To be honest, I’ve done it both ways, and it doesn’t seem to make much difference. I say this because the target at M3 (on my machine) is on the same plane as the mirror, when I check alignment (I’ve also had it at 45°, no change). That being said, at M1, it would be best to have your target perpendicular to the beam when checking for TEM00. @jkwilborn has a useful response to this thread: Lost of power on our Reci W6 tube? - Community Laser Talk - LightBurn Software Forum, specifically post 2 and 4. I run my 60W (when pulsed) at 30% pwr and a pulse on time of 30ms (YMMV depending on your laser). This gives me a nice toasty brown spot that’s readable without blowing a hole through the paper. Jack likes watercolor paper, (I use cardstock), as anything thinner may just catch fire. Jack has a great number of good posts about beam quality and alignment on this forum.
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