new & ready to learn

Hey, I've been lurking for about a month (low duty cycle) and I can tell I'm going to love this place.

I actually have an old Helium Neon laser that was given to me in 1983, and I had many years of fun with it...putting on shows for my friends. Then it was stolen in 1999. A few years ago I got it back, I guess because it had stopped working, the guy who stole it decided to return it to the place he took it from. I think he was a "friend" of mine. Still don't know who it was.

Since then and up until recently I've only owned cheesy laser pointers, wondering if there was more to it...Then a few months ago I started taking apart old DVD drives. Burning a few diodes, finding some already dead...Then I found this place...Ebay, Dino Direct (I've had good luck with them)...

The point? Rediscovering lasers (esp. these small diodes) has reawakened an interest in electronics. Now I am looking forward to learning from people who have mastered what was once my favorite hobby.

I hope to stay out of the way but will contribute if I can. From what I see I have a lot to learn and I think I will mostly be lurking and asking questions - after I search for the answer of course!

Cad602

Welcome to LPF! I'm recently new here too, and I've already been provided with helpful information. I've learned so much within the past month thanks to the people in this forum community. What I like about best from this forum site is everyone here pushes safety before anything, I hope you enjoy your time here at LPF I know I am. Also if you are looking for a DIY laser build there are some people that sell hosts(sont with hot options) just to name one person (Jayrob) does amazing work and theres a few others as well.

THanks! I've actually made a couple of drivers recently - but they were kind of 'big' ...Just the other day some tiny ones arrived that I had bought from a guy off ebay. Anyway if I've learned one thing it's to not be in a hurry. These diodes get expensive quickly.

Yeah, I have found that out the hard way lol I recently friend a cheap little red one set for 250mw but I wasnt paying attention when my friend hooked up a 9v battery to it and the driver couldnt regulate the voltage down low enough to keep it protected.

I cant vouch for anyone else's host builds but I have ordered a host from Jayrob and he has quite an impressive list of hosts that can fit many driver applications heres the link to his product list page, he does great quality work for a decent price, the link is below:

http://laserpointerforums.com/f39/jayrob-build-kits-lenses-other-stuff-listed-here-44227.html

he does offer 'hot options'(everything but the diode and its all set up) but he won't sell the complete laser.