Alx's LD CURRENT DRIVER (30mA-800mA/5V-16V)

charlie bruce said:

Also, if you need a hand setting up an online shop to simplify ordering, feel free to PM me.

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I PM you.

Yes, i am thinking to have something like you suggest! I'm not monitoring this forum to often (very limited time), so I need something quicker/faster/easyer for ordering and also a way to be notifyed by email if someone place an order or asked a question. I didn't take yet a decision if will be just an email address or a web page. I'm investigating now about non personal paypal options. All I know now, is that this forum is not the desired way to place an order or contact me or to contact you! Forum can work, but is not professional!

I'll update my first post when i'll be ready!

Regards,
Alx

Interesting, but where do you live?

Hey alx...
   at 700mA... what is the duty cycle (ON to OFF time) of your
driver in a standard Aixiz module without extra heatsinking... :-?

Jerry

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.  But, this doesn't really feel like you're just trying to imitate me...

Your circuit is almost exactly the same as mine.  The size and layout are extremely similar.  All except some component differences/values and your claims of higher current are the same as mine.  And you talk about "mass production" and come to the same forum to sell them too?  Quite bold.

Had you actually developed a novel design for a driver to sell on this forum, I wouldn't mind... competition isn't the problem, it's the fact that you are trying to profit from ideas that are mine and not your own that I am not OK with.

I don't know if anyone else here has recognized this yet, but I have.  If you want to continue doing this, there really isn't much I can do, I suppose.  But, I'll just say that you do have some misconceptions over the capabilities of "your design" and if you sell these, you will likely have some unhappy customers if they expect the performance and reliability of your claims.

I'll possibly get some negative comments, but I'm getting tired of these whiney "you stole my idea!" type of posts from some high-profile members here (there are at least two others). You, rkcstr, didn't design the chip on your board, the circuitry around it is common knowledge, and arranging a handful of components on a board isn't that much of a creative act. None of that is worthy of any deep respect or protection. What is worthy is quality of product, service before and around and after sale, speed and reliability of delivery, general helpfulness and suchlike. Don't risk that.

rkcstr said:

They say that [highlight]imitation[/highlight] is the sincerest form of flattery.  But, this doesn't really feel like you're just [highlight]trying[/highlight] imitate me...

Your circuit is [highlight]almost[/highlight] exactly the same as mine.  The size and layout are extremely similar.  All except some component differences/values and your claims of higher current are the same as mine.  And you talk about "mass production" and come to the same forum to sell them too?  Quite bold.

Had you actually developed a novel design for a driver to sell on this forum, I wouldn't mind... competition [highlight]isn't the problem[/highlight], it's the fact [highlight]that you are trying to profit [/highlight]from ideas that are mine and not your own that I am not OK with.

I don't know if anyone else here has recognized this yet, but I have.  If you want to continue doing this, there really isn't much I can do, I suppose.  But, I'll just say that you do have some misconceptions over the capabilities of "your design" and if you sell these, you will likely have some unhappy customers if they expect the performance and reliability of your claims.

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So how is he copying your "idea" and it sounds that your saying making a driver is YOUR idea theres three main drivers, DDL, flexdrive and rckstr.

They are all drivers are they copying eachother no there not and then theres this one is it the same as yours no, it may look a bit like but its not.

So he's trying to profit from your idea is he, well let's see he made a driver and he's selling it does that mean he's copying your driver no he's not he's making a driver and selling it.


To sum it all up why do you care if he's copying you, does it make you feel bad and make your heart crunch up?


Rckstr driver.

Alx

"I'll possibly get some negative comments"

And I hope you do. Rkcstr is a well respected member of this forum, and he has earned it from many sales, many happy customers, and helpful insight to the laser community.

From alx's design...what reason would Rkcstr have to NOT belive alx is trying to directly compete with his driver...I mean just look at it. (compare both drivers with both pots facing the same way)

I would never buy this driver or anything made with it, because we already have a driver like it that we have gotten to know and trust.

You can now remove your foot from your mouth, drebert and Eku.

Lotus_Darkrose said:

"I'll possibly get some negative comments"

And I hope you do. Rkcstr is a well respected member of this forum, and he has earned it from many sales, many happy customers, and helpful insight to the laser community.

From alx's design...what reason would Rkcstr have to NOT belive alx is trying to directly compete with his driver...I mean just look at it. (compare both drivers with both pots facing the same way)

I would never buy this driver or anything made with it, because we already have a driver like it that we have gotten to know and trust.

You can now remove your foot from your mouth, drebert and Eku.

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If I was rckstr I wouldn't care I would know that I will still get customers and at the rate I run out of drivers I'll be fine.

With shipping this driver is 15 USD and rckstrs is around 15 USD with shipping (discount code is awesome) so its about the same price thats all I have to say.

Don't get me wrong.... I'm not really taking anyone's side here...(maybe the design engineer's)

I think that if anyone should cry"It's my circuit and I own it" it should
be the original Design Engineer that originally showed the Schematic of
the LM117/LM217/LM317 Regulator *application schematics...
I have a National Linear Data Book (dated 1976) that shows similar
if not the same Voltage and Current regulated application circuits.

And if anyone was copying anyone..... I was not the Design Engineer....IMO *

BTW... I agree with dr-ebert and rkcstr in that... the difference is in the
quality of the build and the honesty/reality of the stated specifications....
And even more important... Customer Service...

I personally prefer a professionally produced Solder Masked PCB...
I have no problem with competition...

I mean.... look at the PHR803T GBs... without competion... the prices here
on LPF would not have dropped as fast... I remember paying $55.00 for a
sled not long ago... :

Jerry

lasersbee said:

Hey alx...
at 700mA... what is the duty cycle (ON to OFF time) of your
driver in a standard Aixiz module without extra heatsinking... :-?

Jerry

Click to expand...

Hi Jerry,

If is not tested in the real life, the test will not be relevant. Personally, i don't have a laser diode to work as higher currents without overload the diode. So we will have some limitations because we want to protect the diode. Now, I am using a mixed heatsink (ax/dx case+small flashlight case, joined together) for cooling a LPC-815 red diode driven at 420mA. In this way, I didn't registered any deprecation regarding laser beam and also the heat is dissipated very well using around 60 seconds on/off duty cycles (cannot be felt by hand). So, I mean that just powering the driver and using a dummy load, will not be probative ...

I know what is inside, and all components shoud resist at higher degrees. Also I know that newer SONY diodes, REQUIRE ANYWAY DUTY CYCLES. But this diodes are still very expensive. So, being warned, i redesigned the circuit, to support this diodes, without having it!

Anyway, if you have time (more than me) and want to test it more, PM me your details, and i'll be willing to ship you one driver for free! I tested and will work without problems with actual laser diodes (red/blue).

Regards,
Alx

PS: and please all that claim something or not. I build this driver in benefit of lpf community. THE GOAL IS NOT TO COMPETE WITH SOMEONE HERE. IS TO HAVE (all of us) ACCESS TO A CHEAP small driver to better serve our needs. This driver, DOES NOT REPRESENT A BUSINESS FOR ME IN ITS NATURE. I like the idea and after analyzed it, i saw that is whole gap here and we have chance to have it ... I loved a little this challange, till start to cost me money... Now, seeing reactions of some posters, i'm not convinced that worth this effort. Also, all information residing here are public and serve all of us. I think i mentioned on my first post, that i don't want to reinvent the wheel. All I've done was to put a little effort to give you, something which may help. I like to ship to everybody for free... Unfortunately, It cost money to produce it, so, cannot be free... but, maybe will be cheaper! Personally, I'm not likeing to talk without substance. Due to that, i didn't start a thread here till this driver become real. Now, i am working on another project (405nm AR coated glass lens). I hope to be able to announce that is real too (when the lens will be in my hand)... I don't want to speak now, more about ... I will let you know, when will be... if will to be!

Hello All,

For what it's worth(Which probably ain't much)-

Current controlled drivers are a fairly well explored area of electronics. Most of us when designing circuits will use the reference implementation in the datasheet as a starting point. So that 2 different people came up with similar circuits isn't really strange.

However, the circuit layout on the board, as well as the traces, are practically identical. Upon comparison of the two drivers, Alx I must say, I find it highly unlikely that you designed the PCB for this circuit without carefully studying the rkcstr driver. If I had to quess, I'd say your 'reference design' started off from his *pdf manual...

My 2 Cents- If you want to use the same ICs as Rkcstr to build your driver, that's fine. If you use the same datasheets and end up with a similar circuit electrically, that's cool too. After all, what are datasheets for? If you wish to sell your driver, I'm good with that too.(Drivers are always selling-out around here.)

But using his layout/PCB design without permission is B.S. PCB routing can be a lot of work. Not giving him ANY credit is B.S. Claiming it isn't a business is B.S. I make my own drivers and post schematics on this site. I do that for the furtherance of the hobby and to contribute to the knowledge-base hosted here. But once I put up a sign and start selling them, IT'S A BUSINESS. To pretend otherwise is disingenuous.

I'm not trying to bust your balls here. I just think that Rkcstr put a lot of effort into his design and that one should give credit where credit is due...

cheers,
kernelpanic

Not taking sides here but I would feel like someone has kicked me in the balls if I've work hard for a very long time to supply drivers to a community at a high quality, then to have someone else come along with pretty much an identical piece of board and undercut him (or by the sounds of it soon to undercut him.)

They both look like great drivers; personally I've only used rckstrs and will stay that way because I like the customer service

As I said, if it were a novel (original) design, I would not be here saying anything... competition is what keeps business growing and improving.  If someone came up with something new, I wouldn't have a problem with it.  In fact, I'd probably even buy some.

What my problem is that specific aspects of the circuit (I'm not talking things that are common to the datasheet or others like "DDL", etc.) are really "copied" from my own design, not to mention the layout (component placement, trace routing) and extremely similar.  Sure, you could say that these specific things aren't anything extremely complex and anyone else may come to the same idea after working on the design for a substantial amount of time.  However, what is the likelihood that this was completely coincidental and both designs were completely born of functionality rather than one being derived from the other?  

Just to compare, here's what an older version of my driver looked like, compared to this one:


Look familiar?

Look familiar?

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That's What I'm SAYIN'!

With that part count, even if the circuit is from the datasheet and thus the same, 2 people won't independently come up with the exact same routing/placement. Perhaps it should be called the 'Fakestr' driver...

cheers,
kernelpanic

Exactly. I probably wouldn't have even said anything if even the layout was different, but it's similar on way too many levels. Even if you aren't trying to copy someone, chip placement says a lot, especially when it's that close.