Ben joins the 445nm club

Well almost!

I've just ordered a diode from daguin.

and a boat load of other stuff off ebay, including:

A heatsink designed to fit the aixiz module
The aixiz 405-455 glass lens
A switching 5 volt power supply (2 amperes) (one of those metal box with holes all over types)
A nice aluminium project box with flanges to help with mounting in the projector/harp

I have yet to order a flexmod P3 (the driver). Its got everything I need (analogue/TTL, interlock saftey, 7 second delay etc). I will buy this tomorrow.

I went with an alu box as although its harder to machine/drill, it will become a giant additional heatsink.

I will be documenting my build here. I am going for a lab laser design which will be either running in a scanner or be the heart of a laser harp.

I NEED GOGGLES for this thing. These diodes can go to insane power levels (well for me anyway, I dont dare fire up my 1 w green without laser glasses on!). Suggestions would be welcome. I'm gonna need 2 pairs, one for me and one for my mate who'll be working with me, or in close proximity to the laser.

I'm also thinking its about time I invested in a power meter, so off to investigate those shortly. I'll be getting one around the same time I get some goggles for the eyeballs. No I wont be even *THINKING* of firing the laser up until I have the laser glasses. (I already have the wicked laser glasses, but apparently these are crap and dont cover the wavelength anyway).

Until I get my power meter I will be setting up my diode at a conservative 600ma, I know some of you guys run em at an amp, but I'm not going to do that without an LPM. Dead on 1 Watt will be sufficient for my needs, and I'll set up the current once I have an LPM. For now if 600ma gives me only 500 mw, I'll be happy with that.

Question: is the blue lasorb laser protector suitable for the 445's or is it only really designed for the blu-ray diodes?

Question 2: my current meter (yes I have a NICE BLUE LED current meter to go on this thing) uses a 0.1R shunt resistor. There is no harm in putting this shunt in series with the diode so I can monitor current right?

Question 3: I've forgotten some basic electronics. I want a 0-5 adjustable signal (to drive the analogue modulation, so I can go from low (SAFE) power level to high once the laser is aligned in the equipment. I've forgotten how to do this except it requires a pot and a couple of resistors.

Anyhoo, look forward to getting my parts and assembling the laser, and will keep you guys updated as parts roll in and the build commences.

edit: looks like my power supply may be a bit low on the voltage side. Since the supple was purchased to fit inside my enclosure, and a e.g. 12V one wont fit, I've found an LM2577 2.5A boost converter on ebay to fix that problem.

I'd be careful on using a Switching Power Supply...
Some of those SPS can produce some nasty spikes
in their output...

Of course it depends on what you are actually hooking
to the SPS and how much filtering you need...

Good luck with your build... don't for get to show us when
you're done..


Jerry

Have just ordered the flexmod P3 - things are coming along well. The heatsink has already shipped (wow quick for a china seller!)

Jerry, whats the best way to test the supply for any nasty surprises - can I use the scope in a way that doesnt blow either the supply, the scope or me up? I have a 20mhz dualtrace. Only really use it for checking waveforms on my RF and timing circuits.

off topic:

vk2fro. Is this your call sign? I believe that VK2 is Aus.. not 100% sure though.

Yes elektrofreak - vk2 is nsw, australia.

ACT=vk1
NSW=vk2
VIC=vk3
QLD=vk4
NT=vk5
WA=vk6
TAS=vk7

There are others (like antartic territory) but without looking to my callbook, i cant tell you what they are. I've had my license for quite a few years. In fact it should be coming up for renewal very soon. over here the government rips you every way they can, so we pay a $60 odd fee per year for the priveledge to have a ham radio license. I presently have an icom 7000 and some pretty piss poor antenna's (not by choice, but by lack of yard space. Small townhouse backyards do not lend well for anything but verticals )

Back OT, I figured out my voltage divider for the power control. off to jaycar when the rest of australia wakes up to buy some resistors, a key switch and a few other sundries (diodes, big resistor for test load), and a pair of switches (one for power, one for force idle)

nice.. what bands are you fond of? Maybe we'll talk someday. Our licenses are good for a decade here, I was first licensed in 1996, but I let my ticket expire in '06. I'm going through the process of obtaining a new license, should be all set after Sat. Hopefully I'll pass the Extra exam.. then I get unrestricted HF privileges. I used to enjoy working 20 and 40 meters, but I really spent most of my time on 2m/440 just like nearly everyone.

Sorry for the off-topic ramblings..

no need to apologise - seems we both like the same bands - I have an OCF dipole between 2 masts for 20, and a homemade vertical for 40. Also have several ants for 6, 2 and 440.

Also own a vx3-r handheld, pretty neat little guy, fits in a shirt pocket, and is not only good for field trips, its also handy for teasing the crap out of pub security guards.

Find a friend, take them to a quiet spot of the pub, tune into the security guys radio, and have them play pilot and you play atc.

A typical conversation goes like this:

Pilot: "Ground, VH-TXQ ready to taxi"
ATC: "VH-TXQ Cleared to taxi, hold short of active."
Pilot: "VH-TXQ Cleared, hold short of active"
Security dude: "who is this"
ATC: "Last aircraft, can you identify yourself"

and so on.

The hard part is locating the frequency (done with close call function), and then tone to open up their mute The low power mode on the radio ensures you're only stirring the doorman, and not interfering with all the clubs down the road. Keep transmissions short so as not to interfere with real traffic, and wait between transmissions. Best to only carry out this stunt with a doorman you are on good terms with. Its a good prank, but should be done sparingly; due to the legalities of txing out of band. In the case above, the security guys were using CB radios (477mhz) and the 3-R *JUST* goes there.

I cannot understand WHY they were using uhf cb, they should be using a PMR

Back O/T

I'll also need to buy some micro switches for the projectors case interlocks. Once finished, this will prevent the lid from being opened with the laser powered. Do scanners have a "scanner fail" interlock signal? 400-600mw of 445 would be dangerous if the scanners stopped, resulting in a static beam.

vk2fro said:

its also handy for teasing the crap out of pub security guards.

Find a friend, take them to a quiet spot of the pub, tune into the security guys radio, and have them play pilot and you play atc.

A typical conversation goes like this:

Pilot: "Ground, VH-TXQ ready to taxi"
ATC: "VH-TXQ Cleared to taxi, hold short of active."
Pilot: "VH-TXQ Cleared, hold short of active"
Security dude: "who is this"
ATC: "Last aircraft, can you identify yourself"

and so on.

The hard part is locating the frequency (done with close call function), and then tone to open up their mute The low power mode on the radio ensures you're only stirring the doorman, and not interfering with all the clubs down the road. Keep transmissions short so as not to interfere with real traffic, and wait between transmissions. Best to only carry out this stunt with a doorman you are on good terms with. Its a good prank, but should be done sparingly; due to the legalities of txing out of band. In the case above, the security guys were using CB radios (477mhz) and the 3-R *JUST* goes there.

Click to expand...

AWESOME!! lol!

That's serious fun..

And yes, actually most professional projectors do have a "scan-fail" circuit that kills all output in the event of trouble with the scan system.

hehe yep we got him a beauty - we knew him well enough though that when we walked out and I pulled out the radio and said "cleared for departure" we all had a good laugh there at the door.

I will look into LSP's scanners for units with a scanfail signal. As once this thing goes to the customer I will not be able to control its use. So have to make sure the thing is interlocked to hell, and provide them with saftey glasses to use while setting the system up.

oooh this is neat - I found a program on the ipad called "luminair". Apparently with DMX I can control the laser projector from the ipad. Hmmmm.... very "james bond"

Elektro, my longest distance contact was to zimbabwe, 15,000 km away, using 35 watts on the 20m band using a data mode called PSK31. All done from a home made black box that connected the 7000 to the laptop

edit: just watched a tutorial on the o-scope and refreshed my memory on how to check the 5v supply for any nasties.

Thinking of going with this for my power meter:

http://laserpointerforums.com/f64/5-watt-laser-power-meter-50226.html

I believe all scan sets have a scanfail output, Dave over at LSP should be able to tell you where they are located on whatever scan set you go with.

My longest distance has been from Missouri USA to Australia. I've made the trip a few different times, all on surprisingly high bands.. 20m and up, even a couple times on 10m. Typically I was using either 100W or 1.5kW, but there were two Aus contacts, including the 10m QSO, that were done with less than 20W. I miss DXing.. it's what's got me interested again.. it seems that the conditions have been superb lately.

Cool stuff Elektro.

Eventually I will build another 445 for my own scanner, along with 2 650 reds combined with a pbs, and a 250mw green for a whitelight projector. It will be great to take it down to mums, they have a christmas lights "competition" in her town. It would be cool to project onto the garage door santa's and reindeer and christmassy stuff. People drive around the town (Devonport, Tasmania). Probably do a show every half hour till 10pm; and to top it off, open the top cover of the laser (away from audience) and light a ciggie off the beam before the galvo's) just to show the audience the power of the light within LOL

I'd obviously need to find some velvet ropes and rope off the laser area (and stand guard), so that town folk watching the show cannot get access to the laser.

^Should be very cool! The new 445s really make for incredible color depth in many colors.. they're even pretty awesome on their own. I'm just finishing up the second of 2 ~1W 445nm projectors to flank my RGB.. they look great all by themselves.

yeap they have awesome power looking through the threads. Still need goggles - do you have a suggestion? Really dont want to pay a fortune, but dont want something sub par. I wont be firing my 445 until I have them

If you're serious about your goggles, I'd recommend getting them from oemlasersystems.com. LPF member FrothyChimp works there, and they are a serious company whose market is science and industry. They sell real laser accessories, as in the kind NOT intended for hobbyists. Something like this would be ideal: http://store.oemlasersystems.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=10_12&products_id=7

NICE! they cover all my lasers. I'll have to convince my mate to buy himself a set as well. They are reasonably priced, and a one off investment. A simple point to my blind eye (not caused by a laser by the way) and saying "go right ahead if you want to buy the cheap glasses. I'd rather keep the vision in my left eye "

Just printed up a laser sign to be attached at the doorway and on the laser

Heres the 5 volt power supply. Remember this project is replacing an argon in a lissojous pattern projector. The power supply took up most of the box, now its this tiny thing that will be coupled to the boost converter...



the packet of smokes is there as a size reference. Thats a 20's pack, the smallest you can get here. So it appears I am going to have PLENTY of room inside the old projector case for scanner amps, etc

Got some more bits today - some heatsinks (for various items, but mainly the scanner amps), the components for a test load, a key switch and some resistors and pots for a seperate lab style 445 I will be building for burning joy. The current meter on the top is showing a bizarre reading as its not hooked to anything, even a sense resistor. I need to open it up and move the decimal jumper one to the left . It measures off a 0.1 R resistor, which I can put directly in line with the diode.



With my lab 445 I want to be able to set it up in a way where I can start at low power to set up the experiment, then turn up the power to the required level. This will be done by feeding the analogue input of DRLava's flexmod P3 with a 0-5volt signal.

I will be setting the flexmod to a max of 1.1A, so if the system is switched on at full tilt on the external pot, the diode wont go to diode heaven.

Then I can do the same with another diode and so on; which means I can knife edge and combine beams for watts of power, yet align them at the lowest, safer power level.

I will start with one diode, then get a second and knife edge those, then get two more, knife edge those with different polarity, then combine them in a 445 PBS cube, and turn them all up to a watt I would end up with a beam that looks like a +, but if I take one of those big black heatsinks and drill a pinhole in it, I should be able to fire through the pinhole and get a reasonable dot.

Wonder if 4 watts of 445 would roast off the anodising?

edit: found that the decimal jumper was just that, a real jumper block so easily adjusted. Now need to find something that pulls ~1A and calibrate it against my fluke meter.

edit 2: ahhh you have to love soldering a string of diodes together for a test load. I dont have a drill bit to drill out the veroboard slightly larger holes for these big diodes, so I just soldered them together in a string. 7 diodes long LOL