New Guy, few questions...

I am very interested in a high powered laser. I am highly entertaining the idea of building the dvd diode inside a mag lite one. I already have all the parts aside from the diode, as i have been unable to find a dvd burner at a price I would pay. I am a 20 y/o college student with EXTREMELY limited funds... so a nice wicked laser or the like is kinda out of the question....

i did find these laser, but have no idea about quality, etc...

dealextreme.com/products.dx/category.911

any input, ideas, etc... greatly appreciated!

-Keegan

update:

i picked up a laptop dvd burner for free today! im gettin the diode out now!

just waiting for my axiz module

Welcome!

If you don't have luck with that DVD burner, look at the Buy/Sale board, there is a thread there for a Group buy on some 650nm(red) diodes, it'll only cost ya' $14.50 per diode.

On that board you can also find a good bit of used 532nm(green) lasers, most used, but a few are new.

I personally wouldn't go with the DX lasers, I have never owned one, but I don't think it's great quality. If you want the best Quality/power for your buck, I would take a look at CNI lasers, i.e. NovaLasers.com, or StarPhaser.com.

If you have never owned a greenie, it wouldn't be a bad idea to buy a low powered laser (<5mW) i.e. a leadlight, or a WL Core - laserpoint.com

ill be sure to check those out....

i saw the dvd diode group buy, but didn't really wanna wait, but might still get one...

anyways the burner i got was from a laptop, and i got it apart, but found 2 diodes, any way to tell which is the burner diode that i need?

You can very carefully test each one, one is near IR and one is red. The near IR will be a deep reddish color, pretty dim and the color is really weird, it's hard to describe. The red one will put out a LOT of red light, and you will know that you have a good red diode. But whatever you do DON'T try testing out the diode by hooking up two AA's to the pins!

Kbizzle said:

ill be sure to check those out....

i saw the dvd diode group buy, but didn't really wanna wait, but might still get one...

anyways the burner i got was from a laptop, and i got it apart, but found 2 diodes, any way to tell which is the burner diode that i need?

Click to expand...

Well one of the diodes is an IR diode for CD reading/writing, and the other is a 650nm diode for DVD reading/writing. But as to how you tell them apart, you got me.

styropyro said:

You can very carefully test each one, one is near IR and one is red. The near IR will be a deep reddish color, pretty dim and the color is really weird, it's hard to describe. The red one will put out a LOT of red light, and you will know that you have a good red diode. But whatever you do DON'T try testing out the diode by hooking up two AA's to the pins!

Click to expand...

so i should just wait till my aixiz module come in to test em?

one of them has 3 pins, and the other only two... ill try to get some pics of em in a minute.

The best way to test them would be to use them in Daedal's circuit, that way you won't fry them. You could try hooking them up to a 100ohm pot at maxium resistance and slowly turn the resistance down until you can tell what color it is, they won't be very bright until you crank it down a lot though, but don't make them that bright if they aren't heatsinked very well.

pics of them, i didn't completely take me out, one, cause im lazy, and the other cause it was pointed through a lense that i thought might be helpful in keeping the beam concentrated....

well, nvm, for some reason, im not allowed to post up pics... wtf?

there is a 20 post minimum for links and pictures