LaserNewb - Extracted ToshibaHDDVD Laser, What mw driver needed?

SORRY IN ADVANCE FOR SUCH A LONG POST, I'M A LASER NEWB HERE AND REALLY REALLY APPRECIATE ANY HELP! SERIOUSLY THANKS FOR ANY HELP!

Ok I'm brand new to the whole laser scene. I've ordered a couple different powerful lasers to play with, like the real 1W blue laser from o-like, but also want to dabble in a laser DIY project.

As the title says I have extracted the laser out of my old Toshiba HDDVD Player A30 and plan on using it. Well I've extracted the laser assembly I just didn't want to completely try to extract it without first getting some advice. I don't know if anyone has some experience doing this that has any pointers I may find useful. So I have a few questions I'm hoping someone can help answer.

Player Make/Model: Toshiba HD-DVD HD-A30 Player

1) I am going to buy a laser driver for it from eBay but have no idea which driver to get. As this is my first project I don't want to buy a expensive driver. Does anyone know what mw driver I should be looking into getting to get the most burning potential out of it without blowing up the diode? 50mw? 100mw? 150mw? 200mw?

2) Should I be purchasing a diode housing as well or is it already in one? If I do need one does it matter which kind of housing to use with this hd-dvd laser or are they all the same size/specs?

3) I'm new to electronics but I'm a fast learner, I've been in the IT field for years and know computers in and out, just not much when it comes to building electronics but I just purchased a solder gun and a multimeter and I'm ready to learn. Now for this laser/driver what do I use to power it? Is it as simple as throwing a few AAA batteries in a electronics battery holder and sodering it to the driver?

4) As you'll see from the below pictures I have removed the assembly the laser is in but haven't attempted to remove the actual laser diode from it yet. Any tips? I've noticed there's 2 laser lenses, I'm assuming one to play standard dvds and the other for hd-dvds? Are they 2 physically separate lasers or just 1 laser which 2 lenses? Which do I use? Also again from one of the below pictures you'll see a picture I attempted to take a close up of the side of the laser, I only took a picture of 1 side but on both sides of the laser there are 3 extremely fine looking wires, 3 on each side, maybe 3 for one of those lenses and the other 3 for the other lens. Any idea what todo here? Are they needed for the laser or are they for something else and the wires I need to worry about are on the bottom side of the lasers?

Sorry for all the questions and such a long post but I only have one shot here and wanted to check with the pro's first. Thanks to anyone that can help with any of my above questions/concerns or has any tips that maybe useful. I really do appreciate it.
:thanks:

Pictures:

Toshiba HD-DVD HD-A30 Player

Full Player
http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/4553/82748527.jpg

Player Label
http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/378/82518888.jpg

Full Laser Assembly
http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/8625/82771718.jpg

Close Up Of Laser And The 3 Fine Wires
http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/2678/89342205.jpg


:thanks:
Thanks again!

-Diggy

Pictures:

Toshiba HD-DVD HD-A30 Player

Full Player


Player Label


Full Laser Assembly


Close Up Of Laser And The 3 Fine Wires

"full player" full screen, could you resize the pictures please? They might come out less blurry too..

bugattidude said:

"full player" full screen, could you resize the pictures please? They might come out less blurry too..

Click to expand...

Sorry, I took all the pictures on my iPhone and made the post right from my iPhone so wasn't able to resize them. I thought the forum would automatically size them to fit on the screen like some forums do and then you click on it to see the full image size.

I'm posting this reply from my iPhone as well so when I get home later I'll resize them.

diggy said:

Sorry, I took all the pictures on my iPhone and made the post right from my iPhone so wasn't able to resize them. I thought the forum would automatically size them to fit on the screen like some forums do and then you click on it to see the full image size.

I'm posting this reply from my iPhone as well so when I get home later I'll resize them.

Click to expand...

When you are uploading onto image shack there is a resize drop down. Not sure if it shows up on the mobile page but I would think that it is there somewhere.

DTR said:

When you are uploading onto image shack there is a resize drop down. Not sure if it shows up on the mobile page but I would think that it is there somewhere.

Click to expand...

I know I couldn't use the website upload page to upload images from my phone so I just quickly grabbed some 3rd party app that had absolutely no options, just pick the image and it gave you a URL. Thanks though!:thanks:

That is an infrared diode used to burn on that model isn't it?
Infrared for your first laser is not a safe idea.
Might be better off ordering a cheapy blu-ray off ebay or something.
I got my 405nm diode (in a sled) for ~$41

AUTO XX said:

That is an infrared diode used to burn on that model isn't it?
Infrared for your first laser is not a safe idea.
Might be better off ordering a cheapy blu-ray off ebay or something.
I got my 405nm diode (in a sled) for ~$41

Click to expand...

Ummm, I don't think it's a infared diode. It's just a hd-dvd player, not a burner or capable for writing to discs. From what I've read it is a "blue" ray laser in hd-dvd players, is it not? The kipkay project comes to mind...

OUCH..............KipKay reference.

Heh. kipkay is probably responsible for more people destroying perfectly good lasers/diodes than anybody else on the planet.

Though the diode in the player probably isn't going to be capable of a lot. 100mW max most likely.. if that. You probably would have been better off ebaying that player if it was still working, then using the money to buy a PHR sled/diode and other components like a module, driver, etc.