This past weekend I picked up a HP8152A Optical Average Power Meter at a local electronics swap meet for $30.00 USD. I was thinking that I could use it to measure the output levels of laser diodes. It didn't included the probes and I was very surprised to find out that the probes (81525A) sell from $900.00 - $1600.00 used or Agilent sells a modern replacement (81526A) for a meager $16,000.00
Does anyone have any ideas about how difficult it maybe to put together a homemade probe? I haven't found any technical information anywhere about the probes, I'm guessing that that are a high precision device.
Any ideas?