survival laser 5 watt blue 445nm

[thenatmann]

I was looking online at Survival Laser International Home and I see that they have a new handheld 5 watt blue laser for about $1000. Unfortunately the USA website: Survival Laser USA Home cannot sell this high powered laser to US consumers, at least not with the solderless parts bundle that they are known for, but I still think it is worth discussing.

First of all, 5 watts? I had no idea that a laser could have so much power. I really want to get my hands on this laser, and maybe I will one day when I can save up some money for it. The instructions on the website say that you can cycle on for 20 sec and off for 1min, which means that this thing must get crazy hot fast, which makes sense. Also batteries last about 15 min, which isn't very long, but for 5 watts, that is actually pretty amazing.

Second of all, I am wondering if anyone here has ever had a laser that could do at least 4 watts or greater (pictures are definitely welcome).. And if so, does the beam have a point to infinity or will there be at least some divergence, because the laser for sell says g-2 lens, meaning it can't really focus to infinity but I guess it can get somewhat close.

One last thing, I'm wondering if this laser can be seen from space. Also, how far away can it be seen altogether? I'm thinking like 8 miles which if pointed up will reach the outer limits of the atmosphere. I'm wondering how something so amazing hasn't been discussed on this forum yet, which is why I am starting this thread.

 

[Thejoker301]

Check this out : http://laserpointerforums.com/f65/3-5w-ndb7a75-445nm-laser-diode-88899.html

It has been discussed for a long time now .. There were several posts about this diode.

:beer:

 

[Lotus_Darkrose]

 

[Pi R Squared]

Those hosts sold by SL are nice but I can tell you from experience that they are too small for even a 1.5w laser unless you really want something small and can live with the short duty cycle. You can put together something with a larger host with a reasonable duty cycle for the same price or less.

Yes a 5w blue could easily be seen from space, if you shined it at the ISS they would easily see it, and that's well over 300 miles so I would advise against shinning one of these in the air unless you want to attract attention to yourself and possibly get arrested.

Alan

 

[Cel]

There is a JetLasers GB going on. (for 4-5W 445nm, and 1W 520nm)

IMO the JetLasers' lasers are nicer, have better heat sinking, and are cheaper. And are available as 1W 520nm green goodness.

 

[Shakenawake]

jetlasers all the way, ordered mine already. you can choose 4.5W fixed focus with 1.8-2mrad or 5W fixed focus with divergence closer to 4mrad. I'll be using the BE for focusing, though they do have focusable ones available at around 4W.

http://jetlasers.org/pl-e-pro-series/520-4w-pl-e-pro-445nm-blue-lasers-5w-3w.html

survival lasers makes quite a profit on those new diode kits it seems. I paid $300 less for the PL-E pro and that includes the ac adapter and beam expander

when we talk about focusing to infinity, what we mean is getting the dot as small as possible at the greatest distance. does not matter what type of lens is on. technically no laser actually focuses to infinity, they all diverge at some point. actually the photons are in the process of diverging from the very beginning. it's true that 3 element lenses tend to produce smaller dots at distances than g lenses, and this is more noticable with multi mode diodes.

 

[thenatmann]

I can't get into jetlasers.org right now, maybe it's under maintenance, but I did look at their hosts in a youtube video, and they look pretty cool, almost like light sabers. It looks like the laser tube is almost meant for wider batteries, and I'm wondering if they offer some sort of extension tube to use 18650 batteries and not just the 16340's.

Also thanks shakenawake for the clarification of divergence, I'm still kinda new to laser terminology. But have you guys used jetlasers yet, and are they pretty reliable and sturdy? I dropped a survival laser and managed to break the lens and heatsink after having it for only a few months. I was able to get it fixed pretty easily though.

 

[Lotus_Darkrose]

I can't get into jetlasers.org right now, maybe it's under maintenance, but I did look at their hosts in a youtube video, and they look pretty cool, almost like light sabers. It looks like the laser tube is almost meant for wider batteries, and I'm wondering if they offer some sort of extension tube to use 18650 batteries and not just the 16340's.

Also thanks shakenawake for the clarification of divergence, I'm still kinda new to laser terminology. But have you guys used jetlasers yet, and are they pretty reliable and sturdy? I dropped a survival laser and managed to break the lens and heatsink after having it for only a few months. I was able to get it fixed pretty easily though.

Please use the search feature. Jet Lasers is a very well known company. Plenty of threads on here about them.

 

[trencheel303]

JL site is down.

Down For Everyone Or Just Me -> Check if your website is down or up?

"It's not just you! JETLASERS.ORG, SHOP JETLASERS LASER PRODUCTS ONLINE - Jetlasers.org, Online Shop for Jetlasers Products. looks down from here. "

Either that or it's a major DNS outage.

EDIT: it came back up as I typed this. Very slow loading.