I really don't see a downside to putting the diode inline except for the voltage drop, which is minimal and with good diodes as laserbee said the voltage drop can be very minor.
I will make the edited driver just as soon as I get my potentiometers in, and observe if there are any performance...
You said the exact problem in your message, "the diode in the first pic will conduct in a reverse polarity situation instead of the LD because its a lower resistance than the Laser Diode"
Thus, shorting the circuit. Then you fry your batteries and your LM317.
While you may avoid the voltage...
Anytime someone asks how to make their own laser driver or how to build a laser This Link gets passed along with this image:
But I think there's a bit of a flaw with it, when the diode is placed where it is inserting the batteries backwards will short and fry the LM317, and would still most...
If you use a 1mw laser driver you won't get much power from your laser. You can build your own driver, they're cheap and kinda fun to make, see this website for info on making one.
Also, you need to know what kinda diode you are extracting, so you can know what current to run the diode at. Once...
Do you need the beam to be visible or the dot? cuz a little wee 5mw red pointer will have a visible dot in broad daylight...
If you do need a clearly visible beam in broad daylight, then you are indeed looking at a lot of money.
I built this with the intention to be the first to make a spirograph with five motors, as I had not seen any with more than 4 at the time. That was about a year ago and I do not know if I am the first to make one with 5 motors anymore.
As I have also found out more than 4 motors is pointless...
I think i know what your talkin bout. That would be pretty cool. you could hold a glowing cable and then have the laser beam shoot out the end of the cable. I need to get some fiber optic cable to try this out....
okay, im thinking people heard wrong here. if mofosho did not look directly into the IR beam then theres nothing to worry about. you can look at an IR dot as much as you want, it's pointing the beam into your eyeballs that causes problems. 5mW lasers are as cheap as $5.39 on ebay, it's not too...
I remember my first 5mW pointer...which wasn't really that long ago after all...
I recently got a 50mW pointer, it's beam isn't at all visible outside in the daytime, but it is visible inside a room with only a few windows during the day. 50mW won't pop balloons or burn anything if that's what...
Re: One vote,one gift: vote for the hero of LPF in your mind
if im not too late...
I dont post here too much but I certainly read enough to know who the reputable members are. I voted Daguin, Jayrob, and Laserbee for the same reasons everyone else did - they are reputable, long time members who...
mehhhh who cares if it's illegal. It's not like your murdering someone, just don't shine it at faces, vehicles airplanes etc.. use common sense and no one will come knocking.
I understand some people just want to abide by the law no matter what, morals and all that. if this is the case just...
stickyy ittttt
looks like just the thread to be stickied
I'm glad the U.S doesn't have ridiculous laws that restrict lasers too much (like australia).. yet... you know how government works here it won't last for long. Enjoy it while you can.
The funny thing is that it is a hard line from a router....
I tested speed again, exact same result...
I'm kinda glad I tested it, I knew my connection was bad but i didn't know it was this bad.
532nm would have to be my favorite simply because it is my favorite color. It's the color of grass, leaves, nature in general. I don't have any other colors (except cheapy red..) so i can't say for sure. Videos never really display lasers properly, so I can't really judge from videos what I like...
ooohhhh myyyy gaawwddd I just shined the laser outside and you can SEE the Beam! Up until I found this forum I thought that was only possible with exetremely high powered lasers. Gaaaaahhh now i'm hooked and must buy/make more lasers. Man, I love this hobby!
I find it very hard to rip myself...
Hello LPF! I got my first "real" laser today and I can already see the money pouring out of my pockets for more!
Big thanks to swimminsurfer256 for my greenie I got on his ebay listing for only 12 dollars, It is unbelievably brighter than those cheapy .5 mW red things which I own many of...