Here is my mini review of the custom OEM V-S I just received from Laserwave. This module was custom made with a reduced deck to provide a beam height of 24.8mm to match my blue and red modules, and to replace the failed 300mW MGL from CNI.
Preface
I purchased full quoted price for this module and I am not paid to write this review. As with my professional product reviews, this review is non-biased and presents the facts as I observe them. I do not take any measured to deliberately skew opinions or to promote/degrade the supplier in any way, I simply tell it like it is. I hope this review is received by Laserwave as constructive and would hope they use this feedback to improve their products.
Review start
BEWARE: The supplied users manual contains a wiring error in the photo on page 5, the + and - supply inputs are shown reversed. I have informed Laserwave of this error and I would expect this to be corrected immediately. The driver connector block is correctly marked "+5V" and "GND" and the pre-fitted input wires are also correctly fitted, red for +v and black for GND. Another manual error is the photo on page 4, it shows the red TTL- input as TTL+...
Negotiation, ordering and payment all straight forward, both Bridge and Eric are very easy to deal with and in fact they went out of their way to meet my requirements and to also expedite shipping, which took just 4 days from Beijing to Perth. 5/5 thumbs up.
The module was well packed and suffered no damage during transport.
The laser module and driver are provided pre-wired with connections via screw blocks and a 2 pin removable header. The driver provides inputs for both Analog and TTL modulation and short connector looms are provided for both, using very flexible silicon insulated wires.
The driver is mounted to an anodised aluminum heatsink block via M3 spacers. Quality appears ok, although the 3 x thru-hole power resistors are fitted kinda roughly at angles and the hand soldering could be better. A pair of TO-220 transistors (or FETs?) are mounted to the PCB underside and little provision for thermal expansion has been provided. Ideally the transistor legs should provide a Z or S fold to allow for some thermal expansion, or better still be soft wired using flexible wires with heatshrink protection over the joints. Both transistors are isolated from the mounting block.
The driver bottom side finish is quite good, being very smooth and flat (it's a pity the laser module did not get similar attention...), although a small amount of burring is present around the open ended mounting slots. Laserwave should really ensure all edges are debured BEFORE anodising.
The bottom surface of the laser module is a big disappointment. The finish is not only full of machining marks but also scratches that have occurred after machining. The open ended mounting slots each present with large burs that will interfere with the mating surface and I must address this before fitting. Checking with a known straight edge, the deck is at least flat from what I can tell, it just looks a mess and will benefit from a gentle application of elbow grease with fine wet/dry paper over a glass plate to tidy things up and ensure a more amicable thermal mating with the host optical board. Laserwave - I am calling you out on to the carpet here for a stern talking to! This aspect of your product has huge potential for improvement!
The module is glued together and I must say the application of glue is, well, agricultural! Not only that the top of the module is covered in this glue on the top cover (finger printed) however the camera can't really make this out. From an appearance and presentation perspective, this looks very poor.
Another disappointing aspect to this design is the cable exit position, which is directly adjacent to the right rear mounting slot. I will be forced to push the wiring aside in order to install this mounting bolt and I am sure Laswerwave could reposition the wiring exit towards the center of the rear, closer to the thermistor wiring...
Power Test
I tested this unit using my old power meter (not calibrated, although I do know it's within 10% accuracy) to get an idea of output power and stability. The module and driver are not bolted to a heatsink, rather they are stood off the bench with small wooden dowels and thermal sensors attached to both. The LPM head was shrouded with a box to ensure no errors are introduced due to my home ducted air conditioning. The module was powered from a LAB supply set to 5.00V, modulation was 5V TTL and a low speed 80mm fan was positioned to cool both module and driver.
LPM power, module temperature and driver temperature are logged, although I removed driver temperature from the graph in the interest of clarity.
Output power was pretty impressive from the very start and I note that stability in the first 30 minutes was not as good as it was for the final hour. Output swung by +/-50mW in the first 10-15 minutes and finally settled to a stable average of 699mW. The following averages were recorded in the final 5, 10 and 20 minutes of the test:
5 minute average: 703mW
10 minute average: 702mW
20 minute average: 697mW
Not bad for a module ordered as 500mW. Unfortunately I do not have access to "decent" IR filters at present, otherwise I would have also checked power levels with a filter fitted to check for IR present at the aperture.
The module peaked at 745mW within the first 10 minutes of operation. Output remained fairly stable with a module base temperature ranging from 25c through to 33c, so I am happy with the thermal capability of this design. As I regulate my projector base plate at 27c I do not expect any issues.
At full CW the module current consumption @ 5.00V started at 2 amps, and following 1.5 hours continuous use peaked at 2.5 amps.
I will check beam profile, size and divergence next, stay tuned for part two of my review, which will include modulation characteristics, my summary and conclusions.