How bad is this cheap laser power meter? | HWLPM Mini 10W vs. Sanwu Tracer 20W
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- Опубликовано: 29 янв 2022
- Does a cheap laser power meter even work? Is it precise enough to be usable?
In this video, I test the cheapest power meter I have found for sale and compare it to a much more expensive one. I will use lasers of different colors and optical power outputs. Will the cheap one give the same reading as the expensive one? Let's find out!
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Even if it isn't accurate, this still is far safer way of judging the power than my old method of pointing it straight in to my eyes.
only at one eye i guess or how did you type this message
@@flanzie using accessibility software you do not need eyes to use a computer. which is great if you are blind or have laser vision.
how do I switch out my eye sensors, I seem to only be able to try this method one time per eye
LOL!
A simple way to get a rough estimate, is some simple burn tests though (given that the laser has adjustable focus and can be focused into a small spot. Otherwise the beam cross section area also affect the result - which is also different for different lasers)
- 100 mW is usually enough to burn holes in thin black plastic (for example a trash bag) and 200 mW to light a match or make small burn marks in wood. About 500 mW will easely "draw" on wood and can cut paper. About 1-1,5 W is enough to light paper on fire 😃Although, this cheap laser meter is still more accurate, when measuring within 8-10%
Also, if the goal it to see if the laser is "eye safe", there is no good way of doing that without a power meter, since the power levels required to damage the eyes is way lower than what's required to burn anything and the sensitivity of the eye is so different at different wave lengths, that it's not easy to judge by just looking at the spot or shining at a distance and see how far it goes. The only way is probably to measure the input power level (the current times the voltage drop over the laser diode) and count on maximum efficiency for the type of laser diode to estimate maximum output level. But that's still quite inaccurate, since it's often hard to find data of the diode and losses in the driver of an unknown laser pointer
@@106640guy The secret is to have lots of children.
For a laser, measuring high is better than low. If I ever get into lasers, I'll probably get a mini just to be able to ballpark the lasers into roughly correct power bands.
The danger is that without a large sample size, you'll never be able to know if yours read high or low, and hence can't trust it past very rough estimations.
Yep, it would be worse if it consistently gave too low of a reading. But as mentioned in the video, I can only speak for my own sample of the Mini. Perhaps other samples are measuring too low... But I do agree that having the Mini and being aware of its inaccuracy is much better than just guessing on a laser's power. Thanks for watching!
301 green lasers are about 50 mw output green and run on a regular 18650 and are cheap and widely available, good entry point to big lasers, i like my cnc blue 3000 mw cutter though, even if the software sucks(hey brainiac75, what do you know about replacing the brains in a cheap chinese cnc laser cutter?
Depends on your application
- if the goal is to determine if it's "eye safe" it's of course better it reads high, than low. But if you want to see burning power and how it perform shining over large distances, it may be preferable to not have at meter that show your laser is better than it actually is... This cheap meter is still better than simple estimations though and gives an idea which power range the laser is in, so to say.
@@thorerik How do you know the Sanwu can be trusted? Sensing laser power is incredibly simple and foolproof, it's just based on temperature vs. known heat dissipatability. Temp sensors come calibrated from the factory, usually well within 0.5%; there's not even much reason to calibrate these laser power sensors, as it's pretty impossible to have identical units deviate significantly, unless they cut the dissipative element to different sizes, which they won't, because it's extruded pieces of aluminium, automatically cut to precise lengths as is standard. The only deviating factor for the same model is the temp sensor imprecision. What matters more is the numbers and math used in the microcontrollers to calculate the reading, but that would only cause inconsistency between models, not with the same model.
Perhaps a video opening it up and attempting to calibrate.. Also may want to paint the side where the sensor is with matte black paint. Class 4 reflections are quite hazardous.
Ya this last point scares me the most. A metalic glossy finish around the sensor is incredibly dangerous. In order to use the device you need to point it near something reflective.. No thanks.
@@JoQeZzZ I'm surprised it wasn't mentioned in the vid... If these were sensors from secured lasers it wouldn't be as concerning... The fact it's for wobbly handhelds is just poor design.. 🍻
I have been watching your channel since I was like 8 years old. I am 16 now, and I used to be obsessed with neodymium magnets and that kinds of stuff, and I just remember watching all of your videos back then. Great content!
Many things have changed since my days in City College New York (CCNY) back in 1980. My physics professor was Mishu Kaku. Thanks for your videos. I’ve watched them all. I need to make sure that I “Like” them all
Yep, in my youth I didn't have access to a single laser. Not even a simple keychain laser. They didn't exist. I like how advanced technology is easily available and often affordable now. Glad you like my videos and thanks for watching them. Much more to come!
Love showing this channel to people, because you do such a good job of explaining concepts and experimental design. Keep up the great work!!
Mr. Brain is always incredibly thorough. It’s almost overkill!
Thank you for good audio in your videos along with the great content. I have to disable my compressor that I have on for movies and stuff,... because you already have it fine tuned very nicely!
Yeah... we did a review of this LPM on LaserPointerForums a while back. The circuit is a simple pot voltage divider across the Peltier Sensor feeding into the off the shelf Volt Meter Display. No other Electronics to compensate for non linearity or wave length compensation. Still kind of expensive for a $4.00 Peltier Cell, $0.50 Potentiometer and a $5.00 Volt Meter. As you pointed out... There is not enough Thermal Mass for that LPM to be able to measure any Laser higher than ~1-2 Watts even with the Beam opened to 13mm Diameter (To reduce the Laser beam power density) without it Burning/Damaging the Sensor Coating as we showed in our LPF review.
I suppose it's good enough for a Go/No Go or relative power checker but I wouldn't trust it for any accurate measurements. There are better hobbyist options out there.
laserbee! remember i was dreaming of getting one of your meters back in the 2013 days.
Glad to see you are still around almost a decade later.
@@JamesTamesGames Nice to hear from you... Yup we are still here going strong. BTW we have been around selling Hobbyists Laser Power Meters since 2008.
Goddamn I'm having flashbacks to Aixiz modules and PHR-803s, I totally forgot LPF!
@@dontnubblemebro tell me about it. I'm sill on LPF just not that often as before. Had a Black Friday sale there that some members tool advantage of.
I have been both collecting & building my own lasers for around 20 years, this is the video i had been awaiting.
it confirms the Sanwu is the best option for my application as many of my larger lasers are over 10.000mw,
thanks & keep up the cool videos, i very much enjoy seeing the way you examine the scientific world around you, especially using the big lasers.
I actually bought one of these "Minis" and was wondering how it stacked up to the professional meters. My only solid calibration point has been an argon laser I got cheap with an internal power meter (the mini measured slightly high.) Thanks for this video!
Interesting that your sample also seems to measure higher. I consider ordering some with other screen colors to see how consistent they are. Thanks for watching!
@@brainiac75 Yeah, I was wondering if perhaps they did it on purpose for safety. But the only way to know for sure is to test more minis. Our N is very small at this point.
This channel is awesome, keep up the good work!
I was just wondering this, so great you made a video of it
Awww yeah, just what I've been waiting for!
I am indeed curious about how the Chinese managed to pack all the technology needed for a (semi-decent for its price) sensor in such a tiny package. It is honestly quite adorable, though most won't usually carry lasers around with them.
There is nothing really high tech about them. They just get more accurate for a higher price.
Kind of expensive for a $4.00 Peltier Cell, $0.50 Potentiometer and a $5.00 Volt Meter. That's all that is in this Cheap badly calibrated LPM.
Really appreciate how you do 5 alternating sets of tests between each meter! Would be even better if you showed the standard deviation and confidence intervals
thanks for this review it was helpful
There seems to be a shortage of good analytical reviews of laser power meters. Thankyou for providing this video, very informative.
The laser power sensor will be stable after about 2 sec. The other fluctuation you're seeing is the laser itself reaching thermal equilibrium as the bandgap of the pump diode reaches steady state. One way to confirm this is to use a Si PIN photodiode with a chopper in front of it hooked up to an Oscope and measure the amplitude over time of the laser light falling on it.
2:25 "Avoid oirect eye contact". LOL!!!
Nice video, thanks for sharing :)
4:03 "Would you have known from looking at the lasers lable?"
Yes! Last line in bold font. That's the Laser Safety Class!
😅
Funny, how they label it as class III (but only IIIa and IIIb exist) while still writing
Have been shopping for a laser power meter and your video is all I need now. Much thanks for your careful work.
The Sanwu states in print that it takes a very long time to arrive, and my experience with their lasers took even longer than promised. Also, can we assume that the Sanwu is better calibrated just because it costs much more? These could have the same or equivalent components as the no-name brand. After all, the largest "outlier" value was in the first reading off the Sanwu.
Glad you like the video and find it useful, David. I have no idea of how Sanwu calibrate their LPM's. They do mention a calibration on their website, and so far I have not found anything that indicates my sample not being properly calibrated. The first 'outlier' has nothing to do with the laser power meter. It is the laser pointer that is very poorly designed (literally a $1 laser with no heat sink and crap driver circuit). The laser pointer starts out bright and then plummets in output as it heats up/overheats. Thanks for watching!
I just like high power lasers :)
High quality content, keep going
Having such an intense, directional light source is just fascinating. Much more to come and thanks for the early watch!
I bought one of those cheap "1mW" green lasers.
It scared the shit out of me when I first turned it on.
I said to myself, I know nothing but I know this shit is not 1mW, and never used it again.
Mine was labelled 20mW and was like lightsaber at rainy day when pointing to sky.
Im thinking theres way more power at play.
Been not using it for years because its too bright to be safe.
The labeling of these cheap Chinese pointers is nothing short of an absolute outrage. I am NOT AT ALL for banning sale of lasers of any power to the public, like some countries do, but the deliberate mislabeling of HIGH POWER dangerous devices as being less than 1 milliwatt is totally criminal and undoubtedly resulting in eye injury of kids the world over. And the most galling thing is that it's been going on for YEARS and nobody cares! If you want to legislate against something then pass laws banning the mislabeling or sale of mislabeled devices! I have the exact same cheap $2 green pointer that you do and I love it, but I'm an optics engineer at a high power laser facility and I know how to safely use it! By the way, I also tested the output on a very high end power meter and came up with the same 50mW as you do here. If you want a little higher power output from it at ~70mW, use lithium AA cells in it. It's the same story with the 2$ blue and red pointers - labeled as 1mW, actually 50-70mW. Infuriating. This is how hobbies often just get banned outright, because legislators are either too clueless or too unwilling to bother to understand exactly what's going on and they just end up banning the sale of everything.
Yeah, claiming it's sub 1mW, and being labelled class 3B is a blatant lie. Only one of those stats can be correct. Yet it's marked 1mW to abide by various laws as that's the only thing the sellers check.
Totally agree. Mislabelling a laser is a deliberate attempt to bypass safety regulations. Not cool. Hope my videos will save some eyes... Interesting that lithium AA cells will give even higher output. May have to try that.
Indeed, in this case, I think the regulations hurt more than they help, because all they do is create an incentive for sellers to mislabel their lasers on purpose, which is a very effective countermeasure.
Indeed think they do purposefully label it
It's a dangerous - but a good way to get around the stupid bans that many countries have done to anything above 1 mW.
But, it's a little fun, because a few years ago in my country (Sweden), the maximum that was allowed to buy way 5 mW (which is still quite safe for the eye - unless one stares right into it for several seconds), but then they lowered that limit to 1 mW, and announced it was just because of all the 5 mW that was mislabeled and actually stronger than they should be. I guess my country is not the only one who did that - so now it's probably the same thing with the 1 mW as it was with the 5 mW before, LOL!!
And yes, it is of course on purpose - I remember over 10 years ago, when I bought my fist significantly powerful laser pointer (a red one that had about 200 mW) output and they asked if they should label it 5 mW instead to avoid the risk of being confiscated by customs (which I said was a good idea - so I got it with a 5 mW label, but could still light matches, pop balloons and stuff with it - really awesome to try out, since I had only see it on RUclips before).
Otherwise, building your own laser is usually the best option (regardless of any bans) if you know how to do (because by far cheapest compared to output power and then you may build a better driver with higher efficiency and and also have adjustable focus and put enough cooling to have it run continuously - which is otherwise a problem with many prebuilt pointers that they quickly overheat and thew power drops). Laser diodes and optics have no regulations and bans, since it counts's just like any component (it could as well be a LED module and holder or something)
I now have a green 520 nm one at 1 W (about 800-900 mW total, if taking into count losses in the output lens) - that I have built, using the Nichia NUGM03 laser diode and an optics kit. I havn't put up any videos yet though, because if I do, people often want schematics and how it's built and I hadn't documented any of that (I just wanted to build it quite quickly). But maybe I put it up, when I build a more powerful later (I have a 5 W blue diode laying around) - the same driver with schematic used for that one can be built for the green one as well.
Btw. Not even laser modules are regulated here, so you can still buy prebuilt modules with up to many watts of output power (because those are used in like engraving printers and other stuff that doesn't count as "laser pointers" - those often also have good enough cooling for continous use), then mount a battery holder, batteries and a switch on it, to make it into a laser pointer 😄That's an alternative, for those, who are not very familar with electronics them self or just are lazy and want a prebuilt one...
Genial video!!! Du fortæller det på en så god måde så det virker let forståelig 😀 Kæmpe high five til dig.. 😀
Tusind tak, Nicolai! Flere videoer på vej :)
@@brainiac75 yaaaay :D fedt.. :D
Wow, awesome video! 😍
Thank you very much :) More videos to come!
this man's got the surgeon's hands.
Hello Brainiac, I congratulate you for the video, it was necessary. I had to see how it behaved with a 5W+ laser pointer, I have a 7W Sanwu, declared 6.2W nominal and in this same lpm it gives me a reading of 4.4, 4.5, 4.7 and I don't know if it's the lpm or the laser that doesn't work well, what do you think? I have bought the Sanwu lpm but at the moment there is no stock. Thank you very much for your time and dedication. Greetings.
Considering it's within 10%, that's a helluva lot better than the labels, which as you demonstrated can be off by more than an order of magnitude!
Also it does seem to atleast be consistent in its deviation, so if you did have something to calibrate it with then it seems like it'd be within the 2% it lists on the spec sheet
Great video thank you much 😊
Thanks for watching :) Much more videos to come!
Do you plan to make another Buyer's Guide video for lasers and/or laser equipment ?
The fact you're considering it for review at all makes me think this is significantly better than anything I'd have chosen.
Even at 10% overestimation, I'd rather err on the side of caution and have a mini than something cheap and chosen inexpertly.
I have a few powerful 3b laserpointer that will travel on excess of 5km range. Ranging from 100mw to 3w. And class 4 engraving lasers of 5w. Been looking for a decent cheap meter to measure their Trueish power. The mini seems good enough for my use cases.
Is it finally time to see your teardown of the little sensor? =)
I'm relatively certain that the sensor is a thermopile which has a relatively flat response curve from 0.1 to 50mu as they are just measuring the temperature difference between the hot and cold side, hence they dont need a wavelength calibration. They simply do not work like your standard standard semiconductor sensor.
The biggest concern with these sensors is temperature stability and consistency during measurement. I assume that your mini sensor do not have an internal heater or temperature controller so it will give varying results depending on ambient temperature but this is expected for $80. Otherwise, they are excellent sensors when combined with a decent thermoelectric module.
Fun fact, both the thermopile sensor and thermoelectric module work on the same Peltier principle.
1st laser compared has the added issue that it’s wavelength may not be as advertised. May be lacking IR filter accounting for the high wattage.
Nice laser pointer =)
"The person who has one laser power meter, knows how powerful their lasers are.
The person who has two laser power meters, never knows how powerful their lasers are."
:)
Can you make a video on laser safety glasses and where to get verified ones?
I'd like to get a listing for one of those lasers that can cool a surface instead of heating it.. that'd be super useful..
:P
Hoi! (I love that intro. Best intro on youtube!!)
I have an accurate one from SpectraPhysics but it's for construction leveling lasers and made to measure 4 milliwatt and lower in several wavelengths and rotating or not. I think it was about $400.
I got a amature question regarding meassure the laser output. We always talk about the class of the laser but with this meassurement tool i could take a class4 laser and lets say, turn down power and add a saftey lens and then meassure the output to classify it as a class 2 or 3? (so even if label says class 4 it could be classified as class 3 etc.?)
Thanks. Ordered one tonight.... For $80 good to have around...
Exactly, it is better than nothing if you have lasers with questionable labels ;)
These regulations banning sale of lasers >1mW are just causing more harm than good tbh. Lots of people want more powerful lasers, so they sell high power lasers for those people who know they wont get a
Are you still planning to do the teardown and IR laser testing?
Wicked to see that the Pocket mini is performing better, and got better linearity than the Sanwu Tracer, that nowadays have dropped the LCD, for a Bluetooth app. ..
DPSS 3:37
* Sanwu 16mW differences (from 36mW go 15mW) and you even saw a brief peak at 51.6mW 3whch just seems off and usually down to sensor hotspots, 51mW its 340% higher than its lowest reading long time sustained reading, but its diode pumped, so it can vary a lot, mainly from cold and a hysteric krystal
* Pocket 9mW differences (from 23mW to 14mW)
RED 4:23
*Sanwu 13mW differences. (161mW to 148mW awg153mW)
*Pocket 10mW (170mW to 160mW awg 164mW)
Purple 5:58
* Sanwu 30mW difference
*Pocket 14mW difference so significant more stable readings.
Its all relative when you don't have any accuracy tolerances to lean on, but from a crude linearity perspective, you can not neglect that the small LPM seems to perform better as you simply not gonna see such degree of volatile output on a PSU driven 405nm labby with an effective sink, unless there is fx hotspots on the LPM sensor that will fluke the reading depending on which area of the sensor you land from measurement to measurement.
I could be wrong, but I suspect if you open that thing up you'll find an adjustable pot that will allow you to calibrate the reading a little better.
yay new vid
Legitimate question: if the reading is within 10% (either too high or too low), would that difference ever result in a practical difference in how you would handle the laser? I.e. Would you handle a 470 mW and 510 mW differently? Both are sitting on that rating threshold and would both prompt the more cautious approach, no?
Those thresholds for safety classes are just nice round numbers around the true value which heavily depends on many factors - beam size, wavelength the person who is looking in the laser (not everyone has equally fast blinking reflex). Also eye damage is a spectrum. With 10mW laser you'll probably only get a purple spot for a few minutes in your vision while for 400mW laser you'll get a permanent hole in the retina even though both are class 3b.
Personally, I wouldn't treat two lasers with 10% difference in output differently. Even if they were in two different laser classes. Thanks for watching!
Most of my lasers were about 30-50mw. Recently I got a 200mw red laser and I already want to get a sanwu challenger II 3 watt blue laser
Nice video. The wavelength compensation on the better meter is kind of pointless for a thermal sensor. There can be compensation for the difference between visible wavelengths and LWIR, for instance., but the difference is almost negligible with a good absorber. Photodiode detectors, on the other hand do need wavelength compensation.
Thanks. For max precision it does make sense with wavelength compensation. Especially for the higher powered lasers. I agree the 2% difference I saw from 405 to 660 nm on a ~150 mW laser is negligible in practice, but it shows me the manufacturer is aware of the non-linearity and try to get the measurement as precise as possible. Good signs :) Thanks for watching!
Hmm. Not too bad but not great either. I'd like to get a new LPM sometime and that Sanwu looks nice and is priced decently for what you get.
Interesting results. I only have one suspicious laser, from when I tried to buy just a weak green pointer for nighttime sky-pointing and stargazing, but yet it's got a visible beam in my home during the day... Not worth buying a sensor for, but it has made me wonder...
I agree. If the laser is only used for safe star-pointing and you treat it as a strong, not eye-safe laser, you don't need to measure its output. Just enjoy the extra power you get for little money in a laserpointer today :) But do be aware of the risk of infrared from a cold, green laser if you aren't already (search my video 'Don't use a green laser in the cold'). Thanks for watching!
I can't wait for my spectrometer to come in the mail.. It's been stuck on the Russian border for nine days now, hopefully it gets here soon. Thank you for sharing it!
I have one Mini meter and have already opened it. there is a trimmer inside, I cannot very clearly evaluate the circuit inside but it is possible uses to calibrate the metering.
you should get a bunch of measurement devices and compare between them all. what if they all just give different results?
It is probably configured as "better safe than sorry". I don't mind if it shows slightly higher numbers for that price tag.
I wondered how a cheaper laser power meter would Compare. Thanks for shedding some light on it. --------------->]
;) You're welcome. Much more to come!
The reason that it probably reads high is probably because it does not have any active cooling. The sensor is probably passively cooled into the casing like most cheap meters. Most good meters instead have precise actively cooled sensors fir accuracy as well as stability and faster response times. It takes a lot longer for the mini to dissipate the heat and show losses and instead reads high because of the accumulation of heat. Where the sanwu actively maintains sensor temperature.
I legit just bought one of these last week because it was cheap! I wanted to use it to test if a laser is really 5w that I got on ebay.
Unless it's an engraving laser that goes in a cnc style machine. It won't be. No handheld from ebay is nearly that powerful. Meter will give you a good idea though.
I have such a mini laser power meter and mine has a Green display that is very easy to read with all of my laser glasses (I have one for Blue and green lasers and one for red lasers).
What I dont like tho is the reflective aluminium case that could reflect the laserlight. Because of that, I might paint it black.
also went for green for both of my two units years ago, both the small one and the batteryunit. .have no problems with the matt alusurface, though the batteryunit I have in a plastic casing with a slidedoor.. but they both performs excellent at +6watt laser runs and delivers readings that are 1 to 2% from an Ophir 20C based LPM ruclips.net/video/wJQtiAaXkWM/видео.html
for high power blue lasers, I reckon they are great these laser power meters and find it amusing how something this crude and cheap can come that close.
I love green light and it is the one I wanted from the start. But could only order the blue. Now, I am considering one with a red display. The professional high-OD laser safety glasses I have will only let the red pass. Thanks for watching!
@@brainiac75 Interesting, I guess the green from the display has a longer wavelengt than that what my glasses filter or a lower one, since my glasses are for 532nm dpss and they are not good for 520nm and 488nm lasers.
Charlie WANG is my favourite patron
Why not use a defraction grid and measure the power of the two outer points at the same time? Seems like a better way to confirm accuracy
....Were you able to test it with any lasers over 5 watts? Some people say that it can't really register over 5; and, i just bought a supposedly 8 watt laser and it's only registering about 5. So, thats another reason why I'm asking. Thanks 👍!
Wow, what do you need an 8 watt laser for? Wood cutting?
@@erikpoephoofd .... No, just bought it 🤷♂️😅
@@user-pr5po9iq7t Dude, you have got an insanely high powered laser on your hands. I think there are not even safety goggles on the market to protect you against this power. If you fuck around with it, you will fuck up your eyesight, or even worse, someone else's. Please be extremely careful with it...
Hi, I am building an exhibition that uses 30 x 5mw lasers in a room filled with haze. What would you recommend for such an application. Happy to engage privately.
It appears Sanwu is no longer in business. The website is taking orders and payments, but never following up with tracking numbers... even weeks later. They do not answer emails. How long ago did you buy this and how long did it take to get a tracking number?
At least its not an optical sensor.. Id imagineits a painted TEC using the Seebeck Effect 🍺
I think you're right. Still haven't taken it apart though :) Thanks for the early watch!
@@brainiac75 may I ask what it cost? Also is there a data logging feature, or just the analog display?
i am curious if it works on CO2 laser.
I agree with other comments saying they would rather it read HIGH than low. Absolutely I would rather be more afraid of my laser than I need to be... because being blind sucks balls.
A 10-20W laser power meter will be handy for people who have a desktop laser engraver or cutter.
Looking at the five-digit readout on the unbranded laser power meter, I came up with a few ranges for it assuming a perfect world below.
Auto-range Level 0: 0-999.99 mW, accurate to 10 uW.
Auto-range Level 1: 1-9.9999 W, accurate to 100 uW.
Auto-range Level 2: 10-99.999 W, accurate to 1 mW.
Auto-range Level 3: 100-999.99 W, accurate to 10 mW.
Auto-range Level 4: 1-9.9999 kW, accurate to 100 mW.
Auto-range Level 5: 10-99.999 kW, accurate to 1 W.
Finally, Auto-range Level 6: >=100 kW, YOUCH is displayed.
Imma sub
Thank you for the sub and early watch!
I personally just assume i need laser safety glasses for anything bigger than those dollar store keychain laser pointers regardless of where they were made or who made them. It's worked well for me so far.
I bought a cheap graphic stage laser from China and I don't really trust the 500mW max power stated on the label. I'm now thinking of buying this mini meter to see if it's really 500mW and not MORE!
Me too!! We probably have the same model laser. Did you test it yet?
ha i miss him waiting so long
It's only been a month since last upload :) In my world, a month passes by so fast. Barely notice it 😮 Thanks for watching and waiting patiently!
To be fair, it might not be super accurate. But it is sure better than not having a laser power meter at all if one works with lasers.
Even if it were 20% accurate it would still be usable. But the better meter here has the advantage of going to sub mW readouts.
Honestly the usage for this device is like those pocket dosimetrs, it's less of how precise the power is and more of AM I GOING TO DIE OR NOT lmao
Not great, not terrible
You asked if we would know the first laser's true power just by the label. Technically yes because is says class III when you did the close up of the label.
Hehe, that label is wrong in so many ways. Class III does not exist - only class IIIa and IIIb, but I guess it does indicate it is not a
@@brainiac75 lol awesome videos
Poggers
Ok, so here's the bottom line: You can spend about 400 to a thousand bones for just a little more accuracy or spend 89 bones for accuracy within 5 to 10 percent, have it self-contained, easier to use, and pocket sized. I'll take this Pocket LPM for 89 bones every stinking day of the week and twice on Sunday.
Also, I have both this Pocket LPM and a Laserbee and did numerous side-by-side comparisons with several lasers (Red 660, Green 532, Green 520 and up to 600+mw) and the Laserbee and this Pocket LPM were never more than 10mw difference. Again, this Pocket LPM is easier to use as there is no need to plug anything into it and way more portable. Since I am not a scientist that needs extreme accuracy or laser power from a flux capacitor outputting up to 1.2 gigawatts, I think this Pocket LPM is quite the little bomb.
Certainly looks good for a more affordable option.
It is the best bang-for-the-buck of the two. Better than nothing :) Thanks for watching!
pretty cool if you just need a rough idea. id say you're getting money worth at least.
Замерьте пожалуйста лазеры из Dvd привода. CD и Dvd.
Hmm I wonder what would happen if you modified cheap sensor to have more heat sink
It would skew the results even more. If I’m understanding Brainiac’s description it judges the power rating by heat dissipation. If you threw a larger heat sink on there it would think the laser was weaker because the heat was dissipating quicker
@@FyreFiend Yeah, though he also says with more dispission, it would show less watts, so I wonder if it is tuneable till it roughly matches more expensive one.
@@FyreFiend That's exactly what I meant. All his tests show that laser is slightly rated higher than more expensive measure tool. Just add just enough heat sink that its lowered to match more expensive tool.
Well considering this mini tester is nor far off your expensive one and your mini read higher than the laser is. Therefor it is a safe cheap product.
I definitely rather get a wrong higher result and protect myself more than get a lower wrong result and assume it's safer.
Greetings!
Hello, early watcher :D
I just checked to see if that was cheap enough for me but no it's not but I saw a uni-t one that looks not that bad for a couple bucks more than the cheap one
Uni-T has a cheap laser power meter? Link please :)
Petition to change the channel name to Lazerniac75!
But what about all my other video topics then ;) Thanks for watching!
@@brainiac75 no, thank YOU, been watching for many years.
no idea if my "3000mw" laser is anywhere near the label but it can barely cut thin materials, wont even touch bare metal
btw, is it safe to judge it with my eye if i look at it with the SPECIAL GREEN MAGNIFYING GLASS SHEET OF COLORED ACRYLIC???? no? how about using physics and expanding the beam over a solar panel and measuring the shorted current?
@@frogz NOT A SAFE WAY TO VIEW THE LASER
you could measure the temperature rise of a known quantity of a dark coloured liquid over a set time as a DIY meter
are you danish?
The mini is perfect for a cheap ballpark meter which can prove useful if ordering lasers, projectors etc from questionable sources like Ali or ebay. If it measures slightly higher than advertised, you can assume you got what you paid for. Lasers either measure higher than rated by good sellers, or much lower by shonky sellers. If the mini reads low, you have a case for a return or refund on the laser product.
Hi! Super early here!
hi
Hi! Really early indeed. Thanks, Ronsku :)
@@Hardcorelactation hi
How powerful a laser would it take to register a reflection off the NASA retroreflectors on the moon?
Depends on how well collimated the laser beam is. The better collimated, the less power is needed. They use pulsed lasers for it, which are measured in joule (J) - not milliwatts (mW). Some examples are listed here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Laser_Ranging_experiment
Looks like they commonly use a pulse of around 100 mJ and 100 picoseconds in average. If my calculations are right that equals around 1 billion J/s or 1 trillion milliwatts if the laser was constantly on and not pulsed - which would destroy the laser :)
@@brainiac75 Wow! I guess my green pocket laser is not gonna cut it! Not that I thought it would...lol. I would love to witness them actually firing that thing up!!! Thanks for the info, love your content...
WOW! again, just read that as powerful, and collimated as their laser is, by the time it reaches the moon the beam is 4 miles wide, and by the time the reflection returns to earth, they only recieve one photon on a good day! We have a way to go, don't we...
I wonder what happens if you attach a heatsink to the mini
I have no idea. It may offset the measurement and/or make it respond slower? Could be interesting to test :) Thanks for watching!
blue pass 200mw and auto not visible
Well spotted :) Luckily, it isn't important for reading the wattage. Thanks for watching!
Take the cheap power meter apart, and test it with IR lasers.
Silly Brainiac, you don't need safety glasses for a laser pointer. Says so right there on the package.
Yeah, the label never lies ;) Thanks for watching!