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Thread: Lexel 65 ion laser head

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    Exclamation Lexel 65 ion laser head

    Today I've recieved this laser and now I want to adapt it to my russian power supply. I'd like to know the following: filament voltage, tube voltage drop, maximum allowable tube current. Also the laser head schematics would be very useful. Judging by the nameplates, can anybody say if it is a multiline or singleline head?


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  2. #2
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    2.65 VAC nominal 75 watt Cathode, with cathode cold start surges probably in the 50 amp region or more. Lexel would have adjusted the cathode supply for 2.65 volts using transformer taps.
    I max 10 amps.
    I'll see if I have pinout data but no promises. Should be very similar to a LEXEL 88 as documented in SAM's FAQ, with the addition of fan wires and change of interlock pins.
    Tube voltage data is in deep storage, may take a while as I'm at work.
    Two fans of 350 CFM. Air exits the top of the head. Rods are Super Invar.
    Do NOT accidentally connect to the vacuum getter pin if installed.

    Steve
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    Never knew Lexel made any air-cooled heads... Nifty!

    Wonder what the market was? Short duration medical use, maybe? Something to compete with the HGM-5?

    Adam

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    Buffo,

    Extremely reliable but expensive, extremely stable little air cooled lasers for when you positivity need photons no matter what. Things like satellite downlink film printers, etc.. Deliberately built to have the same beam height and foot print of a larger Lexel. As the marketing literature put it, develop your project with a 85 or 95, then downsize to what you really need, ie a 65 or 75.
    ~
    The downside is the power supply is about the size of a model 75 19" rack PSU and almost as heavy. The difference is the passbank is built on a tunnel of cooling fins and the electronics feature LEDs instead of neons on the front panel. Other then that one added digital circuit board, inside the PSU is remarkably similar to a standard "WET" Lexel ion. With the same "You can repair this PSU in 30 Minutes" features as the big ones. The passbank uses 4 2N6259 on the air cooled tunnel and the same current /light cards as a standard Lexel with a few resistor values changed. Same passbank driver, too.
    ~
    Made for customers who wanted high quality and reliability. Its not a little throwaway air cooled tube in there. It is a downsized standard diameter Lexel tube with a beautiful cast and milled heat sink around it.

    ~
    Steve
    Last edited by mixedgas; 05-14-2018 at 09:23.
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    Thanks, mixedgas! The information is very helpful!

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    Thanks for the back-story, Steve!

    Yeah, I noticed the trademark Lexel oversize gas ballast (something you don't normally see on an air-cooled tube) and the downsized version of the beefy, solid resonator that Lexel's are famous for. Figured it was built to last, much like all the other Lexel heads I've seen. Sucks that the PSU was so large though - that would make it difficult to use. Any idea what the ball-park full power output (all lines) would be? (If I had to guess, I'd say 700 mw to maybe 1 watt?) Just curious...

    I'm assuming most of them shipped with multi-line optics then? (No reason you couldn't install single-line mirrors I guess, but the power output would probably be pretty low.)

    Adam

    PS: Wonder if Bruce has any of these tucked away in storage someplace...

  7. #7
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    Yes, I know where there are three of them...
    We'll see at SELEM, if future SWMBO (work in progress, not committed yet) lets me go...

    If your using an airborne Argon in a film scanner off a 400 Hz AC system, you want that LEXEL for the compensated resonator as the cabin altitude changes. I've seen the modified PSUS in a surplus place, got one home and had a WTF moment when I opened one. 400 Hz Transformers are light as a feather. So some small PSUs were made...

    Trivia Question: Lets see if anyone here can tell me what you do to the Brewster windows in order to run a laser at changing altitudes. I know, but do you?

    Steve
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    Quote Originally Posted by mixedgas View Post
    Yes, I know where there are three of them...
    Had a feeling there would be a few in the collection at least.

    We'll see at SELEM, if future SWMBO (work in progress, not committed yet) lets me go...
    She Who Must Be Obeyed? This is an interesting development! Thought you were in permanent bachelor-mode.?.
    Nevertheless, we will watch this space with renewed interest. (And if it works out, bring her along! She's going to have to get used to the fact that you hang out with geeks like us sooner or later anyway.)

    As for the compensated resonator comment, I'll admit that you lost me. I thought resonator compensation was for mode-locked single line units with an intra-cavity etalon installed.?.

    Agree that 400 Hz AC is nice for many reasons. Lots of things painted green use 400 Hz, as I'm sure you're well aware. We had 3 separate motor-generator units on the boat just for the 400 Hz stuff. (Mostly sonar and missile control systems; crap the forward folks had to deal with.)

    Trivia Question: Lets see if anyone here can tell me what you do to the Brewster windows in order to run a laser at changing altitudes.
    This has me stumped. Surely the differences in air pressure wouldn't be that big of a deal? It's still positive pressure pushing in on the window, after all. Unless the glass flexes slightly less at altitude from the reduced pressure, which maybe changes the angle a tiny bit near the center of the window? I honestly wouldn't think that would be enough to affect the polarization performance though.

    So what am I missing?

    Adam

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    Any idea what the ball-park full power output (all lines) would be? (If I had to guess, I'd say 700 mw to maybe 1 watt?) Just curious...
    The danger sign says it is class3b with maximum output of 350 mW. So I am not expecting a lot from it.

  10. #10
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    Early on in an airborne scanning laser imaging program, the USAF had problems with the one Brewster up, One Brewster down configuration. As the plane climbed to say 10,000 ft, the index of refraction falls. The path of the beam thus moved off center relative to the Brewster windows. It took a while to figure out that the laser was just fine, and that if you orient the Brewsters with a "Two Up" or "Two Down" symmetry, The Brewsters would act as a compensator prism pair.

    Buffo:

    I've been dating again for the past two and a half years or so. I switched churches, and some wise women in my new church decided see if they could sell off the resident academic . After a lot of painful trial and error, some good times, some bad... Beaucoup money and time, and some false starts, plus getting mauled by a pair of neurotic housecats, I think I've found a good one. We shall see...

    Steve
    Last edited by mixedgas; 05-15-2018 at 04:08.
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