Blu-Ray

The ground pin is connected directly to the case of the diode. As far as the LM317, the following link will help you understand it better:

http://users.pandora.be/davshomepage/current-source.htm

Slow down a little and study the pics. Look at the drawing closely - you will see that the LD pin-out is not evenly spaced.
The 100ohm pot has the sweeper connected to one of the legs so its resistance will go from 0-100ohms. Therfore the 15 ohm resistor is the minimum restistance and sets the maximum current that will pass. The minimum current is set by 100ohms+15ohms. All of this has been explained before in the thread.

SamuraiSmm said:

Yeah, I saw that pin-out, but it really didn't help me because there's nothing to figure out which way the diode is being held.  Because of the five pins in a pentagon shape, there are five different "tops" that could be possible.  Is there a different characteristic to the ground pin that sets it apart?

The receiver is a visitect product.  And with most problems, the website is under construction :'( :exclamation

The schematic that I'm referring to is:

Click to expand...

Ok. Thanks.
I'm using a 5K pot.  Since has a greater range, does this mean that at a point, the resistance will be too great that the laser diode won't work?
Or should I just skip the 5K pot and just use resistor values instead to keep a steady and safe current?  In that case, I would have the resistor value be about 100 ohms?

Try the driver from my sig... saves trouble

i should stop promoting myself or i will get in trouble

At this point, I would recommend reading up on how the LM317 operates and then do the math. You will feel a much greater sense of accomplishment in the end.

SamuraiSmm said:

Ok. Thanks.
I'm using a 5K pot.  Since has a greater range, does this mean that at a point, the resistance will be too great that the laser diode won't work?
Or should I just skip the 5K pot and just use resistor values instead to keep a steady and safe current?  In that case, I would have the resistor value be about 100 ohms?

Click to expand...

True enough. I now have enough time to work on the project because I'm finished filling out college applications and now I just have a long wait until they get back to me on acceptance or not.
I found out yesterday night that the pins on the back of the Blu-Ray are incredibly irritating to solder to. I'm have a Blu-Ray that I removed from a PS3 sled and the pins are cut incredibly short. Would using a stranded core wire work better than a solid core one?

I would recommend not removing the flex PCB on the LD (just trim it to length) - it provided additional strength from the other legs so the pins will not break off.

I also recommend stranded, flexible wire - fairly small guage (26/28) will be OK because the current is very low. Use flux and pre-tin the ends - that will reduce your time on target with the soldering iron. Good luck.

I had a bear of a time removing the PC board from the back of the diode. But it was not up flush against the diode, so I was nervous about leaving it on because of what might have happened when pressing it into the module.

BlueFusion said:

Try the driver from my sig... saves trouble

i should stop promoting myself or i will get in trouble

Click to expand...

seriously blue, promotion is good, but too much of anythng is bad lol

SamuraiSmm said:

\
I found out yesterday night that the pins on the back of the Blu-Ray are incredibly irritating to solder to. I'm have a Blu-Ray that I removed from a PS3 sled and the pins are cut incredibly short. Would using a stranded core wire work better than a solid core one?

Click to expand...

Stranded is great because it flexes, but beware of stray strands. Best to twist the strands first (tightly); then tin them (lightly!); then solder to the pins.

otoh, has anyone tried soldering to the flex pcb?

DanQ

Ok, I'll keep the flex-PCB next time I get my hands on a PS3 diode. However, to help prevent any possible stray wires coming in contact with the other pins, it wouldn't hurt snipping the unused pins off would it? I coudn't imagine that it would, unless you got the pins wrong.

snipping excess pins is a good idea, as long as done right can't hurt anything.

DanQ

Ok.

On a separate note, I decided to look up the blu-ray laser diodes that Sony has and I came up with this:

http://www.sony.net/Products/SC-HP/pro/laser_diode/blu_ray.html

I'm guessing that the burner LDs would be really expensive.  But it looks like there are some burner LDs avaiable somewhere.  Wonder what products house them.

http://www.sony.net/Products/SC-HP/cx_news/vol40/pdf/sld3233vf.pdf

Looks like the Philips SPD7000 Blu-Ray Disc Writer might house them, if you're willing to spend $399.99 for the diode.

OK, I've gotten several PS3 sleds and salvaging the diodes from them. I've kept the flex-pcb on the back and that helps a bit. However, I've been having problems actually hooking it up. I've created a breadboard circuit according to DDL's schematics and threads. I've also gotten parts and also breadboarded the circuit shown in one of the websites I mentioned earlier. However, every time I hook up the diode, nothing happens. I've turned the pot to 100 ohm resistence and slowly adjusted it to get to 35mA, yet nothing happens. I even built the mock diode that DDL talked about in another thread to be sure. So I'm very confused as to what I'm doing wrong. As of now, all I can figure is that I might be overheating the diode while soldering wires to it or else damaging it while removing it. The second possibility is not as likely (I think) because I've been taking it out the way that you guys have reccommended. So I think my problem is heat. I'm using a cheap Weller iron that I got from a hardware store. Should I invest in a more expensive one or refine my technique? If technique, then what basic guidelines should I look at?

If you have the 10mf cap on your breadboard....did you short it out to discharge it before connecting you LD? Discharging the cap through the LD will take it out instantly..

Regards rog8811