RPL 450 + 30X Beam Expander Review

[f22warzone]

Well I have here is the mother of all handheld lasers for pointing as I have a RPL 450 with the 30X beam expander
The specs that were given with the laser was 469mw avg with peaks above 500mw : ) this makes me happy. The divergence is roughly 0.8mrad witch is good : ) and with the 30x beam expander it becomes 0.026mrad now that is a pointer : ) if only we could get that without a beam diameter of 3cm but hey its focusable : ) That means at 10miles the dot will be roughly 1.5’ in diameter, now that is cool.
Compared to the black it is a lot nicer a prettier but this comes with a cost of being harder to clean as if your hands are dirty at all it fills in all of that textured grip and makes for fun to clean : ) but over all I like the silver better then the black : )
Plus the new cap comes with 15 settings instead of 10 : ) witch is nice if you like the adjust ability but I prefer the key lock cap as its just easier : ).
Now I just have to find a power meter near by ( pm me if any of you live in NE Texas or SE Oklahoma )  or wait till Carter isn’t as busy
I have been able to pop a balloon instantly at 53’ just as soon as I got it focused down on it  and a match at 40’ : )

Well anyway I will let the pictures speak the rest : )

Beam shot : )

The adapter that I had made for 50$ (Can make more if you need them )

I designed it so you never have to remove the adapter cutting down on the time the lens is exposed to dust and the amount

The Fit

Little bit of blue lock tight to keep it from coming off until I want it to : )

The Beam Expander it’s self (what a steel 200$ on ebay : ) )

Mounted up

Power on : )

Beam shot : )

Now this is what I really need to win races

Make it automated so I can focus on the racers tires and cut them off the rims : ) but don’t think it will happen so I will just have to upgrade it more ( its an Team Losi LST2 one bad ace truck if you ever want to get one, get that )

Well that’s all I have for now If you have any questions about my set up here feel free to ask and I will try to answer but Monday I leave for CO : ) my grandma has so many crystals and almost a complexly glass house will be fun

Thanks for looking
Michael

P.S. IF any of you have a power meter near by let me know and we will have to hook up some time if you wanted to see the true power of this beast

Attached is cad drawing of adapter

 

[maxkillz]

I wish I had that kinda money so I could buy stuff like that :-[ :'(

 

[daguin]

Very nice. Where are you located? How much you want for making an adapter?

Peace,
dave

 

[f22warzone]

I am located near Bonham Tx
As for the adapter their is a machine shop 20 minutes away ( completely automated ) and they charge 50 $ a peace and said that if i got over 10x orders he would charge $45 a peace. The sweet part is the Tolerance is only .0005 of an inch : ) so the cap will pretty much be guaranteed to fit tightly any rpl and melles griot combination now if you have another laser or expander it may not fit and i am not guaranteeing it as the tolerance on the expander is so tight that without oil it squeaks and a peace of dirt will jam it all together and unless you have some aero kroil you wont get it apart. And i would just charge shipping and handling how ever you wanted plus 5$ for being a bit out of my way so your looking at 60$ shipped any where in the usa and 5$ less if we can get 10 or so

here is the auto cad pic

 

[steve001]

Double check your divergence calculations

 

[f22warzone]

what about them?
measured from apparatus is about 2mm then at 56' away it was roughly 16mm at its widest point ( this was taken with the nonadjustable cap so their was a little mode hopping from a horizontal ovals to a vertical oval but only a 2mm difference in diameter )

so with the
http://www.pseudonomen.com/lasers/calculators/mRadCalculator.html

it comes out to 0.82 so 0.82 / 30 = 0.027

reading taken with glasses

 

[steve001]

what about them?
measured from apparatus is about 2mm then at 56' away it was roughly 16mm at its widest point ( this was taken with the nonadjustable cap so their was a little mode hopping from a horizontal ovals to a vertical oval but only a 2mm difference in diameter )

so with the
http://www.pseudonomen.com/lasers/calculators/mRadCalculator.html

it comes out to 0.82 so 0.82 / 30 = 0.027

reading taken with glasses

Brain fart. For some reason I read 1.5' as inches. Do you think you can get some distance photos showing the spot ?

 

[LRMNmeyer]

Nice review. I wish I had the money to buy one.

 

[Jimmymcjimthejim]

Nice!
Didn't you have a RPL 425 before? :-?

 

[artix]

You need to take some long distance beamshots!
And the size of the dot.

 

[john_lawson]

wow thats nice i want one lol : wife is giving me gth looks

 

[f22warzone]

Ya i will see about getting out and getting some really long distance shots maybe over miles will see what i can do : )

yes i had a rpl 425 before but wanted to upgrade to the 450 and silver : )

 

[mikeeey]

With those beam expanders are you able to actually make the size of the beam bigger? I'm not talking about unfocusing the beam and then it diverges and gets bigger, I'm talking about making the whole beam huge, without spreading out into a cone.

 

[Milos]

Awsome setup Mr !
I love that you chose the best and put it all together right!
I have 10x beam expander and adapter that isn't that good. I would love for one like yours.

 

[steve001]

With those beam expanders are you able to actually make the size of the beam bigger? I'm not talking about unfocusing the beam and then it diverges and gets bigger, I'm talking about making the whole beam huge, without spreading out into a cone.

Yes that's why they are called beam expanders. You'll still have a cone shaped beam albeit a narrow one

 

[f22warzone]

the initial size of the beam is 30mm coming right out of the lasers and you can keep it that way for pretty far giving the .026mrad divergence but you can also do the opposite of making the focal point 10m away causing it to expand pretty rapidly after 10m or so but i do not think you can make the size of the beam bigger while still being a straight beam it will end up like 2 cones, that is unless you get the zoom beam expander that one you can focus the beam then change its over all diameter while it still maintains its beam profile and divergence and one just went on e bay a few weeks ago for 700$

Anyways any body that is interested in buying one please say so in this thread and i will let it go till Jan 14th or so and how every many are order by then i will have made and ship them out the cost will be 60$ with large rate flat envelop USPS shipping

Thank you
Michael