Beam divergence

mrad Ignoring initial beam size (i.e assuming its 0): 1 mrad = 10cm wide at 100m 1 mrad = 1 meter wide at 1km 1mrad is considered baseline for lasers. Anything tighter is considered a higher quality system. 0.4mrad is pretty much maxed out tightest possible. A smaller mrad beam looks sharper when you are […]

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History of display lasers

1917 Lasers were theorised by Einstein. 1960 Ruby rod was used to create a laser 1967 First display laser use in a live music produciton (Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention used a helium-neon laser in LA). Late 60’s / early 70’s The Who were prolific users of lasers in their show, also Led […]

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Laser settings

Blanking offset Often a setting of 3 or 4 points is optimal. (The setting refers to the delay, measured in points, that is applied to the color signals, compared to the X/Y position signals. The color signals are delayed to allow the scanners to “catch up”, since the lasers can be turned on and off […]

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Laser Types

LASER – Light Amplification Stimulated Emission of Radiation (it’s always spelt with a ‘S’ not a ‘Z’!) Characteristics of a laser: Ion laser Original types of lasers. Glass tube filled with inert gas. E.g. argon, crypton. Nobel gasses. Better beam quality than modern diode lasers, 2mm wide beam, solid colour. Old timers often lament how […]

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Metering beam power

Thor Labs PM-160 Diffusion slotted over the top ensures the beam spreads evenly over entire sensing area. The sensing area is actually smaller than 1cm2, so you need to adjust the reading you want to see accordingly: 9.5mm aperture = 0.70882cm2 So for 1mW MPE you actually read 0.71mW on the meter They have to […]

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Scanner speed

Scan speed You gets what you pay for with scanner speed! More money usually means more speed capability. Bear in mind that even though a scanner may be specified for a high speed (say 30kpps @ 8º), it doesn’t necessarily mean its driver electronics has been trimmed to allow it to operate at that speed. […]

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