My 1W 445 Module build using 4x Anamorphic prisms

I have finally found a little time to start my 445 build to replace the now sold 300mW 473 I had in my RGB.
The module will be Die4 TEC Chilled and the diode will be powered using a single Flex driver. Both of these will be powered from a single 6A SM 12v supply.
The diode will be housed in a modified Meredith mount with an Aixis 405 3x lens collimator screwed into the front.
It will incoperate 4x P1t8ull Anamorphic Prisms with 2 of them expanding the slow axis and the other 2 the fast axis. This in theory, going on Simons 3% loss per prism findings, should give me just over a watt of a good, clean, round beam; if running the diode at around 1.2W output.

Pics below of the build so far:

Lurrrvleyy Jubbly Sir. Smoggers :)
But pics seem to be missing a photon or two >:)

Purdy box; I'm thinkin he is missin a diode to produce said missing photon... or two. *vigil

No :) Ive got everything but I didn't want to fit the diode until I have everything else ready and waiting.

It's in the process of being built, it's not anywhere near finished yet. These are just build photos ;)

hi mr mog you might want to experiment with the 4x prisms i did not get any where with it
your still going to end up with a far field stripe best i got was 20mm x 3 @22m
adding prisms just swap the fa and sa around again, and got myself all confused, and gave up with that idea, let me know if you have better luck :)

In theory it should work mate but theory dosen't always follow practice :rolleyes:

I will keep everyone posted ;)

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Originally Posted by smogthemog

In theory it should work mate but theory dosen't always follow practice :rolleyes:

I will keep everyone posted ;)

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cool best of luck;) nice looking so sar though
the beam from a single set is well usable beats my green
if you get in a experimenting mood try two sets together set up the same
and check far field beam ;) interesting

I do have 2 more diodes, Meredith mounts, TEC's, PBS and one more set of prisms so I may collate all the bits at a later date to make a tiny 2W projector on a similar ilk to that little green one I built a while back ;)

I have a very small scanner set up and could condense down a fair bit reguarding a 445 to lob in front of it - that will have to be another project to add to my list of many though :rolleyes:

Simon - if your reading this thread, did you put thermal paste between the module and the mounts you did for me mate when building them up?
Don't want to have to split them if you did :)

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Originally Posted by smogthemog

Simon - if your reading this thread, did you put thermal paste between the module and the mounts you did for me mate when building them up?
Don't want to have to split them if you did :)

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Message yep Jim.. white goo is there between the mounting block and 4 hole plate, guess I cleaned it up well, with added love and care :cool:

very nice machining Mr. P1t8ull :)

Thanks Si :cool:

Yes Dave, you just cant get that same shiney surface with a file that you can do with a machine ;)

I did try and get as better finish as I could on the main chassis but it will all be under a plastic cover and most will be blackened anyway so it won't matter too much :)

The bits of ally I used where all cut off from our water jet cutter at work - I only wish that all surfaces where as neat as when they come off of that machine! A lovely even mottled effect.

Asking advice here but does anyone invisage any problems that might arrise with this set up? I have tried to think of everything that may cause a problem but sometimes 20 eyes is better than one pair ;)

Very nice!!! We are all standing by for the result of your second pair of prisms!

Where did you get that qute little TEC by the way?

The TEC came with the die 4 chill from robin.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by smogthemog

I have finally found a little time to start my 445 build to replace the now sold 300mW 473 I had in my RGB.

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Good looking build so far. This one is the first I have seen using 2 sets of prisims.

How much did your 473 sell for?

I sold the 473 for 500 Euro's.

can you post a pic with the 4 prisms mounted. Not following what you did real well.

Well it's all in the above thread :rolleyes: :confused:

No, because I haven't yet fitted them. Finding time to do it is an issue with 2 young kids, believe me ;)

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Originally Posted by smogthemog

Finding time to do it is an issue with 2 young kids, believe me ;)

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Blanket statement there huh? >:)

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Finding time to do it is an issue with 2 young kids, believe me

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Tell me about it, I have been putting together my first projecter for 7 months now, I want it so bad but my 2 little en's just dont understand (neither does the missus:confused: )

Good Luck!

Can anyone tell me - if I look at the front of the 445 LD, is it pretty obvious which is the Fast Axis?
I am guessing the FA is 'across' the diode so to speak with the beam looking like an expanded version of the 'chip' that I see in the diode?

So, if the diode is fitted in it's mount with the 'chip' laid horizontal, the FA will also be horizontal and the SA vertical? Yes?? :)

hi jim
its opposite to how it looks but if you place the diode so the middle pin is at top then that will be vertical polarisation which is what you want ,but it has to be spot on for the prisims
to work properly,
cheer chris
and hurry i want to see blue pics of the laser sort :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by smogthemog

Can anyone tell me - if I look at the front of the 445 LD, is it pretty obvious which is the Fast Axis?
I am guessing the FA is 'across' the diode so to speak with the beam looking like an expanded version of the 'chip' that I see in the diode?

So, if the diode is fitted in it's mount with the 'chip' laid horizontal, the FA will also be horizontal and the SA vertical? Yes?? :)

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i was able to get a spot down to about 8x3mm at 40 feet using four prisms in a row. there were some some power loss due to waste beams off the prisms, but the beam was still pretty bright (sorry i didn't meter it). there was some noise around the spot, but it would be pretty easy to chop most of that out.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by smogthemog

I have finally found a little time to start my 445 build to replace the now sold 300mW 473 I had in my RGB.
The module will be Die4 TEC Chilled and the diode will be powered using a single Flex driver. Both of these will be powered from a single 6A SM 12v supply.
The diode will be housed in a modified Meredith mount with an Aixis 405 3x lens collimator screwed into the front.
It will incoperate 4x P1t8ull Anamorphic Prisms with 2 of them expanding the slow axis and the other 2 the fast axis. This in theory, going on Simons 3% loss per prism findings, should give me just over a watt of a good, clean, round beam; if running the diode at around 1.2W output.

Pics below of the build so far:

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A couple more pictures of where I am at so far.
@ 10 meters I have a spot 10mm x 15mm. A few more small tweeks should make that a little better I am hoping.

Very neat Jim ....looking good:D

Are you getting a celeb in for the BIG switch on? *retardo and is it being televised?[popcorn]

Nice work mate;)
K

nice one jim :)
next time you fire it up please could you measure the beam at apeture and at 20m
just curious to compare against what i got :)
thanks
chris

I cant at 20m Chris, my yard isn't big enough.
I may be able to stretch to 15m but will let you know.

Kev - I have Jordan coming around for the switch on - that way i can finish off the stupid tw#t and do everyone a favour.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by smogthemog

I cant at 20m Chris, my yard isn't big enough.
I may be able to stretch to 15m but will let you know.

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Use a fs mirror to send it back. This way you could strech to 2x15m

here,s my testsetup doing 500mw of blue 445nm. After seen smogthemog using two pairs i decided to try that also. The spot size is 8mm after 6.5 meters. The spotsize is perfectly round using two prismpairs. I dont own a powermeter but it hurts when i touch the beam:p This is just a quick setup. I have done slightly better when adjusing the secon prism pair. Both pairs of prism are at brewster angle.

I guess what you are doing there is expanding the slow axis to more or less match the original fast axis thus a near dot - but with high divergence?

you can try it yourself if you have that second prismpair:) i have 5 sets of those because you never know when you might need them;) do you have that second pair of prisms?


I tried both positions horizotaly and verticaly and that didn,t work. At least not with a vertical beam out of aperture.

Yeah jim rip out the mrs vanity mirror and use that
lol, I did, It stops hurting after a while ;)

@ every one else you realy need to set up your beams
at least 20m beacause that's where the beam starts to
get ugly again, just my opinion though after two days solid
testing ;)

Thanks for the tip badger!!!

:)

I placed my test setup in the hall and pointed it al the way through the kitchen right at the back of the wall of the toilet. The distance is 13.5 meter.

The first picture is showing the distance. The second showing the beam size hitting an aluminium plate in my toilet. This was done with one set of prism pairs (3th picture)
Beam size 4mm after the prisms ;) and 14mm when hitting the aluminium plate. 4th picture dual setup with two sets of prisms behind eachother and the beamsize in the 5th picture.:)

This is the same setup only with two prism pairs. First picture is the setup with two prism pairs and the second showing the beamsize at 13.5 meters.

i did a lot of testing with two prism pairs...

http://www.monkeyhands.com/images/ph...hysical-13.jpg


but, eventually just settled on a single pair. the beam was acceptable and the losses were lower.

http://www.monkeyhands.com/images/ph...hysical-17.jpg

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Originally Posted by edison

This is the same setup only with two prism pairs. First picture is the setup with two prism pairs and the second showing the beamsize at 13.5 meters.

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Great to see al the new setups. This is my last test:

This time without a prism pair but different lens then the test before.

First picture without a prism pair. Second with one prism pair. 3th picture with two prism pairs and the last with the round dot the lens is slightly out of focus. Sorry for hyjacking the tread smogthemog. But its for a good cause i gues. To get everyone the best beamproperties>:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by smogthemog

Kev - I have Jordan coming around for the switch on - that way i can finish off the stupid tw#t and do everyone a favour.

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Can I bring a gun too Jim and have a pop - pleeeeeeease

Rob

Looking good edison, thanks for posting the photos. Check the order of the 2nd and third of the last set.

Excellent work Edison, and NO you are not hijacking the thread - it's really good to compare results between all of us ;)

I have made a right angled bracket arrangement now but am awaiting the setting of the epoxy resin for the 2x prisms. I have no further time tonight to go any further with it so will have to show some beam tests tomorrow night :(

Pics below of the bracket in position and then the 2x vertical FA prisms in situe, waiting for the glue to harden.

I guess it is my Aixis 405 lens in front of the diode causing this but if I remove all the prisms and just shine the beam onto my shed 5 meters away the stripe is horizontal. If i then project the stripe onto something 100mm or so away the stripe is vertical!
It changes from vertical to a horizontal plane at around 2M away from the lens????
This means my SA correction is done with my first set of 2x 'laid down' prisms and the FA correction is done with the last 2x prisms on the L bracket.

EDISON - I SEE NO LASORB ON THAT 445!!! :( :rolleyes:


Rob - Yes you can mate *retardo

Quote:

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Originally Posted by swamidog

i did a lot of testing with two prism pairs...

http://www.monkeyhands.com/images/ph...hysical-13.jpg


but, eventually just settled on a single pair. the beam was acceptable and the losses were lower.

http://www.monkeyhands.com/images/ph...hysical-17.jpg

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Hey Swamidog,

What current you running your 445 at in this setup? Does the diode holder get hot at all or are you TE cooling it?

Cheers
Rich

Hey jim
it does not matter what you do to the beam with lens or prisms
The diodes are. Very astigmatic and sorts it self out after 2m
that's why you. Can't cut and fold these beams
but after 2 m you can
try masking some of the beam at apeture it just fucks up and goes dim far field try the same at 4m and it just cuts beam in half it confused me to start with,untill simon explained what was going on, have fun experimenting with two sets of prisms, but trust me by the time that beam hits 20 m you willwant to go back to one set, the same old rule will come in to play
add a lens double your divergence,
Adding. An extra set of prisms is the same as putting. Reverse telescope lens
on a 635 ,give a great beam at start but. after afew meters its :(
So what I am saying is if you use two sets @20m you will have a beam that's almost the same as if you used,no prisms at all, I already been there got tshirt and was gutted :(
Sorry for the bad news m8

Thats quite interesting. So after 20 meter its going bad again. Thanks badger i will try 20 meters and see what i come up with:)

After badger mentioned that the beam get worse after 20 m so i decided to mirror the beam in my toilet to do the test at 27 meters. First picture 27 meters and one prism pair
Second picture with two prism pairs both in normal horizontal position. beamsize at firstpicture 6cm by 6cm. Second and third picture 3cm by 5 cm.:)

I did another test with one prism pair in front of a the beam with a different lens. I noticed that you get a very small divergence but the prismpair doesn,t work that well with this lens. Also the beam is fatter at aperture but after 20 centimeters it reduces so you could put the blue the last in your projector. Distance 27meters size of the beam 3 centimeters;)

This is the last test and personally for collimating 1 diode I like this one the best not suitable for stacking because of the slightly fatter beam. Its fit the mirrors of your scanners fine. The first picture is with a prism pair and the beam is quite square. The first picture is with a prism pair (beamsize 3by 3cm) in front of it and the second without (beamsize 8by 8cm ) I dont know yet what the losses are but i will do the tests again soon with a powermeter to see what the losses are. I calculated the divergence and it was 1.0 mrad when using the prism pair. Without the prism pair the divergence is 2.4 mrd. Square beam though.

Why is everyone only trying to expand the SA and not contract the FA?

Surely the SA is nearly good to go and it's the huge FA that needs taming :confused:

If losses wern't too much of an issue, surely one set of prisms to expand the SA and 2 sets to contract the FA is the way to go with this large stripe?

Nice results edison guess your lens are a bit better than mine I had to keep mine in focus or the
beam went out of shape, and this shows us how aixiz lens. Can vary
best I could manage was 20mm x 3mm @22m which is as good as my 532nm
when I said the beam got ugly. After 20m. I should have said it did for me as I can only get the thin stripe with my lens, its great to see you are having better luck than me
with beam shaping. How did it look with two prisms?

Jim give simon a call he can exlain it to you better than I can
It proberly can be done but not with what we have might be worth waitng to see what andy comes up with on the 638nm diodes and applying it to the 445's

Quote:

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Originally Posted by smogthemog

Why is everyone only trying to expand the SA and not contract the FA?

Surely the SA is nearly good to go and it's the huge FA that needs taming :confused:

If losses wern't too much of an issue, surely one set of prisms to expand the SA and 2 sets to contract the FA is the way to go with this large stripe?

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Me and Terrawatt have been working on a Test unit....Pics shortly.....to compare prisms with
cylindricals.....now to compare 1 set prisms to 2 sets prisms.....but....I have this thought....
IF you use the knife edge 2-diode set up......it would NOT be necessary to shape the beam as much...by stacking....you will still end up with a rectangle...which is fine !!! And you will drive each 445 at a lower mW. Engineering is always a compromise.

This search for the "Holy Grail of 445 Optics" leads me to another question.....What will be the typical beam termination distance for a " Home " show ????? OR...What will be the typical beam termination distance for a " Professional " show ???? That distance would be a guide for how far out our optics need to go and keep the beam tamed. I know.....perfect TEM 00 @ .1 mRAD....NO..not with SS !!!

Any thoughts on these topics ????

CDBEAM and Terrawatt >:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CDBEAM

Me and Terrawatt have been working on a Test unit....Pics shortly.....to compare prisms with
cylindricals.....now to compare 1 set prisms to 2 sets prisms.....but....I have this thought....
IF you use the knife edge 2-diode set up......it would NOT be necessary to shape the beam as much...by stacking....you will still end up with a rectangle...which is fine !!! And you will drive each 445 at a lower mW. Engineering is always a compromise.

This search for the "Holy Grail of 445 Optics" leads me to another question.....What will be the typical beam termination distance for a " Home " show ????? OR...What will be the typical beam termination distance for a " Professional " show ???? That distance would be a guide for how far out our optics need to go and keep the beam tamed. I know.....perfect TEM 00 @ .1 mRAD....NO..not with SS !!!

Any thoughts on these topics ????

CDBEAM and Terrawatt >:)

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when knife edging do you line them up side by side, or over lay them at distance to give a tighter beam.