Welcome to Laser Pointer Forums - discuss green laser pointers, blue laser pointers, and all types of lasers

LPF Donation via Stripe | LPF Donation - Other Methods

Links below open in new window

ArcticMyst Security by Avery

Pulse Driven Laser

Xplorer877

Xplorer877

0
Joined
Oct 24, 2008
Messages
1,057
Points
48
I have 5mW green laser module and I want to make it pulse not CW. If I built a 555 timer circuit and pulse the power to the LD driver through a transistor will that work? Do the drivers and or diodes not like being turned on and off very rapidly?

Pulsed lasers are fun on a foggy night.

Any tips?

-Yaxley
 





Kage

Kage

0
Joined
Mar 5, 2008
Messages
285
Points
18
The diodes don't mind at all, as they can handle pulsing well in excess of nanosecond speeds, but the driver is another matter altogether. The drivers in these pointers, as well as in most of the CW DIY projects tend to filter out any incoming pulses. You could do it at a slow rate, but probably not fast enough to create a dashed line or any real "laser showr" kind of effects. I think you would need a specially designed driver. :-/
 
Xplorer877

Xplorer877

0
Joined
Oct 24, 2008
Messages
1,057
Points
48
Kage said:
The diodes don't mind at all, as they can handle pulsing well in excess of nanosecond speeds, but the driver is another matter altogether.  The drivers in these pointers, as well as in most of the CW DIY projects tend to filter out any incoming pulses.  You could do it at a slow rate, but probably not fast enough to create a dashed line or any real "laser showr" kind of effects.  I think you would need a specially designed driver. :-/
Click to expand...

Exactly what I wanted to hear. I guess I will have to design and perfect an adjustable pulse driver. It shouldn't be too hard.

About how much current do IR diodes from 5mW greenies require?

Thanx
-Yaxley
 
S

StrictlyBudget

0
Joined
Nov 26, 2008
Messages
122
Points
0
Xplorer877 said:
[quote author=Kage link=1228365264/0#1 date=1228368124]The diodes don't mind at all, as they can handle pulsing well in excess of nanosecond speeds, but the driver is another matter altogether. The drivers in these pointers, as well as in most of the CW DIY projects tend to filter out any incoming pulses. You could do it at a slow rate, but probably not fast enough to create a dashed line or any real "laser showr" kind of effects. I think you would need a specially designed driver. :-/
Click to expand...

Exactly what I wanted to hear. I guess I will have to design and perfect an adjustable pulse driver. It shouldn't be too hard.

About how much current do IR diodes from 5mW greenies require?

Thanx
-Yaxley[/quote]
well i'd say 400mA or slightly higher. a 5mW greenie probably uses a 200mW IR diode. you'll need to know what the power of the IR diode is.
 
MarioMaster

MarioMaster

0
Joined
Jul 27, 2007
Messages
3,642
Points
63
you could also use a driver with modulation support like Drlava's Flexmod series - you could just send the 555 pulses to the modulation input of the driver
 
Xplorer877

Xplorer877

0
Joined
Oct 24, 2008
Messages
1,057
Points
48
MarioMaster said:
you could also use a driver with modulation support like Drlava's Flexmod series - you could just send the 555 pulses to the modulation input of the driver
Click to expand...

That's true but I wanna be able to control the speed of the pulse. I was thinking of just having a transistor bypass the + connection to the diode from the original driver board and using the 555 to generate the base pulse to the transistor.
 
E

ElektroFreak

0
Joined
Nov 7, 2008
Messages
5,725
Points
0
Xplorer877 said:
[quote author=MarioMaster link=1228365264/0#5 date=1228493577]you could also use a driver with modulation support like Drlava's Flexmod series - you could just send the 555 pulses to the modulation input of the driver
Click to expand...

That's true but I wanna be able to control the speed of the pulse. I was thinking of just having a transistor bypass the + connection to the diode from the original driver board and using the 555 to generate the base pulse to the transistor.[/quote]

If built right, this would work perfectly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.




Top