IR Laser Illuminator guidance needed

I am a newb to this forum but I have some experience with military and civilian IR lasers and illuminators. My experience has led me to find that I cannot afford to purchase a military grade unit to do what I am looking for so I came here in hopes that someone could build one for me or maybe direct me to a kit or builder.

The military unit that comes closest to what I need is the ground commanders pointer that is 175mw it has a variable power out put and variable beam width. They routinely sell for $1750-2500

Anyway what I want the illuminator to do is solidly not marginally illuminate a target area of maybe 30-50 feet diameter or greater i know at that range there will be some divergence at 1000 yards.

I also need this unit to be small enough to be easily portable and rifle mountable so it has to withstand recoil. I can manufacture a mount as I am a machinist I could also build a complete housing if need be if someone can provide the internals.

thanks for any thoughts or information in advance

Jamie

What wavelength are you looking for? I can make a unit that will cover what you described above with linear control over the power and adjustable optics..

I have 780nm 150mW, 808nm 200mW ~ 1.2W, and 980nm 3W.

I have the perfect solution.
A 200mW focusable IR laser.
Found: Here
Normally, I would recommend O-like for this laser, but their website is jacked at the moment.
Laserlands will get your laser to you in about 2-3 weeks.
I assume 808nm will work, the only specs I was able to find for any military laser said 840nm. Laserlands also has 980nm and 1064nm models that are similar.
The reason I suggest this laser is because it is solid-state (no crystals), so it should withstand a bit of recoil, it's focusable so you can highlight whatever size target you want (depending on distance, of course), and it is 22mm in diameter, and you probably may be able to find a picatinny or weaver mount that will fit the laser perfectly. :san:

I can only imagine what the dot looks like for those at 3000ft...

Forgot to mention, I also have 836nm @ 500mW...

@ash, he wants an adjustable power as well.. Not only do the china lasers have
no corrective optics, but none offer linear control..

Actually. I only read that the one spec out for $1750-$2000 had variable power, not that he needed variable power.
I'm sure you can make one 10x better than the cheapo China 808nm-Dilda, but I was just offering up an option.

I believe with my limited knowledge that the 980nm would be truly invisible without NV correct? That is another feature that I am looking for. It does need to be variable gain so that I don't have to have a number of Illuminators for close up or far away. A high powered one looking at something up close will "bloom" the NV.

Ash that would probably be ok but I need variable power adjustment. I also don't know how bright that would be at 1000 yards. or how wide an area it would light up and for how long. These are all things I need to know.

Wannaburn what price are you thinking for the 3w 980nm unit? would your price include a housing or would I need to build that? What type of power supply (batteries) would it use? What ballpark size would it be? At high power setting how long would battery life be? how long could I run it on high power without letting it have to cool down? (battery life may determine this before heat is a factor) How much recoil do you think it would withstand?

Thank you all for your time

Jamie

Wannaburn, If you're capable of making a laser with specs that I need, I would be very interested in giving you some business.
Also, I might be able to tell others about what you can build.
I'm a newbie here, but have been very interested in lasers for quite some time.
I just don't have the ability to build me a laser.
Let me give you a little insight to what I need.
I go out into the deer forest and I video record animals.
I need a IR Laser that I can use as an illuminator at far distances.
Up to about 50 to 100 yards.
I believe that this is what you explained in your above post.
At up close distances, I would have to cut down on the power so the camera doesn't get splashed with light.
The IR would have to be totally unseen by human and animal, but seeable by Gen 2 Night vision and any IR Camera.

If there is anybody that can build this, I would be willing to give you business, and refer others in my group to you.
This is only used for wildlife watching, as that is my hobby.
To open up the night time life of animals.

Thanks to anybody who can assist me on this.