Finished 378ma IR laser

I finished one of my four laser projects i am working on.

red 20x, 380ma--not done
blue/violet 100-130ma---not done
IR 808nm 380ma--DONE


I used the DDL driver, and have it set at 3.3ohms for resistance, giving about 380ma. At 800ish some nm, it is just a 5mw'ish red dot, but to my night vision, it is a spotlight. It is about 1000x brighter--as NV picks up light easily.
I have an axiz lens, which i dont really like, as the range of tuning is a bit too fine for focusing. To burn with my IR laser, the dot has to be focused to about >2mm. It is nice to show off with though, because people just think it is come cheap dollar store laser, until they see what it can do!
I would like to know where to get a better lens though. One that can be used to focus extremely close i.e, >1in.....(my axiz lens only focuses to 2.5in probably) and also i would like it to focus to be like that of a pointer too.

Pics? And what diode did you use?

yeah sure i'll upload pics, it looks like crap though LOL! I dont have it in a host yet. The diode is here High-Power IR Laser Diode - Laser Diodes - Lasers DDL, i would recommend running it no more 420ma, mine is at 380, and i just fine! As for pics, check back later!

Pics of the homemade drivers. Tell me if the pics dont work, they might be on private.


These two pics are one of the drivers running at 250ma, i'll put another 10ohm in later to make it 3.3ohms at 380ma.

http://laserpointerforums.com/members/creanzworld17/albums/random/1655-diy-driver-1-250ma/
http://laserpointerforums.com/members/creanzworld17/albums/random/1654-diy-driver-1-250ma/

(NOTE:the switches of both drivers are temporary)

This is the other driver running at 378ma. The pot i will take off, because i already have it set at zero resistance. Actually i might keep it on, if i decide to lower the resistance, and up the ma's though.
http://laserpointerforums.com/members/creanzworld17/albums/random/1656-diy-driver-2-280ma/
http://laserpointerforums.com/membe...m/1657-diy-driver-2-378ma-303ohms-resistance/


Lastly, this is the driver (i have two of these) from a 50mw true greeny from dx, i have the pot set for 250-270ma's.
http://laserpointerforums.com/members/creanzworld17/albums/random/1488-50mw-driver/
http://laserpointerforums.com/members/creanzworld17/albums/random/1487-50mw-driver/

Ah dude! You wired up everything in midair with wires...
You should really use a PCB or at least improvise one, wires in mid air is a very good way to shor something out and burn LD.... trust me I've destroyed like... 10 red LDs just because of a short.

^ definately, and PCB's are really cheap, just get a blank one and wire it up, nothing to it. It will look a lot better and take up less space

Ehh i cant make it small enough for pcb...i'll try though. For now it seems fine. Explain how it would short? Everything is spaced apart nicely.

Gryphon said:

^ definately, and PCB's are really cheap, just get a blank one and wire it up, nothing to it. It will look a lot better and take up less space

Click to expand...

Hey i noticed one of your lasers is a minimag at 125ma...u use the recharcable 3.7v AA's? Does it suck up alot of power. Cuz im putting my one driver in a minimag, and running it a 270-380ma for the red LD..or even the IR one. Do you think the two 3.7v AA's will last long with that output?

Are you using safety goggle rated for the 780nm range? Do you have any videos of this thing working? I'd be interested in seeing it go!

creanzworld17 said:

Ehh i cant make it small enough for pcb...i'll try though. For now it seems fine. Explain how it would short? Everything is spaced apart nicely.

Click to expand...

Yeah MINE was also spaced apart. Still the LD death count is here to prove my point.

Trust me, you can even recycle old PCBs, desolder some components and use the connections on it.
At least the chances of killing your diode are much less that way.

Meatball said:

Are you using safety goggle rated for the 780nm range? Do you have any videos of this thing working? I'd be interested in seeing it go!

Click to expand...

Nah, i took my chances. Haha! If i needed to do close-up burning, i just used gel sheets, which block out 90%of the light. Either way, i can still see. Dont worry about it.

YouTube - Infrared burning laser