Hi guys I just thought I would share my latest fleabay purchase with you - bought (won) last Sunday its a real novelty item - a CNI made (in 2004) 556nm DPSS with lab type power supply. The auction said 75mW and one image showed it on a lasermate indicating 78mW. Considering what thes would cost if bought new I thought that <£150 inc post was pretty good! The guy I bought it from had not had it long - since august when he bought it in a french ebay auction - he actually made a little on the sale to me.
It arrive this morning - much to my delight, however I was at first a little upset as I noted the lack of ir filter and so thought the lasermate picture from the auction was not going to be an accurate measure of the 556nm output. Im not sure if the lasermate image was one he took or he had used from when he bought it so Im not gonna throw mud and say he decieved me and anyway Im happy because...
... it fired up no probs and works well - with a nice bright if a little fat beam. Its about 2mm at the exit which is not as small as most CNI dpss I have seen. I measured it with my lasercheck and got 95mW then popped an ir filter in the way and measured 65mW - so I am no way disappointedit does fluctuate a bit and 65 is the max I have seen though mostly its 55+
The 'fan cooled' power supply was lacking fan cooling so I popped the lid to find the fan disconnected - Im guessing this was done as it is very noisy for such a little thing - but Im gonna put up with the noise!
images below are
1 - view of laser and PSU
www.stanwax.plus.com/laser/cni556_01.jpg
2 - as above but with the laser on and the beam onto a piece of paper.
www.stanwax.plus.com/laser/cni556_02.jpg
3 - close up of the end inside the screw on cap - looks like there has been a filter on this but its been removed
www.stanwax.plus.com/laser/cni556_03.jpg
4 - Beam spot without lens shows a reasonable profile though not exactly gausian its not terrible.
www.stanwax.plus.com/laser/cni556_04.jpg
5 - An attempt at comparing it to 532nm - the 2 colours come out on the camera almost exactly the same though there is a big difference to them by eye.
www.stanwax.plus.com/laser/cni556_05.jpg
6 - The base of the head has been 'modified - not sure why but someone has had a file to it so its not exactly flat nowAlso the mounting holes are filled with epoxy resin ????
www.stanwax.plus.com/laser/cni556_06.jpg
7 - Inside of the PSU - it looks more sophisticated than the OEM one on my CNI blue. Im amazed to see the big transformer in there - and worried when I found its mounting screws were loose. Note at the top where the molex connector is there is significant discolouration where the red wires are - suggesting poor connection and overheating - I will have to keep an eye on this.
www.stanwax.plus.com/laser/cni556_07.jpg
Though not of great use for laser shows it is a lovely colour and very novel - I will pop it infront of some scanner later and take some pix. Needless to say it will make an appearance in Leicester in a few weeks time.
Rob