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Thread: 200mW Analog 473nm Lab Laser

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
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    85

    Default 200mW Analog 473nm Lab Laser

    Hey,

    First and foremost, I'm not a projector guru. I'll do my best to get you any information you need in order to evaluate this laser - but you may have to bare with me in that this really isn't my area of expertise. Also, I have very little reputation to my name here on PL. I have a moderate amount on LPF, for whatever that may be worth.





    The background on this laser was described here:
    http://laserpointerforums.com/f40/20...tml#post962128

    I got incredibly lucky with this purchase, and somehow managed to purchase this for $182 on eBay. I feel like I stole it. As awkward as it feels to say this, I wouldn't sell it for that little. I enjoy this laser quite a bit, and I think it's worth more than the $182 I paid for it. So for $182, I'd keep it. But, if it's worth more than that, I'd certainly like to free up the cash to use for something else. The cheapest 473nm I could find from China on eBay was $888. Again, I'm not pretending to know what this is worth, but I would imagine that somewhere between what I paid (about $220 all said and done) and $888 is reasonable.

    This laser is very stable. I just ran a 20 minute LPM test, and here is a graph. It peaks at 372mW, but then very quickly comes down to a rock solid stable 215 to 225mW, where my guess is it would stay for continuous usage. I ran the LPM for 20 minutes, thinking this was a good time frame. If you guys need me to run it longer, I'm happy to.


    Here are the details from the previous owner:
    - 2mm beam diameter at aperture, with very low divergence.
    - Originally paid $1,850.00 plus shipping in January of 2010, and has 40-50 hours (* plus my own ~2 hours including today's LPM test) on it.
    - Originally came with a one year, 10,000 hour warranty.
    - Very simple operation. Plug it in, and add 3-5 Volt dc to the analog wires coming out of the power supply.

    So again, I'm happy to try and figure out anything that is important to a potential purchaser. The condition is good. The PSU has some cosmetic wear on it. I also built a simple DIY analog trigger so that I could power it up (basically, a 4V power source with an on/off and momentary button on it, inside a black hobby box). I'll include that.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails 28iwck3.png  


  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Munich Germany
    Posts
    112

    Default

    Hi,
    you made a great deal
    Is the laser analog modulated?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Cape Town, South Africa
    Posts
    236

    Default

    Very simple operation. Plug it in, and add 3-5 Volt dc to the analog wires coming out of the power supply.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Zweibrücken, Germany
    Posts
    605

    Default

    Where are you located?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
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    Default

    matratzki:
    I'm going to reveal my lack of expertise here. It was sold to me as "analog modulated", but that doesn't seem right. The laser is triggered on by placing 3 to 5 volts across two wires that come out of the PSU. In my head, that seems like it describes TTL, not analog. IE, that seems binary (either the wires have a voltage of 3-5V, or they don't - on or off, high or low, etc). Doesn't analog mean that you can vary the power of the output as opposed to simply turning it on or off?

    Solarfire:
    I'm located on the East Coast of Canada

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Grand Rapids, Mi
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    2,538

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    Does the power change between input voltages? at 3v it should put out less power than at 5V if analog. Also a simple 1.5V battery AA should modulate it as well if it is analog.

    JOhn

    Quote Originally Posted by rhd View Post
    matratzki:
    I'm going to reveal my lack of expertise here. It was sold to me as "analog modulated", but that doesn't seem right. The laser is triggered on by placing 3 to 5 volts across two wires that come out of the PSU. In my head, that seems like it describes TTL, not analog. IE, that seems binary (either the wires have a voltage of 3-5V, or they don't - on or off, high or low, etc). Doesn't analog mean that you can vary the power of the output as opposed to simply turning it on or off?

    Solarfire:
    I'm located on the East Coast of Canada
    leading in trailing technology

  7. #7
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    Jan 2011
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by polishedball View Post
    Does the power change between input voltages? at 3v it should put out less power than at 5V if analog. Also a simple 1.5V battery AA should modulate it as well if it is analog.

    JOhn
    I'll find out - give me a moment.

    I've been running it on 4V, so I'll check what 5V and 3V produce.

    EDIT: Answer - yes, it's analog. This is neat actually. I'm going to upload a video. It actually seems like anything between 3V to 5V is maximum output, and all of the modulation happens in the 0V to 3V range. Video coming shortly. This time I LPM'd it on an Ophir so that the change was easier to observe.
    Last edited by rhd; 10-29-2011 at 12:09.

  8. #8
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    Jan 2011
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    Here's a video of the modulation:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_63sdvEOtE

  9. #9
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    Apr 2010
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    Grand Rapids, Mi
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    Quote Originally Posted by rhd View Post
    It actually seems like anything between 3V to 5V is maximum output, and all of the modulation happens in the 0V to 3V range. Video coming shortly. This time I LPM'd it on an Ophir so that the change was easier to observe.
    Thats good it is analog, but the results are not as good. You want linearity across the board for the output step. Ideally for projector use. Not once 3v it is peaked.
    leading in trailing technology

  10. #10
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    Jan 2011
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    So you want linearity from 0V-5V, not from 0V-3V?

    Since I don't know the mechanics of the systems you would integrate this into, I may be asking a dumb question. But why can't the projector just take 0V as 0%, and 3V as 100%, and work within that range?

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