Dragon Lasers Aurora 9mw BLUE review !!!

[SenKat]

Okay - for starters, this looks very well constructed, and presents well. The nice shade of blue compliments the output color very well too ! It is a 473nm pulsed laser - operating as they say, near TEM00. Pulsed lasers are quite different from "normal" lasers, in that there is a simple test to tell if your laser is pulsed or not ! Wave the pointer while on - rapidly....forming either a circle, or a long line. Pulsed lasers output will look like this : --------------- while a CW, or Constant Wave lasers' output will look like this : ____________ That MAY be a huge difference for some folks, but believe me, the output color is enough for me to put up with almost any mode, or type of operation ! The beam is a super bright blue color, described by Dragon to be a saphire color, and I tend to agree with them. It measured in at a healthy 9mw, which is at the top end of the scale of 5-9mw at a $799.99 price tag. Shining this laser thorugh a mangifying glass, and projecting the dot on the wall, I could swear I saw the beam in TEM01 mode - but my wife dissagrees with me, stating that it is one, solid beam. I will take some pics of it this evening, and hopefully get a nice clear shot of the projected dot, and let YOU choose which mode it appears to be in. now, like I previously stated - almost any mode of operation or beam spec is acceptable to me - just seeing the bright blue beam at night is a HUGE PLUS to me ! It is simply an amazing piece of artwork to me - never having seen one in person before !
This laser uses the CR2 batteries - which is an unusual configuration - but it works well for this laser. It helps to keep the body size to a minimum, while providing the long life of a lithium battery. I will post many pictureds this evening - of the beam, dot size, unit itself, and give my over-all and lasting impression of this laser.
The beam is most definitely TEM00 - here is a shot of the beam under 32X magnification from 200 ft away :

From 200 ft away @ 16X:
From 200 ft away @ 16X:

From 200 ft away @ 8X:

From 200 ft away @ regular:

Here's my first experiment with timed exposure - my handwritting sucks, but it still looks COOL !
http://stonetek.org/Dragon/IMG_1970M.JPG (outdoor edit)

Here is a timed exposure showing off the 9mw Dragon Lasers Aurora, the X-85 from NOVA, and a 50mw 660nm red DIY laser:
http://stonetek.org/Dragon/IMG_1989M.JPG (outdoor edit)
Here is a nice beam shot :
http://stonetek.org/Dragon/IMG_2032M.JPG (outdoor edit)

Another beam shot :

And another :

And another attempt at writting :
http://stonetek.org/Dragon/IMG_2023M.JPG (outdoor edit)

Another (can you tell I was having FUN ? )

http://stonetek.org/Dragon/IMG_2025M.JPG (outdoor edit)

Another :

http://stonetek.org/Dragon/IMG_2026M.JPG (outdoor edit)

And of course, my Daughter's contribution :

http://stonetek.org/Dragon/IMG_2015M.JPG (outdoor edit)

To sum this all up - This laser kicks some serious A$$ ! The unique blue color is a very exotic and intoxicating display of technology - at the price tag of $799 for the 9mw version, it is not to be had very cheap, nor is it for everyone due to the "quasi-CW" output of the laser, but I for one find it an extremely desireable laser, and would not mind adding a few of them to my collection of lasers ! This does not light up the room as much as a greenie does of the same power levels, it does however provide the unique blue glow, drawing stares from far and wide - bringing people towards you better than any type of magnet designed to entice people away from what they are doing. I had to re-do many of my shots, due to the fact that all of my neighbors kept coming around and checking out what I was doing with all the lights in my garage, and in my driveway ! Top notch device this is, and I WILL be purchasing one as soon as my budget allows - I simply cannot do without BLUE for much longer - my addiction has been sated temporarily, but now I hunger for even MORE BLUE....hopefully I will be able to get one or more soon, and take some more fantastic pictures - Dragon Lasers gave me the opportunity of a lifetime, they fulfilled my fantasy of owning a blue laser - even if it was for just a short period of time. Thank you VERY much Dragon Lasers for giving me this opportunity to show off your wares !
http://stonetek.org/Dragon/IMG_2008M.JPG (outdoor edit)
http://stonetek.org/Dragon/IMG_1973M.JPG (outdoor edit)
The last one is MY FAVORITE PICTURE !!!

All of the laser drawings were done with a 7 second shutter delay on a Canon S2iS !

 

[Gazoo]

Very nice review, as always. Blue is sweet. Like so many say, I wish I could afford it....lol

 

[SenKat]

Very nice review, as always. Blue is sweet. Like so many say, I wish I could afford it....lol

sigh - I REALLY wish I could afford this - justifying it to the CFO (wifey !) is the hard part ! LOL

 

[Litbobber]

HI

Where can i get one of these? Oh btw nice review.

Thanks

 

[SenKat]

Check them out at : www.DragonLasers.com/aurora
:twothumbs

 

[SenKat]

Here's a few vids of the Aurora with fog....
http://stonetek.org/Dragon/Fog/Aurora_Diffraction.wmv
http://stonetek.org/Dragon/Fog/Aurora_time_tunnel.wmv
http://stonetek.org/Dragon/Fog/Aurora_time_tunnel_2.wmv
http://stonetek.org/Dragon/Fog/Aurora_tunnel_3.wmv

Damn I love this laser ! It is GORGEOUS ! Now I need to find some more CR2 batts to feed it.....I have been allowed to keep it an extra week while I try to find a way to pay for this sucker - I do NOT want to send it back !!!!

 

[dogman]

Hello SenKat----:thumbsup:
Check my for sale / wtb etc..... threads here----:twothumbs
Maybe you can help me ( blinking cheap diodes )
dogman aka Vodka1000

 

[Kiessling]

dogman ... while it is nice that you know each other, several "hello" type of posts are not necessary, especially with pointers to B/S/T threads. Please conduct such conversations in private via PM or whatever other means of communication at your disposal.
Thank you.
bernhard

 

[picrthis]

Sweet SenKat, very sweet; I can see why you don't want to send it back.

 

[SenKat]

***SIGH*** I have to send it back - I just cannot validate it to either myself, or the keeper of the family gold :shakehead There WILL come a day when I will be able to justify it, and then - look out ! Muahahahahaha !

 

[jellyfish414]

Can you see the beam outside at night? In terms of brightness, how many mW of green would 9mW blue be equal to?

 

[SenKat]

I am not certain what it would compare to - when it gets dark this evening (in about1.5 hours I will do a comparison shot for you - actually, that one shot with the red, green and blue was a 50mm red, and a 100mw green - I have an 8mw green - so that is almost the same power as the blue, and we will see what the pic looks like....Since it's Father's Day, I can pay as long as I want tonight hehehehehe !

 

[SenKat]

That is a short timed exposure (hence the doubble dot for each laser)
showing the similarities between an 8mw 532nm green and a 9mw 473nm Blue (The Dragon Aurora).

I hope this helps to show that they are failry close in brightness - I can see the beam from both lasers very clearly in a dark room - so there you have it ! And if you look REALLY close inbetween the dots, there is a faintly humanoid shape...That is my lab buddy - the Robosapien V2 ! Hey, a man's GOTTA have his toys, right ?

 

[Timelord]

Nice review SenKat it makes me more envious on getting some 473nm blue in my green and red life

 

[SenKat]

Thanks, Timelord - nice to see you back over here on occasion

 

[Timelord]

Thanks, Timelord - nice to see you back over here on occasion

Right back at you my good friend I'm very busy of late, but I'm still about.. I'm glad the CPF is running good now as i couldn't login for a while :mecry:Must have been that Pesky Wabbit again :twothumbs She keeps me busy LOL!!!:laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing: