Bluray Laser Help

I just got my laser and put it together. When I turn it on, the beam is not a focused dot. It looks like a snow flake... Is this normal for BR driodes? I tried to take a pic but my phone doesn't pickup anything but the main dot. I thought it was my eyes but I tried it with a few other people and they see what I see.

Any ideas?

bare eyes are easily tricked from wavelenghts near the UV range ..... overall if the observer have also a light sight defect .....

Anyway, sometimes also i see the dots as surrounded with a "crown of spikes", from certain surfaces ..... try to look at the beam when it's focused on a white paper sheet, through safety goggles ..... the white paper fluoresce in bright light blue, when hit from UV, so you can see better, in this way, if the beam is focused or not, cause if there's really "splashes" or artifacts around the spot, you can see also them through the safety goggles (any part of them can make fluoresceing spots around the main spot)

Our eyes can have a hard time with this wavelength. When i made my first BR i drove
myself nuts trying to focus the dot on a wall 10' away only to realize it was the
wavelength playing tricks on my eyes. Turn on your laser and focus it on a far wall,
then walk up to the dot to see if it really is focused, i find that i can't clearly see the
dot profile unless i am within 2' of it

Yeah I have a few blu ray lasers and surprisingly some I can focus on and other I can't. The diode is manufactured to be 405nm but it can shift + or - 5nm or so. If yours is even deeper in the UV spectrum (shorter wavelength) it'll be harder to focus on.

Or you can try getting a spray bottle full of water and mix in some highlighter ink and spray it in the air outside. Then shine your laser through it to observe the beam.

-Tony

Unfortunately, especially with violet, it is very difficult to describe what you are seeing. A picture or two would help.

However, can you focus it down to a pinpoint so that you can burn or smoke something (like a piece of wood) up close?

When you shine it on a wall ~2 feet in front of you, does the "shape/snowflake" rotate as you turn the lens?

Have you tried a different lens?

Shine it on the wall ~1 foot away with the lens completely removed. What do you see? Once again, a picture would help

Peace,
dave

Is this laser using a aixiz lens?
When building a blu-ray, it is important to get the diode pressed all the way in the aixiz module. The wavelength of the 405nm diode really requires the lens to get extra close to the diode. Unlike a red diode you have a little more room to play. Take the lens nut off and screw the lens in a little deeper. See if that has any effects on what you see.

Also do what Dave suggested, try and get a picture to post.

i have 2 phr's and they both have that "snow flake" efeect ur talking about. and they move when i turn my lense. is it the lense?

http://laserpointerforums.com/f38/strange-things-about-blu-ray-405nm-20042.html



michael