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Melles Griot 85-RCA-400
Just scored one of these 400mW red lasers for a good price on ebay; the seller also shipped the controller, but he has stated that it doesn't work. Does anyone have any documentation for these systems?
I already own a 85-YCA-050 system which works, it has the same connectors on the controller, would it be reasonable to suppose the power and RS232 connections are the same as for the YCA?
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Evidently I should have spent another 10 minutes googling as I've now located the manual for the controller. If it's of any use to anyone else, take a look here
It appears the power and control interface on the D15 connector is almost the same as for the YCA laser, so I should be able to test it using the cables I already have for the YCA.
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When did you pick up the 85-YCA-050? I tried to win one on eBay earlier this year but was outbid. That wasn't you was it?Originally Posted by NobleGas
Hope you get the new red unit up and running!
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I bought it a couple of weeks ago; it was on a buy it now deal and I made an offer which was accepted. These do appear to turn up quite frequently, one seller in particular appears to have a number of them for sale (or he can't shift the one that he has!)
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I'm green (chartreuse?) with envy! Will need to keep an eye out for more.
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I'm making slow progress, the seller chucked in the controller and, as promised, it didn't work. With a 5V supply connected, as per the manual, I found there was 5V coming out on one fuse, but nothing on the other one; I replaced the fuse (2.5A T SMD), powered it up and a tantalum cap let out the magic smoke - straight into my face! Removed the dead cap, fitted a replacement (ceramic this time, 10uF 50V) and tried again; this time I have LEDs and I can talk to the controller via the RS232 (watch out, this controller uses standard RS232 pinning unlike the 561YCA controller I have); Baud rate is 19200. The controller doesn't have onboard switches, so I've hooked a start and stop switch up to the power connector. This is as far as I have got, I've yet to be able to turn the laser on, so something else is probably missing; the handbook for the lab style controller mentions a keyswitch, so I guess this needs to be jumpered out on the board.
Anyone got one of these running yet?
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Well after some more effort and making up a new power cable, as the one for my 58 YCA 50 is wired differently (MG, why can't you stick to a common pinout on your controllers from the same family?), I got some light, but the laser quickly shut down; looking at the messages on the RS232 port, I was getting an LD undervoltage fault; a quick check at the fuses showed 4.7V with the head lasing, so there was the problem. I made up a new power cable using heavier gauge wire (the old one was a cut down VGA monitor cable, and the 30 AWG wires just weren't man enough); hooked it up and we have lots of red light
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Photos please. Can you put it next to a diode laser. I was always interested to see opsl next to diode. I would kill for a yellow opsl.
Senior Member
Neither of these are OPSL, the 561nm mentioned is DPSS and the 85-RCA-400 is diode.
Senior Member
Diachi is correct.
I have to say the 561nm DPSS is a beautiful colour and has the most impressive beam specifications and runs SLM. So far the 660nm head is just producing a very bright red blob, wondering how easily the fibre will come off the head now.
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