# TITAN Laser 350mW - Pics with Preview



## nero_design (Sep 28, 2007)

Note: Images were reduced to 640 pixels wide to assist those with low bandwidth internet.







*TITAN 350mW @ 532nm*
It was with some trepidation that I opened the ominously bulging parcel that arrived at work today bearing my name. The company address was unfamiliar to me although i surmised it to be the likely location of the folks at Tech Lasers who had recently asked if I would photograph and review their product for them. The parcel contained two boxes with simple yet direct businesslike printing across the surfaces hinting at their contents: a small one containing a Blue MIRAGE laser at 5mW ...and another much larger box containing the largest and most frightening looking portable laser I have ever encountered in my life. I'd seen pictures of come of the CNI monsters before and thought perhaps that it was a trick of the lens. Yet here was something shrouded in a split-molded block of foam before me begging to be fed and sporting the name 'TITAN'. Actually, I made that bit up because there's no visible name printed on the case at all. I had to look it up online before I noticed a mini-manual in the packaging which differentiated between Tech Lasers models and indicated correct battery polarization.





Side by side to show just how huge this laser is, I placed it alongside one of Wicked Laser's largest units: The Spyder GX and also an Executive series laser. Both are also Class 3B. The new Tech Lasers' TITAN outputs a rich and powerful 350mW although I am convinced this one is actually a little under-rated when compared to my Spyder sample which has closer to 300mW.





Not a long exposure, this is how the beam reacted to an incense candle which I lit a moment earlier to afford me some light atmosphere. I'm wondering what would happen if I fired up the Fog Machine?! The beam is VERY slender and consistent. Divergence is amazingly low. Normally I would photograph lasers on my frosted glass desktop but this one was far too heavy to risk and even the clamp had to be tilted in order to safely clasp the TITAN laser. The laser beam is sharp, tight and flicker free in my sample. The finish is a lovely matte black reminiscent of professional DSLR camera coatings. All parts are incredibly well machined. 

The laser uses a BRIGHT blue LED to indicate power status and I believe it has a low-power caution light which is red although this has not yet activated during tests. 

There's a number of safety features on the TITAN:
* Blue Power Indicator Light with one second delay.
* Safety Key Interlock (with two keys)
* Cut-out safety plug to disrupt power if unit is dropped or snatched
* Rotating beam blocker accessed at the aperture end. The last metal layer at the aperture rotates a blocking plate between the laser diode assembly and the aperture glass to cancel the beam from within the laser unit if required for additional safety.

When you turn the unit on, you can hear the fan inside gently begin to spin. It's all but silent. More of a sensation really. Then the beam activates after 1 second. The switch is a constant on/off locking-switch made from blue molded plastic.





If you look closely, the beam core of the TITAN is actually brighter than the Spyder GX although both look similar to the eye. The spot from the TITAN is slightly brighter though which shows you it's putting out an amazing strength of beam. The dot was so hideously bright that I was concerned for the camera sensor. I've damaged them before and didn't want a repeat. The TITAN beam was a very narrow beam about 1.2mm (specs said 1.5mm) wide compared to the Wicked Laser's Spyder GX which is closer to 1.8mm wide. Though not completely airtight sealed like the Spyder lasers, the TITAN was still a monster at over 15" long with keys attached.





Testing against an UNMARKED Amex card. No marker-spotting was used to accelerate the power of the laser. I just aimed for the front of the card. The green laser spot on the card was so incredibly bright that I had no choice but to wear safety glasses and in order to protect the camera lens, I placed my hand in front of it until the timer had counted down far enough.





Ouch! I turned the laser off before it cut through the card but that was a with and light-blue surface... a specular one too. Quite an impressive start and the diameter of the burn should show tight the beam is near the aperture. Indoor tests showed no visible divergence at all within 50 feet although making this observation was made extremely difficult from the brightness of the dot. The only way for me to view the dot width is against a dark surface and those always started smoking the moment the laser met the surface. Safety glasses were fantastic in cutting down the light though. You do NOT want an accident with this type of laser. This includes specular reflection related disasters. The multiple safety features are justified in my opinion, something I never thought I'd say.



The D-Cell batteries I used for testing were non-commercial Duracell Pro batteries. No visible power fluctuations were visible to the eye during testing. Correctly rated laser safety glasses were worn during this interaction. 'What kind of uses does a laser this powerful offer?,' I wondered. Clearly you could use it to signal ships at sea. It would make an excellent lab laser with the added safety features. I think a laserist would have plenty of use for a self-cooled, high-powered unit... but when my colleagues asked me what on earth I had in mind for a laser like this.. well, I just didn't have an answer. Other than reminding them you could use it to signal ships with. 

Leave me with it and I'll get back to you will some thoughts on possible applications. Other than signaling ships in a storm. Or the Mars Rover.


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## mailint (Sep 28, 2007)

What wonderful lasers you have! I envy you


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## allthatwhichis (Sep 29, 2007)

Nice club you got there... :thumbsup: Looks almost exactly like an RPL though. :thinking: Do you get to keep it after the review?


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## nero_design (Sep 29, 2007)

That depends on the company but usually that's the case. I can then feature the same laser in future comparisons with other lasers and I can also demonstrate the laser for interested parties. Due to my local laws, I can't resell portable lasers so I archive them for future use.

I'm about to take some outdoor pics of the TITAN but I'm limited when it comes to posting outdoor pictures here on CPF due to posting regulations. Will try to take some indoor pics to that effect as well.


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## allthatwhichis (Sep 29, 2007)

nero_design said:


> I'm about to take some outdoor pics of the TITAN but I'm limited when it comes to posting outdoor pictures here on CPF due to posting regulations.


 
Hey, post them over at PL. If it is anything too risky, well all just heckle you unitl you take em down. :devil:

You should feature "Rena" in more of your photos...


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## mailint (Sep 29, 2007)

nero_design said:


> I'm limited when it comes to posting outdoor pictures here on CPF due to posting regulations.


 
Sorry for my ignorance but... I'm surprised about this limit..  What does the posting regulations say?


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## comozo (Sep 29, 2007)

nero_design said:


> That depends on the company but usually that's the case. I can then feature the same laser in future comparisons with other lasers and I can also demonstrate the laser for interested parties. Due to my local laws, I can't resell portable lasers so I archive them for future use.
> 
> I'm about to take some outdoor pics of the TITAN but I'm limited when it comes to posting outdoor pictures here on CPF due to posting regulations. Will try to take some indoor pics to that effect as well.



Post pics here no restrictions and or your site http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl
I wonder though whether this unit will stand the test of time. I wonder because Techlaser is affiliated with WL many people find it necessary to return Wl product for repair. WL and Techlasers may be two sides of the same coin. Time will tell.


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## nero_design (Sep 29, 2007)

UPDATE: I've noticed a singular (and slight) power spike at the moment the TITAN laser is turned on - something I'm afraid I missed earlier as I was indoors when testing and using safety glasses at the time. It seems quite consistent and only occurs for the first half-second or so that the laser is powered up. Doesn't appear to be a problem, as many other lasers over the 100mW range tend to spike at powerup with more fluctuation than the TITAN has. I'm only mentioning it now because I missed it earlier. This laser just spikes once for the first half second or so. It seems to be otherwise quite unusually stable from that point onwards. I burned through a creme colored paper bag earlier today to see how it would react to a tan yet light colored paper surface. I also set one on fire which I found rather amusing.

* About two nights ago, some complete jerk lasered an emergency helicopter which was landing a patient on a hospital roof in the city here. The pilot had to abort the landing and fly elsewhere. Now they're looking at licensing all laser owners, including those with 1mW pointers. Can't say I couldn't see this coming.. . It's clear some laser owners don't care and can't help themselves. You'd think it's kids that do this but they caught a guy recently here who tagged a Police Helicopter twice and he was 32. I need to get a couple of sky pictures and may have to confirm with local police that I intend to do so. Just to cover myself in case there's an issue.


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## Kiessling (Sep 29, 2007)

mailint said:


> Sorry for my ignorance but... I'm surprised about this limit..  What does the posting regulations say?



https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/95791

One of the sticky threads in this forum.
bernhard


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## Freyth (Sep 30, 2007)

Wow, that guy is a complete tard. "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe." 

Let's just hope the licensing doesn't come with money attached to it. 




nero_design said:


> UPDATE: I've noticed a singular (and slight) power spike at the moment the TITAN laser is turned on - something I'm afraid I missed earlier as I was indoors when testing and using safety glasses at the time. It seems quite consistent and only occurs for the first half-second or so that the laser is powered up. Doesn't appear to be a problem, as many other lasers over the 100mW range tend to spike at powerup with more fluctuation than the TITAN has. I'm only mentioning it now because I missed it earlier. This laser just spikes once for the first half second or so. It seems to be otherwise quite unusually stable from that point onwards. I burned through a creme colored paper bag earlier today to see how it would react to a tan yet light colored paper surface. I also set one on fire which I found rather amusing.
> 
> * About two nights ago, some complete jerk lasered an emergency helicopter which was landing a patient on a hospital roof in the city here. The pilot had to abort the landing and fly elsewhere. Now they're looking at licensing all laser owners, including those with 1mW pointers. Can't say I couldn't see this coming.. . It's clear some laser owners don't care and can't help themselves. You'd think it's kids that do this but they caught a guy recently here who tagged a Police Helicopter twice and he was 32. I need to get a couple of sky pictures and may have to confirm with local police that I intend to do so. Just to cover myself in case there's an issue.


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## marianne (Sep 30, 2007)

allthatwhichis said:


> Nice club you got there... :thumbsup: Looks almost exactly like an RPL though. :thinking: Do you get to keep it after the review?


if i'm not mistaken (i believe this laser is the same size and same style casing as the laserglow hercules), the RPL is half the size of this thing... check Aseras's review of an RPL-260, the 6th post has an RPL and a hercules side by side


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## Rubycon (Sep 30, 2007)

That laser could really be shrunk down by changing from 3D cells to Li-Ion pack. I've never had one in hand nor had the head removed but if it's like the PGL and RPL, that heatsink isn't even (thermally) bonded to the optical train properly.

Granted in proper DPSS operation the Vanadate likes to be warm but with 2+W hitting it, temps will go too high for efficient operation after long. With that much room in there a proper decoupling chamber with small 1W TEC could be made to ensure very stable operation like most lab modules.

Then again for popping balloons and lighting matches, one doesn't need rock solid stability. 

With a head that _long_, one could achieve extraordinary divergence by using a final element of longer focal length. You would give up beam diameter (fineness) at the exit but the "dot" downrange would be MUCH smaller.

Finally, if they wanted to make these versatile they would just thread the live end with a familiar socket such as found on SLR cameras. Imagine being able to mate a Nikor or Canon L lens with your laser! Hello .05mR divergence! Need to burn something? Just zoom way back or switch to a macro or low prime. Higher divergence but tiny fractional mm beam. Even a 100 mW laser can ablate things quickly when focused way down. The only questionable thing here would be the AR coatings on the last elements where the higher powers (~500mW of portables) would pass through at such tiny spot sizes.

In any case I think that the "holy grail" of portable laser use is not who hits class IV levels of 1W first out the barrel, but who has the most versatile optical system. What good is 1W if you have shatty divergence or poor beam quality?

It's kind of like the basshounds driving around with 5kW systems producing 30Hz with 35% 3rd order distortion chasing the coyotes from their dens.


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## marianne (Sep 30, 2007)

i *would* very much like a *nice*, refocusable high powered green laser at a reasonable price, it'd be great... but doesn't adding more lenses cause more of the light to bounce back into the laser, making it less efficient output wise and possibly, if enough is sent back, causing damage to the laser?


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## 3rd_shift (Sep 30, 2007)

Not much need for outdoor shots anyways,
Just find a bigger room, or perhaps go to someone's place who smokes and get a few smoky beamshots inside there.


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## Rubycon (Sep 30, 2007)

You would lose some power with multiple elements. Careful alignment prevents abberations. Damage from reflected power isn't much of an issue with DPSS lasers. With direct diode lasers it can cause the output to drop IF the driver circuit is monitoring the PD output (as it SHOULD be!).


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## allthatwhichis (Oct 2, 2007)

marianne said:


> if i'm not mistaken (i believe this laser is the same size and same style casing as the laserglow hercules), the RPL is half the size of this thing... check Aseras's review of an RPL-260, the 6th post has an RPL and a hercules side by side


 
It still _looks_ the same, just _slightly_ bigger...


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## Aseras (Oct 2, 2007)

Rubycon said:


> That laser could really be shrunk down by changing from 3D cells to Li-Ion pack. I've never had one in hand nor had the head removed but if it's like the PGL and RPL, that heatsink isn't even (thermally) bonded to the optical train properly.



The new Herc's have a removeable tube. These guys are portable labbies now. TEC cooled and all AFAIK ( was told by laserglow )


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## nero_design (Oct 3, 2007)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoN4qg2hHQo

Had to YouTube it because my photo-webpages don't accept videos. No burning (for a change)... just a little classical music whilst it's operating in front of the camera. If you want to see some burning, I should have something interesting shortly... I've been setting up something that is probably several years overdue. 

I'll give you a hint....


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## allthatwhichis (Oct 4, 2007)

:thinking:

I don't get it... Does the beam disappear when gong through the plasma ball, them reappear afterwards? That is interesting... What is the ball with the blue "lightning"?

Is that a bug you are going to fry... :ironic: :sigh:


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## Illum (Oct 5, 2007)

allthatwhichis said:


> :thinking:
> 
> I don't get it... Does the beam disappear when gong through the plasma ball, them reappear afterwards? That is interesting... What is the ball with the blue "lightning"?


 
considering the plasma sphere contains gas with no suspended particles and only ionized areas are shown as the blue lightning energy is still passing through it but its not being reflected back, hence the "disappearing act"


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## allthatwhichis (Oct 5, 2007)

Illum_the_nation said:


> considering the plasma sphere contains gas with no suspended particles and only ionized areas are shown as the blue lightning energy is still passing through it but its not being reflected back, hence the "disappearing act"


 
I have been enlightened...  I should have known that though...


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## naturegirl (Oct 14, 2007)

What wonderful lasers you have! I envy you


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