Hey all,
I decided to extract the Melles Griot head and power supply out of my Mobolazer last night, on a whim. I keep toying with the idea of putting it in a new, smaller enclosure so I can bring it on a plane easier and also get the most out of my beam. I figured I should familiarize myself with the optics etc.
My question, for now, is what the optics, pictured below, are exactly, and if I should put them aside for now or keep them. The way it's currently set up would work pretty well for a smaller enclosure as the beam comes out at a 90° angle which would probably make it easier to achieve a balanced look on the outside of the aforementioned new laser enclosure. (beam window centered etc.)
I'm still on the fence about blanking also. After much nagging on my part of the nice people at MG, I've determined that I definitely have no useful modulation on the power supply currently paired with the laser.
Anyone ever heard of after-market or modded MG power supplies? Otherwise, my other two options seem to be an AOM or optical leverage blanking.
As you can see in the pictures, these optics are adjustable and mounted on rubber grommets to ensure the customer has to regularly bring the unit in for tuning or something. (right?) You may also notice that the pictured optics are mounted directly after the combiner/expander which may need some attention also. I have some pretty specific directions on adjusting the combiner/expander, at least.
So, to sum up:
1. What are those optics, exactly?
2. What's your opinion on AOM vs. Optical Leverage Blanking (I know an AOM would be considerably faster, but I believe I'd lose less light with OL blanking..)
3. Are the extra optics worthwhile, or are they contributing to beam divergence, power loss or diamond cartels in Africa, perhaps?
Thanks for reading!
-Jonathan
P.S: I threw in a beam shot from last night for additional illustration.