OIP MOdel 165 Laser

Roland, try posting on alt.lasers and include any data from the rating plate or the CDRH label, i.e. wavelength and power (although I'm guessing you haven't located that label from your request for information on power) and mention the dimensions and shape of the laser head as it will give some clue as to what it is. Martin

ate

lue

Hi Martin,

there's no rating plate of any kind on the case. All it says is "OIP GASLASER MODEL 165" and the logo "OIP GENT BELGIUM".

Popping open the lid I see two glass bulbs linked to a common tube at opposite ends. The tube appears to emit on both sides (one aperture is covered with duct tape). One of the bulbs contains an electrode, the other a metal cylinder connected in series with a big fat resistor. It's almost disappointingly simple, but apparently intact.

The only additional info I could find is a label on the tube reading:

He-Ne PLASMATUBE MODEL Nr. 165 SERIAL Nr. G1196

No mention of ratings whatsoever.

I'll try alt.lasers and see if they know more. Having read Sam's Laser FAQ I assumed sci.electronics would be a good starting point. Thanks for the reply!

--Roland

Oh, and there's a nice sticker with skull 'n' crossbones warning you of high voltage. :^D

Hi Martin,

there's no rating plate of any kind on the case. All it says is "OIP GASLASER MODEL 165" and the logo "OIP GENT BELGIUM".

Popping open the lid I see two glass bulbs linked to a common tube at opposite ends. The tube appears to emit on both sides (one aperture is covered with duct tape). One of the bulbs contains an electrode, the other a metal cylinder connected in series with a big fat resistor. It's almost disappointingly simple, but apparently intact.

The only additional info I could find is a label on the tube reading:

He-Ne PLASMATUBE MODEL Nr. 165 SERIAL Nr. G1196

No mention of ratings whatsoever.

I'll try alt.lasers and see if they know more. Having read Sam's Laser FAQ I assumed sci.electronics would be a good starting point. Thanks for the reply!

--Roland Sounds like a fairly old helium neon laser design; the big cylinder is the cathode, the other electrode is, obviously, the anode. Power rating is rarely more than 10mW per ft of bore length and the wavelength is likely to be 632.8nm. Operating voltages are in the order of 1.5 to 2KV per ft and typically 10KV strike voltage. I imagine the third wire on the connector is connected to the chassis of the laser head as a safety ground. Can you see any signs of a getter patch in the sidearms? Not having one isn't always bad as the cathode can sometimes act as a getter but a white or powdery getter patch is always bad. Sam also frequents alt.lasers so he's likely to see the message if you post over there. Martin

I think some photos are in order. This is the first time I've even heard of OIPQ

Aside from broken glass, the next tip-off would be an exhausted getter, but many gas lasers don't even have one.

-- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ:

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is ignored unless my full name AND either lasers or electronics is included in the subject line. Or, you can contact me via the Feedback Form in the FAQs.

OK, so as somewhat expected it is/was a helium-neon laser.

If you have a source of RF like a hand-held tesla coil or even a plasma globe power supply, you could see if it is gas-intact. Or apply HV DC limited to a few mA, + to the small electrode via the ballast resistor, - to the can electrode.

These guys deal with Blu-ray lasers, not REAL lasers. :)

Cheers!

-- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ:

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is ignored unless my full name AND either lasers or electronics is included in the subject line. Or, you can contact me via the Feedback Form in the FAQs.

Hi Sam, hi folks,

there's no getter as far as I can tell. This appears to be a semi- antique piece of kit (late 60s / early 70s, I'd say). The whole thing has a garage-workshop look & feel to it. The glass tube looks handmade! (In other words: it's probably crap?)

I'll snap some pics and the post the URLs.

Oh, I went back today to pick up something that had a variable HV supply, naively thinking I could adapt it. On closer inspection, I was totally dumbfounded: it's a Baird-Atomic Abacus GM Scaler Model 123. It has five counter tubes (glowing dots counting clockwise). There's also a 5-pin connector for a probe of sorts (missing). Hope I'm not getting OT here, I just mention it in the off chance somebody could enlighten me as to what the heck this gagdet does! ;^)

Later,

--Roland

Okay, I've uploaded pix to my webspace, if anyone cares to take a look:

It looks like it would suck in operation (if it's not completely dead). :^D

Regards,

--Roland

It's a helium neon laser for certain, Brewster window type with external mirrors. If it runs a discharge then you may find you have to tweak the mirrors to get it to lase. The active bore length looks to be about 10 to

There's a 99 percent chance it's up to air and quite dead, but still worth testing with either a low current HV power supply, or a small RF source like a Tesla coil to see if it ionizes.

It's similar or identical to the Optics Technology 170 laser:

But I'm not even sure that Optics Technology was the actual mfg.

-- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ:

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is ignored unless my full name AND either lasers or electronics is included in the subject line. Or, you can contact me via the Feedback Form in the FAQs.

I have seen a few where the anode near ground.

There's nothing fundamental about doing it one way or the other.

However, putting the ballast resistor on the cathode with its higher capacitance could ultimately be problematic. Maybe. :)

-- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ:

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is ignored unless my full name AND either lasers or electronics is included in the subject line. Or, you can contact me via the Feedback Form in the FAQs.

GM=Geiger Mueller - A Geiger counter. Those tubes are actually quite clever as they not only show the value by the location of the glowing dots, but also implement the logic of the counter via the gas discharge and some transfer electrodes between the glowing ones.

Google "Dekatron".

-- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ:

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is ignored unless my full name AND either lasers or electronics is included in the subject line. Or, you can contact me via the Feedback Form in the FAQs.