Hello all
I am currently shopping fo equipment.
As I was assembling my list I though it would be best to bounce some thoughts off more experienced holoraphers - -i.e. this forum
First - the laser - my budget - approx $1200.00
I was thinking of going with: JDS Uniphase Helium Neon Lasers from Edmunds - the specs are as follows:
DSU Part Number 1135P
Minimum Output Power (mW) 10.00mW
CDRH Laser Class IIIb
Beam Diameter (mm) 0.68
Beam Divergence (mrad) 1.20
Minimum Polarization Ratio 500:1
Longitudinal Mode Spacing, Nominal (MHz) 320.00MHz
Maximum RMS Noise (30Hz-10MHz) 0.10
Laser Head Diameter (inches) 1.740
Laser Head Length (inches) 19.13
Weight Head/PS (lbs) 1.5/3.4
RoHS Not Compliant
What think the board of this choice?
Second regarding the parabolic mirror - I currently have budgeted for a 6" dia 24" FL (also Edmunds)
What are the limitations of a 6" mirror (i.e. maximum hologram size) or other limitations. Does the FL make a difference in the quality of hologram , the size of the spread, or simply the size of the setup? I understand that the FL of 8" mirrors would be substantially larger FL (40" min I believe) and could make this work with what I have planned, but is it necessary?
In some respects I can suffer from the "more power" syndrome, but I rationalize this by thinking that I would rather buy something bigger now that to have to spend buy a more expensive item later. I would like the equipment to be compatable with making at least 8 x 10 holograms.
Any thoughts or advice is appreciated.
Advice on Equipment
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geso
Advice on Equipment
Holomark,
Is there a reason you are buying from Edmunds, as you can get much better deals if you look around.
If you want to forgo the Hene route for DPSS green lasers, there are plenty around which have been proven to work
excellent for holography. These are the Coherent 315M's and the JDS Uniphase U-Greens. Many people on the board here use
these. If your interested I can make you a deal on either as I have a stockpile of both types. I can also provide scanning CCD spectrometer and scanning fabry-perot interferometer scans of the output if you'd like. I just took a bunch of pictures of the different lasers I have as I was going a few on ebay.
For the collimating mirror, I would get the largest you can afford, especially if you want to make 8x10's. Wler on the board here, has a diagram of mirror sizes vs plate size.
http://pagesperso-orange.fr/redlum.xohp ... rsizes.pdf
Are you holomark on ebay?
-George
Is there a reason you are buying from Edmunds, as you can get much better deals if you look around.
If you want to forgo the Hene route for DPSS green lasers, there are plenty around which have been proven to work
excellent for holography. These are the Coherent 315M's and the JDS Uniphase U-Greens. Many people on the board here use
these. If your interested I can make you a deal on either as I have a stockpile of both types. I can also provide scanning CCD spectrometer and scanning fabry-perot interferometer scans of the output if you'd like. I just took a bunch of pictures of the different lasers I have as I was going a few on ebay.
For the collimating mirror, I would get the largest you can afford, especially if you want to make 8x10's. Wler on the board here, has a diagram of mirror sizes vs plate size.
http://pagesperso-orange.fr/redlum.xohp ... rsizes.pdf
Are you holomark on ebay?
-George
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BobH
Advice on Equipment
If you want to work with red light to be able to more easily tune colors in reflection holography (by pre-swelling, for example), a budget of 1200 should get you 30mW with a used laser if you can wait for the deal. You'll be happy you did when you start wasting light to get uniform lighting, background lighting, and/or fill lighting.
I think you'll need more like a 13" diameter mirror to cover 8x10" with a collimated beam. Those go for 200-300 on Astromart pretty often. Might want to have it recoated, but that's not expensive. You'll want a 4x8' table to be comfortable with 8x10" work.
I think you'll need more like a 13" diameter mirror to cover 8x10" with a collimated beam. Those go for 200-300 on Astromart pretty often. Might want to have it recoated, but that's not expensive. You'll want a 4x8' table to be comfortable with 8x10" work.
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holomark
Advice on Equipment
George,
No I am not holomark on e-bay. No particular reason for going with Edmunds other than they were easy to find and a good example to start this discussion. I do prefer to buy new equipment as opposed to used. While recognizing I could be passing up some good deals I do am not very familiar with the community and do not want to buy somone else's problems. I will not rule out such deals, but it is not my first choice.
The bigger question you raise is Hene vs DPSS. Here I confess to some ignorance as my knowledgebase is somewhat outdated. Can you point me to some resource to the pros and cons of DPSS. It soulds line I can get more mW for the dollar using DPSS.
can you send me a PM with some specs on or linksto the lasers you reference.
BobH,
Thanks for the info. I will obviously have to shop around for price. will look at Astromart.
Mark
No I am not holomark on e-bay. No particular reason for going with Edmunds other than they were easy to find and a good example to start this discussion. I do prefer to buy new equipment as opposed to used. While recognizing I could be passing up some good deals I do am not very familiar with the community and do not want to buy somone else's problems. I will not rule out such deals, but it is not my first choice.
The bigger question you raise is Hene vs DPSS. Here I confess to some ignorance as my knowledgebase is somewhat outdated. Can you point me to some resource to the pros and cons of DPSS. It soulds line I can get more mW for the dollar using DPSS.
can you send me a PM with some specs on or linksto the lasers you reference.
BobH,
Thanks for the info. I will obviously have to shop around for price. will look at Astromart.
Mark
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Jem
Advice on Equipment
Hi Mark
You have not given us any idea as to what country you are in. Knowing roughly whereabouts in the world you are would enable us to be a little more specific with our answers.
It may be that you live just down the road from one of the members here who can invite you to look at their system etc.
Cheers
Jem
You have not given us any idea as to what country you are in. Knowing roughly whereabouts in the world you are would enable us to be a little more specific with our answers.
It may be that you live just down the road from one of the members here who can invite you to look at their system etc.
Cheers
Jem
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holomark
Advice on Equipment
Jem,
I reside in Northern California, USA. Profile has been updated for location.
Mark
I reside in Northern California, USA. Profile has been updated for location.
Mark
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Joe Farina
Advice on Equipment
If you plan to make progress in holography, I would cure myself of that habit as quickly as possible!!!!!!!!!!holomark wrote:I do prefer to buy new equipment as opposed to used.
Only buy from Edmund as a last resort, if you can't find the item anywhere else. Otherwise, your money will quickly go out the window, and you will have nothing left.
If you want to work with silver halide, and your budget is what you stated, then I would get a used HeNe off eBay or elsewhere, but just be sure it is a full, working system, and, more importantly, the seller specifies the output power (say for example 25mW) and you can return the laser if it doesn't have the amount of power the seller stated. This raises the question of how to measure the power. Really there is no alternative other than buying a calibrated laser power meter, such as the Coherent LaserCheck. These used to sell for around $300, but a used one would probably be a lot cheaper (see how quickly the money goes?).
If you want green, then consider a Uniphase Microgreen laser. This should still fit your budget.
If you want to do DCG, then you will need at least a 315, unless you want to use dye-sensitised DCG, which has a more involved preparation. The 315's will go for at least $1,000, but more likely $1,500.
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BobH
Advice on Equipment
I'd recommend the UDT 351 meter listed here by Phil waaaaay before the Lasercheck, having used the former for years and the latter for minutes before tossing it back into the cabinet. My favorite meter is the Coherent Fieldmaster. Multi-wavelength, small seperate head (which I modify slightly to make it more mountable), readily available on Ebay. But everyone has their own favorite, and if I had to use the Lasercheck, I'd get used to it.
My labs have all been stocked from the Thorlabs catalog since about '92, especially for the mechanical things. For optics, I'll go to Edmund, Thorlabs, Melles Griot, and CVI, in that order for price and availability. I'd go for a used SP 907 from a known source before a new 10mW new from Edmund every day. The one I have now has been the same for well over a decade after I bought it for $500.
I'd spend my money on new clean optics, big collimating mirrors & nice machined mounts for them, used laser, nice meter, used table (never sand!), used translators, and a nice set of baffles and table enclosure hardware.
My labs have all been stocked from the Thorlabs catalog since about '92, especially for the mechanical things. For optics, I'll go to Edmund, Thorlabs, Melles Griot, and CVI, in that order for price and availability. I'd go for a used SP 907 from a known source before a new 10mW new from Edmund every day. The one I have now has been the same for well over a decade after I bought it for $500.
I'd spend my money on new clean optics, big collimating mirrors & nice machined mounts for them, used laser, nice meter, used table (never sand!), used translators, and a nice set of baffles and table enclosure hardware.
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Tom B.
Advice on Equipment
If you are just starting out, I'd say an 8 inch collimating mirror is a good size. Not too heavy or expensive and It comfortably covers a 4 x 5 plate which will be about as big as you want to go for a while. A 6 inch mirror would be too small for this. Once you feel confident (and rich!) enough to move up to 8 x 10 and bigger plates (or film) you will find that the cost of moving up to a bigger mirror is a very minor consideration compared to all the other expenses and headaches.
Edmund's prices for mirrors are a rip off - $499 for 8 inches? There are other sources of good quality for less than half that and you don't really need astronomical quality for this application. The first one I found via Google is here: http://www.e-scopes.cc/ - company appears to be Coulter Optical who have been making cheap astronomical mirrors forever. Looks like about $200 for an 8" with no secondary. I paid somewhat less for a functionally equivalent Chinese import at a local science store.
Edmund's prices for mirrors are a rip off - $499 for 8 inches? There are other sources of good quality for less than half that and you don't really need astronomical quality for this application. The first one I found via Google is here: http://www.e-scopes.cc/ - company appears to be Coulter Optical who have been making cheap astronomical mirrors forever. Looks like about $200 for an 8" with no secondary. I paid somewhat less for a functionally equivalent Chinese import at a local science store.
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Justin W
Advice on Equipment
Hi Mark
I too will endorse the JDS UNIPHASE Microgreen laser.
As a beginner myself I can attest to its suitability for holographic endeavors. Lasing in green (in this case 532nm) is pretty cool because your default hologram color will be green - which falls right in the center of the visible spectrum. Swelling your film before exposure can shift you toward the blue, and a swell afterwords will move you toward the red. Very versatile IMHO.
The Microgreen is an SLM laser, which not only keeps you free of mode hops during exposure, but also as a DPSS greenie gives you an incredible coherence length. Us new-school guys are spoiled like that. Grammin' with a HeNe will leave you measuring pathlengths carefully for every shot to ensure that you have not exceeded your coherence length.
Me, I do my best with 8" parabolic collimators. This size mirror is not sufficient to cover the entirety of an 8x10 sheet of film with collimated reference light (and it's definitely in your best interest to work with collimated masters), but it is sufficient for the work I have been doing lately: WLT transfers. A transfer of this type needs only a narrow strip of master film, and I am able to make 8" length strips of collimated master film with the parabolics I have. Like a previous poster noted, a lot of your equipment demands will be based on what type of holography you are interested in pursuing.
Best of luck, dude. Keep us up to date on your progress.
I too will endorse the JDS UNIPHASE Microgreen laser.
As a beginner myself I can attest to its suitability for holographic endeavors. Lasing in green (in this case 532nm) is pretty cool because your default hologram color will be green - which falls right in the center of the visible spectrum. Swelling your film before exposure can shift you toward the blue, and a swell afterwords will move you toward the red. Very versatile IMHO.
The Microgreen is an SLM laser, which not only keeps you free of mode hops during exposure, but also as a DPSS greenie gives you an incredible coherence length. Us new-school guys are spoiled like that. Grammin' with a HeNe will leave you measuring pathlengths carefully for every shot to ensure that you have not exceeded your coherence length.
Me, I do my best with 8" parabolic collimators. This size mirror is not sufficient to cover the entirety of an 8x10 sheet of film with collimated reference light (and it's definitely in your best interest to work with collimated masters), but it is sufficient for the work I have been doing lately: WLT transfers. A transfer of this type needs only a narrow strip of master film, and I am able to make 8" length strips of collimated master film with the parabolics I have. Like a previous poster noted, a lot of your equipment demands will be based on what type of holography you are interested in pursuing.
Best of luck, dude. Keep us up to date on your progress.