Nice argon! One of my friends (Zenodilodon) actually owns with one of his coworkers a 5w tunable argon and lemme tell you, That is a beast! You don't even want to know the power draw. The only hint I am going to give is that he has 3-phase AC in the shop for a reason.
I have 3 of these, 40mw, made by Uniphase, once a division of Spectra Physics and a few extra power supplys, that run on 110or220, 50&60Hz. I think one or two, can be selected for wall plug requirements. Fun laser. Great Laser Light Show party rigs.
You're the leslie wright who took apart the KES400a on sam's laserfaq! And you had the X-Ray photography website! Love your pile of equipment, happy that you exist and are making stuff on the internet.
@@LesLaboratory Well, that's great to hear! I'm a grad student who caught a bit of an "optical disk drives are awesome" bug a while ago and the dissection guide of the kes400a was super helpful. I wanted to ask you questions like how you removed the objective lens (answer: heat gun and a gentle pluck) and what "poking the LCD filter with a function generator" meant (still unknown). As these drives have gotten older and even cheaper there is a rising movement of people doing great stuff on hacking them for scientific applications. Edwin Hwu, the guy behind Twinteeth, or Sam Zeloof for instance. (Ps, you know your fineartradiography.com website was taken over by hackers/malware while ago? I hope you fix it, at least just so I can show people cool pictures of flowers).
@@WaynesStrangeBrain Awesome! Glad you and others found it useful! At the time it was pretty groundbreaking, and I got to work with Sam Goldwasser and others, trawling the patents and reverse engineering the optics. Fun times! Yeah it wasn't hacked, the domain name lapsed and someone bought it and camped on there with some garbage site. They ripped images and text from my site. I issued takedown notices but they were ignored. Given the popularity of these videos, I am going to start a new site. I just dug out the old backups today, and once it's sorted, I will link to it in my RUclips profile. Stay tuned!
@@LesLaboratory Oh, man, that sucks (the domain name!). That feels like identity theft almost, grr. I feel like we kind of hit a peak with the tech for the PS3. I mean, sure, it gets better, and cheaper, but the build quality on that one was insane. Probably sound a bit like a broken record. But everything was just so discrete, with connectors and screwpoints, and big glass optics, it was like a laboratory modular prototype to me. I would be very curious at looking inside the new PS5, which is the cost-reduced, but optimized version over the past 12 years. Staying tuned.
@@WaynesStrangeBrain Meh, it's fine, I will just come back bigger and better! I bet the modern versions are built down to a price! That first version was just beautiful! The whole affair was a "Loss leader" for Sony, but they made back their loss with revenue from games!
Enjoyed your dye laser videos back in the mid 1970 I played with these the only thing I did not like about them was that the dye is a bit messy and some a bit toxic but still very interesting. While visiting a local laser lab I saw and unusual configuration for a high power continuous output dye laser pumped with a argon laser of several watts. Because of the power level both the dye and cuvettes would be quickly damaged. The trick the researcher had devised was cleaver a concentrated solution of dye dissolved in Glycol was formed into a liquid jet which landed into a receiver cup. The jet was rectangular and lased very well output was perhaps in excess of a watt.
Thanks! I considered building such a Laser, but apparently the nozzle for the Dye Jet is a precision job, that I am not sure can be constructed with hand tools. That said, it would be amazing to see a CW multi-watt dye Laser!
@@LesLaboratory You mat be able to find some square or rectangular tube this maybe good enough to produce a laminar flow jet. K&S Precision Metals offers small square and rectangular brass tubing. The brass may be a chemical problem but you can passivate the surface with a Tin or Nickel plating. This tubing is very well made and low cost well worth a try.
Not really. I suppose you could drive it in pulsed mode for a while, but once they are dead... Re-gasing would probably be a difficult and temporary fix. There is a whole section on these lasers at Sam's Laser FAQ www.repairfaq.org/sam/laserarg.htm
It has always been a mystery to me, so I never touched it! There does not seem to be any mention of it in the manual either! www.metronixlaser.de/bilder/Ionen-laser/JDSManual.pdf It may be a switch for line voltage perhaps, (though the manual says that is internal).
Thanks! I used to drool over them as a kid and I suppose it that respect I never grew up! The problem I have is too many interests, but life is for living!
That's a cool setup, I didn't know Argon lasers had so many lines. Are they DIY able? I work in a machine shop and have basically unlimited access to argon for the welding department... If I remember what I've read correctly, they operate at relatively low voltages but at higher currents...so the power supply may be easier to build.
It is possible do DIY a pulsed Argon laser but they are quite involved. Check out Sam's Laser FAQ online. A continuous wave Argon Laser is probably beyond the reach of the amateur. The bore for example has to be machined from Beryllium Oxide ceramic, which is difficult to machine and the dust is toxic.
@@LesLaboratory You can use other materials for the bore, Spectra Physics uses aluminum oxide for their larger Argons (2000 series and higher). The thermal conductivity is rather low (you probably have to use a rather potent watercooling setup), but it isn't toxic.
@@eulemitbeule5426 Thanks! That would make sense. I am sure that BeO is very expensive at scale. There was another make of Ion Laser from back in the 80's I think that used stacks of tungsten disks as part of the bore as well. Maybe if you were really determined, and only wanted a Milliwatt or so, you could get away with a quartz bore with a cooling jacket for short runs...
@@LesLaboratory I think the main reason why Spectra chose aluminum oxide was because their large Argons where build with maintenance in mind: You can use BeO in small "set it and forget it" aircooled lasers that get replaced after x hours, but large Argons can/will be refilled and repaired multiple times throughout their lifetime. Requiring your service technicians to handle BeO on a daily basis isn't a great idea, especially when you can just reinforce the cooling system and switch to non-toxic aluminum oxide.
It seems obvious thinking about it now, but I never realized a laser could emit more than one band of coherent light. Transmitting antennae have to deal with harmonics, after all. 👍
The single best resource for lasers from an amateur perspective is : repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm There are others as well such as: technology.niagarac.on.ca/people/mcsele/lasers/
In small Argon Ion tubes like this the mirrors are sealed to the tube. There is a Brewster plate in a little metal carriage at the cathode end to polarize the output. I suppose it could be omitted but then polarization would be random. The American ALC60X has external mirrors and needs Brewster windows, as windows at any other angle would reduce the output and or quality of the beam.
@@LesLaboratory thanks for the reply. It powers up fine, plasma tube glows - all good. Then it only emitts a purplish blur from the aperture(?). Its a uniphase argon ion laser, w power supply and controller. Its about 0.5w. I'm in love with that laser but just don't have the skills to fix it.
For a spectra having so many miles still putting out 9 lines isn‘t as bad 👌 thanks for your great videos
Thanks, I'm glad you like them! More to come!
Nice argon! One of my friends (Zenodilodon) actually owns with one of his coworkers a 5w tunable argon and lemme tell you, That is a beast! You don't even want to know the power draw. The only hint I am going to give is that he has 3-phase AC in the shop for a reason.
Awesome! Nearly bought one a few years back, but the house wiring wouldn't cut it :-)
I have 3 of these, 40mw, made by Uniphase, once a division of Spectra Physics and a few extra power supplys, that run on 110or220, 50&60Hz. I think one or two, can be selected for wall plug requirements. Fun laser. Great Laser Light Show party rigs.
Multiline argon -- too kool!!! 😀
I used to have an argon, but it was just a single line unit.
You're the leslie wright who took apart the KES400a on sam's laserfaq! And you had the X-Ray photography website! Love your pile of equipment, happy that you exist and are making stuff on the internet.
Yep! That's me! I'm having a bit of a revival lately (although I never really went away :-) )
@@LesLaboratory Well, that's great to hear! I'm a grad student who caught a bit of an "optical disk drives are awesome" bug a while ago and the dissection guide of the kes400a was super helpful. I wanted to ask you questions like how you removed the objective lens (answer: heat gun and a gentle pluck) and what "poking the LCD filter with a function generator" meant (still unknown). As these drives have gotten older and even cheaper there is a rising movement of people doing great stuff on hacking them for scientific applications. Edwin Hwu, the guy behind Twinteeth, or Sam Zeloof for instance.
(Ps, you know your fineartradiography.com website was taken over by hackers/malware while ago? I hope you fix it, at least just so I can show people cool pictures of flowers).
@@WaynesStrangeBrain Awesome! Glad you and others found it useful! At the time it was pretty groundbreaking, and I got to work with Sam Goldwasser and others, trawling the patents and reverse engineering the optics. Fun times!
Yeah it wasn't hacked, the domain name lapsed and someone bought it and camped on there with some garbage site. They ripped images and text from my site. I issued takedown notices but they were ignored.
Given the popularity of these videos, I am going to start a new site. I just dug out the old backups today, and once it's sorted, I will link to it in my RUclips profile. Stay tuned!
@@LesLaboratory Oh, man, that sucks (the domain name!). That feels like identity theft almost, grr.
I feel like we kind of hit a peak with the tech for the PS3. I mean, sure, it gets better, and cheaper, but the build quality on that one was insane. Probably sound a bit like a broken record. But everything was just so discrete, with connectors and screwpoints, and big glass optics, it was like a laboratory modular prototype to me. I would be very curious at looking inside the new PS5, which is the cost-reduced, but optimized version over the past 12 years.
Staying tuned.
@@WaynesStrangeBrain Meh, it's fine, I will just come back bigger and better! I bet the modern versions are built down to a price! That first version was just beautiful! The whole affair was a "Loss leader" for Sony, but they made back their loss with revenue from games!
Enjoyed your dye laser videos back in the mid 1970 I played with these the only thing
I did not like about them was that the dye is a bit messy and some a bit toxic but still
very interesting. While visiting a local laser lab I saw and unusual configuration for a
high power continuous output dye laser pumped with a argon laser of several watts.
Because of the power level both the dye and cuvettes would be quickly damaged.
The trick the researcher had devised was cleaver a concentrated solution of dye
dissolved in Glycol was formed into a liquid jet which landed into a receiver cup.
The jet was rectangular and lased very well output was perhaps in excess of a watt.
Thanks! I considered building such a Laser, but apparently the nozzle for the Dye Jet is a precision job, that I am not sure can be constructed with hand tools. That said, it would be amazing to see a CW multi-watt dye Laser!
@@LesLaboratory You mat be able to find some
square or rectangular tube this maybe
good enough to produce a laminar flow
jet. K&S Precision Metals offers small square and rectangular brass tubing.
The brass may be a chemical problem but
you can passivate the surface with a Tin
or Nickel plating. This tubing is very well
made and low cost well worth a try.
What a beautiful laser, can anything be done with the tube when it eventually dies please ?...cheers.
Not really. I suppose you could drive it in pulsed mode for a while, but once they are dead... Re-gasing would probably be a difficult and temporary fix. There is a whole section on these lasers at Sam's Laser FAQ www.repairfaq.org/sam/laserarg.htm
Do you know what the "HI LO" switch on the power supply does and how to set it to the correct position?
It has always been a mystery to me, so I never touched it! There does not seem to be any mention of it in the manual either! www.metronixlaser.de/bilder/Ionen-laser/JDSManual.pdf
It may be a switch for line voltage perhaps, (though the manual says that is internal).
@@LesLaboratoryI took a look inside. It switches between 200V and 240V primary windings on the transformer that powers the tube's filament.
as always- super nice video !
..what got you interested in lasers ?
Thanks! I used to drool over them as a kid and I suppose it that respect I never grew up! The problem I have is too many interests, but life is for living!
That's a cool setup, I didn't know Argon lasers had so many lines.
Are they DIY able? I work in a machine shop and have basically unlimited access to argon for the welding department...
If I remember what I've read correctly, they operate at relatively low voltages but at higher currents...so the power supply may be easier to build.
It is possible do DIY a pulsed Argon laser but they are quite involved. Check out Sam's Laser FAQ online.
A continuous wave Argon Laser is probably beyond the reach of the amateur. The bore for example has to be machined from Beryllium Oxide ceramic, which is difficult to machine and the dust is toxic.
@@LesLaboratory You can use other materials for the bore, Spectra Physics uses aluminum oxide for their larger Argons (2000 series and higher). The thermal conductivity is rather low (you probably have to use a rather potent watercooling setup), but it isn't toxic.
@@eulemitbeule5426 Thanks! That would make sense. I am sure that BeO is very expensive at scale. There was another make of Ion Laser from back in the 80's I think that used stacks of tungsten disks as part of the bore as well. Maybe if you were really determined, and only wanted a Milliwatt or so, you could get away with a quartz bore with a cooling jacket for short runs...
@@LesLaboratory I think the main reason why Spectra chose aluminum oxide was because their large Argons where build with maintenance in mind: You can use BeO in small "set it and forget it" aircooled lasers that get replaced after x hours, but large Argons can/will be refilled and repaired multiple times throughout their lifetime.
Requiring your service technicians to handle BeO on a daily basis isn't a great idea, especially when you can just reinforce the cooling system and switch to non-toxic aluminum oxide.
It seems obvious thinking about it now, but I never realized a laser could emit more than one band of coherent light. Transmitting antennae have to deal with harmonics, after all. 👍
For sure. Some lasers are even tunable, see: ruclips.net/video/-ny_-Y1MpRY/видео.html
Yes I have 2 of these argon lasers I will sale cheap, I have no power supply for them.
Where do you start as a base to learn this field ? thnx
The single best resource for lasers from an amateur perspective is : repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
There are others as well such as: technology.niagarac.on.ca/people/mcsele/lasers/
Can Argon ion lasers have no Brewster windows?
In small Argon Ion tubes like this the mirrors are sealed to the tube. There is a Brewster plate in a little metal carriage at the cathode end to polarize the output. I suppose it could be omitted but then polarization would be random. The American ALC60X has external mirrors and needs Brewster windows, as windows at any other angle would reduce the output and or quality of the beam.
My argon laser head is broken. I'm heart broken
How broken? Open filament, up to air, or something else? Sometimes these can be revived...
@@LesLaboratory thanks for the reply. It powers up fine, plasma tube glows - all good. Then it only emitts a purplish blur from the aperture(?). Its a uniphase argon ion laser, w power supply and controller. Its about 0.5w. I'm in love with that laser but just don't have the skills to fix it.
I have 2 of these argon lasers I'll take a couple hundred for
@@jeremeyromine3278 fully working? I only need the head, got the controller and power supply.