# 100mW 532nm DPSS module arrived!!!



## allthatwhichis (Jul 13, 2006)

It's HERE!!! and it's a lot smaller than I thought it would be...



I guess they always are huh?





























I haven't really messed with it. My goggles haven't arrived yet. I just turned it on to make sure it worked and took a few snap shots. The beam itself doesn't look any bigger or brighter to me than the 15mW pointer I used to have, but when I pointed it at my wall WOW, it's almost painful to look at. I took this as a bad thing, vision wise, and kept my eyes squinted when I looked at the wall. It fits nice and snug in the Laser FX box, but I need to get a splitter to take some of the brightness away. I played part of a song while I had it in the box and the show was BRIGHT. Too much so. 











Does anyone know, when you split a beam, does each beam "measure" an equal amouth of mW's? If n=one of the split beams; would it be n/the original beam's mWattage after the split, or with a 4 way splitter and a 100mW beam, each split beam would equal 25mW?




I'll mess around with it more when my goggles get here. Since I live WAY out in the middle of nowhere (the boarder of a national forest), I may check it out outside for a few minutes tonight. There's never anything above my house...



It's been foggy the last couple of night too!


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## jkaiser3000 (Jul 13, 2006)

Hey, that's a nice looking laser :rock:. I have the little brother (80mw) and am happy with it too. Just out of curiosity, where are the TTL signal cables?, I can't see them connected to the power supply.

As for your quetion about spliting the beam, it depends on the beamsplitter you use. You can find 60/40, 50/50 and even 70/30 beamsplitters out there. That means you get one beam with 60, 50 or 70 %, respectivly, of the total power, and the other beam is, well, the rest (40, 50 or 30%).

So you could get one of the 70/30 ones and get one beam to be 70 mw and the other is 30mw. Use the 30mw beam for your show and the other is directed to where it can't harm anybody (inside the case, for example).

enjoy


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## Entity (Jul 14, 2006)

Where did you buy that and for how much?

Thanks.


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## jtice (Jul 14, 2006)

Thanks alot for posting about this.

Looks like a real nice unit, 
I am talking to Extremelasers about getting one myself.
They now have a TEC Thermoelectric Cooled version, for slightly more $.
Anyone know anything about TEC? would it be the better choice?
Ive been told its more stable, and has a longer life span.

I was worried about these being TOO bright for the scanner systems. 
Spitting the beam seems like such a waste,
is there no way to dim these laser units? Or are they designed to run at max power only?

~John


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## allthatwhichis (Jul 14, 2006)

@Entity

I got it off eBay from ExtremeLasers. With shipping it came to $192 and some change. I think it's last years model. the ad they had showed it retailing for $999. 

@jtice

TEC=ThermoElectric Cooler. Are you familiar with a Peltier Cooler? It's a little, ave. 40 to 50 mm sq. 1/8 to 1/16th of an inch thick "pad" that has two pwr leads. When pwr is applied one side of the pad gets really hot and one side gets really cold. The more powerful the TEC the bigger delta or difference in temps between the hot and cold sides. I have used one in cooling my computer cpu. Also the cooler you keep the hot side the colder the cool side gets. It will also use much more pwr than one that is not TEC cooled. 

This thing is really bright. I have seen no way to change the power on this unit. I'm waiting on an invoice for a 488nm, 5 to 25mW variable pwr module at the moment.  Still waiting on my goggles for this one though...


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## jtice (Jul 14, 2006)

I am going to go ahead and get the TEC model,
I will probably add a fan to it also, cant have it too cool 

Yes, the GBS-100 is pretty much last years model, but its still a very very nice unit.
He still has those in stock also, but I think they will be phased out with the TEC units.

This was the first I had heard of TEC cooling, so I did some research,
very "cool" stuff  
Seems that all the TEC lasers are more stable, and last alot longer.

You got an Excellent deal on your GBS-100 !
My TEC cooled version is gonna be $250, still a good deal I think.

Keep me posted as to what you think of your GBS-100 ! 
also, what goggles did you get?
I am thinking I should get some now 

~John


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## jkaiser3000 (Jul 14, 2006)

jtice

You should absolutely get at least a pair of goggles. This laser is too bright for your own good. Especially if you plan to have that laser aligned with mirrors and other reflective surfaces. if the beam strikes your eyes even for an instant, you risk damaging your sight, and, there's no way of hitting the undo button to repair the damage done.

Also, TEC lasers are more expensive, and more stable than normally cooled lasers. It really depends on what you intend to use yours for. If only for average use, then it's a bit over kill, I think. But if you plan on some research where you need a rock solid, stable power, then you will need it. For projectors, it's pretty much whatever you choose, TEC being the better choice, but not mandatory.

Also, don't pay any attention to the add that says they sell this things for 999$, it's bull, I think. I bought my GBS-80 last year, and they had the same add. All I'm interested in is the final price, regardless of any apparent discounts. And yours is a good price for such a unit :rock:.


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## allthatwhichis (Jul 14, 2006)

jtice said:


> also, what goggles did you get?
> I am thinking I should get some now
> 
> ~John


 
If you read some of the warning threads, and do a little googling for goggles you'll probably end up buyng goggles first. There are many horror stories out there that will make you think. I just happend to do the searching after I bought the laser...  I haven't played with it too much because of my lack of goggles. I have only put it into the Laser FX. I wont do anything with mirrors or any aligning until they arrive.

I got a pair of fugly goggles off eBay. It was $50 for 2 pair with shipping. I had spent all night at work looking for a pair that was around $50, so these seemed like a steal. Since then I have found 2 new pair for $50 each, but with the 2 pair I got I can let my girlfriend wear a pair so I don't have to kick her out of the house while I align during my "project".  

Since I am now looking at the blue laser I may have to break down and get one of the exspensive pairs that block multiple wavelengths... :ironic: I also need to find a nice cheap red module. 

O... I think this is the invoice for the blue...:rock:


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## jtice (Jul 14, 2006)

Well, the $250 GBS-100 TEC 100 mW 532nm Laser is ON ITS WAY ! 

Yea, I better get a pair of goggles soon 
I tend to play,, eh hem,,, experiment with the lasers a good bit,
and do all sorts of things with mirrors, etc.

I want to get a cheapo green module also, say, 10 to 20 mW,
so that I can use it without the goggles if I want to just test something.

Or maybe I can find someone wanting to sell a cheap green pointer, 
and I can just gut it, and slap a fan on it.

~John


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## allthatwhichis (Jul 14, 2006)

Awesome! Definatly thow up some pics once it arrives. I just paid for a 9 to 25 mW blue argon module and power supply!   Let the impatients begin...

For testing somethig w/o goggles I would get one of the 5 mW ones off eBay. I've seem em for $35 to $55 I think. To be honest I think a 30 or 50 mW would have been a better choice for what I want to do, I just saw this one's auction close to the end and took a "shot from the hip" bid on it and won. :lolsign: That's why I'm thinking about a beam splitter, although I would like to see how many rooms in my house I can illuminate, so this may be just right for all 6 rooms. :candle:


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## jtice (Jul 14, 2006)

Wow, ExtremeLasers are Fast !
Just got a confirmation back with tracking,
its due the 19th !!! 

Most all the photos in my gallery of my scanner system, were done with my pointer on its 15mW setting (is had two settings, high was 52mW)
That seemed penety bright enough with some fog in the room 
I picked up a $30 fogger last yea, man that makes it fun!!!!

If anyone sees a good deal on a green module that about 15mW, let me know 
~John


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## pb_paulie_b (Jul 14, 2006)

Good score! It really does your laser FX justice


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## allthatwhichis (Jul 16, 2006)

pb_paulie_b said:


> Good score! It really does your laser FX justice


Thanks! It's almost too much... I want to filter it or split it some before it gets to the Laser FX, atleast in the future... That way I can use the rest of the beam in other rooms.  I paid for what was advertised as a 9 to 25 mW 488nm blue argon system. When I loked up it's specs I think it is rated at 10 mW with it's original pwr supply, but this one is coming with a variable psu which I think give it the variable option... :thinking: It's is being tested again before shipment, which will hopefully be on Monday, but he said probably on Tuesday...  and it already feels like it will be a LONG 4 to 5 days of waiting... :ironic: :sigh: :duh2: :sleepy:


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## dr_lava (Jul 18, 2006)

hey all, when you put your hand in the beam, does it sting? how long does it take? also, we'd like to see a spot size mesaurement at 20+ feet some time!


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## allthatwhichis (Jul 18, 2006)

dr_lava said:


> hey all, when you put your hand in the beam, does it sting? how long does it take? also, we'd like to see a spot size mesaurement at 20+ feet some time!


At first it doesn't, but if I let it warn up for a while it stings after a few seconds (6 to 10), but no too much. I want to "measure" the output on this. I thought 100mW would be a little... "more"...  It will burn black tape, but I havn't tried to burn all the way through because of the reflection off the tape is too bright to look at without goggles, and mine haven't arrived yet... :thumbsdow 

I'll have to find a 20 foot room... My singlewide is only 13 feet across.  I can try it down a hall but the perspective might not make a good photo... 

Hopefully my goggles, mirrors, prisms, and blue laser will all arrive on Thursday, my first of 3 days off. :rock:


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## jtice (Jul 18, 2006)

What kind of prisms you have comming?
I am wanting to get some diff types to get some diff beams, colors, etc.

~John


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## allthatwhichis (Jul 18, 2006)

jtice said:


> What kind of prisms you have comming?
> I am wanting to get some diff types to get some diff beams, colors, etc.
> 
> ~John


 
 :huh2: :shrug:, whatever I won off eBay... I think the ones I won are from bynoculars and a microscope or something.  I am finding that prisms are exspensive, but they seem to be the best thing for bending beams at precise angles...


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## jtice (Jul 19, 2006)

Hmm, those do look interesting.
Let me know how they do 

~John


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## allthatwhichis (Jul 19, 2006)

jtice said:


> Hmm, those do look interesting.
> Let me know how they do
> 
> ~John


 
I don't plan on buying them, remember from above, I got a pair of fugly goggles off eBay. If they don't work too well I may get one of the pairs I just showed you.


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## jtice (Jul 19, 2006)

i was referring to the prism, etc.


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## allthatwhichis (Jul 19, 2006)

jtice said:


> i was referring to the prism, etc.


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## jtice (Jul 19, 2006)

My GBS-100 TEC arrived today !!!!!












This thing is ludicrous bright !!!





I will make my own post later, figure thats better than cluttering up your thread.

~John


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## allthatwhichis (Jul 19, 2006)

:rock: :twothumbs 

Looking forward to your thread... Where'd you get those smilies from?


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## allthatwhichis (Jul 20, 2006)

dr_lava said:


> also, we'd like to see a spot size mesaurement at 20+ feet some time!


 
This perspective is alittle weird. It's down part of a hall, into my computer room. The closest door handle is about 5 feet from where the beam hits the wall. I also measured 20 ft from that wall for ya...










It's also daylight. Look at those pimp floors...



There is no smoke or fog, but I do live in Florida, the humidity is probably 70+%.


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## jtice (Jul 20, 2006)

At 20 to 30 feet, how large is your dot?

Mine at that distance, is TWO dots,
making about a 1.25" patch.

Do you know it that front part is just a retainer ring, or is it a focus adjustment?

~John


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## allthatwhichis (Jul 20, 2006)

jtice said:


> At 20 to 30 feet, how large is your dot?
> 
> Mine at that distance, is TWO dots,
> making about a 1.25" patch.
> ...


I couldn't get close to the dot to measure it. I think it had to be .75 to 1 inch, maybe a bit larger. I am about to run to the PO to see if my goggles came in. That picture was at 20 feet.




front piece? Did your's come with an extra "cord" that connects to nothing coming from the pwr supply?


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## jtice (Jul 20, 2006)

Front piece= that ring right on the front, that has the hole in it, that the laser emits from 
Not sure if thats just a retainer ring, or will adjust focus.

Yes, mine has a small set of wires (red and black) comming out of the PS thats connected to nothing,
is that the blanking/modulation connection?

~John


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## allthatwhichis (Jul 20, 2006)

On mine the "ring" seems to be an indention into the heatsink, but not very deep. Nothing that would turn. And I can exagerate and say I vaugly know what blanking and modulation mean... :huh2: 

And... no goggles, just a student loan bill. :thumbsdow On that note I'm going to bed, I've been up too long as it is... I feel like the horse.


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## jtice (Jul 20, 2006)

blanking . or modulation
is making the laser turn on and off by an outside signal.


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## dr_lava (Jul 20, 2006)

All, the point of the 20 ft.+ picture is to get a closeup of the dot shape and size. put your camera into macro mode, walk right up to the dot, and take a picture, with a ruler in view for size comparison. See some of the pics here
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/123419
although he should have used a ruler.


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## jkaiser3000 (Jul 20, 2006)

If these things are built much like my GBS-80, the front ring is more like a retaining ring, not for focus adjustment.

As for the wires, they are indeed for modulation. I'm not sure if it's analog modulation or TTL blanking for you, but for me it's TTL. In either case, what that means is that you can apply a signal to those wires to turn your lasers on/off (TTL), or vary the intensity (analog).

In the TTL case, you apply 5 volts to the red wire (+ side) and your lasers turn off. Black wire is negative/ground. If you apply no voltage, well, you guessed it, your lasers work normally (turned on)

In analog, you apply a voltage anywhere between 0 and 5 volts to the red wire, and the intensity varies accordingly (again, black is ground/negative). The higher the voltage, the lower the intensity. This method is the reccomended one for multicolor grphics projectors, because you can have potentially millions of colors. With TTL you only get 7 colors (on an RGB setup).


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## jtice (Jul 20, 2006)

Thanks alot for the info !!!!!!!!!

i know that it will do TTL, but I wonder if any can do BOTH?

I would REALLY !!! like a way to vary the power output on this thing.

Have you ever tried it on yours?

I have a variable PS, I guess I could test that tonight.

~John


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## allthatwhichis (Jul 24, 2006)

dr_lava said:


> All, the point of the 20 ft.+ picture is to get a closeup of the dot shape and size. put your camera into macro mode, walk right up to the dot, and take a picture, with a ruler in view for size comparison. See some of the pics here
> https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/123419
> although he should have used a ruler.


 
I got around to this this morning after work. I couldn't get a good enough picture to post, the measuring tape is very blurred. I measured the dot at 20 ft to be about 1/2 inch, give or take a 16th... 

On a side not, my 10+mW blue argon hasn't arrived yet.



The seller emailed me last Thursday and said the cooling fan was not working and he would have to order a new one. Should be to him today or tomorrow, and be in the mail to me shortly after.



I picked up another 488nm head Friday of last week. It is 25mW instead of 10+.



and should work with the psu I get from the 10mW... I will probably post the other 10mW head in the "for sale" forum if anyone is interested.





I need to find a decent 632nm module now. I was thinking 35 to 50mW. I may even have to downgrade from this green unit. 100mW is just too bright for the 10 sq ft I am currently using it in. It may also overpower the blue and "hopeful" red. I think a 15 to 20mW would be best to compliment the others.


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## jtice (Jul 24, 2006)

I took some pics at over 100 feet last night, will try to post tomorrow.

I hope to get around to making a PWM control for the GBS-100,
With freq, and duty cycle adjustments, dimming the laser should be possible.

~John


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## allthatwhichis (Jul 24, 2006)

Definatly post soem pics of that. Dimming would be REAL nice.


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## jtice (Jul 24, 2006)

Will be a while 

I dont even have the schematic or parts worked out yet.


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## dr_lava (Jul 25, 2006)

JT, Here's a simple PWM solution for you:






Just adjust the pot to change laser brightness with full 10-bit 20kHz PWM goodness.
the PIC can be programmed easily with the 'no parts programmer' in low-voltage mode. The PWM can only source/sink up to 25mA without damage. You will probably want to put a resistor of about 1K in series with the PWM_OUT pin.

The hex file is what you program into the PIC.
Here are the files.

PIC parts can be sampled free for people with EDU or business email addresses.


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## allthatwhichis (Jul 25, 2006)

:huh2: 

Look Greek... :candle:


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## jtice (Jul 25, 2006)

Looks pretty Greek to me also,
I am new to this sorta thing, and have never used a PIC.

But I iwll look into that, and see if I can pull that off 

~John


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## dr_lava (Jul 25, 2006)

PICs are great tools for any home experimenter that deals with electronics. They are very cheap, versatile, and easy to use. There are only 35 instructions to learn, but many are opposites or rarely used, so it feels like 15. I included the source code for you to look at, but all you really need to do is get a 16F872, program it with the hex file I attached using any PIC programmer out there (they come prebuilt as cheap as $16), and pop it into that simple circuit.


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## jkaiser3000 (Jul 25, 2006)

You know, you can lower the power from the laser with PWM, but you won't be able to run shows with that, as the laser essentialy becomes a pulsed laser, meaning all lines will be more like dashed lines. I tried using a square wave generator to simulate the TTL signals and at around 10 KHz, the intensity dropped to about half of the original (maybe 2/3 original). If you increase the frequency you get lower power, lowering the frequency gives you more power (obvious, huh? :laughing.

I'll see if I can find the schematics I used. It's a very simple design, I had everything lying around, so it cost me only some spare time.

As for analog modulation, it may be possible, but I can't say for sure, yet. As soon as I get my glavos I'll see if it can be done with my GBS-80 

Edit: here's what I used for my TTL tests.


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## jtice (Jul 25, 2006)

I guess it really depends on how fast its pulsing, if you are going to see that or not.
You can also change duty cycle with some setups, so that might help.
I would think 10KHz would be fast enough, maybe im wrong.

~John


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## dr_lava (Jul 25, 2006)

The pot in the pic schematic changes the duty cycle of the PWM from full off to full on range, and anywhere in between. Any laser that has decent TTL blanking will be able to handle at least 20kHz, since laser shows commonly have 30kpps galvos, and blanking has to be at least that fast. 20kHz is a good modulation frequency because it is generally just out of the range of hearing, so you won't be bothered by a whine, if the power supply makes one.

The PWM pulses would be visible during high-speed scanning of the laser and would probably look cool. Slowing the PWM down to 10kHz or less only requires changing a few bits in the pic source code and re-loading the pic.


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## jtice (Jul 25, 2006)

The GBS-80 and GBS-100 should do TTL of 1 to 30KHz

I was wanting to make a small controller box, that had the following
Knob 1 = PWM Freq.
Knob 2 = PWM Duty Cycle
Momentary Button 1 = Blank (off)
Momentary Button 2 = 100% Duty Cycle (on)
Main kill Switch = bypasses controll box (disconnects it)

~John


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## allthatwhichis (Jul 25, 2006)

jtice said:


> The GBS-80 and GBS-100 should do TTL of 1 to 30KHz
> 
> I was wanting to make a small controller box, that had the following
> Knob 1 = PWM Freq.
> ...


 
:huh2: 

You seem to speak or at least understand Greek better that I...


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## jkaiser3000 (Jul 27, 2006)

Hey jtice, where did you get the info on the gbs-80 and -100 TTL? I couldn't find that. Didn't send an email to extremlasers either. Also, if you want an easy, cheap and fast way of implementing your ideas of pots and switches, you can use the schematic I posted previously. You'll only need to use a pot instead of the fixed resistor, and a couple of switches to keep the laser on or off. I don't think duty cycle can be adjusted with that schematic, though, but I don't think that's much of a big deal either. Most of the time you want 50%, at least for testing.

There's got to be an easier and more precise way of simulating TTL signals, perhaps with a 555 chip, but I don't know yet 

As for TTL capabilities, most "cheap" lasers are barely capable of 20KHz, and are more likely to handle 10KHz well, meaning no considerable power loss and some other strange behaviors like turning on or off late or early. I guess this problems really originates on the power supply rather than the laser itself. But, most of the time you don't really need more than that, even if using a 30kpps scanner, the laser doesn't have to blank at that speed, as most of those points being drawn are contigous (no blanks in between).

On the other hand, there are lasers capable of TTL in the MHz range, though those are probably more expensive.


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## jtice (Jul 27, 2006)

The only info I could find, was on the ebay listing.
I wasnt too happy with the email responces I was getting from Extremelasers,
or rather, the lack of.

Specifications: GBS-60 GBS-80 GBS-100
Output mode: 
CW or TTL
Modulation Speed: 
1-20KHz
Wavelength: 532nm
Beam Divergence: <1.4mrad
Stability: +/-10%
Operating Temperature: 25-32C
Linewidth: 0.01nm
Beam Ellipticity: <10%
Expected Lifetime: >5,000hrs
Warranty: 90 Days


oops, seems i was wrong  sorry, its 20Khz


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## jkaiser3000 (Jul 27, 2006)

don't be sorry .

20KHz is pretty much the standard


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## allthatwhichis (Jul 30, 2006)

:huh2: 

Ummm, speak slowly for me... Can we make the laser dimmer? :candle: My argon that just came in has a knob on the power supply that allows me to bring it from 3 to 23 mW from what the seller tolld me. Is that analog madulation?


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## allthatwhichis (Aug 5, 2006)

Hey... quick poll, for those who know i guess. 

Should this module be able to light a match? :huh2:


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## jkaiser3000 (Aug 5, 2006)

> Should this module be able to light a match?



It really depends on the match you have. I've seen people light matches with this kind of power, so yes, it could be done. Try to use red tipped matches. That's as far as my advice goes, can't remember what's the best match to use . I think you should try one of those that don't require any special surface to light (you can light it by rubbing against your jean, for example), I think those offer your best chances of succes, but not sure.



> My argon that just came in has a knob on the power supply that allows me to bring it from 3 to 23 mW from what the seller tolld me. Is that analog madulation?



uhmm, yes and no. It is analog in the sense that it can go in discreet steps from dim to bright, meaning it's not on or off (1 or 0), but somewhere in between. But, it's not really modulation as you can control it only through the knob on the power supply. That feature is of no use if you want to have a laser show, as the projector has no way of accesing the knob . 



> Can we make the laser dimmer?



Again, yes and no. You can make the laser APPEAR dimmer to your eyes using TTL, but only because it will be blinking very fast so the beam is on some time and off some time also. The thing is, when you scan that laser it will produce a dashed line, instead of a solid one.

The only way of really dimming it would be to open the power supply and see if there is a pot somewhere (I'm sure there's at least one). The problem with that is, well, you void the warranty, and you risk damaging it if you're not careful. So I'd sugest you keep it at it's current level .

Use other ways of dimming it for alignment purposes, like a filter or a beamsplitter.


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## jtice (Aug 5, 2006)

Mine can... IF

If I make the tip black with a marker.
And then, only some matches work.

~John


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## The_LED_Museum (Aug 5, 2006)

You'd need *NO LESS* than ~70mW to ignite a match.


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## allthatwhichis (Aug 5, 2006)

:bow:

Thanks! 

I have the "strike anywhere" but the laser just won't do it. They are red, but have a white tip for the strike anywhere "feature"... I have been questioning if the laser is 100mW or not. It IS bright, but I am not sure if it is 100mW...

I din't figure it was analog like that, but I was hopin'. 

jtice mentioned that about TTL, it will still appear to blink a little. I'm not in to opening closed power supplies. I got hit by a 270 volt realy while I was wiring a school for networking. I try to stay away from power as much as possible. Although I would like to learn more about solar power... :huh2:


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