Hello, my name is Austin and i have questions!

[arm94]

Hey guys,

I am new here but very excited to finally be posting.
I currently own an Aries 125mw from Laserglow (a Christmas present) and I am already ready to upgrade!

But i do have a quick question regarding my next purchase. I love my Aries, do not get me wrong, but the beam is barely visible if at all during the day and i have trouble lighting matches! For my next laser I want a VERY bright beam along with some power.

At first I was thinking and willing to purchase the Hercules 300 from Laserglow howerver due to recent research i have been thinking about going with the 1 Watt blue Spartan from Dragonlasers and buying the Dragonlasers beam expander to use with it.

What do you guys think?

Thanks alot for your time and i am happy to be here,

Austin.

 

[Prototype]

I'd go with the strongest Hercules I could afford, personally. I find a green beam to be thinner and more pleasing than the beam of a 445nm laser, which don't get me wrong, is nice, but a 300mW green (which could be overspec by a great deal) will have a smaller, intense beam. It won't burn as much or as fast, but it'll be far more impressive, in my opinion. Don't forget safety goggles and pictures of whichever you do get, and welcome to LPF.

 

[arm94]

I find a green beam to be thinner

Do you think a thin beam will be achievable with dragonlasers beam expander or do you still think it will be very thick (maybe too thick) of a beam?

 

[Prototype]

Beam thickness is usually inversely related to divergence. The thicker the beam at the aperture the better the dirvergence, a beam expander gives a large beam but incredible divergence. A 445nm laser will have a large beam, due to being multimode. If you view it from the side however, looking at the slow axis, you'll see it appear as a very thin beam. A good DPSS green beam will be 'thin' from all angles, but if it's too thin you'll have higher divergence. A Hercules should provide an excellent beam, both size and divergence wise.

Edit: If you look at:

DIY Beam Expander
Click Image to Enlarge

From this review:

http://laserpointerforums.com/f52/wl-arctic-review-g2-59334.html


You can better see what I mean with the multimode 'fast' and 'slow' axes of a 445nm laser beam.

 

[Keens]

Optotronics RPL series.. whatever power you can afford.

IMO, buries all other handheld lasers on the market with quality build and the absolute best divergence.

Wish I could afford one.

 

[Prototype]

That's a valid point, though the Hercules have a truly unlimited duty cycle due to using a fan for cooling. For $50 less than the price of a Hercules-300 you can get an RPL-350.

 

[arm94]

Interesting...Im sorry that I am just inexperienced and uninformed but are you saying the optoronics will have a VERY bright beam? That is what i care about the most.

So would you say a 1 watt blue spartan or the Optotronics 300 would be visibly brighter?

Thanks for your patience guys.