Blu-Ray 6x plus UVA LEDs fluorescense

Hi All
The various threads on this board have been a great help.  Thought I would post the results of my build for general info.

I first built a handheld using the PS3 diode.  I incorporated it into a small aluminum case that already was setup for 15 LEDs and one LD (red LD on ebay by ledwholesalers).  Worked out great, but not enough power for what I want.  405nm is very close to UVA, and is great for making minerals fluoresce many different colors.  This LD will cause uranium minerals to glow green, sodalite to glow orange, fluorite to glow blue, some calcites reddish orange, others like ruby (bright red), wenerite - yellow, etc etc.   It will be great for prospecting in the field in the daytime but I needed more power.

So the next project was the LG 6x drive.  Long story short - did everything as others have done and success.  I'm using the Meredith housing, 317 driver, and also have ten UV LEDs filtered by Hoya UV filter glass.  I'm running the diode at about 85ma - simply cause that's all I need.  I even defocus the lens a little to get a broader beam.

Some observations:  At first had trouble getting the Meredith (glasss) lens to focus to a dot.  Took note of several recommendations to file off the brass to allow more focus, but I found that just by turning the lens assy around in the housing I got the focus range needed, with lots of slack on either end.

At 85mw and a fine dot it easily burns...

Daylight visibilty is null until you hit something that is fluorescent and the color explodes.  Really neat shining it on a dead rock and seeing other colors pop out....

The pinouts were a little confusing.  Sharp has them posted on their web site, but you must install the Japanese fonts in Adobe to see the numbers in the drawing.   The view is from the top of the diode.

One area of concern I have is reflections. Any recommendations for eye protection for these things? Any general consensus on the effect of defocusing the beam - less dangerous?

I can't post links for some reason on this bord (or pics) - sorry.  But I will be putting some pics on my web site in the next few days if anyone is interested.

Thanks for all the great info....
Mark

Mark --

You're a smokin' dude.  You read and stay within the limits found by others here.  You will be an asset here.
As for eye protection, Yellow lenses seem to provide the most protection.  Still, I don't get my nose down on the target.  I haven't seen any mention of goggles yet here since this is a new area (spectrum) for us.

Keep posting on your results.

Mike

welcome to the 6x blu club glad to hear of your success, that's why we post!

The goggles that Dragonlasers sells are OD3+ 200-540nm, so they'd provide good protection for 405nm lasers. They're 49.99, which isn't a bad price for goggles these days.

The Drgonlaser goggles look perfect - I ordered a pair.... Thanks!
Mark

85mW or 85mA? Or 85mW at 85mA? :-/
Anyway, I would love to see some pics of the stuff you were describing.You can upload them and post a link with spaces in the address, then we can fix it for you and be able to see them.Eighter that or you can wait until you reach 10 posts Would like to see pics of your unit itself aswell as some "action shots"

Pirateo40 said:

The Drgonlaser goggles look perfect - I ordered a pair.... Thanks!
Mark

Click to expand...

You're welcome. I'm glad I could help.

Welcome, good work. As Mike said, you are the sort of person that ends up very quickly at the top of the stack helping others not as successful.
Nice to have you and I wish you well with 6x Blu!

Switch - 85ma measured current. I don't have the equipment to measure mw, but given the specs (105mw@125ma) it's probably a close estimate of 80mw. I've had the current up to 100ma with no problem but felt the increase in brightness didn't justify running at full current, so I backed it off.

Forgot to mention; the Sharp part number for this part is: GH04P21A2GE and the datasheet is at http: //document sharpsma com/ files/ GH04P21A2GE.pdf (hadn't seen that posted before - good to have the actual datasheet handy).

I'll try to take some pics tonight just for general interest....

I was just asking cause first you said 85mA and then 85mW so I got a little confused :-/
I'm waiting for those pictures.Can you take some in daylight to, so we can see what you mean by that?

Ooops - my bad - mw/ma - what's one letter among friends - but, from looking at the various graphs posted, it seems the power output is pretty much linear relative to the current, so probably not too far off..... (comments?)

Will take some pics - and post them to my web. I have a lot of folks who are going to Greenland this summer also interested in the outcome of this little project.

I posted some pics to my blog.... Not sure I'll be able to reach 10 posts here (you guys all do such a good job of providing info!). But if anyone is interested in seeing how this laser lights up minerals take a look:

http: //geo-adventure08. blogspot. com/ (remove the spaces)

I show a small beam shot, a few rocks in the dark and in daylight, and a pic of my finished unit...

Mark --

I pulled out my graph on the 6X BR LD I tested.

80 mA --- 60 mW 100 mA --- 82.7 mW 100 mA --- 99.0 mW

Mike

Mike - Hmmm... seems like I could crank it up a bit for more power. But gotta admit, I'm scared to run it too long at that rate. Your 3rd rating (99mw @ 100ma) is that after it has warmed up (as opposed to 82.7mw@100ma)? The only heatsink I have is the brass Mereidth housing (and perhaps a little from the aluminum head, but not much). According to your graph I should be getting a little over 60mw. My results (see pics on my blog) are great as is, so perhaps I should leave well enough alone. At 60mw it burns my hand pretty quick

Mark

Hey! One more post and I should be able to post pics??? Let's see....

Here's a pic of my completed unit: