Help: PCAOM and Reliant 300WC

[DZ]

Ok, so I have this projector out of a planetarium that was put together by the theater and I think they might have made a bit of a mistake. I'm wondering if there's anyone out there with a similar configuration. I lack a power meter so I can't take any real measurements. Basically, with everything aligned I'm assuming the waste beam is probably around 60% and the 1st order beam around 40%, maybe less. So I did a little research and found that the model PCAOM I have is designed for a horizontally polarized beam. Somewhere around here I think I read that the laser is vertically polarized.

So if you have a similar setup, which PCAOM do you have and how is it oriented?

[sugeek]

rotate the pcaom and find out.... if not steve was requesting phone calls with laser related things... I expect he would appreciate talking to you

-Adam

[dsli_jon]

hey Brother D -

Basically, with everything aligned I'm assuming the waste beam is probably around 60% and the 1st order beam around 40%, maybe less. So I did a little research and found that the model PCAOM I have is designed for a horizontally polarized beam. Somewhere around here I think I read that the laser is vertically polarized..

If that particular laser has a 'proper' brewster (even-if hard-sealed / internal..) and an matching pol-oriented AO (Vert > Vert..) you should be able to get at least 60-70% first-order, and only 30-40% waste... if you have the opposite, yes, something's wrong...

Do you have a 1/2 ~ plate? Any one of the Laserscope-toting kats down there should have one, as there is one on every deck (...well, the OEMs-do.. can't vouch for any hack-ups.. You can use one to 'test' and see if the laser is, indeed, V-pol'd, and rotate it, to match your H-pol'd AO... (...yes, you can also rotate pol with a retro-bouncer, but that's more complicated and lossier, etc..) If not, I'd be glad to ship ya one, but that will take a couple days or so...

Sounds like you have an AA or Isomet PCAOM, vs Neos? Got pix?

The other thought, is that if that model of Reliant is a former med-unit, it might be randomly-pol'd, in which-case, you're gonna be buggered for any real efficiency, no-matter the orientation of your AO... and if the mirs are hard-sealed to the tube (...which, iirc, they are...) no-chance of trying an 'intracavity brewster-mod', sooo...

Yes, I'd consult with the P'fesser, once he can come out of his Cone of Silence...

ttyl..
j

[chad]

you could also call dz laser service. If I remember correct they are basically what is left of laser physics.
He might be able to track and tell you about that laser.

http://www.dzlaser.com/index.php?ID=74

chad

[DZ]

Hey guys, thanks for the responses.

rotate the pcaom and find out....

I was hoping to avoid trying this until someone could respond with confirmation that the laser is indeed vertically polarized. Rotating the PCAOM is not going to be very simple but it looks like I'm going to have to try anyway.

Sounds like you have an AA or Isomet PCAOM, vs Neos? Got pix?

Hey Jon, it is a NEOS. Model number is 48062. I'm thinking that the best permanent fix for this will ultimately be to replace the pcaom with a model 48058. I did manage to make a bit of an improvement last night, green was very anemic utill I adjusted it's channel to "520nm" from the "514nm". But I still think I'm getting less than 50/50 overall.

you could also call dz laser service. If I remember correct they are basically what is left of laser physics.
He might be able to track and tell you about that laser.

Thanks Chad, I did send them an email yesterday. Since they had their hands in this thing back in 2007 I asked them if there were any horizontally polarized lasers of this model. Haven't heard anything back yet.

[Jem]

Do you have a 1/4 ~ plate?

Don't you need a half wave plate to rotate polarisation?

Jem

[dsli_jon]

Don't you need a half wave plate to rotate polarisation?

Yessir, you are correct! I wasn't paying proper attention to my typeage... 1/4 wave plates are used to turn plane-pol'd light (H or V) into circularly pol'd light, and vice versa.. But the point-was, there's a halfy on every OEM Laserscope deck, so if Sir DZ has any pals down there, with that goody kicking-around from a deck-strip, he could quickly check his 300 / possibly fix his efficiency-issue, w/o having to jump thru hoops on the AO-mount side, or spend boku bux on buying a plate, etc, etc...

Thanks for the trim to starboard....

cheers...
j

[Jem]

I reckon there'll be plenty of folks that have half wave plates from the group buy that dave did a while ago. Not quite sure as to how efficient they will be with a full spectrum white light gasser as they were mainly for 532nm and 640nm (I think).

I think i'd have a go with the 532nm one first as that will probably be the most efficient.

Cheers

Jem

[mixedgas]

DZ, you need to hit the "sweet spot", tune the driver to match the crystal, and checking the polarization is easy. None of these are difficult for a technical person of your caliber. I sent you my cell number. Don't Panic!

The "professor" needs the stress relief, and has a hour commute each way because of construction stupidity, he'd be glad to hear from you during the commute.

Do you have a hene head with a "P" in the part number, ie a 1105P1 or something similar?

Steve

[allthatwhichis]

I have a JDS hene, model 1103p-3020 if you need to use it...