Post your pics of hosts awaiting a build

CoherentRays said:

I guess I don't feel quite so bad now, after seeing others' empty hosts. I, too, seem to buy the pieces faster than I can put them together. I need to get that illusive "round tuit".

Corrected photo display.

Ed

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Hey what host is the very right one looks really nice.

I recognize it, it's Ehgemus' host.

BillyBob said:

Hey what host is the very right one looks really nice.

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Yup, Alaskan got it right. It's an Ehgemus host. It's the one at the bottom of the first post on this page:

http://laserpointerforums.com/f39/fs-custom-laser-hosts-new-hosts-added-today-9-2-15-a-93207.html

It's marked sold, but if you PM Ehgemus, he'll make you another one just like it. It might cost a tiny bit more than the original price since he has to set up his tooling to reproduce that one, but it would be worth it. :yh:

The one next to it is one of his too, shown in the same post.

Ed

This is a host awaiting a build.....ing.
I was thinking about a 3x26650 host that will take 3xNUBM07E in 12mm modules.
I could set the modules so that the infinity focused lines make a triangle and lock them down in place.
Because the 07E with a 3 element makes a 3/4 inch wide line that will burn leaves/cardboard at 15 feet.

3/4 of an inch is about 19mm so 3 12mm holes can be spaced 19mm center to center leaving 7mm between the edge of each hole.

TK75 to be modified into a laser pointer, is this too big?



That's a lot of batteries with the extender tubes, 16 each 18650's.

Nah, it should fit in your pocket, no problem!
I think you may need to throw another extender on that baby for counter balance; what's four more 18650's.

BowtieGuy said:

Nah, it should fit in your pocket, no problem!
I think you may need to throw another extender on that baby for counter balance; what's four more 18650's.

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But it's already too long

Alaskan said:

But it's already too long

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:wtf:You may have set the record for the largest battery powered hand held laser.

Alan

I like it, I have a host which could do that too, hummm....

RedCowboy said:

This is a host awaiting a build.....ing.
I was thinking about a 3x26650 host that will take 3xNUBM07E in 12mm modules.
I could set the modules so that the infinity focused lines make a triangle and lock them down in place.
Because the 07E with a 3 element makes a 3/4 inch wide line that will burn leaves/cardboard at 15 feet.

3/4 of an inch is about 19mm so 3 12mm holes can be spaced 19mm center to center leaving 7mm between the edge of each hole.

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Too big? A laser can't ever be too big, just like a loose beer can never be too warm.

I bought 2 of the Budget Beams heat sinks and 2 MX-900's and I see why people like the MX-900 housings, I will drill and tap the chunk then add a 2 inch by 2 inch piece of round aluminum bar stock and put in 3 modules in a triangle near the center, I may cut fins around the outside.
I don't think 2 x 26650 will power 3 x NUBM44's but I may use 07E's or good ole 7875's, 3 x 7475's would look great but with drivers and modules/lenses it would cost 1000 dollars so I will likely make a tri blue.


You can also adjust run out by setting infinity focus then locking the lens down with a hollowed out module, hold the lens in place and tighten down the copper/threaded end to hold the lens position as there is some run out.
Granted with 3 lasers it will take some trial and error but once locked down there will be 3 beautiful parallel beams.


The aluminum end cap has had the bottom drilled out with a unibit.

These days, 26650 batteries are as small as I want to have in my hosts.

I've almost purchased 26650s a few times now, but every time I do, I think about the fact that I've never had a single last's batteries go dead on me. From 2+ watts with 14500s to 3+ watts with two 16340s to 7+ watts with two 2500mAh 18650s, I've never had a single one go dead. After over 50 builds now. And I use them very often, and not just a couple minutes each time. I just can't bring myself to spend the money when I have no need whatsoever.

TaterMay said:

I've almost purchased 26650s a few times now, but every time I do, I think about the fact that I've never had a single last's batteries go dead on me. From 2+ watts with 14500s to 3+ watts with two 16340s to 7+ watts with two 2500mAh 18650s, I've never had a single one go dead. After over 50 builds now. And I use them very often, and not just a couple minutes each time. I just can't bring myself to spend the money when I have no need whatsoever.

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When I was running my 1st NUBM44 @ 5.0 amps it would suck down 2 fully charged NCR18650B batteries to 7.2 volts under load in about 60 seconds and that's getting close to the 6.8v cutoff for the SXD so to get 5 min runtime out of my extra heavy heat sink I needed 4 18650's in series parallel.

I did better with INR 18650 cells but not enough to get 5min runtimes out of 2 cells.
Now I want to knife edge 2-7 diodes and I am going to need to step it up to 26650's for multi diode builds of these new more powerful diodes.
Even if I just do the triple 7875 I have been wanting or a double NUBM44 I need 26650's to keep decent runtime or to have 5-7 one minute cycles between charges with a FL host holding just 2 cells.

Plus it's not as hard on the batteries.
Also consider that the next round of diodes will likely be either bigger or multi PN junctions per diode like that triple 638 only in a TO-5 package or who knows.

I think a plpm4-450 would be fun, but it will take a pack of cells to run it. Before I buy more 6 dollar a piece 18650's I will start buying 10 dollar a piece 26650's, it's just the evolution of things, or so it seems.

I still have a hard time going with larger hosts like some of you are doing. Yes it makes sense with the newer power hungry diodes and I do have 3 larger hosts awaiting some love. Some of the units you guys are showing are huge and I appreciate that route but I definately couldn't see myself with one unless it could cut a car in half lol.
It's nothing personal I just have this thing for smaller builds. There's something about having lots of power in a small host that I don't think I'll ever get over. I hope I never lose the magic of it all. I still find it fascinating how strong a 100mW 532nm is with that beautiful thin beam. Bothers me some that so many new members are stuck in the 1W+ syndrome. My tutorials and sig links generally have to do with "see what's possible with little $". Just built another over 100mW 532nm yesterday.
That being said, I do have 25+ class 4 and a Mitsubishi 500 diode arriving today I'll test to see if it will take 1.25A and hopefully hit 1W+ lol. Happened to notice a driver I had misplaced that isn't adjustable that needed a friend and that fit the bill. Also seriously looking at a 465nm at 4.5A that I haven't pulled the trigger on yet. DTR has other diodes he will be adding if the testing goes well (I don't know what they are) which makes it harder to decide what to do especially since there's no time frame for that. Already have a couple 2.2W 462nm (or whatever they are actually running at) so the choice is even harder. I don't have the funds to waste and I'm actually more intrigued by the Podo 3 beam reds than anything else but they run $300+ as a complete build. I don't think he would sell the diode separate although I should ask. It intrigues me as it's so different from everything I have not to mention I don't think anyone has one although I believe a few have purchased the dual beam one from O-like.
Anyways, a big thanks to all who have kept this thread alive and kicking. Great to see how we are different and some of the unique builds others are coming up with. We've also avoided petty bickering which just sucks the life out of the forum.

Pete

Red, I have been purchasing more heavy load type cells for awhile now such as the Panasonic f (rather than b) and Samsung 25R. Yes they have less capacity but I like that there is a lot less sag when you run them hot. I find it odd that there has to be close to twice the surface area in a 26650 over an 18650 and yet the capacity is around 4000mAh. Haven't purchased anything larger than the 6 king kong yet.
Tried to find 25500 cells but I could only come up with something with "fire" in the name other than an unknown brand that Fasttech has That size is supposed to be actual "C" size. Purchased a pair of 26500 efest 24A/48A cells but the ended up being just slightly too wide to fit (I could have worked with the extra length). I'll probably use them in the D mag.
By the way, every laser I own has their own batteries. I personally think it's a good policy that for the multicellular units you should always keep them together and never mix/match regardless of whether the battery is the exact same one. With all the lasers I have i can't imagine how much I've spent on them but there has to be a couple hundred of them including the ones I haven't used yet.

RedCowboy said:

When I was running my 1st NUBM44 @ 5.0 amps it would suck down 2 fully charged NCR18650B batteries to 7.2 volts under load in about 60 seconds and that's getting close to the 6.8v cutoff for the SXD so to get 5 min runtime out of my extra heavy heat sink I needed 4 18650's in series parallel.

I did better with INR 18650 cells but not enough to get 5min runtimes out of 2 cells.
Now I want to knife edge 2-7 diodes and I am going to need to step it up to 26650's for multi diode builds of these new more powerful diodes.
Even if I just do the triple 7875 I have been wanting or a double NUBM44 I need 26650's to keep decent runtime or to have 5-7 one minute cycles between charges with a FL host holding just 2 cells.

Plus it's not as hard on the batteries.
Also consider that the next round of diodes will likely be either bigger or multi PN junctions per diode like that triple 638 only in a TO-5 package or who knows.

I think a plpm4-450 would be fun, but it will take a pack of cells to run it. Before I buy more 6 dollar a piece 18650's I will start buying 10 dollar a piece 26650's, it's just the evolution of things, or so it seems.

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How old were those NCR18650Bs? I just built another NUBM07E @ 4A, and it runs them like a champ. I'm not sure exactly how many 30 second cycles it ran, bit it was a bunch. They ran it for a significant portion of the night without issue. I normally use the eFest 20A continuous 18650s, and they run my NUBM44 builds @ 4.5A for a while. Considering the fact that a buck driver @ 5A is going to draw a good bit less current from the batteries, at 2500mAh, unless your batteries sag much more than they should, you should be able to get well over 30 minutes of total run time out of those eFest batteries. And they are usually cheaper than the NCR18650Bs. I know I got at least 30 minutes of total run time @ 4A with my NCR18650Bs. That might not seem like a lot to some, but I would wager that most of us don't run 60+ cycles when we pull out our 5 to 7 watters.

TaterMay said:

How old were those NCR18650Bs? I just built another NUBM07E @ 4A, and it runs them like a champ. I'm not sure exactly how many 30 second cycles it ran, bit it was a bunch. They ran it for a significant portion of the night without issue. I normally use the eFest 20A continuous 18650s, and they run my NUBM44 builds @ 4.5A for a while. Considering the fact that a buck driver @ 5A is going to draw a good bit less current from the batteries, at 2500mAh, unless your batteries sag much more than they should, you should be able to get well over 30 minutes of total run time out of those eFest batteries. And they are usually cheaper than the NCR18650Bs. I know I got at least 30 minutes of total run time @ 4A with my NCR18650Bs. That might not seem like a lot to some, but I would wager that most of us don't run 60+ cycles when we pull out our 5 to 7 watters.

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Hey Tater, what driver were you using @ 4.5 amps?