SKYTECH CLASS IV 520nm GREEN PORTABLE DIODE LASER
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Skytech Class IV 520nm Green Portable Diode Laser, retail $649.00 (URL is now defunct)
Manufactured by Skytech Lasers (URL is also now defunct)
Last updated 11-23-19
(In reference to the small package I received from Skytech Lasers at 5:24pm PST on 12-24-15):
{sung like the Foreigner song "Feels Like the First Time"}
The Skytech Class IV 520nm Green Portable Diode Laser is an extremely powerful self-contained, green-emitting handheld laser.
But it's not DPSS (Diode-Pumped Solid State) like those now-common green laser pens -- no, this one uses a new technological advancement that allows green laser radiation to be produced directly, without the need for those messy, fragile nonlinear crystals!
It is rated to produce up to 0.5W (500mW) of laser radiation at 520nm (power output was measured at 974mW; wavelength was spectrographically measured at 519.950nm) in the green part of the spectrum.
This appears to be model # LPSKYPL-520-1000 as described on another retailer's website.
It comes in a very sturdy aluminum body that has been hard-anodized, feeds from either one or two 18650 Li:ION rechargeable cells, and has safety features mandated for a powerful portable laser.
It comes packaged in a lockable, hard-sided aluminum case with cutouts in its foam interior for the laser and its accessories.
The thing that came immediately to mind when I opened the box and removed this case was that it reminded me of the cases on the TV game program, "Deal or No Deal".
***EXTREME DANGER!!!***
This laser can produce up to 1,000mW (1 watt) of laser radiation at 517nm (bright green), 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!!!
Big Scary “Laser” (the word 'laser' is spoken with “air quotes” like Dr. Evil does in the Austin Powers movies)
SIZE (1x cell)
SIZE (2x cells)
To use your shiny new (or corroded old) Skytech Class IV 520nm Green Portable Diode Laser, feed it one or two 18650 Li:ION cells first (see directly below), and ***THEN*** you can go set fire to the dead wingless legless fly that you found in your box of raisins*...er...uh...set fire to the side of the Bemis Industries building in south Seattle WA. USA.*
To use the portable laser, follow these instructions:
1:Insert one of the furnished cylindrical interlock keys into the keyway (keyhole) on the barrel, give it a 90° turn clockwise (as though screwing it in) and then remove it.
2: Turn the beam shutter on the "business-end" of the laser counterclockwise (as though loosening it) until it stops.
3: Press & release the red button (located on the barrel just under the interlock key).
You should now be rewarded with a bountifully overflowing cornucopia of coherent 517nm (green) photons!
The Skytech Class IV 520nm Green Portable Diode Laser has a focusable beam; to adjust the focus, you simply turn the knurled ring directly beneath the beam shutter.
Before firing up this studly little laser, you *MUST* be certain that you have green-blocking laser safety glasses on!!!
This is me with the green-blocking protective eyewear on.
I'd have normally used a "Phoam Head Phred" {a styrofoam wig modelling form} for this photograph, but I was forced to dispose of it in mid-October 2008 prior to our moving back to Washington state.
To neutralise the Skytech Class IV 520nm Green Portable Diode Laser, push the little red button on the barrel until it clicks, reinsert the interlock key & turn it counterclockwise (anticlockwise) {as though you were loosening it), and rotate the beam shutter clockwise until it stops moving.
This laser has a duty cycle recommendation of 30 seconds on, 10 seconds off for cooling.
*This is Worm Quartet...one guy (Reverend Shoebox) and three worms.
The song "Find The Dead Wingless Legless Fly In Your Box Of Raisins" is from the album "Faster than a Speeding Mullet".
To charge the battery (or batteries) in your Skytech Class IV 520nm Green Portable Diode Laser, unscrew and remove the tailcap, throw it into the the dustbin (garbage can), tie off the bin liner (plastic garbage bag), carry it to the outdoor wheelie bin (wheeled garbage can), throw it in, slam the lid down, roll the wheelie bin to the curb, and wait patiently for garbage day so that the dustman (garbage man) empties the wheelie bin into his dustcart (garbage truck)...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 one or two freshly-charged 18650 cell into the barrel, flat-end (-) negative first. This is the opposite of how batteries are installed in most flashlights, so please pay attention to polarity here.
Screw the tailcap back on, and be done with it.
Aren't you glad you didn't throw that tailcap into the dustbin now?
.
To charge the 18650 cell, place it in the charging cradle, orienting it so its button-end (+) positive is on the same end of the chamber in the charger that has a (+) embossed on its upper surface (in this case, the end of the charger that the power cord goes in).
Plug the charger into any standard (in the United States) two- or three-slot 110 volts to 130 volts AC 60Hz receptacle.
A red light on the charging cradle should now come on; this indicates charging is in progress. When the 18650 cell has reached full charge, the light on the charging cradle will turn from red to green.
At this point, unplug the charger, remove the charged cell from the charging cradle, and install it in the laser as directed above.
Current useage measures...
(One cell): 0.954mA quiecent, 80.30mA when lasing.
(Two cells): 2.732mA quiescent, 2.042A when lasing.
Retest on current usage:
(One cell): 366mA when lasing.
(Two cells): 2.033A when lasing.
This is a portable laser, not a flashlight. So I won't try to drown it in the toilet tank, bash it against a steel rod or against the concrete floor of a front porch in effort to try and expose the bare Metalbeelzemon - er - the bare Metaltrailmon - um that's not it either...the bare Metalhornetmon...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, her kitties, my kitty cats, 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. I don't typically abuse lasers anyway (lasers are meant to be loved, not punished!) 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.
***EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!!!***
This laser is a rather powerful (measured at 974mW) 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 ¡para los motivos de Cristo (and for heaven sakes and for Pete sakes and your sakes too) do not shine the Skytech Class IV 520nm Green Portable Diode Laser (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!
This is a CDRH Class IV laser device. Treat it with respect, and it'll treat you with respect.
This laser is water-resistant but not submersible, so please be careful around sinks, tubs, toilets, fishtanks, pet water bowls, or other places where water or water-like liquids might be found. However, you need not worry about using it outdoors when it's lightly sprinkling or snowing.
The case is made from 6061-T6 Aircraft-Grade Aluminum, and is treated with a black HA-III (hard anodized) finish.
Laser temperature when using two cells after five minutes (in violation of the duty cycle recommendation) was 89°F (31.7°C) with an ambient temperature of 66°F (18.9°C).
I'll re-run this test with known fully-charged cells and publish my findings here probably approx. 5:30am PST 12-29-15.
Under the admittedly extreme circumstance of running the laser with cells hot off the charger, the following measurement was taken:
Laser temperature when using two cells after five minutes (in violation of the duty cycle recommendation) was 92°F (33.3°C) with an ambient temperature of 63°F (17.2°C).
Beam photograph on the test target at ~12" (~305.cm).
Beam photograph on the test target at ~12" (~305.cm).
The beam terminus image bloomed ***SIGNIFICANTLY*** on both of these photographs -- much more so in the second which was made with the laser emitting almost one watt. The white color that you see is also absent -- the camera's CCD sensor was severely overloaded by the 519nm radiation.
Beam photograph outdoors (looking toward the laser's "business-end").
Photograph of the beam itself in light fog.
Photograph of the beam itself in clear sky (no fog); the beam is visible primarily due to Rayleigh scattering.
Photograph of a room illuminated solely by this laser directed at the ceiling.
Grainy photograph of the beam terminus while the unit was operating below lasing threshold.
Beam photograph (single cell mode) in daylight with the laser directed at an unoccupied white trailer approx. 200' (~61M) downrange.
Low power.
High power.
Measures 42mW (low) and 933mW (high).
As you can see, I had to once again violate the duty cycle recommendation as my laser power meter is a thermopile type rather than a silicon photodetector type.
Low power.
High power.
Retest: measures 172mW (low) and 932mW (high).
When I retested maximum power, I actually saw a whisp of smoke come off the sensor of my LPM!
Low power.
High power.
Re-re-test: measures 204mW (low) and 954mW (high) using batteries hot off the charger.
Maximum power long-term stability analysis cum battery discharge analysis.
Operates for just over 38 minutes on "high". LASER TEMPERATURE CRITICAL...er...uh...I mean Laser temperature was measured at 139°F (59.4°C) at 2,000 seconds.
Minimum power long-term stability analysis.
Laser temperature was measured at 92°F (33.3°C) at ~2,700 seconds.
Runs for just under 67 minutes on "low".
Minimum power long-term stability analysis; second attempt (different 18650 cell was used).
Laser temperature was measured at 96°F (33.3°C) at ~2,400 seconds.
Runs for 55.5 minutes on "low".
Minimum power long-term stability analysis; third attempt (with an unprotected 18650 cell this time).
Laser temperature was measured at 90°F (32.2°C) at ~3,200 seconds.
Runs for 97 minutes on "low".
Minimum power long-term stability analysis; fourth attempt.
Runs for 29.1 minutes on "low"; perhaps the battery itself is too old and has essentially pooped out.
Minimum power long-term stability analysis; fifth attempt (retest with same battery).
Runs for 25 minutes on "low" -- this tells me that the battery is indeed faulty.
Ambient temperature was 67°F (19.4°C) for all of these tests.
Spectrographic analysis of the Skytech Class IV 520nm Green Portable Diode Laser (single cell).
Spectrographic analysis of the Skytech Class IV 520nm Green Portable Diode Laser (single cell); spectrometer's response narrowed to a range between 515nm and 520nm to pinpoint wavelength, which is 517.530nm.
The raw spectrometer data (comma-delimited that can be loaded into Excel) is at sky520-l.txt
Spectrographic analysis of the Skytech Class IV 520nm Green Portable Diode Laser (two cells).
Spectrographic analysis of the Skytech Class IV 520nm Green Portable Diode Laser (two cells); spectrometer's response narrowed to a range between 517nm and 523nm to pinpoint wavelength, which is 519.950nm.
The raw spectrometer data (comma-delimited that can be loaded into Excel) is at sky520-h.txt
Spectrographic analysis of the Skytech Class IV 520nm Green Portable Diode Laser right below lasing threshold.
Spectrographic analysis of the Skytech Class IV 520nm Green Portable Diode Laser right below lasing threshold; spectrometer's response narrowed to a range
between 505nm and 525nm to pinpoint wavelength, which is 516.150nm.
The raw spectrometer data (comma-delimited that can be loaded into Excel) is at sky520lb.txt
A beam cross-sectional analysis would normally appear here, but my poor defenseless helpless innocent ProMetric 8 Beam Cross-Sectional Analyser that I use for that test was destroyed by a nearby lightning strike in mid-July 2013.
In leiu of the beam cross-sectional analysis, I present this photograph of the laser's beam terminus with the focus altered by the laser's own adjustable lens.
Brief video hosted on YourTube that shows the Skytech Class IV 520nm Green Portable Diode Laser igniting three matches.
This video is 7.659777423798 megabytes (7,669,857 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than thirty eight minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.
TEST NOTES:
Test unit was sent by Avery C. of http://skytechlasers.com on 11-16-15, and was received at 5:24pm PST on 12-24-15.
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 butterfly 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 green-blocking protective eyewear ***EVERY TIME*** you fire it up!!!
* Bemis Industries is the largest toilet seat factory in the United States.
Setting fire to ***ANY*** structure, whether it be with a cigarrette lighter & gasoline, a barbecue lighter & hairspray, or even with a powerful laser like the Skytech Class IV 520nm Green Portable Diode Laser is as illegal as H-E-Double-Bendy-Straws!!! You will be arrested and hauled off to jail, and be labelled a firefly...er...uh...FIREBUG for the remainder of your natural life.
UPDATE: 01-01-16
Performed multiple repeat power output analyses and current usage measurements of this studly little laser.
UPDATE: 01-12-16
Performed multiple repeat power output analyses and current usage measurements of this studly little laser.
UPDATE: 01-13-16
Captioned both "target" photographs with info. regarding image blooming.
UPDATE: 09-11-18
Added a link to a reseller who has this laser in their arsenal.
UPDATE: 11-23-19
Skytech has apparently gone tits-up, so the dreadful, "" must now be appended to its listings on this website to denote that the product is no longer being manufactured.
Laser was also stolen in Shelton WA. USA while awaiting shipping to me in Fresno CA. USA.
Therefore, the dreadful, "" icon must be appended to its listings on this website, denoting the fact that some true-blue total asshaberdasher has kyped it -- probably to sell for drug money if who I suspect stole it indeed did it.
PROS:
EXTREMELY POWERFUL output for such a small, self-contained unit
Powerful enough to burn, destroy, and leave wrinkles everywh...o wait!!! wrong infomercial!!!
Battery it uses is rechargeable; never have to find disposables for it
NEUTRAL:
CONS:
Beam divergence seems a bit high
Unit is improperly labelled for CDRH classification & maximum output power (these two issues are what nocked that last ½ star off)
MANUFACTURER: Skytech Lasers
PRODUCT TYPE: Portable directly-injected green-emitting portable diode laser
LAMP TYPE: DPSS green laser
No. OF LAMPS: 1
BEAM TYPE: Very narrow spot; it's a laser, remember? (adjustable to medium spot)
SWITCH TYPE: Key interlock, pushbutton on/off on barrel
CASE MATERIAL: Hard-anodized aluminum
BEZEL: Metal; has aperture (hole) for laser beam to emerge
BATTERY: 1x or 2x 185650 rechargeable cells
CURRENT CONSUMPTION: (one cell): 0.954mA quiecent, 80.30mA when lasing. (two cells): 2.732mA quiescent, 2.042A when lasing
Retest of current usage: (One cell): 366mA when lasing, (Two cells): 2.033A when lasing.
WATER- AND URANATION-RESISTANT: Yes
SUBMERSIBLE: FOR CHRIST SAKES NOOOOO!!!
ACCESSORIES: Hard-sided aluminum storage case & key for locking it, barrel extender, 2x barrel-type interlock keys, 2x tailcaps, interlock dongle, charger
SIZE: 35mm D by 275mm L
WEIGHT: 339.40g (11.970 oz.) {incl. 1 cell & lanyard}, 453.70g (16.010 oz.) {incl. 2 cells & lanyard}
COUNTRY OF MANUFACTURE: China
WARRANTY: 2 years
PRODUCT RATING:
Skytech Class IV 520nm Green Portable Diode Laser Green DPSS Portable Laser
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SIZE (1x cell)
SIZE (2x cells)
) Skytech Class IV 520nm Green Portable Diode Laser, feed it one or two 18650 Li:ION cells first (see directly below), and ***THEN*** you can go set fire to the dead wingless legless fly that you found in your box of raisins*...er...uh...set fire to the side of the Bemis Industries building in south Seattle WA. USA.*
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 it is a hazard (with regard to burn injury and fire) to skin, clothing, and any other flammable materials as well!!!
" must now be appended to its listings on this website to denote that the product is no longer being manufactured.
" icon must be appended to its listings on this website, denoting the fact that some true-blue total asshaberdasher has kyped it -- probably to sell for drug money if who I suspect stole it indeed did it. 
