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Thread: Combining multiple HeNe beams?

  1. #1
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    Default Combining multiple HeNe beams?

    Over the weekend I became the lucky owner of several FREE, old, but working, Melles Griot HeNe 632nm 5mw laser heads and power supplies. I'm thinking about incorporating these into an inexpensive "beam box" as a backup to my RGB projecter I'm getting ready to construct.

    Could anyone recommend the optics that would be required to combine the outputs from 4 of these lasers into a single beam? I'm looking for the cheapest workable solution, since the RGB projector is pretty much sucking dry the hobby fund!!

    Thanks!
    RR

    Metrologic HeNe 3.3mw Modulated laser, 2 Radio Shack motors, and a broken mirror.
    1979.
    Sweet.....

  2. #2
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    Default

    You can only combine 2 and that's if they are polarized. Most are not.
    CLICKY!!!

    Admin: In the immortal words of Captain Planet: YOU HAVE THE POWER
    Admin: (To quit being a bitch)

  3. #3
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    Cool

    You could use a knife-edge mirror (like the arctos units do) and position the beams really close to one another. That way you can gang several of them together, but the beam will get larger. For true overlapping, yeah, you get 1 shot with a PBS cube to combine two of them, then you're done.

    Adam

  4. #4
    mixedgas's Avatar
    mixedgas is offline Creaky Old Award Winning Bastard Technologist
    Infinitus Excellentia Ion Laser Dominatus
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Buffo View Post
    You could use a knife-edge mirror (like the arctos units do) and position the beams really close to one another. That way you can gang several of them together, but the beam will get larger. For true overlapping, yeah, you get 1 shot with a PBS cube to combine two of them, then you're done.

    Adam
    Buffo, was the RSI paper discussed at FLEM/2

  5. #5
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    Red face

    No - we ran out of time. Marconi even had his prototype quad with him and we never even fired it up. (It stayed in his trunk the whole time!)

    We had a lot of things going on. For one, the event ended up a lot bigger than we expected. We had 18 people! That's as big as SELEM 2007 was. And we only had 12 hours...

    Steve-o has it, and I'll make sure Marconi gets it too.

    Adam

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