FS: >110mW PHR, >140mW 4x & >170mW 6x Blu-Rays

Re: FS: >110mW PHR, >140mW 4x & >170mW 6x Blu-Rays

guastafeste said:

another day has gone by and still no news from igor....anybody know anything?he usually replyies emails, but i havnt had an email from him since saturday!!!!!!
im part of the 6x batch2....paid and everything....

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Relax, if possible.  

Imagine he has 20 or 30 orders sitting there.  If each person sent 2 or 3 emails asking questions, and Igor were to spend 5 minutes per email, that's over 2+ hours of time emailing when he could be making lasers.

He's built many lasers, for many people.  His reputation speaks for itself.  I'm sure he's building and shipping as fast as he can! He does have other work as well, and this is his hobby.  I've been paid up, as have others, longer than you have.

When his work load gets too high you'll find he just stops emailing and posting so he can get caught up.  Would you rather talk about your laser or have him actually build it - LOL!  ;D

No worries - he'll get back with you as soon as he has time!

**EDIT** - I thought I'd also add, I know it can be nerve-racking to send money to a foreign country to someone you've never met in hopes they will ship you something. But honestly, check around and PM some other members who currently have his lasers. I'm 100% sure they will vouch for him and his work.

Re: FS: >110mW PHR, >140mW 4x & >170mW 6x Blu-Rays

jriga said:

[quote author=guastafeste link=1210968450/1020#1024 date=1233872771]another day has gone by and still no news from igor....anybody know anything?he usually replyies emails, but i havnt had an email from him since saturday!!!!!!
im part of the 6x batch2....paid and everything....

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Relax, if possible.   [/quote]

IgorT is one of the most honest and reliable people I know. Be patient. It will be worth the wait.

Peace,
dave

Re: FS: >110mW PHR, >140mW 4x & >170mW 6x Blu-Rays

thanx for the reassuring daguin and jriga......
but you know how i felt, rite?
i know his reputation speaks for itself, i just got carried away with impatience.............
apologize for my nervous breakdown........
can anybody tell me the difference between flexidrive and ddl and rckstr?is it just three different drivers from three different people?
also anyone know where to find a dyagram on how to put those drivers together?
you see im still learning...

Re: FS: >110mW PHR, >140mW 4x & >170mW 6x Blu-Rays

look in the tutorials section. As far as i know, they are different in that they are shaped differently, designed for different hosts, by different people, and for different lasers. Techniquily speaking, you can use almost any driver for any diode. some types of drivers, such as rckstrs, can be either set current, or can have a pot that can be modded. the point of the driver is to limit the current fed to a diode to a certain amount. for example, a high power red usuallly takes anywhere from 400ma to 500ma. more milliamps in most cases decreases the life of the diode, and increaes the need for heatsinking. you can get all the parts to build them at radioshack, and they are pretty dang cheap. the trick is getting them small enough to fit in whatever host you want. thats why ppl buy it from the proffessionals, like dr lava. its cheaper to make your own, but it is better quality to get one from the ppl that sell them.
just go check out the tutorials section, you find a thread somewhere that talks about making drivers.

Re: FS: >110mW PHR, >140mW 4x & >170mW 6x Blu-Rays

thanx sordofsalvation...
i found the tutorial u were taliking about, very interesting
aslo does anybody know what igor means by
250mw BR in the making (and not by shortening the life or setting a higher current)
is it just a different lense that just increase the power?will the beam be different from the 160mw BR (standard one)he sells?

Re: FS: >110mW PHR, >140mW 4x & >170mW 6x Blu-Rays

guastafeste said:

thanx sordofsalvation...
i found the tutorial u were taliking about, very interesting
aslo does anybody know what igor means by
250mw BR in the making (and not by shortening the life or setting a higher current)
is it just a different lense that just increase the power?will the beam be different from the 160mw BR (standard one)he sells?

Click to expand...

IgotT is working on a custom lens that will allow the normal 6x diode he is using to optically increase the power output of the beam to 250mW +/- a few. A more coherent, focused beam is a more powerful beam. Same diode, same beam, just higher in power due to better optics. When the lens project is finished you will be able to simply pop the lens out of your current Batch 2 6X laser and pop in the new lens (provided you get in on the group buy for the custom lens).

I think the Batch 2 of the 6x laser is primarily being offered so he can fund development and production of the new lens - should be pretty freaking sweet once it's done. Easy way to get more power without imposing duty cycle or shortening the life of the 6x diode.

Re: FS: >110mW PHR, >140mW 4x & >170mW 6x Blu-Rays

jriga said:

[quote author=guastafeste link=1210968450/1020#1029 date=1233967466]

I think the Batch 2 of the 6x laser is primarily being offered so he can fund development and production of the new lens - should be pretty freaking sweet once it's done.  Easy way to get more power without imposing duty cycle or shortening the life of the 6x diode.

Click to expand...

Correct

Re: FS: >110mW PHR, >140mW 4x & >170mW 6x Blu-Rays

i payed too a couple weeks ago and in last days no news, plz igor we trust you but you know is not nice not to hear any news, maybe a post for telling us the situation

Re: FS: >110mW PHR, >140mW 4x & >170mW 6x Blu-Rays

I'm back! Just finished installing my new laptop. The old one finally crapped out completelly. I've been without for only three days and i felt like in the stone age.. A few people thought i must be dead cos i was not online..  ;D How did we live before computers and internet?


But the silence gave me the opportunity to finish work faster. It's all done and shipped, except those who asked to wait for batteries. As for the batteries, i tried to get the package out alone, said it was for personal use, but they wouldn't let me. So i filed the official paperwork, waiting for it to get processed so i can pay them a small fortune...  :'(

I'll ship those as soon as i have the batteries in my hands, or you tell me you don't need them. (If you want to buy your own, there are some stores in the US, where you can order them, just be careful, some of them drop-ship from China! Make sure they have them in stock in the US, if you do this! In some cases you can find them in camera shops too.)



I took some pictures along the way, so it would be easier to imagine how much work this was. I'll post them in a bit. Unfortunatelly for me, only the paid-for lasers are finished. Now there's still a bunch of counterfavor-lasers to be made, so more work awaits. Not to mention answering emails from almost a week!
I almost think the emails will take longer.  :

I'll try to sort through the emails ASAP, but i hope everyone is reading this, since it probably answers most of your questions.




EDIT: I am starting to see i got some people worried with my absence. I am very sorry about that, but i simply had no time to setup my new computer until finishing the last of the work, cos i wanted to get the all of it all shipped before the weekend! I was working from the morning to the evening EVERY SINGLE DAY! The fact that i was without my computer was a two edged sword. It allowed me to work faster, but it also prevented me to talk to all of you, and you're used to me answering multiple times a day.. I was worried about that, but at the same time, i was hoping, that with most of you we know each other well enough by now, that you would know i wouldn't leave you hanging. Even tho i wasn't able to talk, i still fulfilled all orders.


I sent yet another express "multipack" to Glenn (most of batch #2), for him to dispatch from within the US with Priority. Since some of you had to wait a bit longer, i paid extra for the express and the re-shipping out of my own pocket, to minimise or eliminate the wait. With this amount of packages, express is almost worth it.


It was all a bit crazy during the last few weeks. First i had batch #1 which only repaid purchasing the 6x's, then suddenly batch #2, then #2 started getting bloated, and there simply was no end in sight! I was working like crazy! Quite honestly, i almost lost my mind from all the pressure. The workload was overwhelming!



In case you are wondering, my work looks like this:
1. First i pre-test ALL diodes on my "Diode Analyzer", sort them into groups, depending on efficiency. Then i weed out the weaker ones, and select the good ones for my builds.. You can see some of the plots in the top of the attached picture. I had total of 46 diodes to test, and this took a few days! Then i assign diodes to names, selecting such, that fit the requirements best..

2. Then i take a few bags of AixiZ module blanks, and all the heatsinks. The AixiZ modules have bad OD tolerances, so i have the heatsink made with small tolerances, and then i spend hours matching them up! I go through the bags of modules, trying every single one in every single heatsink, until i find perfect matches - where a module is almost a press-fit. Very tight, but not so tight to require special tools to get it out. I don't want any looselly fitting modules! This way i ensure perfect thermal transfer from the module to the heatsink. Look at the number of those heatsinks (bottom left of picture). All of them neded to be filled with guts! (This is just batch #2 and #3! a few are "counterfavor builds"..) I assign heatsinks to names and put assigned diodes into them...

3. Then i take the etched driver boards (which i had to etch first!), and solder microscopic SMD components to them (bottom right pic shows a few of them - i had to make 35 of them total!). This is actually the hardest part! Then i have to set the current (based on the PIV plots) to reach the power you ask for. Then test every single driver, by attaching it to a dummy load, and varying the input voltage from 4.5V to 2.2V, making sure the output current never changes more than 0.2-0.3mA! Making the drivers is actually the hardest part of it all! That's why i'm having the PCBs done in the factory from now on. I will still have to solder the components myself, but at least i won't have to do the etching, and the soldering will be easier on factory made PCBs.

4. Then i just solder the driver to the diodes and close off the heatsink/modules.

5. Then come the optics. They have to be assembled in a clean environment, so as not to get dust between the lens and the diode. This often takes hours, as the lenses are often dirty when i get them! I use a dedicated no-lens blu ray, to iluminate the springs, and visualise any dust particles, while brushing them off. You can probably imagine, this also takes some time.

6. Then i have to measure the power of the lasers, make sure they really are where the PIV plots suggested (and you asked them to be). If they are off, i have to take the laser appart and do some fine-tuning.

7. Then come the power graphs. Recording them takes HOURS with so many orders! (i'm gonna start regretting offering them)

8. Then it's done, right? But it still all has to be packaged, while making sure i don't forget anything. The packaging is usually the craziest part, cos i'm always paranoid i'd forget something, an i quadruple check everything, just to be sure. While packaging, i do one last power measurement, and write it on the inner flap of the box.


Then i can relax. Untill i remember i have another bunch of lasers to make, and those aren't even paid for...


I have to answer all the emails, so nobody gets (too) paranoid, but i will have to do that in the morning. It's three o-clock in the morning right now and i REALLY need to sleep.

Talk to you soon!

Re: FS: >110mW PHR, >140mW 4x & >170mW 6x Blu-Rays

Good to hear, I'm excited to start playing with the new toy! I am having nothing but problems with Deal Extreme. They haven't shipped, they won't reply to contact of any kind (through their site, or direct email), they have now DOUBLE charged my credit card for the order ($30+ on Jan 22, and another $30+ on Feb 3). I am going to post this issue on a new thread, and this morning called Visa to dispute both charges. Total fraud. :'(

I am going to try ordering the batteries from someone in the USA, but as you said, looks like a lot of people drop ship from China.

Long story short, if you get your batteries away from your customs, I'd love one. If not, no big deal... glad to hear you're back online and a special thanks for taking all your free time to build great lasers for those of us lucky to get in on this batch.

Re: FS: >110mW PHR, >140mW 4x & >170mW 6x Blu-Rays

soooo good to hear from you m8......
have you got a rough idea on how long it could take b4 you can actyually get hold of these batteries??
if you think it could be ages or too difficult just post the laser with the other bits, no big deal..
i'll send you an email...
welcome back!!!!

Re: FS: >110mW PHR, >140mW 4x & >170mW 6x Blu-Rays

Hey guys!

Sorry for being unavaliable the entire week. I wanted to answer all emails and PMs on Wednesday, but when i woke up, my computer was frozen and after a reset it wouldn't turn on anymore...

It's been giving me trouble for a while now. One day it simply stopped turning ON. It would take 100 tries and a bit of luck, to get it to boot. I studied computer engineering, and i used to fix computers for fun, but this was a laptop, and there isn't much to fix in those...

So i was forced to stop turning it OFF, had it running day and night, non-stop. Problem is, with Windoze, sooner or later you simply have to re-boot.. They always start freezing up after a while.

First internet would start working weird, and gmail would not send emails, or send empty ones, with the quote alone. This i was usually able to fix, by dumping everything from the memory, and restarting the programs. But after a while, WLAN would freeze up, and i haven't found a way to fix it, except for restarting.

Once it froze completelly, i was forced to re-boot, and pray, but it didn't come back on.


I got a new one on Thursday, but it doesn't accept the disk from the old one, and setting everything up from scratch usually takes half a day. So i had a choice. Either setup the new laptop immediatelly, and get online, or finish what was left of the work. I decided for the work, in the hope you would understand. It was your lasers i wanted to finish..


Gustafeste: The customs usually process a single package in one day, and it comes the next day. But it's 10 of them. That's why i tried to get only the batteries out first. But i was forced to file official paperwork for all of it at once. They are gonna bill me as if it's one big package, even tho many of them are under $28, and should go through unmollested.


If all else fails, i could take my personal test-batteries, and ship those. But i think i only have six of them - three pairs. And that's not enough for everyone.

Alternativelly, if you have a package from DX on the way, a single fully charged battery could last you long enough for the DX package to arrive. I'll figure something out, so i can ship the packages waiting for the batteries ASAP.

Re: FS: >110mW PHR, >140mW 4x & >170mW 6x Blu-Rays

I can't wait! Just incase you missed my email, I got my batts a few days back!

Re: FS: >110mW PHR, >140mW 4x & >170mW 6x Blu-Rays

LOL - I'd love a battery since DX is killing me.  But I'm not going to stress about it...

Well... maybe a little...

Re: FS: >110mW PHR, >140mW 4x & >170mW 6x Blu-Rays

Th0ughts said:

I can't wait! Just incase you missed my email, I got my batts a few days back!

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That is good to know! That means i can ship your package.

I am trying to sort through the emails now. If anyone else canceled the battery request (main model orders), their order will also be shipped immediatelly. The rest of batch #2 and #3 (CR123 lasers, main model orders without a battery request, other models....) is all on the way already.


Otherwise, there is a chance the batteries might come on Tuesday, if the customs finish processing on Monday... So if they do it quickly, it won't be too bad (if i ignore how much i'll have to pay for custom fees and taxes)..

Re: FS: >110mW PHR, >140mW 4x & >170mW 6x Blu-Rays

jriga said:

Good to hear, I'm excited to start playing with the new toy! I am having nothing but problems with Deal Extreme.  They haven't shipped, they won't reply to contact of any kind (through their site, or direct email), they have now DOUBLE charged my credit card for the order ($30+ on Jan 22, and another $30+ on Feb 3).  I am going to post this issue on a new thread, and this morning called Visa to dispute both charges.  Total fraud.   :'(

Click to expand...

Hmm, i don't understand why you are having problems with DX. I do sometimes get crap i have to RMA, but they handle it, and other than that, i never had any problems with them.

Are you sure they billed you twice? Sometimes a CC transaction appears twice, first as reserved amount, then it moves from reserved amounts into transactions, but sometimes it is not immediatelly deleted from reserved amounts, and it makes it look as if it's charged twice. Until the reserved amount is deleted, then you see it's only one transaction.

This once happened to me with a larger sum. It moved from "reserved" to "transactions", but was not removed from "reserved" for two more days, and as a result, my balance was zero, altho i knew i had a lot of money in that account. But i couldn't get to it. At the bank, they thought i was making it up! One day later, the reserved amount was deleted, and i suddenly had money again.

It's a stupid way of doing things. The reserved amounts should be deleted the moment they are moved into transactions, otherwise, it can temporarily leave you without your money. And the best thing about it is, that the people at the bank don't even understand it!


Since you paid DX with PayPal, there is simply no way for them to charge you twice. It's PP that charges you, not DX. I think what happened to you is what i described above...


Otherwise, keep in mind, the Chinese just had their Chinese New Years, which is why nothing was shipped during that time. This is the source of many of our problems right now. It's also part of the reason 10 of my packages arrived at the customs at once..