WTB: Small HeNe

[The Lightning Stalker]

I am (possibly) in the market for a small HeNe. I just need something I can move around and
aim easily for doing alignments. I don't need a PSU or anything. I think I have something
here that will work, or can be made to work. Again, wavelength and power are not critical. In
fact, <1mW is preferable. I've tried more and it's just too bright. Plus I don't have much
space.

Thanks again, forum.

 

[ultimatekaiser]

how small are we talking...? are we talking about ones like my 5-6" tubes? a lot of smaller henes have bad divergence depending on the original application they were made for.

 

[IsaacT]

Yeah small tubes will mostly have bad divergence which may cause problems when aligning. I know my 6" tube I don't even look at the dot, just the plasma lol.

 

[ultimatekaiser]

as a whole, most of them do, but there are a few, like my LOR-006 and my LD tube have pretty decent divergence. depends on what they were made for. orange for example, was for sighting. so its divergence is usually good on most tubes. (though not anymore as its now a dead wavelength due to being replaced by yellow and green) Red not always. usually those tiny ones were wide intentionally so they could be refocused in whatever system they were in, like my LHR-001 which has a much larger divergence than the other two.

Most heads start at 8-10" so thats where you start seeing the normal/good divergences start, since they're now actual heads, not just a 'component'

a small diode laser might serve you better. if you want a HeNe that is small with good divergence, it may cost you a bit.

 

[Speedy78]

I have a small 6ish inch tube I am selling for 20$. Cheap and may work for your purposes.

 

[The Lightning Stalker]

I was originally thinking of something like your little 5-6" tubes. What kind of refocusing are we talking
about here? Otherwise, 10" doesn't really sound too bad. Anything under 15" is good enough really.
Thanks for bumping my thread.

 

[ultimatekaiser]

You're very welcome. I'd see what speedy has. Usually for alignments I use my p-122. But I use my green LGR-193 a lot too. What exactly do you need it to do? Just low power and divergence?

 

[IsaacT]

You might be better off with a low power DPSS laser. They typically have fantastic divergence, can be very small, and don't require pain-in-the-ass power supplies to run. Get a 1mW 532nm or 593.5nm. The 1mW 593.5nm pointers from Dragonlasers are only 150. Not bad at all IMHO. And of course low power 532nm can be had for very cheaply. Maybe 40 bucks?

NOTE: depending on the type, the lens can also be adjusted to help with divergence further. Cannot say the same about HeNe's.

 

[Speedy78]

It's a Melle Groot 05-LHP-272-299. Made in 2004. Was in a case but it's a bare tube now. Serial number 2334EI

 

[The Lightning Stalker]

It's mostly for setting up a small YAG and lenses. Also in case I have to align the argon for some reason
it would be a good thing to have around. DPSS is worth looking into, though I already have a few 532nm
units, but they're all overspec Chinese pens. Plus I don't have any HeNe and they look very nice.

 

[crazyspaz]

Have
you
tried
ebay?
Number 3 is quite small, first one would be also

 

[ultimatekaiser]

Crazy, some if those we've discussed that the seller of most of those isn't honest prolly best steer clear of those...And if you're doing yag alignment, the thinner the diameter & lower the divergence the better.

I'd suggest something like this:
05 LHP 123 496 5mW Helium Neon Laser with PS 05 LPM 830 065 | eBay

Inexpensive, and probably very good for your intended use. Speedy's 272 is likely not bad too.

 

[crazyspaz]

Actually, i should go edit that post- apparently he has multiples of the same things, and he just reuses pictures (bought anamorphic prism set from him, there were another pair listed the next day with the same pic)