, and the people running them expressed a lot of interest in setting up a proper laser setup...which I'd be perfectly happy to set up for them if they're helping to pay for it. I'd have to do some research on how best to set up a safe setup for relatively small venues. Any suggestions guys?
What's great about these loft parties, is that people smoke in them. The clubs and bars here are all non-smoking, but as much as it sucks to smell like an ashtray, it makes for great scattering.

 

[Milos]

Glad i can help.

Keep in mind freshness of battery during your tests. Keep it fair in order to get true results.
Its important specially in 300+ range.

 

[divdiv]

Yeah, I`ve got 3 fresh, fully charged batteries. I`m going to take in into school tomorrow and see if anyone wants to waste their time to test out the laser. I apparently didn`t see or didn`t read the instructions on how to use the adjustable tailcap. It works, but it could be a little bit more user friendly and those numbers are really small! But it is really useful.

 

[divdiv]

Glad i can help.

Keep in mind freshness of battery during your tests. Keep it fair in order to get true results.
Its important specially in 300+ range.

Yeah, fully charged batteries aren't to be ignored. I came in today with 2 fully charged batteries. The first lab I went to measured the RPL300 at 10 mW. Tried it with both batteries, but I knew the reading couldn't possibly be right. We played with it for a few minutes each battery. Later on today I went to a different laser lab. They got a reading of about 200 mW. From what I understand, the battery drain from 5-10 minutes of use could easily lower the output from 300 mW to 200 mW right? I just called the first lab, where I wasted my fully charged batteries to let them know that they might want to look into their equipment. They are a little freaked out now because that's what they've been using to publish their data. Anyways, I'll recharge all of the batteries tomorrow and test them out again and see if we get something closer to 300 mW.