Hello:) Need help..

I'm a newbie to laser pointers. I saw on youtube, the video to use a dvd diode and turn a flash light into a laser..

Well that got me interested into lasers now. Soo.. I need some help.

What would be the most strongest laser? I see a lot of numbers. like 266 355 435 nm

What do those mean?

Thanks for helping

Welcome to LPF,

ha, thats what caught my attention also,

Now that your here, you won't be building that one!!! It will burn up the diode.
You will be able to make a more powerful red laser ....(650nM) is the wavelength of red.
The power is measured in milliwatts, 200mW is a good start. You must also intend on using it carefully!

You will need to do a little (a lot ) of reading..................................

Theres a guide here that shows you the stuff to round up...........
Pro Tips w/ Spyderz: Building Your First DIY Laser
http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1218324818

other good stuff........http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1190456606

The amount of nm depicts the colour of the light on the visible light spectrum. 405nm is violet (known as blu ray), 473nm is blue, 532nm is green, 635nm is orangy red (although this is disputed), and 650nm is red. Infrared lasers also exist, although they are invisible to the human eye (808nm, out of the visible spectrum.)

532nm is the brightest (green.)

The power of a laser is measured in milliwatts (mW). Your common red laser from the corner store is 1-5mW. Using 16x DVD RW diodes can get up to around 250mW.

However, most popular videos online are incorrect by hooking up a diode in a module directly to a power source. You need a driver, which regulates current so you do not fry your diode. [highlight]this is imperative![/highlight]

EDIT: Nice post moond0ggie, got in a minute before me! Hopefully the topic starter can take my post into consideration too. But I definately Spyder's pro tips and Daedal's FAQ, they are GREAT sources of information.

el-taco said:

EDIT: Nice post moond0ggie, got in a minute before me! Hopefully the topic starter can take my post into consideration too. But I definately Spyder's pro tips and Daedal's FAQ, they are GREAT sources of information.

Click to expand...

I guess we're covering the night shift together!

moond0ggie said:

[quote author=el-taco link=1219813299/0#2 date=1219817446]
EDIT: Nice post moond0ggie, got in a minute before me! Hopefully the topic starter can take my post into consideration too. But I definately Spyder's pro tips and Daedal's FAQ, they are GREAT sources of information.

Click to expand...

I guess we're covering the night shift together!
[/quote]

Haha yeah. Im going to the coffee machine, want one? ;D ;D

Okay

Sounds good. Any links to get a red laser? With like, the highes mW they have?

Thanks

Are you building one or buying one?

If you are building, go to moond0ggie's first link.

If you are buying, http://dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.11315 (however you cannot order into the US any more...)

WEll.. I want to buy one. BUT, I really wan't to BUILD one.. But, I don't know what I need, and what is optional. I want a strong laser. Maybe around 450mw. May be asking a lot, but I saw 1000!

I don't have anything. I would have t start out with scratch..

Someone, please help!

Visit the first link moond0ggie posted, but even as important: Read around the forum!

This forum is a knowledge bank that is so full of information it could explode.

basics for building a laser are driver circuit, laser diode, module for focusing light and batteries to power it.

http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm

1: read ALL of sams laser faq on the diode lasers section ( the whole thing is frikkin huge just concentrate on the diode lasers part)...

2: read the rest to negate stupid questions about other types of laser...

3: buy parts and tools

4:build it

sorted