Want to build a blue/mint laser for astronomy. Some questions regarding diode choice and power.

[marsgnu]

Hi folks!

Its been a good 10 years since I was last involved in the laser hobby (innocent 12-year old back then).
Seems like a lot of cool affordable diodes have come onto the market in the last few years and that makes me really want to put together a new cool pointer.

I am looking to make a laser for pointing at the night sky and generally just have (safe) fun with.
I want something that is low power and usable without glasses but still has a proper visible beam at night.
I love the violet lasers (used to have a blue-ray one I really enjoyed) but since the perceived brightness of these are quite low relative to their output power it would not be optimal for this build and regular GLPs are a tad boring imo (and they have the IR issue).

The mint/turquoise diodes around 488nm look cool and seem like a good compromise for visibility/power/safety (correct me if I am wrong here).
Ive been looking around ebay for 488nm diodes and found 30mw no name modules around 30eur and these 60mw sharp diodes around the same price.

Im open to buying a complete module with driver or buying separate diode/module/driver (perhaps solder up my own driver).
Really whatever is cheap is good for my needs.
I have an old bosch air-drill I wanna use as a housing.

My questions are:

Is the beam visibility of turquoise lasers comparable to GLPs? Do they also produce dangerous IR?

Any recommendations for diodes/drivers/modules around the mint/turquoise spectrum (does not have to be exactly 488nm)? (Where to buy from? I am in the EU)

Is it possible to run 30-60mw laser diodes at a lower output power? Looking for an output suitable for star gazing/playing around in the forest at night.

Would you consider using a laser over 5mw at all without glasses?

Any recommendations for optics? (not too expensive)


Happy to be back in the hobby!
Cheers

 

[julianthedragon]

Is the beam visibility of turquoise lasers comparable to GLPs? Do they also produce dangerous IR?

I own two of them, not comparable to GLPs. The beam has an elongated rhombus-like profile, but focuses nicely to a small dot unlike some high power blues. Since the aqua color comes directly from the diode, there is no IR produced.

Would you consider using a laser over 5mw at all without glasses?

Many would say no, my honest opinion is that it depends on the type of use we're talking about. For star pointing, no glasses are needed since you want to see the beam and the light is not reflecting at you. For brief indoor use at medium distance non-reflective surfaces, my limit for glasses is about 40-50mw. For consistent close range use near reflective objects or looking at the dot for longer than a few seconds, anything above 5mw should be used with glasses

 

[Unown (WILD)]

Hi folks!

Its been a good 10 years since I was last involved in the laser hobby (innocent 12-year old back then).
Seems like a lot of cool affordable diodes have come onto the market in the last few years and that makes me really want to put together a new cool pointer.

I am looking to make a laser for pointing at the night sky and generally just have (safe) fun with.
I want something that is low power and usable without glasses but still has a proper visible beam at night.
I love the violet lasers (used to have a blue-ray one I really enjoyed) but since the perceived brightness of these are quite low relative to their output power it would not be optimal for this build and regular GLPs are a tad boring imo (and they have the IR issue).

The mint/turquoise diodes around 488nm look cool and seem like a good compromise for visibility/power/safety (correct me if I am wrong here).
Ive been looking around ebay for 488nm diodes and found 30mw no name modules around 30eur and these 60mw sharp diodes around the same price.

Im open to buying a complete module with driver or buying separate diode/module/driver (perhaps solder up my own driver).
Really whatever is cheap is good for my needs.
I have an old bosch air-drill I wanna use as a housing.

My questions are:

Is the beam visibility of turquoise lasers comparable to GLPs? Do they also produce dangerous IR?

Any recommendations for diodes/drivers/modules around the mint/turquoise spectrum (does not have to be exactly 488nm)? (Where to buy from? I am in the EU)

Is it possible to run 30-60mw laser diodes at a lower output power? Looking for an output suitable for star gazing/playing around in the forest at night.

Would you consider using a laser over 5mw at all without glasses?

Any recommendations for optics? (not too expensive)


Happy to be back in the hobby!
Cheers

You sure you aren't 15?

 

[marsgnu]

I own two of them, not comparable to GLPs. The beam has an elongated rhombus-like profile, but focuses nicely to a small dot unlike some high power blues. Since the aqua color comes directly from the diode, there is no IR produced.


Many would say no, my honest opinion is that it depends on the type of use we're talking about. For star pointing, no glasses are needed since you want to see the beam and the light is not reflecting at you. For brief indoor use at medium distance non-reflective surfaces, my limit for glasses is about 40-50mw. For consistent close range use near reflective objects or looking at the dot for longer than a few seconds, anything above 5mw should be used with glasses

Thanks for the reply, Do you know if it possible to run a say 50mw laser diode at a lower power using a custom driver?
Or du they only work around the specific power rating?

 

[julianthedragon]

Thanks for the reply, Do you know if it possible to run a say 50mw laser diode at a lower power using a custom driver?
Or du they only work around the specific power rating?

Generally it's easier to run it under-spec than to overdrive the current, but depends on your specific diode and setup. Something to do some research on. Unless someone here knows better

 

[Thorsteenster]

I just bought a 55mw 488nm diode today from DTR.
You have to give diodes enough current to power on, but not so much they cook.
If you scroll down towards the bottom you can see pics he took of measuring beam output in relation to current input.
Power supply is on the right with the green digits, upper V, lower A. The red display is laser output.

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[Sowee7]

Hi folks!

Its been a good 10 years since I was last involved in the laser hobby (innocent 12-year old back then).
Seems like a lot of cool affordable diodes have come onto the market in the last few years and that makes me really want to put together a new cool pointer.

I am looking to make a laser for pointing at the night sky and generally just have (safe) fun with.
I want something that is low power and usable without glasses but still has a proper visible beam at night.
I love the violet lasers (used to have a blue-ray one I really enjoyed) but since the perceived brightness of these are quite low relative to their output power it would not be optimal for this build and regular GLPs are a tad boring imo (and they have the IR issue).

The mint/turquoise diodes around 488nm look cool and seem like a good compromise for visibility/power/safety (correct me if I am wrong here).
Ive been looking around ebay for 488nm diodes and found 30mw no name modules around 30eur and these 60mw sharp diodes around the same price.

Im open to buying a complete module with driver or buying separate diode/module/driver (perhaps solder up my own driver).
Really whatever is cheap is good for my needs.
I have an old bosch air-drill I wanna use as a housing.

My questions are:

Is the beam visibility of turquoise lasers comparable to GLPs? Do they also produce dangerous IR?

Any recommendations for diodes/drivers/modules around the mint/turquoise spectrum (does not have to be exactly 488nm)? (Where to buy from? I am in the EU)

Is it possible to run 30-60mw laser diodes at a lower output power? Looking for an output suitable for star gazing/playing around in the forest at night.

Would you consider using a laser over 5mw at all without glasses?

Any recommendations for optics? (not too expensive)


Happy to be back in the hobby!
Cheers

Not all GLP handheld lasers produce IR, there are many diode-based GLP handhelds that don't produce IR such as the 405nm and 447nm pointers, there are also GLPs that are over 5mw such as the GLP 532nm (up to 250mw), GLP 589nm (up to 35mw), GLP 447nm (up to 30mw) and the GLP 473nm (up to 15mw). Also, direct visible laser diodes do not produce ir