grins projector, recoil and test light builds

Well I have taken a different approach to designing lens lights and now before I try to build it out of alloy this way will give me exact measurements. So i have been playing with W30s and some new lens, i have this combination which was a calculated guess. It is a 75mmx75mmfl condensor and 150mmx600mmfl primary or objective lens. the actual length is still too long for a torch so I need to experiment to shorten it. My apologies for not having measurements but very soon when Im confident they are accurate enough to use.




From my measurements the stock W30 runs at 2.6amp the driver in this W30 runs at 3amp with resistor swap from R025 to R010. my tests point to the laser diode being able to handle 3.5amp and you would be stupid to take my word for it. Does anyone know if W30 has a linear driver?

Was doing overtime tonight and I had K30GT and a MF01S on me so took some beam shots from the boiler. The crane is about 200-300m

K30GT

MF01s

Just catching up on your thread grin. You have been busy. Love your work. :beer: :heart_eyes:

Same as!

Thanks and :beer:

Well I have worked my way through this puzzle and I think I have my head around it. Mostly :smiley:
Now I understand more what im going on about. I have struck to using spherical lens because they are off the shelf and to get around aberration problems Im using multiple lens. I think using an objective/primary lens with a focal length of at least twice the diameter reduces the aberration to near zero and gives you that clean crisp bright laser like beam.
The_Driver was absolutely correct a very short focal length precollimator/condensor/secondary lens should be as close to the led as possible. I think the best lens is square, diameter is equal to focal length. It has to big enough to allow some travel and still catch all the light from the led.

This is 5mm movement in the secondary lens and the beam looks thats bright.

If I shorten the focal length the beam quality drops dramatically. It is not just the focal length but I dont fully understand what is happening yet.


Oh my, :open_mouth: , Please donā€™t catch that tree on fire !

It actually lookes that bright and I can push the laser a bit more since I have tested the other one. I am fairly certain the phosphor would handle a 6w diode.

:heart_eyes:

I recommend you pick up one of these:
http://www.miniware.com.cn/product/mdp-xp-digital-power-supply-set/
If cost is a concern, you can just buy the bottom half. It is the bottom half that does the CC/CV control. The top just makes it easier to adjust settings and monitor. These modules are the top purchase of the year for me in terms of productivity boost. They are precise and very powerful for their size.

You need to focus on how many amps you will put into the diode. I assume the diode they are using is NUBM0A. The most powerful would be NUBM44v2 but that is very expensive.
I would aim for 3.8~4.0A into the diode for NUBM0A

Regarding the phosphor, it will actually drop in performance if you push it too hard. You can just use a lux meter while adjusting diode current to find the maximum output. You donā€™t need to have the output focused. As long as you keep your measurements consistent, a bare phosphor measurement is enough to find out your real life maximum.

In my experience with this type of phosphor (silicone binded YAG:Ce crystal powder) at around 3.5A with a spot size around 0.7 x 0.5mm (really hard to accurately estimate this), it will reach maximum performance. I dont have a W30 myself but I estimate this is the spot size they have. If the focus is any smaller, it will burn the phosphor even at around 1.2A

I was looking at one of those power supplies so I now wait for one. The W30 spot would be set by the small lens in front of the phosphor the other lens collimates and shapes the laser output. I have NUBM44 diodes, 16 are going in another little project. Thinking I might buy some phosphor crystals enderman linked somewhere.

Can you pass along a message to the new astronauts. Thanks mate :beer:

They told me to go away, their air conditioner was working overtime or something.

Is this showing the guts of a W30, or what is it? What is the purpose of the prism and side lensā€”is that for the output beam? is it off-center?

Thank you for sharing the picture.

How far apart does the small lens sit away from the phosphor?

I finally understand how acebeam can manage 500lumens. I couldnā€™t understand how 500 lumens was possible because I never knew about the additional lens!

What focal length do you think the small lens is using? I now really should test this.

Have you looked into the nichia nubm31t or nubm41? They are very easy to manage as their beams are so compact.

:laughing:

[quote=kennybobby]

Yes this is the light engine the laser is offset andhas a lens in front, a collimated beam is directed by the 2 prisms back onto the phosphor through the small lens. This small lens is a condensor lens. It sits about 2-3mm above the phosphor, the output has a 120Ā° cone of light. This small lens makes it hard to calculated anything with the W30 engine because when you add an element none of these can be at their focal length because the lens as a whole wont focus. Im not exactly sure if this changes the laser size or it could be aspheric with a window in the centre for the laser to pass through unchanged.
This is a screen shot from an article on thorlabs website that explains most how I work out how far the condensor lens has to sit from the light source to catch all the light and direct it to the next element. Yes there are losses in each element but the overall result is a lot of visual gain. Without the small lens in the w30 it could not do what it does. This also explains why they used a double convex in this case an objective lens. The double convex just projects the image from the small condensor lens
If this is copyright I will delete it.

Just a little to add to this because we are using lens for lighting not imaging everything has to be slightly out of focus. The abberations do play a part but there are work arounds. Because they happen on the outside edges oversizing the condensor so the light only passes through centre is one way of reducing it.

86mm kaidomain reflectors for xhp35hi


Nice job on the cut outs grin.

That reflector array looks amazing!

Iā€™m inspired by this thread! Iā€™m looking at a big, vintage enlarging lens on eBay right now, might be rubbish for making a thrower, but I want to have a go anyway!

Thanks, it is good to see someone get something from my ramblings. I have found an article on light collection and collimation that can explain better than I. https://www.newport.com/t/light-collection-and-systems-throughput

The reflectors are a follow on from my OL competition light. I want to get the process of cutting and finishing the reflectors right before I start the big build. So for this one I made a simple jig to put in the metal cutoff bandsaw.