diodes

Definitely will keep everyone posted - they tried to deliver the diodes today, but I didn't get home in time - so I gotta pick em up tomorrow ! DANGIT !!!

Senkat --

Are these 8x or 20x LD's ?? I can toast them faster than delivered anymore !!

Mike

HAHAHA ! I hear ya, Mike ! I am getting 20x's delivered...I just missed them today - but I will pick them up tomorrow !

So...did you pick up the diodes today?

NO !!! GRRRRRRRRRRRR ! Rasslefrzassledassle POST OFFICE !!! ARRRGH !

Okay...Long story short - since the little slip said thaty would re-deliver without any input from me, I sat at home until 4pm. The post office did not come. The regular mail came - but not my package. So, at exactly 4pm, I left the house to go to said, postal office. At EXACTLY FOUR OH ONE, the dang jerks attempted redelivery...Sigh....They said it would DEFINITELY be at the post office tomorrow morning. I will be there, promptly at 8am. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR !!!!

No luck at all, other than Bad

You may laugh now.

No problem. I have yet to start picking up materials for the big project. I will probably swing by Radio Shack on Friday for some of it.

Good luck at the post office tomorrow morning.

Heh - THEY are the ones that will need luck if they do not have my package tomorrow ! I try to do my best to humor those that bust their butts for a living....until they start busting MINE ! Grrrrrrrrr ! ;D Yeah, I think I need all the luck I can get !

Rotten luck SenKat! I feel your pain-- I had a Bushnell Elite 4200 riflescope shipped to my house, fine piece of work, retails about $700... Frankly, they were morons; They balanced it on top of my NEIGHBORS mailbox! (This also happened with a $40 eBay bargain scope too... even after we complained )

Now, you must first know that my driveway is about 300 yards, well, when I saw them stop by the mailbox, I went out there to see the box fall on the ground before my eyes. It actually did break, but I only had problems a few days after mounting it: It screwed up the reticle so that any light movements let it freely swing inside the scope tube... Don't ask me what happened. Nonetheless, they replaced it readily... But all my time, shipping costs, plus Bushnell's loss... its just so frustrating! Not to mention all the prairie dogs and rock chucks that lived because of it! ;D ;D ;D

I also bought a G15 keyboard some time ago, only to have it delivered to the neighbors house and horrifically witness it being thrown repeatedly against a wall... 9 year old punks! : That survived, however...


Sorry for the rant... meh >.>

[OFFTOPIC]
PS: Quick question about this guys diodes: http://cgi.ebay.com/500mw-808nm-las...ryZ53141QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Is that a 5 pack? He says TO-5 package... and shows 5 lasers... But still not 100% sure. Either way, looks to be a fairly good deal... If its 5 though... MUAHAHAHA!

Second... What kind of current does that thing pull? I assume it runs at 3v, but here are his specs:

Threshold current(mA):[ch8804]150

Operating current(mA):[ch8804]650

Operating voltage:[ch8804]2.2

Slope efficiency(W/A):[ch8805]0.9

I know most lasers CAN power up on ~2.4v, but are usually ran on 3v... Little confused there... If I wanted to get lab style and effiecient, I would need a transformer then? Or, I guess I could use like, 6 AA batteries and a good resistor?

First off, that seller is a REALLY good guy ! Tony is very trustworthy, and FAST with his shipping, too ! The TO5 package refers to the size of the can - it is a TO5, so that means 5.6mm in size - perfect for most of our operations. The diodes will handle anywhere from 2.2 to 3.4 volts, DC and the best range to operate them would be around 450ma current. You can go as high as 600, but why stress the diode ? ;D ;D ;D Don't be found guilty of diode abuse, mister ! LOL !!!

To operate this diode at peak efficiency, I would recommend using a constant power source - a regulated one, that will not transmit any "noise" to the diode. I would tend to say, stay away from batteries, simply because when you experience voltage drop, that really is not too good on the diode. so - a well regulated power supply, if you are serious enough in this hobby, you should go for one of those digital readout power supplies, or get some known good driver boards for them.

As a side note, I FINALLY got my diodes today - the guy shipped REALLY fast, and if hte USPS hadn't boogered up, they would have and tested them out !been in my hands on Monday, and I could have already powered them up, and tested them out ! I am in the middle of working a deal to get some 250-350mw reds for a reasonable price - about $11 each, plus shipping I will definitely keep everyone in the loop on that. I should have finalized pricing locked in no later than Friday, so I can begin a group buy ASAP for those bad-boys !

Holy cow Greg, I will definitely buy a few of those 250-350mW red diodes, especially at $11 each. I've blown 2 out of 5 diodes from dr_lava's group buy. Just yesterday morning I was playing around with the 2nd diode and bang, the aligator clips touched each other and the diode went so dim it would only make a very weak dot on my hand from 2 inches away. :'(

Oh well, I have 3 left.

Anyway, I may just buy more than 1 or 2 to replace my blown diodes. I don't know yet.

BTW, do you have any info on the diode manufacturer or diode name? I'm just wondering if they are actually rated at around 250mW CW.

Thanks!

xenodius, those diodes aren't like regulated devices where you input some DC voltage in a certain range, and the device works. They are bare diodes, goverened moreso by V=IR and P=IV. If you up the voltage, you up the power the run on and the current they draw. Each diode is slightly different and you need to figure it out for your individual diode.

I just use an adjustable PSU and a multimeter to read current, and slowly up the voltage until the current is in spec, and that's the voltage they run at. For diodes like that, to run that at full power I would expect between 2-3V.

Crap, I was hoping it would be something I could slap into an AixiZ module and go but I guess not, I wish I was good with electronics.

Currently the highest power CW output, that I have found, for a red laser diode with a 5.6mm package is 150mw.

http://home.businesswire.com/portal...d=news_view&newsId=20070611006353&newsLang=en

They are made by Sony, but I think I was given an incorrect model number, as I am having a difficult time finding the diodes ! I am searching possible permutations of the number he gave me, while I am awaiting a reply, I will keep everyone updated as this progresses !

They are made by Sony, but I think I was given an incorrect model number, as I am having a difficult time finding the diodes ! I am searching possible permutations of the number he gave me, while I am awaiting a reply, I will keep everyone updated as this progresses !

Would they be SLD1234VL This is from the auction you posted the link to, in the first post in this thread.