Old Lear Siegler Laser

[Eidetic]

Fed Ex man just delivered an excellent and extremely rare addition to my vintage laser collection; a mid-'60s Lear Siegler model H140/3 ruby laser head. It came across Ebay a couple weeks ago and I snatched it up faster than you can say WTF, convincing the seller to end the auction early for me. Despite being an unassuming rectangular blue metal box, this laser head is GOLD in my collection. It's one of only two I know about that were made by the group that started out as Trion Instruments of Ann Arbor, Michigan, the first company formed to manufacture lasers commercially.

The head includes the pump chamber with intact ruby rod with dielectric reflectors on it (6" x 3/8" it appears) and linear lamps, a fan, a capacitor, and a couple of interlock switches (cover and cap connector). I spoke with Don Broadbent about it. He started working at Trion in 1961 and left Lear Siegler (who acquired Trion in 1962) in 1966. He doesn't remember this model, so it must've been made between '66 and '69 when they folded.

[Jem]

Yet another nice find Bob

[sugeek]

I can't wait until you move to PHX for Bob + Swami + Karl + Spitz LEM

-Adam

[Meatball]

Do you suppose it will ever lase again?

[Eidetic]

Lookin' forward to a LEM in AZ after all settled in.

Old ruby lasers are pretty easy to get lasing again. A real testament to the elegance of Maiman's approach! I'll have to get this one apart to see the condition of the coatings though, and find a suitable power supply for the lamps.

Three more lasers added to my collection today too, after a long overdue visit with Brian Bohan of Cambridge Lasers here in Fremont. An air cooled argon system made by Continental Laser Corporation in 1988, a rare c1990 water cooled argon head from Liconix, and a Spectra-Physics 170 system in grey from the late '70s I'd guess. Got the grand tour of their great and expansive facilities there too. Plasma tubes all over the place! I was in heaven the whole time. Brian's generous gifts to this collection will be cleaned meticulously and live on amongst their peers.

[RonZ]

Nice addition Bob. I enjoy your postings and particulary the description and history of the new additions to your collection. When (roughly) do you expect to be settled in Phoenix?
Ron

[Eidetic]

Hope I'm not pushing the bounds of this forum too much with these postings about "Cabinet Grannies" and boring old technical devices. I'd be at LPF with a bunch of them if the "moderators" there would actually DO their job and prevent threads from being derailed with personal drama by the regular few who see themselves as "authority" there (because of their knowledge of soldering, bulk of "me too" posts, and circle-jerk rep points). With an AVERAGE age of 18 though, I doubt they'd be very interested. But those who would be are probably here too.

I'll be done with the move by the end of the month.