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S3 SPYDER ARCTIC LASER

S3 Spyder Arctic 445nm Blue Laser, retail $197.97 (www.wickedlasers.com...)
Manufactured by Wicked Lasers (www.wickedlasers.com)
Last updated 07-00-10

(In reference to the small package I received from Wicked Lasers around 0:00pm PDT on 07-00-10):
{sung like the Foreigner song "Feels Like the First Time"}

The S3 Spyder Arctic 445nm directly-injected diode laser (hereinafter, probably just referred to as the "Arctic") is an extremely powerful self-contained, handheld laser.

It is rated to produce almost 1 watt of laser radiation at 445nm in the royal blue part of the spectrum.

It comes in a very sturdy aluminum body that has been hard-anodized, and feeds from a single 18650 Li:ION rechargeable cell (which is included along with the charger).

It also comes with LaserShades laser safety glasses -- which must be used every time you fire up this studly little laser...you don't want to end up like this guy: --->

This may look funny, but I assure you folks, this is no joke!!!

***EXTREME CAUTION!!!***
The USS Lantree is a quarantined vessel by order of Starfleet Command.
Do not board.
...o wait, wrong warning!!!

***EXTREME DANGER!!!***
This laser can produce up to 1 watt of laser radiation at 445nm (royal blue), and can cause instant and permanent eye damage from an accidental reflection or accidental direct exposure!!! You need to know what you're doing and have the appropriate safety precautions for a CDRH Class IV laser device in place before you energize this laser!!!

Destruction of the eye isn't the only ocular (eye) hazard here:
Exposure to high levels of blue & violet radiation can also wreak havok!!!

SIZE

Feed the laser module a pair of CR123A cells (not included) (see below), remove the blue plastic cover from the laser aperture (the hole in one end), and then you'll be ready to rock.

To use the laser module (it has multiple operational modes thanks to its SmartSwitch™), follow these instructions:

If you are not used to using a CDRH Class IV laser (and very, very few people really are!), you'll want to start out with the training lens in place.

The SmartSwitch™ prevents accidental and unauthorized activation of the laser by requiring a short sequence of clicks and click-holds to unlock the laser.

Once the laser is unlocked, the default operating mode for the laser is low power, pulse wave, constant on operation. This means the laser operates at 5% of the maximum power output, making it 20 times safer. When used in conjunction with the training lenses, output power is further reduced 5 times, making the laser only 1% as hazardous to the human eye or skin than at maximum power.
Once you are ready to experience maximum 100% power, it takes only 2 clicks to change the mode and mere seconds to replace the lens. The SmartSwitch™ is the world's most innovative and safest laser system ever created.

The following modes are available:

Low Power (10% of maximum) , Constant Wave, Constant On
Low Power (10% of maximum) , Pulse Wave (6Hz / 50%) , Constant On
Max Power , Constant Wave, Constant On
Max Power , Pulse Wave (6Hz / 50%) , Constant On
Secure Locked Mode

The laser module comes with a hinge-lidded presentation case (that has a magnetically-closing lid) with a foam cutout for the module. You may store the Arctic in this case if desired.

To charge the battery in your Wicked Lasers S3 Spyder Arctic, unscrew and remove the tailcap, throw it in the {vulgar term for feces}bowl, yank that silver handle on the front of the cistern down, and flush it away...O WAIT!!! YOU'LL NEED THAT!!! So just set it aside instead.

Tip the used 18650 cell out of the barrel and into your hand, and pop it into the included charger.

Insert a freshly-charged 18650 cell into the barrel, flat-end (-) negative first. This is the opposite of how batteries are installed in most other laser pointers/laser modules, so please pay attention to polarity here.

Screw the tailcap back on, and be done with it.
Aren't you glad you didn't flush away that tailcap now?

Current usage measures mA (minimum CW output) to mA (maximum CW output) on a known-fully charged 18650 cell.

This is a laser module, not a flashlight. So I won't try to drown it in the toliet tank, bash it against a steel rod or against the concrete floor of a front porch in effort to try and expose the bare Metalmarineangemon - er - the bare Metalkumamon - um that's not it either...the bare Metalwargrowlmon...er...uh...wait a sec here...THE BARE METAL (guess I've been watching too much Digimon again!

- now I'm just making {vulgar term for feces} up!!!), let my mother's big dog's ghost or my sister's kitty cats spring a leak (uranate) on it, hose it down with a gun, run over it with a 450lb Celebrity motorised wheelchair, stomp on it, use a medium ball peen hammer in order to bash it open to check it for candiosity, fire it from the cannoñata, drop it down the top of Mt. Erupto (I guess I've been watching the TV program "Viva Piñata" too much again

- candiosity is usually checked with a laser-type device on a platform with a large readout (located at Piñata Central {aka. "Party Central"}), with a handheld wand that Langston Lickatoad uses, or with a pack-of-cards-sized device that Fergy Fudgehog uses; the cannoñata (also located at Piñata Central) is only used to shoot piñatas to piñata parties away from picturesque Piñata Island, and Mt. Erupto is an active volcano on Piñata Island), send it to the Daystrom Institute for additional analysis, or perform other indecencies on it that a flashlight might have to have performed on it. Therefore, this section of the laser's web page will seem a bit more bare than this section of the web page on a page about a flashlight.

This is a directly-injected laser though, who's active components are the laser diode and the collimating lens. So it should withstand accidents better than a DPSS (diode pumped solid state) laser - the type of laser assembly found in yellow (593.5nm), green (532nm) and blue (473nm) laser pointers & laser modules (handheld or laboratory). These lasers have several additional components (crystals, filters, etc.) in the optical train, and you can knock them out of alignment by doing little more than looking at them the wrong way. And if any of these components are knocked out of whack, you'll no longer get your yellow, green, or blue laser beam.

You still do not want to intentionally drop your S3 Spyder Arctic though, because it's a rather expen$ive precision optical instrument.

***EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!!!***

This laser is a CDRH Class IV instrument, and the photons generated by it are much higher in energy than the photons generated by a red laser of equivalent power (not that you'd want to shoot your eye out with a 1W red laser anyway!!!); so you definitely do not want to shine it into your eyes, other people's eyes, pets' eyes, for that matter, the eyes of any person or animal you encounter.

Eye damage can occur faster than the blink reflex can protect them, regardless of what species' eyes you irradiate with this laser. So just don't do it.

And for Christ sakes (and for heaven sakes and for Pete sakes and your sakes too) do not shine the S3 Spyder Arctic (or any other laser for that matter!) at any vehicle, whether ground-based like a motorcycle, car, or truck, or air-based like a helicopter, airplane, or jet. And if you shoot it at a person in the dark and he turns out to be a police officer, he may think he's being targeted, unholster (pull out) his gun, and hose you down with it.

EXTREMELY, VERY, SUPER DOOPER IMPORTANT!!! I know I just said this, but it bears repeating: You MUST NOT shine it in your eyes, not even when the S3 Spyder Arctic's battery has pooped out and it is below lasing threshold!!!!!!!!!

This is a CDRH Class IV laser device. Treat it with respect, and it'll treat you with respect.

This laser is not water-resistant, so please be extra careful when using it around sinks, tubs, toilets, fishtanks, pet water bowls, or other places where water or water-like liquids might be found. And you'll probably want to cover it up or otherwise get rid of it (such as by putting it in a pocket or bag) if you need to carry it in rainy or snowy weather.

The case is made from 6061-T6 Aircraft-Grade Aluminum, and is treated with a black HA-III (hard anodized) finish.

The beam has a divergence of less than1.5mRad (milliradians), and has a diameter of 1.50mm when it exits the product.
According to the web page on the S3 Spyder Arctic, it produces a TEM00 (transverse electromagnetic mode 00) beam - that is, it produces a beam with a Gaussian power distribution; circular with a central hotspot and dimmer corona. This is a typical laser mode, and is how many lasers (well, most lasers for consumer use anyway) are designed to operate.

The beam from the Arctic is not perfecly circular; it is oval (somewhat egg-shaped) like beams from all directly-injected diode lasers that do not have special beam shape corrective optics.

Beam photograph on the test target at 12".
My laser power meter is simply not capable of measuring the
tremendous power output of this laser (est. ~1.0 watt!!!).

Beam photograph on a wall at ~10 feet.

Those colored graphics toward the left are my "Viva Piñata" posters, and that clock on the right that looks like a gigantic wristwatch is my Infinity Optics Clock.
You may also be able to see two of my SpongeBob SquarePants plush (Squidward Tentacles & Patrick Star) and a Digimon plush (Greymon)

Spectrographic analysis of the S3 Spyder Arctic.

Same as above; spectrometer's response narrowed to a range between 430nm and 460nm.

USB2000 spectrometer graciously donated by P.L.

ProMetric analysis

Beam cross-sectional analysis (X-axis).

ProMetric analysis

Beam cross-sectional analysis (Y-axis).

Image made using the ProMetric System by Radiant Imaging.

TEST NOTES:
Test unit was sent by Steve of Wicked Lasers on 07-15-10, and was received on 07-00-10.

***EXTREMELY, SUPER DOOPER CRITICALLY IMPORTANT!!!***
This is a Class IV laser product!!!
Eye exposure will cause INSTANT (and permanent!) damage

, and it is a hazard (with regard to burn injury and fire) to skin, clothing, and any other flammable materials as well!!!

You don't want baby brown recluse spiders, mosquito wrigglers (larvae) or western tiger swallowtail caterpillars (larvae)...I mean you don't want an unwanted fire!!!

To put it as briefly as possible, you must use this laser with extreme caution, and use the protective eyewear furnished with the laser ***EVERY TIME*** you fire it up!!!

The very high output power isn't the only eye injury hazard here...you also need to be aware (or made aware) of photochemical damage to the eyes and skin from very intense radiation at wavelengths ranging from 500nm (blue-green) to 400nm (violet) -- and shorter wavelengths of course:

(CLICK ON THE GRAPHIC!!!)

UPDATE: 00-00-00

PROS:
EXTREMELY POWERFUL output for such a small, self-contained unit
Color (royal blue @ 445nm) is exceptionally vibrant and unusual for a handheld laser

CONS:

Wicked Lasers

Portable directly-injected royal blue-emitting (=445nm) diode laser module

blue laser diode

Very narrow spot; it's a laser, remember?

Pushbutton on/mode change/off on barrel

Aluminum

Metal; has aperture (hole) for laser beam to emerge

1x 185650 rechargeable cell

***VERY LIGHT*** splatter-resistance at maximum

NO WAY HOZAY!!!

Protective "LaserShades" laser eyewear, training lens, 18650 cell, charger, presentation case

35.80mm D by 228mm L

378 grams

China

90 days

S3 Spyder Arctic 445nm Blue Laser * www.wickedlasers.com...

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