1st DIY Laser Project. 8x BDR-203. NEED IDEAS!!

I'm running my 6X at 180Ma and use it at least several min every day. on the 4th it seen several 5 min runs and was prob turned on no less than 75 times throught the day. O yea it lit several 8" shells and a whole bunch of 3"ers also.

Peace All Pyro... :eg:

dr-ebert said:

Hi Dark, what current do you suggest for GGWs?

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@Dr-ebert: I was pretty amazed at the fact that the shipping cost to japan is not like $50 or more but like around $15. I'll probably go with JayRob's Kits! I might need other stuff in the future so I'll keep myself posted on the B/S/T section.


@Darkarmyofone: Thanx It'll be great to get as much help as possible with this wealth of knowledge in this forum. I got some quotes from JayRob for his kits and its very reasonable too. What I really like is that, the customization looks proffessional. I'd also like to do more of these installations myself so, in the future, I'll be able to do installations for other individuals too...But there's a huge learning curve when it comes down to customizations and DIY.


I'll probably go for one PHR sled and one GGW sled (if i can get my hands on one from JayRob) because the GGW packs more power. I'll use the PHR sled as a training session before I actually dismantle the 8x BDR-203 cuz both should essentially be similar in design.

It's gotta be awesome shining that thing up in the starry night sky

Flaminpyro said:

I'm running my 6X at 180Ma and use it at least several min every day. on the 4th it seen several 5 min runs and was prob turned on no less than 75 times throught the day. O yea it lit several 8" shells and a whole bunch of 3"ers also.

Peace All Pyro... :eg:

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180mA on a continuous basis!! I want that as my first DIY. Can't forget to put the "DANGER" label on the host

Hey that pic in the opening post looks a lot like roSSco's kitchen table... lol. My first build was a PHR, then I upgraded the diode to a GGW 6x, fried the diode and driver because I was in a hurry and didn't put any insulating tape around the driver that was crammed into the head of a Dorcy flashlight, and then finally it became a AW210 running at 230ma and outputting 260mw through an LSP lens. I'm saving for a 405 lens so I can get closer to that 300mw mark.

Jayrob doesnt sell sleds, try scopeguy20

Darkarmyofone said:

Jayrob doesnt sell sleds, try scopeguy20

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Yup Jayrob also recommended me scopeguy20, but he seems to have one GGW sled available (not sure yet though) so its easier that all the components are sent from one source instead of from different locations. I might just go for PHR sleds instead. Order it from hightechdealz or something.

:thanks: to Dark & Pyro for the info!

In reference to what dr-ebert was talking about in terms of the rkcstr's driver having smd components, that really brought out my attention regarding the differences between the design of the Daedal DDL driver and rkcstr's driver as well as the MicroFlexDrive V4.

I'm thinking about DIY'ing a Driver as another huge project...an idea still. Don't know how that'll go but it would definitely be an interesting one, regardless of whether its finished or not!

In terms of rkcstr's driver (correct me if I'm wrong :can: First of all, its supposed be a CCO design so it will regulate current output to diode regardless of the voltage input into the driver, so i'm assuming that the voltage output from regulator will be a fixed one making the power output of the diode more efficient in terms of lower heat dissipation. Here's the Micro-Drive Spec file = MicroDrive V2 Spec File

1) Its a Double-sided laminate (with 3 PTH holes) & component assembly PCB, and uses surface mount devices (SMD) on the laminate. The DDL Driver in the tutorial seems more conventional and easier to understand. By the way is the laminate a Phenolic on the PCB?
2) Components:
- 1 x Series Resistor R2 (You can choose 3 different types of resistors)
- 1 x Parallel Resistor R1 (2 different resistors you can choose)
(on the DDL driver, i only saw two 10hm resistors wired in parallel from VOUT to ADJ of the LM317 regulator)
- 1 x Regulator IC (TO-252 version of the LM1117). this i suppose is the SMT version of the LM317. The T0252 seems to have two long legs the ADJ & the VIN & the VOUT is short. It is also requires two external resistors to function which i suppose are the R1 & R2 resistors. All about the regulator here = LM1117)
- 3 x capacitors (Input Cap=16V 1uf SMT ceramic cap, Output Cap=10V 47uf SMT Tantalum cap, Shunt Cap=6.3V 10uf SMT tantalum cap.) He used Three different capacitors instead of just one like on the DDL driver with the 10microfarads 16V capacitor) Would it make a huge different to use all 3 of those instead of just one in a case where I want 400mA of current output and I'm using three 10440 batteries?
- 1 x MOSFET (P-type) field-effect transistor for reverse polarity protection as primary. (In the DDL Driver case, only one 1N4001 rectifier diode was used to accomplish that i figure, but in this case an additional MOSFET is put in place. Is the MOSFET the right component for reverse polarity protection in this situation because this p-channel type has an intrinsic diode or is it because of the difference in the conventional flow of drain current in which current flows out of the drain? I've heard that the P-type is better than the N-type for this kind of small power application because P-type has a more simple circuitry than N-type. I haven't learned much about MOSFETs so I gotta read up on it more...Info on DMP2215L-7 MOSFET = HERE)
- 1 x Schottky diode for reverse polarity protection as secondary (never heard of schottky before...but its essentially similar in function to the 1N4001 diode that the DDL driver is using. i'm assuming the schottky is the SMT version of it.)
- 1 x Potentiometer (10ohm or 100ohm SMD pot. In the DDL Driver case its just a conventional type 100ohm 1/4watt pot i'm assuming..)

I'm a total Noob at this stuff so its gonna be a pretty steep learning curve for me...:thinking:
To fit a circuit board with all these components in a host, would it be feasible to use a conventional style PCB circuit board or would a SMT style of circuitry for the PCB be more feasible? I have actually never constructed a PCB before so would a ready made PLC circuit board be okay for this type of application? I know its quite tedious to construct one...

All that you need for a constant-current driver is the LM317 (or LM1117 which has a lower dropout voltage), plus the current sense resistor/pot. Connect the resistor between the sense and Vout pins, and voila, a constant-current twopole. The other stuff (diodes, caps, mosfets) is just icing and may actually do more harm than good if you're not careful.

A Schottky diode is a semiconductor-metal contact instead of a p-n contact. It has a lower voltage drop but the main advantage is that it's ultrafast. Using it as reverse polarity protection is an insult

The best thing is to check the datasheets, they have good "application notes" (= circuit examples).

i recomend modwerx for PHR sleds.

Darkarmyofone said:

i recomend modwerx for PHR sleds.

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Thanx for the tip.

I've ordered my kit with that 405-G-1 lens and I hope it will arrive shortly.
I was actually rummaging through some of old stuff in a cardboard box and I found a Mini Mag! The top part disassembled pretty nicely, but the bottom part didn't come off...I tried using every method possible and still couldn't get that thing to come off so, its now tucked away in a garbage bin.

By the way, I'm already thinking off trying something new, like a new DIY that I can do with the custom made driver which I plan on challenging myself to it. I've already got in mind a host which I can purchase locally for less than $25.

Now, I'm deciding on a host right now for the 2nd DIY. Here's a pic and a link of a good priced host: Gentos SuperfireXX SF-133 $18 approxiamately

Dimensions of host: width=38mm x length=129mm (Info that the site gives but the actual inner dimesion of the host might be different.)
Now the first issue I would like to address is:

1) Customizing Heatsink Size:
- I'm going to purchase the host first & measure the inner dimensions first before specifying the heatsink dimensions.
2) Generally speaking the larger the dimensions of the heatsink, the better it will get rid of the heat generated by the diode:
- How do you derive with the optimum dimensions of a heatsink?

Some things to consider first

P.S. Just for reference:
Aixiz Module w/ housing: 12mm x 30mm　(fits in Mini Mag)
Meredith Module: 12.7mm x 17.78cm (barely fits in Mini Mag)

You know it would be MUCH cheaper to buy one of the readily available and CHEAP diy kits, these all come WITH a heatsink and instructions, it would save you ALLOT of time and money.

I have some kits for sale, shoot me a PM

and also, sidebutton hosts are MUCH more difficult to work with, i suggest a tailclick host. I am speaking from experiance.

Dark

Darkarmyofone said:

You know it would be MUCH cheaper to buy one of the readily available and CHEAP diy kits, these all come WITH a heatsink and instructions, it would save you ALLOT of time and money.

I have some kits for sale, shoot me a PM

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Yup, it would save a lot of time and money if I went with a DIY ready kit & in case I need anything from you I'll pm you However, for my 2nd DIY, I'm gonna try to go all custom if possible since I like spending a lot of time doing this. Its an awesome learning experience at the same time!

Especially the design of the SuperfireXX is sweeet imo

I would however, need a custom heatsink. I've already figured out how I'm gonna get my dimensions so the only thing left is to get it to those dimensions...I might have to add a custom spacer too.

lots of fun things to consider

Darkarmyofone said:

and also, sidebutton hosts are MUCH more difficult to work with, i suggest a tailclick host. I am speaking from experiance.

Dark

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I also think a tailclick host is a better choice. It will simplify things way more.
I'll have to mull over which Gentos type to go for...:thinking: