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That's a really neat idea!  In fact, many power meters have an analog
output jack; just wire that to the voltage-to-frequency converter, add a
speaker, and away you go!

Craig


On Tue, Mar 6, 2012 at 5:30 PM, David Baddeley
<[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> *****
> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
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> *****
>
> This probably only makes sense if you're going to be aligning fibres
> regularly, but replacing the power meter with a light to frequency
> converter, (http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/tsl235.pdf), an integrating
> sphere (ie a ping pong ball), and a small amplified speaker makes the
> process somewhat less painful (you can keep your eyes and attention on the
> launch end of the fibre and you get a very distinctive audio feedback as to
> whether you're increasing or decreasing the coupled power).
>
> cheers,
> David
>
>
> ________________________________
>  From: Craig Brideau <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Wednesday, 7 March 2012 8:17 AM
> Subject: Re: Bio-Rad 1024 laser alignment
>
> *****
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>
> I've aligned laser launchers on numerous occasions like you describe.  The
> screws are very twitchy in assemblies like these, but with patience you can
> align them.  I find the best way is to put a power meter on the other end
> of the fiber while I adjust the screws until I have maximum throughput.  It
> requires a fair bit of playing around; it helps to figure out which screw
> tilts the fiber coupler in what dirrection.  Usually it is a see-saw
> configuration where one screw is a pivot and the other two push on opposite
> sides of the lever.  This means when you tighten one screw you tend to have
> to loosen another to get significant movement.  Once you get close to
> maximum you then just very slightly tighten the screws sequentially until
> you reach max power.
>
> Craig
>
>
> On Tue, Mar 6, 2012 at 10:07 AM, Stephen Kempf <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > *****
> > To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
> > http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
> > *****
> >
> > We've decided to go ahead and get the  laser rebuilt for our BioRad 1024
> > confocal system. In order to ship the laser for rebuild, I have to remove
> > the fiber optic cable. I've removed the plate on the top of the laser
> that
> > says "Do Not Open" and can see that the fiber optic cable inserts into a
> > barrel with 4 screws that I assume are used both to hold the cable in
> place
> > and also for alignment of the cable with the laser beam. So, I assume
> that
> > the beam will have to be aligned with the laser end of the cable when the
> > cable is reinstalled after the laser is rebuilt.
> >
> > I am familiar with aligning the beam in the scan head, however, I have
> > never done it at the laser end of the cable. Is this difficult? Do you
> need
> > any special tools? Any information on this would be most welcome.
> >
> > Thank you,
> >
> > Steve
>