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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

Greetings & Intro

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Hello All,

I recently became interested in lasers. (actually, the interest has been there forever, I just recently pursued it). I have been interested in nearly every electronic field at one time or another! My other hobbies include RC planes and multicopters (line-of-sight and first person view), motorcycles, Arduino code, HAM Radio (I am a licensed Amateur Extra Class. You can look me up on QRZ.com, my call is KF5PAL), Antenna building, Internet & PCs, Astronomy, LED Flashlights, Audio\Visual & Home Theater, Lasers, etc.,etc.,etc,....

In my research nearly every search led me to these forums so, I decided to join.

I recently started with a few of the eBay 301 host lasers. I have a 301 host in 532nm and one in 650nm. I also have a 301 host in 532nm with a different module (not sure which) that only says "Assassin" on it. (Came from a friend). This one is the brightest by quite a bit. I also have a few ordered which I have yet to receive: A low cost 405nm
High Power 405nm 5mW Purple Laser Pointer Pen Beam for 18650 Laser Holster | eBay

A 405nm from o-like:
New waterproof Blue laser 1W torch /focusable [OL-BLUW] - $54.99 : Zen Cart!, The Art of E-commerce

and a 1W 445nm PL model from laserbtb.


I initially ordered 2 pairs of the eBay laser safety goggles as well from a company called HDE. Before they arrived I saw a video online comparing the eBay quality goggles to Eagle Pair goggles. I then ordered the following:

Eagle Pair® 190-540nm & 900-1700nm Laser Safety Goggles

and

Eagle Pair® 190-400nm & 560-640nm Laser Safety Goggles

I value my eyesight!

I will eventually move towards building a laser. I am very DIY oriented!

That's about it for now. Thanks again for such an informative forum!
 
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BowtieGuy

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Welcome to LPF brettwal, great introduction! :beer:
It looks like you already are off to a good start; glad to see your concern for eye safety.

It sounds like you'll fit in well here; have fun, enjoy yourself, and stay safe! :)

:gj: +rep!
 
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Hello brettwal, yes move towards building your own instead of buying that cheap Chinese garbage. You will have no trouble building lasers, you can buy off the shelf parts where the hard parts are already done for you and it's as simple as soldering two pairs of wires and assembling several parts, or it can be very DIY. The advantage is that you know exactly what you have and how it's put together, instead of having cheap Chinese crap with nonstandard parts epoxied together that have no quality control and are meant to be disposable not fixable.

The HDE glasses are one of the few cheap ones that are reasonably good, you need more than one pair anyway when demonstrating your laser to family or friends, burning through a DVD case always impresses people that know nothing about lasers.:crackup:

As far as I know, we have no active members in Louisiana, I have been trying to maintain a list of where our active members are located, not including cities though, so I invite you to also post here if you will be staying around:
http://laserpointerforums.com/f57/countries-lpf-where-you-94536.html
I hope you stay around, we need more smart people here.

Welcome to LPF.

Alan
 
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Welcome.
You will find tons of information here and great recourses for building your own lasers, I enjoy learning as much as building and much innovation comes from those of us who enjoy/use lasers and work on their industrial application/innovations.

I'm glad you understand safety and have protective eye wear. We are the ambassadors of safety so feel free to remind others of that when needed, it is at the heart of the preservation of our hobby/academic study.

So imagine, dream, and explore possibilities, the technical side of lasers is advancing all the time, I enjoyed learning about fiber lasers and Bragg gratings, it's amazing how fast things have advanced in the last 10 years.
 
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Thank you all for the responses.

Pi R Squared (or others) - Any recommendations for a good starter kit? Something in the 250mw range, focusable and enough heatsink for 60s on time. I would like something with all needed parts (less battery).

445nm,532nm,650nm
Something using 16340s or an 18650 would be great.
 
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Thank you all for the responses.

Pi R Squared (or others) - Any recommendations for a good starter kit? Something in the 250mw range, focusable and enough heatsink for 60s on time. I would like something with all needed parts (less battery).

445nm,532nm,650nm
Something using 16340s or an 18650 would be great.

445nm,450nm,462nm,515nm,520nm, forget 532nm as that is DPSS, we now have diodes that are 520nm and 515nm, and 635/638nm is better than 650nm but it is a slightly orange red but it is brighter for the same power compared to 650nm. You won't get anything in the 250mW range with a 445nm, only something far more powerful, but you could with 450nm/520nm/638nm.

A real mad scientist won't be satisfied with a 250mW laser.:eg::crackup: but it's a good place to start to become aquainted with powerful lasers before moving up to something that is class 4.

Alan
 
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445nm,450nm,462nm,515nm,520nm, forget 532nm as that is DPSS, we now have diodes that are 520nm and 515nm, and 635/638nm is better than 650nm but it is a slightly orange red but it is brighter for the same power compared to 650nm. You won't get anything in the 250mW range with a 445nm, only something far more powerful, but you could with 450nm/520nm/638nm.

A real mad scientist won't be satisfied with a 250mW laser.:eg::crackup: but it's a good place to start to become aquainted with powerful lasers before moving up to something that is class 4.

Alan

Thanks for that. Good info. I'm gonna be in "Sponge Mode" for a while soaking it all up. Do you have a lead on a worthwhile kit that will fit the bill. I'm looking for a complete package that I can assemble. My next step after this will be to source individual components...
 

BowtieGuy

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brettwal, take a look at DTR's laser shop, you'll find most anything you want there.
In the range you mentioned, I really like the Osram PL450B, and the Opnext/Oclaro 638nm single mode diodes. :)

BTW - Like your avatar!
 
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DTR has everything you need except the housing and batteries you can get a host from Ehgemus or others such as survival lasers.

This is DTR's page
https://sites.google.com/site/dtrlpf/home




This is Survival Lasers, he has ready to build host and batteries.
Survival Laser USA Home




This is Ehgemus, look at his solid custom housings, all you need to do is connect 2 wires, drop in a DTR module and put in batteries, just PM him and tell him what you want.
http://laserpointerforums.com/f39/f...ilds-new-host-added-today-1-8-16-a-94288.html



For ready made lasers I like podo, he is bring a nice line up with better lens options.
https://sites.google.com/site/hkfew5e22/


Here is a link to a list, it's a little dated but most are current.
http://laserpointerforums.com/f41/made-lpf-support-your-fellow-laserists-first-83991.html


The LPF Search tab up top center helps you find LPF specific threads.
 
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GSS

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Nice intro, welcome from this neewbie, you are the perfect poster child of new members:)
 
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