1.3w 650nm cni maybe rubbish?

[jammah]

Ahh so there is Meant to be play in the back plate that clamps the diode to the housing (haha i just thought the holes were too big )
When I first set it up I clamped the two mounts together and adjusted them untill I had two parallel beams hitting a wall about 4m away at the same height
I guess I could use a water level to get a point that's exactly the same height as the beams at the diodes
As long as they are mounted on a dead level surface

Sweet thanks for that I've got a much better idear of where to start now

James

[LaNeK779]

great! life is much simpler if the beams exit the lens centered.
then, you have to make sure they hit the first lens dead center too, you bolt it down and then start messing with the second lens

let us know how it goes

[jammah]

Im off work for the next week so Ill get stuck into it!!
so the first lens doesn't have to be any special distance from the diodes but the beam has to hit it dead centre and at perfect right angle to the square side both vertically and horizontally
I might have to make some mounts as dave was out of his lens mounts
Ill throw up some pics when i have some progress
thanks again
james
haha I also just bought bbe's 8x diode array I figured its a project to work up to later in the year
do you know if anyone has combined 8 m140's i would love to see pics of that

[swamidog]

haha I also just bought bbe's 8x diode array I figured its a project to work up to later in the year
do you know if anyone has combined 8 m140's i would love to see pics of that

i don't know of any 8x140 builds, but a friend and i did a 10x m140 build a while back.

[LaNeK779]

The first lens has been found to yield better results if it is placed 5 (or 6 or a bit more) centimeters (around 2+inches) away from the diode. There is some very technical explanation why this is so, burried around 2/3 in a 54page thread if you want to search for it http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...ght=flashlight

the beam has to hit the lens exactly as you describe it, doesn' t matter if it is higher or lower as long as it is centered to the vertical axis of the lens

here is a thread, just a little too heavy on blue http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...etit-deathstar
here is one of mine, that i never started building http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...9&d=1333154583

how are you stacking the beams? do they look like "-" or like "[" at a distance of more than a few centimeters away from the diode holder?
we will most probably need to talk about stacking instead of knifing, i.e. a "=" configuration. You might be able to see this "=" pattern as the beam exits the cyl pair here http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...0&d=1334817909 (thanks to the gentleman who made this for me)

what i am seeing in the pic might prove to be difficult to work with. One major flaw is that the beam paths from the diodes to the cyl lenses will not be the same length. This will yield different magnification and an uneven spot@farfield

I think that a configuration like this might be better, just needs a few more optics (and $$)

[jammah]

I think that a configuration like this might be better, just needs a few more optics (and $$)

yep I had sort of figured that as soon as I read the distance from the diode matters, The only reason I added the bounce mirror is because the beams were not perfectly level and coming out of the modules
so when I get them exiting the modules dead straight I should be able to get them the same distance from the lens pair

On a side note in the setup pictured what is the advantage of using the waveplate as opposed to turning the diode 90 dig?

ohh yea and the 8 x array aparently stacks 4 like iiii and the other 4 horizontal on top of them, but I think its best I dont even think about that right now my brain will POP, the only reason I got it was to have something like that made here I would have to sell a kidney, and I figured if this obsession develops like I think it will I will probably be happy to have it down the line, I also Figured I could break it down into two 4 x arrays for the next stepping stone

WOW I have learnt heaps this morning
Thanks For your help

[jammah]

That is Nuts, I think well above my level but hey I do love to throw myself in the deep end

i don't know of any 8x140 builds, but a friend and i did a 10x m140 build a while back.

[LaNeK779]

On a side note in the setup pictured what is the advantage of using the waveplate as opposed to turning the diode 90 dig?

A diode emits light that diverges in two axis. "Left-right" and "up-down". Let's also assume that one dimension diverges faster than the other. This is the fast axis and we take care of this by using the collimator lens. The other is called the slow axis and we use cyl lenses or prisms to expand its size and reduce divergence.

So, think that cyl lenses and anamorphic prisms expand only one dimension of your beam, the slow axis. Diodes like "+" through correction optics would get only one of the two diodes corrected in the desired dimension. The "horizontal" diode would be OK but the "vertical" diode would get its already corrected fast axis re-corrected, leaving the slow axis without any correction at all

I hope this helps you and does not cause frustration amongst "the elders" by its oversimplified approach

[jammah]

Aha! I get that and I'm shure the elders will understand a simple explanation for a simple person lol
Thanks again
James

[badger1666]

Jammah did you read all of the holy grail thread yet ?
Its long , and you should and there is the info
In it you need to make sure you you set up correct.
You dont need that pbs , just stack the two diodes so they both enter the lens like this =
Using knife over technique
And the distance between each diode and the first lens is exactly the same.