Proper Laser testing methods
Hi Guys,
There seems to be a bit of variability in marious manufacturers of DPSS lasers as you may have deduced by now.
Quality and design are big factors that may haunt you if you do not do your homework and ask questions before you buy.
I suggest the following:
1. Make sure you know the specifications you can live with, Constant Wave power output, beam size, divergence, mode.
2. Make sure the blanking input meets ILDA specs ( zero off to + 5 vdc full on ) and TTL /analogue available.
3. Is the blanking input protected against inputs higher than 5 vdc ?
4. Does the DPSS laser have a good IR filter and what % of power leaks through .
5. You should have a half decent laser power meter and safety goggles + an IR filter to make your own measurements.
6. When you do measure laser power, make sure the beam that lands on the laser sensor is not reflected back at 90 degrees into the laser cavity output window or damage may occur.
7. I would use a + 5 vdc power supply and a 10K Ohm limiting resitor to feed the DPSS laser blanking input to fire up the laser for testing. This eliminates any guess work about the actual output of your laser show controller (Pango, Mamba, etc..)
8 Always use anti-staic precautions and treat all electronics like the sensitve precious, expensive jewels they are and If the laser still doen't meet the factory specs then take steps to correct the situation.
Rick
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